Category: News

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal

Kansas is revamping the way it issues vanity plates, and it means a lot of residents are going to lose their ‘duplicate’ personalized plates. They’re not really duplicates, though: Unlike most states, Kansas allows people in different counties to have the same alphanumeric combination, so while the tags might appear to be copies, they are registered in different counties and that technically makes them different plates.

According to Kansas.com, the problem with that strategy is that law enforcement officials in hot pursuit have a hard time reading which county a car’s “JAYHAWK” plate is registered to, so they have been behind the push to change the policy. The Kansas DMV is in the process of figuring out who registered each of these ‘duplicate’ plates first, and then it plans to send letters to anyone else with that same alphanumeric combo to let them know they can’t renew it.

Just as novel as finding out Kansas allowed multiple copies of a tag in the same state was the list of the top ten vanity plates chosen. It’s arguably embarrassing that the number one plate is “HUSKERS,” which amounts to cheerleading for a team in another state, like “SOONERS” in the seven spot. The home team, “JAYHAWK” comes in second, followed by Larry the Cable Guy’s slogan, “GITRDUN,” which is more popular than the Kansas City “CHIEFS” in number four. Ah, Kansas, what are we going to do with you? Hat tip to Dude!

[Source: Kansas.com | Image: Robinrkc – C.C. License 2.0]

Report: Kansas to cease allowing motorists to have ‘duplicate’ personalized plates. Wait, wha? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chemical structure of the antibiotic tetracycline–one of the four classes of antibiotics that sampled soil microbes showed increased resistance to in the 2009 Study.

The prevalence of antibiotic resistant genes (ARG) in soil bacteria has been increasing steadily over the past seven decades, despite tighter controls on the use of antibiotics for agricultural purposes (in Europe). This is according to a recent benchmark study/analysis* of soil samples from five sites in the Netherlands. The research team, lead by David Graham of Newcastle University in the UK, found that “Seventy-eight percent of detected resistance genes, associated with four classes of antibiotics, showed increasing levels since 1940.”

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This post is part of the IT Innovation series, sponsored by Sun & Intel. Read more at ITInnovation.com.
Of course, the content of this post consists entirely of the thoughts and opinions of the author.

Ah data centers. They may seem like a rather boring concept, but Data Center Knowledge recently put together a rather long list of some of the coolest data center video tours including Google’s infamous data center:

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UPI NewsTrack Health and Science NewsUPI.com"Tobacco is very attractive as a biofuel because the idea is to use plants that aren't used in food production," said Vyacheslav Andrianov, …and more »

Much more successful than Marketplace, My Phone was the service which brought the cloud to Windows Mobile.  Microsoft appeared to have stumbled over the perfect combination of features, functionality and most importantly lack of intrusiveness in the day to day usage of your phone.

With the service costing absolutely nothing, is there any reason why every Windows Mobile user have not enrolled their device already?

In 2010 we can expect Microsoft to continue to build on this platform, with further elements to sync and also increased storage, making the software even more compelling.

Do you love My Phone too?  Let is know in the comments.

Signing petition deserves same privacy protection as voting?

If signing an initiative petition deserves the same privacy protection as voting, it will have to be conducted like voting [“Will high court take R-71 case?,” NWWednesday, Dec. 30].

It will have to be done in private booths, with signatures sealed in privacy envelopes as our ballots are. This would be cumbersome and expensive, and cut way down on the number of petitions.

That might not be a bad idea. Bye bye, Tim Eyman.

— Chris Nielsen, Shoreline

Event serves as reminder to hunting community

The Humane Society of the United States, and its 225,000 members in Washington state, commends the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for its swift response to the brutal wounding and killing of seven elk in Skagit County [“Elk hunt ends after herd was cornered, 7 killed,” Seattletimes.com, Local News, Dec. 29].

Within hours of The Seattle Times running the story, the commission issued an emergency closure for elk hunting in the area. The actions of the bow hunters were reported as legal, but were plainly unsporting, cruel and inhumane, as live elk were spotted with serious wounds

While this case was the result of both hunter irresponsibility and unfortunate circumstance, it is undoubtedly a black eye for the hunting community.

It should serve as a reminder to those who consider themselves to be sportsmen that the public demands that they act in an appropriate and considerate manner when in the field.

— Dan Paul, Washington State Humane Society director, Seattle

Kevin Martin’s(notes) wrist is healing, Jameer Nelson(notes) is hurting,
and Luther Head(notes) could be looking at expanded minutes.

• Kevin Martin’s fractured left wrist is making progress:

"Splint is off," Martin said. "Just rehab to work on range of motion.
So when that’s good I’m good. I got cleared to do all basketball
activities without contact until my motion is good. And I’m not putting
any dates on anything."

That last statement isn’t going to make fantasy owners happy, but just let the fact that he’s had no setbacks act as a silver lining. One date that we do have is Jan. 12, which will be the next time he visits with doctors. He won’t play before that day, but may not be out much past it if all goes well.

Tyreke Evans’(notes) fantasy owners (and the Kings) are waiting with bated breath to see how K-Mart and ‘Reke interact once Martin returns. The Kings were 1-4 when they lost Martin, with Evans having averaged 11.2 points on 35-percent shooting, 0.2 threes, 3 boards, 3.6 assists, 2.4 turnovers, and 1.6 steals. They’ve gone 12-11 in the 23 games Evans has played since the injury, with Evans’ averages including 22.3 points on 48-percent shooting, 0.6 threes, 5.6 boards, 5.2 assists, 3.2 turnovers, 1.4 steals, and 0.6 blocks.

Speaking of Evans … he’s missed the past two games after a serious aggravation of a right ankle injury that has been bothering him since early October, and he’s questionable for Friday’s game (@LAL).

• LaMarcus Aldridge(notes) played just six minutes Wednesday because of a sprained left ankle. The injury is not thought to have long-term implications, although he was fitted with a walking boot Wednesday night. His status for Saturday is in doubt at this point, and we should get a clearer picture of the extent of the injury leading up to that game. Juwan Howard(notes) (38 minutes, 10 points, 9 boards, 2 steals Wednesday) and Jeff Pendergraph(notes) (25 minutes, 8 points, 14 boards, 2 blocks) will see the "big" minutes for the Blazers if LMA is out, in addition to the newly signed Shavlik Randolph(notes).

• Keep an eye on Jameer Nelson and the Magic in the coming days, particularly if you are in a deep league. Nelson’s knee swelled up after the team’s Christmas Day game, during which he played 32 minutes, and he’s been limited in recent practices. Stan Van Gundy had the following to say:

"We’re going to have to go back and evaluate where we are with Jameer. There’s medical concerns and people don’t want him to
get re-injured."

Jason Williams(notes) was huge Wednesday (25 minutes, 16 points, 5 threes, 7 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal) while Nelson struggled (23 minutes, 4 points, 1-of-7 FG) and would obviously step in (again) if Nelson were to miss time. In 17 starts this season, J-Will has averaged 8.5 points on 45-percent shooting, 1.5 threes, 5.1 assists, 1.3 turnovers, and 1 steal in 29 minutes. There’s not massive standard-league upside here, but he would be relevant in more than 11% of leagues (his current ownership level) as the starter.

• Tyson Chandler(notes) is out at least another week as he deals with a stress reaction in his left foot. Nazr Mohammed(notes) [game log] has had one solid game and two stinkers since Chandler went down, but he still deserves deep-league consideration in the event that this injury eventually turns into a long-term situation.

• Nothing is working for the Pacers these days, all the more reason to
take note of Luther Head’s Wednesday line (30 points, 4 threes, 7
boards, 2 steals, 1 block). He replaced Brandon Rush(notes) in the starting
lineup and played 40 minutes, while the other four starters combined for just 62 minutes
in the 121-110 loss, the team’s eighth straight and 19th in 23 games.
Production as a starter is nothing new for Head – he’s averaged 13.4
points, 1.9 threes, 3.7 boards, 3.4 assists, 1.8 turnovers, and 1.4
steals in 59 career starts – and some numbers are ripe for the picking
here.  

• Chauncey Billups’(notes) injured groin isn’t progressing quite as well as hoped, and his status for Saturday is now in doubt.

"It doesn’t hurt to walk around or even jog
— I feel good — it’s the cutting, trying to get by a defender. That’s my problem most of the times."

Ty Lawson(notes) has started three of the past four games for the Nuggets in Billups’ absence, averaging 14.7 points on 51-percent shooting, 0.3 threes, 4.3 boards, 5 assists, 1.7 turnovers, and 1.3 steals in 31 minutes.

• Charlie Villanueva(notes) has averaged 14 minutes over the past three games, and it’s no secret that he’s been dealing with plantar fasciitis. Charlie V isn’t interested in having his minutes limited, however, saying that he doesn’t want his minutes monitored when he’s on the active roster. He met with John Kuester on Wednesday to clear the air, with both parties coming away in good spirits, and Kuester challenging Charlie V to play with more energy on defense. The Pistons are currently mired in a seven-game losing streak, during which they’ve averaged just 86 points, so his turning things around on offense are equally as important.

• Our first Jose Calderon(notes) update of substance came Wednesday, with Jay Triano saying that he is hopeful that Calderon will be able to return to the lineup on Jan. 6. 

• Ronnie Brewer(notes) reached the 20-point mark for just the second time on the season Wednesday, scoring 20 in 39 minutes and adding four steals. He had totaled just 12 points in his previous three games and has been very inconsistent with C.J. Miles(notes) back and Wesley Matthews(notes) stil involved in the rotation. Matthews played just seven minutes Wednesday. Brewer’s averages have fallen to 32 minutes and 9.3 points in December, but his 2.4 steals during that time still should have him on all fantasy radars.

• Channing Frye’s(notes) up-and-down fantasy impact is currently on the "up" side. He was huge in the Suns’ 116-98 win over the Celtics Wednesday (26 points, 6 threes, 10 boards, 2 steals, 2 blocks), and over the past nine games he’s averaged 15.7 points on 49-percent shooting, 2.8 threes, 6.4 boards, and 1.7 steals-plus-blocks. In 20 games between November 3 and December 11, Frye averaged 10.7 points on 42-percent shooting, and 2.2 threes.

• Celtics updates: Kevin
Garnett(notes) didn’t play Wednesday because of a hyper-extended right knee and
almost certainly will miss Saturday, as well. Doc Rivers said that the
team would rather be safe than sorry and the Celtics are then off until
Wednesday (@MIA). … Rivers also said that he "can’t imagine" that Paul
Pierce(notes) (right knee infection) will play Saturday, but called the
chances of his returning for the matchup with Miami "realistic." Tony Allen(notes) has averaged 11 points, 6 boards, 3.3 assists, 3 turnovers, 2.3 steals, and 0.5 blocks in four starts while filling in for Pierce.

• Troy Murphy(notes) is expected to shed his walking boot Friday but will be sidelined an additional five to seven days as he recovers from a sprained left ankle. 

• Ron Artest(notes) (concussion) had limited work in Friday’s practice but still experienced dizziness and is very doubtful for Friday.

—

Photos via Getty Images

Congress going about reform bill in all the wrong ways

It has been depressing to follow the progress of the health-care bill as it makes its way through Congress [“Congress moving to close Medicare’s ‘doughnut hole,’ ” News, Dec. 29].

The House of Representatives passed a tolerable bill, but the Senate has passed a very weak bill that sent the stock of the medical insurance companies and the big pharmaceutical companies soaring, which means bad news for the rest of us.

Unless the final bill includes a government-run public option, the insurance companies will not have to offer competitively priced policies, but the public will be forced to purchase those unfairly priced policies whether it wishes to, or not.

What is the value of that?

To those who doubt the ability of the government to provide good insurance policies, I would suggest that this is merely an option. Anyone wishing to shop elsewhere would be able to do so.

Other requirements of good health-care legislation would include: subsidies to enable all Americans to be able to purchase medical insurance at affordable prices; coverage for women’s reproductive health care; apply antitrust legislation to insurance companies, and paying for health-care reform by taxing the wealthy, thereby helping to decrease the gap between the super wealthy and the super poor.

— Ken Rasmussen, Bow

Remembering ‘forever families’ during the holidays

Opening your hearts to children

I really enjoyed the guest commentary by Nicole Sanchez, and agree wholeheartedly with her [“Every child deserves a forever family,” Opinion, Dec. 22].

I happen to have an adopted son, who was about 19 months old when we brought him to our home permanently about a week before Christmas. It has been a mutual blessing for us over the years.

Our family has always been grateful to be his “forever family.”

Thanks so much for the commentary by Sanchez. I hope many other families will open their hearts, and give a child a forever family, something each child deserves.

— Mary Bartholet, Shoreline

I’m going to record my experiences with introducing two cats in my household: one four or five month old kitten who has only lived outside and a six-year-old resident feline, Choco, who hasn’t lived with another cat since his shelter days when he was a kitten. He hisses at any cat he sees through the window.

The new kitten awaiting a name

Last night I brought the new kitten home, and my husband distracted the resident feline while I put the new kitten in his own room (which is a bathroom) with all the things he needs.

My husband had the idea that if Choco didn’t see us bring in the new cat, he’d just think it magically appeared! I’m not sure if it matters, but I think not knowing what’s in there is really making Choco curious.

So far, so good. Actually, the night went much better than I expected. I had thought Choco, who hates closed doors, would have yelled at the bathroom all night. Instead, he just sniffed outside the door and his tail fur got really big, what I call the “big tail.” Then he went about his business, but I could tell he knew something was up.

For the most part, both cats are acting normally at this point (day 1). They haven’t seen each other, but I have

The resident feline, Choco

introduced them to scents via wiping one cat with a towel and letting the other cat sniff it. The new kitten didn’t care, but Choco hissed at the towel!

I have no immediate plans to let them see each other. That will wait until after the new kitten has gotten a thorough vet check and Choco is more comfortable with the new cat’s scent. Right now, all I know for sure is that the new kitten is negative for FIV and leukemia. (My favorite vet is on vacation until Monday, so I’m taking him in then.)

Soon, I hope to get the two cats eating close to each other, separated by a closed door. Experts suggest this helps the cats associate the scents with a pleasant activity.

(Image via Peggy Rowland)

Post from: Blisstree

Introducing a New Cat: Part 1

There’s no doubt China is playing the key market role for most carmakers selling vehicles in the country and recent predictions are hinting that this impressive boom could continue in 2010. General Motors is one of the companies that are benefiting from the Chinese growth, with some of its dealers running low on inventories following high sales in the last few months.

Minivan salesman Zhu Yi has no cars to sell although the number of buyers is increasing. He says that growing numb… (read more)

Marketplace is also a slow burner from 2009, and while the software store has not caused quite the stampede seen with the iPhone app store, with between 400 and 800 applications in there it was an essential addition to the Windows Mobile universe.

Developers who code with Windows Mobile should be warned that an increasing number of buyers seduced by great devices such as the Samsung Omnia 2 or HTC HD2 will not believe your application exists if its not in the app store.

Over the last week we ran a series of posts outlining the five biggest Internet trends of this year: Structured Data, Real-Time Web, Personalization, Mobile Web / Augmented Reality, Internet of Things. Effectively this was ReadWriteWeb’s State of the Web 2009.

We’ve now compiled the main points into a single presentation, available on Slideshare and embedded below. You can view the presentation in full screen by clicking the "full" button at the bottom of the presentation. You can also download the presentation as a Powerpoint file. All of the links in the presentation are clickable, should you wish to explore a certain topic more.

Sponsor

Editor’s note: This story is part of a series we call Redux, where we’ll re-publish some of our best posts of 2009. As we look back at the year – and ahead to what next year holds – we think these are the stories that deserve a second glance. It’s not just a best-of list, it’s also a collection of posts that examine the fundamental issues that continue to shape the Web. We hope you enjoy reading them again and we look forward to bringing you more Web products and trends analysis in 2010. Happy holidays from Team ReadWriteWeb!

1. Structured Data
2. The Real-Time Web
3. Personalization
4. Mobile Web & Augmented Reality
5. Internet of Things

Discuss

Dear 2009, thank you for all the stories, the good and the bad ones. Here are the top 10 most popular articles. Now we have to say good bye forever, because 2010 and the new decade are here. So long!

Coat racks and hat racks are very functional things to have in a home. I have one by the back door that is low enough for kids to hang their gear on and one on the other side that is great for hanging leashes and stuff to grab on the way out the door. Coat racks can be a bit pricey, especially if you want something more than those wooden racks you paint yourself from the local craft store. I like to make my own racks because it is such a simple thing to do and they look really unique.

To make a coat rack or hat rack, you will need:

• Three or four individual hooks. I found a set of iron sheep, a set of scotties and a ton of other themed hooks. If you want a rustic country look, I’ve seen people use sets of antique door knobs or outdoor faucets as their hooks.
• A piece of a nice shelf board. I use a board that is five to six inches wide by 12-14 inches long.
• Paint and brush
• Pencil
• A drill with a drill bit and a screw bit.
• Picture frame hanger kit.

Prime and paint your shelf board. Space the hooks out on the board until you like the way they look. Mark the hooks’ screw holes with the pencil. Remove the hooks so you can drill the holes. Turn the board over and install your picture frame hangers. Flip it back over and screw the hooks in. That’s it! No cookie cutter racks for you.

Photo: SXC

Post from: Blisstree

Make Your Own Hat Racks

Filed under: Videos, Motorcycle

Depending on where you happen to live on the planet, two-wheeled transportation may be anything from a year-round necessity to a few-months-of-the-year hobby. Right about now, at least half of all motorcyclists here in the United States have their scooters and motorcycles packed warmly away in the garage. But does it have to be that way?

Well, that partially depends on your penchant for excitement and snow sports. We remember having all kinds of fun on snowmobiles in our teen years, and after watching the video after the break, we have a new obsession to look forward to: snow-scooting.

That’s right, remove the front wheel of your scooter, replace it with a ski and add a nice, knobby tire out back. Instant snow-scooter! Best of all, the machine from Govecs Slidescooters featured in today’s video is electric, so there’s no noxious exhaust to spoil America’s pristine natural surroundings. Oh, and we apologize in advance for the soundtrack. Turn the volume down and check out the video after the jump.

[Source: YouTube via twowheelsblog.com]

Continue reading Video: Electric scooter gets the Snow Kit Solution

Video: Electric scooter gets the Snow Kit Solution originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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