Category: News

While the United Nations Climate Conference (COP15) was taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark, Brazil’s National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) held the country’s first ever wind-only energy auction. On December 14, around 1,800 megawatts (MW) were contracted with energy from 71 wind power plants scheduled to be delivered beginning July 1, 2012. The wind power auction has reinforced Brazil’s success in generating electric energy from renewable sources, which currently represent 85.4% of the country’s electricity supply, according to preliminary data from the 2009 National Energy Balance, conducted by the Energy Research Corporation (EPE).

Over 7,000 MW of wind power are expected to be installed this year in the U.S. That’s down from 2008’s record 8,545 MW, but that still would make it the second best year in the history of the industry. Not bad, at a time when the rest of the economy tanked and the value of your primary financial policy driver became all but worthless.

Two rather successful venture capitalists, Brad Feld and Fred Wilson, have been at the forefront of bucking the ridiculous claim that VCs only invest in companies that have patents, as both have spoken out about how patents tend to stifle innovation, and how their portfolio companies are often held back by patents, rather than helped by them. It looks like both of them are also quite aware of how copyright gets in the way of basic innovation as well. Brad Feld has a post up about how he created a Pandora station based on Fred’s blog post detailing his top albums of the decade. Pretty cool, right?

Well, the problem is that Brad sent Fred an invite to this “station,” and Fred is traveling for the holidays in Argentina with his family. So, because of ridiculous demands from copyright holders that make it so Pandora is only available in the US, Brad gets informed that Fred cannot access the station that Brad created for Fred solely due to ridiculous copyright holder demands. Yes, even though Fred almost always accesses Pandora from the US, but just happens to be in Argentina this week, Pandora says he can’t listen to the station that Brad created for him. Brad makes a good point, that any human can understand why this situation is silly, but computers still can’t quite figure it out, noting: “The level of interaction of human and machine is high, although the level of sophistication is pretty low.” As for Fred’s summation of the situation? “Rights holders fuck everything up.” Indeed.

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When you are making mashed potatoes, you don’t usually reach for your slow cooker. However, you actually can make yummy mashed potatoes in your Crockpot. Here is a fantastic recipe from the Idaho Potato Commission for Traditional “Slower Cooker” Mashed Idaho Potatoes.

Image: Idaho Potato Commission

Yield: 12 (3/4 cup per serving)

Ingredients:

• 5 pounds Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt or to taste
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
• 1 2/3 cup whole milk

Directions:

1. Coat a 6 1/2-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Add potatoes and pour water over potatoes, stir, cover and cook on high setting 3 hours or until potatoes are tender.

2. Drain excess liquid and return potatoes to slow cooker. Reduce heat to low, add all but 1 tablespoon of the butter, salt and pepper. Using a potato masher or a hand held electric mixer, beat on medium speed until potatoes are thoroughly mashed (while potatoes are in the slow cooker). Slowly add the milk and beat until creamy, do not overbeat or they will be stiff and have a “gummy” texture.

3. Place the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a small microwave bowl and cook on high setting 25-30 seconds or until just melted. Drizzle evenly over potatoes.

Estimated Nutritional Analysis per Serving: 230 calories, 13 g total fat, 8 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 35 mg cholesterol, 390 mg sodium, 3 g fiber, 5 g protein, 23 g carbohydrate

Post from: Blisstree

“Slow Cooker” Mashed Potatoes

We told you two weeks ago that Samsung Omnia II was available for pre orders in Argentina through the carrier Personal. Finally, that Windows Phone have arrived to those lands and users can adquire it trough Personal. The plans available are the same that we told you in previous post.

Source: emovilPRO

This post was submitted by teo.

Daily Random Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 465 grams / 1 pound onions, sliced very thinly
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unrefined sugar or maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 cups hot water
• 6 vegetable stock cubes (enough for 6 cups water)
• 4 teaspoons vegemite, yeast extract or dark miso
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2/3 cup marsala, dry sherry, medeira, or sauterne (or any drinkable red wine)
• Freshly ground white pepper, to taste (or black pepper if desired)
• 6 thick slices of rustic italian bread, toasted
• Soy parmesan

METHOD:
In a large, heavy pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until they become tender and start to brown, stirring often and adding a little water from time to time if they start to cook. Add the sugar and salt and stir briefly. Add the water, stock cubes, vegemite/miso and soy sauce. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the wine and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add white pepper to taste. Place a piece of toast in each soup bowl and ladle soup over it. Sprinkle liberally with soy parmesan and serve hot.

NOTES:
From ‘Nonna’s Italian Kitchen’, by Bryanna Clark Grogan.

Finally. Over a year after iPhone users got their native Yammer fix, Android has an official Yammer application available on Android Market. The application, while still fairly basic, comes with support for most of Yammer’s core functionality. If you use Yammer and you have an Android phone, you’ll want this app. We can’t link directly to the app because Google still hasn’t launched a strong web presence for the Market, but you can find it by running a query for “Yammer” from your phone.

The new application is actually derived from the codebase of Yowl, a third party app for Android that Yammer acquired a couple months ago. CEO David Sacks says that the application has been off the Market since the acquisition, primarily so that the team could fix a few issues. Now it’s good to go.

While a mobile application isn’t totally essential to using Yammer (you can use SMS, and the web app works well enough from mobile browsers), they sure make life easier. The Android application can automatically notify you when you have new messages, and you can leave it running all day in the background (on the iPhone you have to set up Push notifications). We’ve relied heavily on Yammer since its launch at TechCrunch50 2008, and this will make things much easier for those of us who have made the jump from the iPhone (or something else) to Android.

I’ve been playing with the app throughout the day and found it to work well overall, but it isn’t perfect yet. I found a bug or two (for instance, whenever I try to jump back in a message I’m writing to correct a typo, the whole message disappears). And there are some features that aren’t in the app yet, like the ability to granularly control which messages should issue an audio/vibrating alert. Sacks says the app will definitely be upgraded with more features in the future.

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It’s been a while since we first saw the $199 NorhTech Gecko hit the scene, but the AA-powered netbook looks to finally be hitting US shores in proper fashion, and the crew at Lilliputing just got their tester. Inside it’s no great shakes, with a 1GHz Xcore86 processor, 512MB of RAM, an 8GB SD card, and an 8.9-inch 1024 x 600 display — but almost every component can be swapped out for a more powerful variant, including the processor. That’s certainly intriguing, especially for the education market NorhTech is targeting, but we’re mostly on the edge of our seats waiting to find out how long those AAs last under some real use. Check one video after the break and another at the read link.

Continue reading NorhTech Gecko netbook loaded up with AAs and booted

NorhTech Gecko netbook loaded up with AAs and booted originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPhone, App Store

I was just watching CNBC and saw a commercial for a special called “Planet of the Apps: A Handheld Revolution!” The one-hour program looks at how the launch of the Apple iPhone in June of 2007 gave birth to a revolution in mobile technology. The main site lists some highlight from the show, including a piece on Heroes actor Greg Grunberg and his “second job” as an app developer (he’s one of the people behind the Yowza! app). From the press release:

Apps are everywhere. In less than two years, the app craze has taken over. These small applications – or apps – that fit on our mobile phone do everything from helping us accomplish mundane tasks to keeping us entertained while we wait for the bus.

Apps are popular and profitable. Studies estimate, the Apple iPhone apps store alone generates about $200 million a month in sales. Innovative and often addictive apps are changing the way we work and live.

Welcome to Planet of the Apps: A Handheld Revolution. In this hour we’ll look at how apps have changed our lives, meet some of the creators behind them, and figure out just how big a business they really are.

CNBC’s “Planet of the Apps: A Handheld Revolution!” will premiere on Thursday, January 7th at 10PM, and repeats at 1AM. No comment on the cleverness of the show’s title, or lack thereof.

TUAWCNBC to air ‘Planet of the Apps’ on January 7 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“Government 2.0” has been a big buzzword of 2009, with thought-leaders like Tim O’Reilly and The Sunlight Foundation showing the way. It’s a movement that pushes public institutions to use technologies that have thrived in the last five years like social networking and blogging to foster closer relationships with citizens. This entails being more open with data, and encouraging regular people to transform it through mashups and apps for use by others.

A few city governments have made good on their pledges to be more transparent. San Francisco unveiled DataSF, a central clearinghouse for data collected by the city, and showcases some apps here. New York City went a step further, launching a full-on apps contest through Betaworks-backed startup ChallengePost.

It’s been almost three months since the contest launched, and several interesting applications have turned up. Here are a few, and you can check out the rest here. (To be clear, some of the data for these apps is collected through the government like with Bookzee and some of it is bootstrapped.)

Primospot: Hands down, the biggest pain of owning a car in a major metropolitan city is finding a place to park. Primospot is building a database of all parking regulations in Boston and New York, so you can figure out where you’re legally allowed to park now or in the near future. Primospot generates maps like the one above, showing what’s in the red zone and not. Primospot can also send you text messages for when your parking space is about to expire and you can search for parking in the near future (in case you’re working during the day and want to figure out where to park when you go out at night.) And, in case you don’t think it gets any better, you can also compare parking garage prices in real-time. The company just launched an iPhone app called iPark, so you can record where you’ve parked in case you forget it.

All in all, it seems like a very helpful app and one that’s sorely needed in a public transportation-asphyxiated city like San Francisco. The user interface could be a smidgen better. I’d rather see markers showing how much of the curb is available for parking rather than noting a single point along several blocks. It’s a helpful start and the team has been very aggressive in adding features every month.

Bookzee: This app helps you find available library books nearby. You can search for books either on the web site or through the iPhone app and it will show you which nearby libraries have it available. Again, it’s only available in New York. San Francisco’s library system has its own online search, through it could benefit from a facelift and some mobile availability.

Taxihack: Rude taxi drivers better watch out. This app lets people leave Twitter-style mini-reviews of drivers using their medallion number. The interface is barebones for now, but it’s a big step up from the old way of reporting poor taxi drivers. (That was to call 311 and testify before the Taxi & Limousine Commission.) Now if only there was a way to take photos of medallions and pull up reviews, Google Goggles-style. That’s for another day…

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Just a quick note to let everyone know that Bey’s show in Rio de Janeiro are now SOLD OUT. You can check the details here.

Towards the end of 2009 it was revealed published a document which purportedly described an Iranian plan to do experiments on what the newspaper described as a neutron initiator for an atomic weapon. However, it seems US intelligence sources find this Iran nuclear document to be a fabrication. Shortly before his term as head of the IAEA ended, Dr. Elbaradei reiterated that using the language of force on this issue has not been helpful and despite some serious failings recently failings by Iran not to disclose an enrichment facility by a certain time, to present the Iran threat as imminent is hype.

This update expands on the above as well as adds a few notes on the recent political violence that has erupted as Iran’s security forces have clamped down on protesters supporting moderate opposition parties.

Read full article: Iran

Some people are surprised to learn that many cats can’t tolerate cow’s milk. While a kitten may be able to digest mother cat’s milk, it can be a very different story when it comes to cow’s milk. Lactose intolerance occurs when a cat is unable to break down the sugar in milk.

Symptoms of lactose intolerance in felines can include vomiting and diarrhea. Cats suffering from lactose intolerance may drink extra water to make up for dehydration. While some dairy products can cause diarrhea in sensitive cats, digesting other dairy products can have the opposite effect. Cheese may cause constipation in cats!

If a cat is fed a lot of dairy, skin irritation may also occur. If you’re concerned that your cat is lactose intolerant, talk with your vet and play it safe by not feeding dairy products. Visit the pet store for cat-safe milk substitutes like Cat-Sip that contain essential dietary requirements like taurine. Though my cat longs for ice cream, he’ll accept Cat-Sip!

Do you give dairy products to your cat?

(Image via flickr/Ryan Wick)

Post from: Blisstree

Is Kitty Lactose Intolerant?

San Francisco, California | Rites and Rituals

At its founding in 1872, the Bohemian Club was founded as an official regular meeting of journalists, artists, and musicians. The building’s exterior is adorned with plaques bearing owls and the Club’s motto, “Weaving spiders come not here,” just as it had when early members Ambrose Bierce, Mark Twain, and Jack London roamed its halls. That soon changed, however, when local businessmen and entrepreneurs were granted admission.

Still headquartered today in its original location at Post and Taylor, it has become among the most exclusive men’s clubs and/or secret societies in the United States. Club standards remain so high that honorary membership is offered to only some United States presidents, usually bestowed prior to their inauguration, and a select coterie of international business leaders and policy-makers.

Every year the Bohemian Club holds a two-week-long gathering at their private forest in Sonoma County, Bohemian Grove. The notorious “camp” reunites members from around the world to participate in male bonding, unabashed bacchanalia, and debauchery such as relieving themselves on the surrounding redwood trees in a “display of man’s power over nature.” The half-sanctimonious Cremation of Cares opens the festivities, in which members figuratively (and sometimes literally) burn away the responsibilities of their outside lives.

The present corps are understood to include George Bush (the elder), Henry Kissinger, board members from Halliburton, Bank of America, and international members of the so-called “oiligarchy.” Put bluntly, the Bohemian Club’s roster can read like a complete list of modern day hegemony, replete with powerful, conservative white men. To this day, very few Jews and even fewer black members have been granted admission to the elite circle.

Despite the club provenance suggesting that theirs is an organization for enjoyment rather than networking, historically “lakeside talks” in the Grove have allegedly laid a covert groundwork for successful presidential campaigns (such as the case with Richard Nixon in 1967), the Manhattan Project, and future international policy, to name a few.

Recently the group has attracted public ire for logging Bohemian Grove’s virginal redwoods after attaining a nonindustrial timber management plan, which allows for the production of timber without the usual government oversight associated with industrial forestry.

Given that members inhabit the upper echelons of moneyed society throughout the world, many in the general public have criticized their actions for, in addition to these being among the rarest trees on the planet, it is unlikely that Bohemian Club members are logging their sacred woods to stave off financial hardships.

Regardless of political leanings, visitors will have a difficult time gaining entry to the Club’s headquarters or the Grove itself… Unless cozying-up to an old family friend is an option, in which case please report back with details!

Are we really on the verge of the Apple tablet? Seems so, as the rumor mill has been working in overdrive lately.

First the mobile device has recently been outted as the iSlate — that is, if you believe the bloggers who’ve made like Robert Downey Jr and put on their Sherlock Holmes hats. Thanks to some super-sleuthing by MacRumors and TechCrunch, the investigation has exposed that the URL www.islate.com has been bought up by a company that may be a cover for a mega corporation known as (you guessed it) Apple.

And the name ISLATE is trademarked by another company, whose business dealings have been impossible to pin down, but whose description and other details matches Cupertino like a glove. Naysayers are commenting that this is just a diversion, and doesn’t necessarily mean that the iSlate name is official. This could be true, but factor in that Bill Keller from the New York Times (which has been in bed with Cupertino for ages) referred to something called an “Apple Slate” two months ago, and suddenly this rumor has an air of authenticity around it.

The tablet, or iSlate, was once expected to be released by now, but the gossip mongers are now looking to Q1 2010 (with some sort of announcement possibly happening next month, in January). The reason was seemingly an issue with the touchscreen.

Apparently, the device was delayed due to weaknesses in the glass display. According to DigiTimes, Innolux, a subsidiary of the Foxconn Group that assembles the iPhone, is on deck to manufacture the tablet. It will be the main plant for the tablet touchscreens. (Another company called Wintek might become an alternate supplier later on.) G-Tech Optoelectronics, Foxconn’s glass-processing subsidiary, has a process for strengthening the display and will implement it with Wah Hong Industrial, a Taiwan-based company that makes optical film.

Next month, all eyes will hopefully be on those glass screens, as the tablet — which has been the subject of rumors, including a 7-inch model or a 10-inch version (depending on which blogs you follow) — is expected to be unveiled by Apple late next month. March or April are pegged as the ship dates, thanks to a DigiTimes analysis of shipping schedules for Apple component vendors.

It looks like the Yerba Buena Center of the Arts in San Francisco has been booked for a few dates in late January, presumably by Apple. The stories are swirling around January 26th as an announcement date. And the New York Times spoke to current and former Apple employees, who claim that Steve Jobs is “extremely happy with the new tablet,” which has apparently “hit the sweet spot.”

On an interesting note, one former Apple staffer says that the ways users will interact with the tablet will be very surprising. Could that have anything to do with the reports that two Apple patent applications involved a tactile feedback keyboard? I can only hope. A keyboard with tactile feedback on an Apple tablet would be ridiculously sweet. So would an OLED screen, though there’s nothing resembling confirmation on that yet. Maybe that’s for the best. The price would be jacked up pretty high for that. And yet, I can’t help but daydream.

Now this doesn’t mean all the questions have been answered, far from it. What operating system will this sport? An iPhone OS or a variation on Snow Leopard? How much will this daydream cost? Will it be 3G-enabled or available via carrier subsidy? What carrier could it possibly go to?

I know we’re about to see 2009 come to a close, but the new year still just can’t seem to get here fast enough.

Via: BoyGenius Report, Phone Arena

Well, well, it looks like Camangi’s WebStation is finally making good on its shipments. The first of Gear Diary’s two pre-orders arrived and the gang has been more than happy to put together quick unboxing video for us to enjoy. It’s a pretty standard box with equally customary assortment of packaged accessories, suction cup stand (pictured) notwithstanding. The 7-inch Android tablet looks pretty matched with the Nook in terms of overall size, but by design that lends itself to having a larger overall screen. Not much in the way of impressions at this point, but if you’re the type of person who can be satisfied with a video and a handful of product / comparison shots, hit up Gear Diary for the still frames and stay tuned after the break for the “moving pictures” version.

Continue reading Camangi WebStation lands in American hands, promptly unboxed on video

Camangi WebStation lands in American hands, promptly unboxed on video originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve never tried yoga before, make 2010 your year to finally give it a try. Yoga has several benefits, both mental and physical.

If you’re feeling stressed, taking time out for a yoga session can work wonders for you. When you practice yoga, you’re living in the moment, focusing on your body or breathing, not demands of others or worrying thoughts that may cross your mind.

Yoga keeps you busy with poses that help make you stronger. You may not think that yoga can help you gain strength, but anyone who’s tried the downward-facing dog pose will argue with you! Many yoga poses give you the opportunity to use muscles that aren’t often worked very hard. In the end, you’ll gain strength and tone your muscles.

Practicing yoga may even help keep your heart healthy. New research has shown that heart rate variability (beat-to-beat changes in heart rate) is higher in yoga practitioners than in non-practitioners. Heart rate variability is a sign of a healthy heart. Other studies have shown that yoga, along with meditation, can reduce blood pressure and risk of heart disease. Yoga has also been proven effective for low back pain!

If you’ve always wanted to try yoga, but felt intimidated, just take a deep breath and walk into a beginner’s yoga class with your mat and some comfortable clothes. No one is going to watch you and make fun. They’ll all be busy concentrating on getting their own moves down. If it makes you feel better, take a place in the back so you don’t feel watched. Plus, you won’t always have to go to a class. Once you learn the basics, you should be able to practice at home. However, attending class is good motivation for some.

Are you going to try yoga this year?

(Image via stock.xchng)

Post from: Blisstree

Yoga for the New Year