Category: News

In a debate on oil consumption, energy experts Dr. Richard Pike and Dr. Robert Hirsch trade ideas over when demand for oil will peak. The scary numbers: oil demand will be 37% over 2006 levels by 2030 and the amount of available oil will begin its decline in 2020.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Why CERA Thinks Peak Oil Is Total BS
• Peak Oil Is Real, Says The EIA
• Did Rock Music Predict Peak US Oil Production?

HECUA seeks a highly motivated and organized Office & Program Assistant. This is an entry-level position that combines office and program support. This is an excellent opportunity to learn how a small nonprofit functions and to gain communications, administrative, and organizational skills. This position is based in HECUA’s central office located in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The successful applicant will utilize his/her skill set in many areas:

• Office Support – Serve as primary receptionist; assist with data entry, file updates, recording meeting minutes, and daily mail preparation and distribution. Other projects to include logistical support to Executive Director and mailing fulfillment.
• Program Support – Provide general logistical and administrative support for HECUA’s Director of Programs across a range of programs, committees, and projects. Duties will include coordinating the logistics of student and faculty contract programs and committees, documenting the work or teaching faculty and staff, documenting credit relationships between HECUA and higher ed institutions, managing end-of-program evaluation compilation, and library/resource management.

HECUA is an organization of 18 liberal arts colleges, universities and associations dedicated to education for social justice. Together we shape academically rigorous, study-abroad and off-campus study programs that address the most pressing issues in our neighborhoods, nations and world. This unique educational collaboration engages students, faculty and community members in learning that generates knowledge and tools for social transformation and community building. Our international program sites are in Bangladesh, Ecuador, Northern Ireland and Norway. Programs based in Minnesota focus on issues of poverty and inequality; writing, art and social change; and environmental sustainability. For more information about HECUA, visit the Web site at www.hecua.org.

Qualifications: Required: B.A., strong attention to detail, data entry experience, communication & organizational skills, initiative, and the ability to work on with multiple project supervisors/teams and independently. Strong proficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel.
Preferred: Familiarity with HECUA, experiential education, higher education, and/or nonprofits. Proficiency in web-based applications (Moodle & Salesforce). Familiarity and interest in social justice pedagogy. Interest in higher ed curricula, policy, academic department structures, HECUA programs, and issues related to them.

Terms: This is part-time ongoing. Approx. 20 hours/week. $12.15/hour with full benefits. We offer a flexible schedule, stimulating work environment and opportunity for growth in responsibilities. Will require attendance at monthly staff meeting and some evening hours monthly Sept – May.

To Apply: Send cover letter of interest with résumé. Application deadline is January 27, 2010. Send print materials via USPS to:
HECUA Search Committee – Office & Program Assistant
2233 University Ave W, Suite 210
Saint Paul, MN 55114
Direct questions (no applications please) to: search {at} hecua(.)org. No phone calls, please.

The posting and job description are available at: http://www.hecua.org/jobs.php

HECUA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Candidates of color are encouraged to apply.

App downloads on the iPhone and iPod Touch saw a huge spike this Christmas, especially on the Touch. I know I downloaded more games this weekend than I’ve ever used in my life, just to entertain kids I was visiting.

With all this app downloading going on, though, which apps will prove to have staying power? What can you download today and expect to keep using throughout the next year? Below is my collection of the downloaded apps I used the most in 2009. I’d love to compare lists, so let me know in comments about any hidden gems that you’ve come back to again and again throughout the year.

Sponsor

See also: The Favorite iPhone Apps of Five Geek Rock Stars

Those are the apps I kept coming back to all year, what about you?

The app sharing widget above is from AppsFire, my favorite way to share single or groups of apps with other people by widget or email, and one of 5 app recommendation services we compared feature-by-feature last month.

While we all appreciate the vividness of AMOLED screens, the displays have always come with a caveat – poor visibility in direct sunlight.

Apparently with today’s brighter displays this is no longer an issue, with the Samsung Omnia 2’s AMOLED display besting the transflective LED on the Nokia N900.

With this major disadvantage overcome there is no longer any reason why OLED can not be considered the superior display technology, with its lower power requirements, move vivid colours, deeper blacks and better display angles.

Read more at OLED-Info.

Via Pocketnow.com

Last week, Honda unveiled its HSV-10 GT Super GT race car, a model which is based on the Acura / Honda NSX that we’ll never get to see on the roads. The front-engined HSV-10 GT is powered by a 3.4L V8 making more than 500-hp mated to a Ricardo sequential gearbox.

The HSV-10 GT was recently spotted at the Suzuka Circuit ahead of its first race scheduled for May.

Of course after seeing these pics and videos (posted after the jump) we’re left craving a road-going version.

Click through for the videos and the high-res image gallery.

Honda HSV-10 GT:

Honda HSV-10 GT:

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Temple of VTEC (via AutoBlog)

The Smartphone Round Robin rambles into week three – and this week I’m taking a look at the BlackBerry platform. RIM has recovered from the original Storm (which we luckily didn’t need to review last year) and brought the Storm 2, which seems legitimately decent. The Bold 9700 is also in the house, which to mind is the pinnacle of BlackBerrys today.

I’m seeking help from the good people at CrackBerry.com, so keep an eye on the conversation there. Also keep an eye on our own forums for a post from CrackBerry Kevin, who has webOS this week.

After the break, my hands-on video with BlackBerry!

read more

What with crooks who post status updates while on the lam and snap self-portraits with stolen iPhones, it seems incompetent criminals find technology irresistible. Our latest tale of blundering criminality involves a Bronx man who is quite adept at stealing electronics, but a bit confused about how they work, according to the New York Post:

Jeremiah Gilliam, 22, was caught after playing a stolen game console online — allowing cops in Pelham, where it was stolen, to trace the IP address to his grandmother’s address, cops said.

There, detectives found dozens of video games, laptops, and GPS devices believed to have been stolen from as many as 200 car break-ins and several home burglaries in Westchester County.

While Jeremiah was online gaming away with a stolen Xbox, the console’s owner, a kid, noticed his system was online while playing on another Xbox. He told his parents, who then called the police.

Related Content:
Discoblog: A New Facebook Game: Taunting the Cops When They Can’t Catch You
Discoblog: iPhone Thievery 101: Don’t Send Pics of Yourself to the Rightful Owner
Discoblog: Stole a Piece of the Internets? Prepare to Be Arrested.

Image: flickr / benjamin-nagel

In a somewhat odd interview at Barron’s, hedge fund managers Kevin Duffy and Bill Laggner of Dallas-based hedge fund Bearing Asset Management lay out their view on what they’re shorting and going long.

What’s strange is that the fund is super tiny —  just $60 million under management. But they’ve done well, so for now they get to be experts.

Two years ago, they were shorting Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, money-center banks and brokers, builders, mortgage insurers, etc. Here’s what Duffy and Laggner are thinking today.

Bearing is long on:

• gold (they think it could rise in value to as much as four times the S&P 500)
• consumer staples, discount retailers and pharmaceuticals

Bearing is short on:

• S&P 500
• Japanese and U.S. government long-term bonds (“heavily short”)
• Goldman Sachs

Why short Goldman? “We’re essentially short the political economy, and the most politically connected firm is Goldman Sachs.”

At the heart of our instability, they say, is fractional-reserve banking. They say the government has essentially socialized risk and prevented the bank run, which used to impose discipline on an unstable system.

Read the full interview with Duffy and Laggner at Barrons — >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Analyst Estimates Shoot The Moon For 2010
• JPMorgan: Short The Dollar, Buy AAA CMBS, And Go Long Emerging Market Credit In 2010
• Morgan Stanley: These 10 Trades Will Make You Rich In 2010

Filed under: Etc., Europe, Videos, Alfa Romeo

Years ago, we read a book by Jerry Mander called Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. While we can’t remember the four arguments, we’ll never forget one point Mr. Mander made. “People in advertising are either good at controlling peoples’ minds, or they enjoy it.” With that said, it looks like Alfa Romeo hired a bunch of people that enjoy controlling folks’ minds, but aren’t very good at it.

What are we talking about? Alfa is selling its sexy little 147 for less than €15,000 (circa $21,600 USD) with a tagline, “We Couldn’t Go Any Lower.” To prove that mantra, they decided to go ahead and lower a billboard more than 36,000 feet down into the Marinas Trench. If you don’t know, the Marianas Trench is the absolute lowest point on earth, more than seven miles below sea level (actual depth is 11,034 meters, or 36,200 feet). And Alfa Romeo just dropped a billboard into it.

We don’t know about you, but we had a pretty visceral reaction to this video. From the self-satisfied, spiky-haired, twenty-something Euro-boy ad men to the fact that they actually went ahead and stuck a billboard in the Marianas Trench, the whole thing feels wrong and sits wrong with us. It would be like placing a Big Mac ad on top of Mount Everest, or advertising Quarter Pounders atop Angel Falls. Of course, there is the chance that either A) The whole campaign is a well staged hoax – although they’ve gone to the trouble of building a whole website to chronicle the process B) They raised the billboard up after filming the video. But still… bad taste… or is that just us? Make the jump to watch the video, decide for yourself, and then drop us your thoughts in Comments. Hat tip to Oliver!

[Source: YouTube via Expedition 147]

Continue reading VIDEO: Alfa Romeo proves that no place is safe from billboards – not even Marianas Trench

VIDEO: Alfa Romeo proves that no place is safe from billboards – not even Marianas Trench originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s too early to tell how many iPhones were unwrapped Christmas morning, but early predictions are guessing that the newly pumped up userbase will drive record sales of iPhone games during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Release.

The report was released by PlayHaven, which helps drive game referrals via social networks, and Mobclix, a mobile ad exchange. The study looked at historical app download data from Mobclix and and projections on how many iPhones were sold during the year. The companies predict that game downloads may soar to levels 28 times greater than the same weekly period last year (although they did not provide totals for either period). PlayHaven’s CEO Raymond Lau: “The week between Christmas and New Years has become the great ‘Game Rush’ for iPhone games—essentially what Black Friday is to brick and mortar retailers. UPDATE: According to Flurry, a mobile app analytics company, iPod Touch download volume jumped almost 1,000 percent on Christmas Day, and overall, the App Store saw a 51 percent increase in downloads from November to December. Furthermore, the Android Market saw a nice 20% bump in app sales as well, sparked primarily by an uptick in downloads from the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid, reports MobileCrunch.

While the study is very vague, you can see how downloads will jump for all application categories, as new users download their initial apps, and other more established users may look for something to kill time with, or cash in on iTunes gift cards.

Related

• Can Playhaven Turn Promoting iPhone Games—And Developers—Into A Viable Business?

We knew it was coming soon, and after perusing through Sprint’s support website for the Palm Pre, it appears that today (December 28th) is the official release date.  According to the website, webOS 1.3.5 will offer the following:

• Improvement in battery life optimization when in marginal coverage areas.
• QCELP capability fix to allow play and audio of video sent via MMS.
• Launch Google Maps or Sprint Nav when tapping an address from contacts.
• Minimized package of MR size through binary difference. Customers can now download over 2G connections if necessary.

Not as major as 1.3.1 or other versions of the past, but it’s nice to see Palm continue to address concerns.  Keep your fingers on the upgrade button, download it, and let us know what you think!

Via: BGR

FCC broadband advisor Blair Levin tells B&C that he does not think any of the commission’s plans for spectrum reclamation “threatens the future of over-the-air broadcasting.” But he also says that broadcasters own actions and revenue streams do not support retaining all of their spectrum all of the time. 

Levin’s team has been working over the holidays as they bear down on a Feb. 17 deadline for getting the national broadband plan to Congress, a deadline Levin tells B&C they will meet, if not beat.

He says broadcasters need to be thinking about how to work with the FCC to help resolve the looming spectrum crisis, and calls “quite extraordinary” some broadcasters suggestion there is no looming crisis. Though he concedes the crisis is not yet upon us, he also suggests that the time to fix the roof is when the sun is still shining. Full interview on B&C.

Also, Levin did an interview with C-Span last week, on similar issues, and the video is embedded below:

For those of you familiar with Forbes magazine, they have been publishing annual valuations of all the professional sports teams for years, but for the last two, they’ve put together the value of the top college football teams as if they were a capitalized business. Unlike professional franchises which can be bought and sold in the open market, our teams belong solely to the university and their capitalization must be measured in a different sort of way. For Forbes, they looked at the *dividend* that is paid out to the *shareholders* in three different fashions: 1–Profits made for the university to plow back into football and into academic programs; 2–Revenue generated for the teams’ respective conference; 3–Revenue generated for the surrounding community.

1) Texas, $119M value, $59M profit, Austin metro population, 1.51M

2) Notre Dame, $108M value, $38M profit, South Bend pop. 317k

3) Penn State, $99M value, $50M profit, State College pop. 145k

4) Nebraska, $93M value, $49M profit, Lincoln pop. 295k

5) Alabama, $92M value, $38M profit, Tuscaloosa pop. 207k

6) Florida, $88M value, $41M profit, Gainesville pop. 259k

7) LSU, $86M value, $39M profit, Baton Rouge pop. 774k

8) Ohio State, $85M value, $36M profit, Columbus pop. 1.77M

9) Georgia, $84M value, $45M profit, Athens pop. 189k

10) Oklahoma, $83M value, $40M profit, Cleveland county pop. 240k

11) Michigan, $81M value, $34M profit, Ann Arbor pop. 347k

12) South Carolina, $80M value, $37M profit, Columbia pop. 728k

13) Tennessee, $78M value, $29M profit, Knoxville pop. 691k

14) Auburn, $70M value, $30M profit, Auburn pop. 133k

15) USC, $68M value, $33M profit, LA pop. 9.68M

16) Michigan State, $57M value, $28M profit, Lansing pop. 454k

17) Arkansas, $56M value, $20M profit, Fayetteville pop. 444k

18) Texas A&M, $52M, $22M profit, College Station pop. 207k

19) Wisconsin, $48M value, $17M profit, Madison pop. 562k

20) Oklahoma State, $47 value, $18M profit, Stillwater pop. 78k

Probably the biggest surprise in the group: South Carolina, who despite a long storied tradition of winning, seems to have some of the most loyal fans in the country. They’ve certainly seen big dividends reinvested during Spurrier’s tenure.

Every team except Notre Dame and USC is from the SEC, Big 12 or Big Ten conferences. Twelve of the teams in the group would be considered ‘southern’ teams. The SEC itself has eight of it’s twelve members on the list.

The top three smallest markets: 1) Stillwater, OK 2) Auburn, AL 3) State College, PA

© fanblogs.com

View the original post or comment on The Top 20 Most Valuable College Football Teams…

Tras cancelar la compra de Opel, Magna International con la ayuda del banco ruso Sberbank ha confirmado que pedirán una indemnización a General Motors. Este anuncio ha sido realizado por el consejero delegado del banco, German Gref, durante una entrevista para un canal de televisión rusa.

Las declaraciones han sido las siguientes: “Hemos contraído grandes gastos. Se han hecho una estimación de ellos y hemos entregado una petición para una compensación voluntaria por parte del grupo automovilístico. Si los requisitos no se alcanzan, presionaremos a través de medios jurídicos para conseguir la indemnización”.

Por otra parte, también dejó constancia de su malestar ya que después de haber invertido más de nueve meses en la elaboración de las 9.000 páginas que tenía el documento de la compra de Opel, General Motors se echó atrás dos días antes de la fecha límite sin dar unas “explicaciones esenciales”.

Además, GM podría tener problemas si la demanda judicial tiene lugar en Rusia, dado que Sberbank está estrechamente relacionado con el gobierno de dicho país y podría encontrar un jurado que esté a su favor.

Related posts:

1. General Motors cancela la venta de Opel
2. General Motors se reúne con los compradores de Opel
3. General Motors podría vender Hummer

Hot news, everyone. I just received word from a reliable source deep within the confines of a Chinese brothel, that that our own John Biggs is making a 9.789-inch Apple Tablet in his basement. Now, you wouldn’t know that this random house in a quiet Brooklyn neighborhood is actually the home of a Apple design genius, but that’s what our source says, so it must be true. And all those random reports about Innolux and Cheng Uei Precision producing the Apple slate are just unfounded Internet rumors and should be ignored as such. What’s behind the jump here is the truth.

Our main man on the inside has actually seen the computer in question and states that Biggs has been working on the computer in between reviewing various sex toys and appearing on national TV that last few years. The computer is said to be remarkably robust, but yet underwhelming void of content like most of John’s other work projects. It’s just a bunch of smoke and mirrors, he said.

He also stated that the Apple tablet will hit the market with a $437 MSRP and bundled with a power adapter and a colorful quick-start guide either on March 11th, 2010 or sometime before 2017.

I tried to reach John for a comment, but he’s currently on one of his many European holidays and apparently staying somewhere out of the reach of the Internet. Hopefully I’ll be able to catch up with him next week at CES, but I’ll probably only have a chance for a quick talk. He’ll likely bail on the trade show early again like he did last year.

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A (four day old now) spoof of all the “making of Avatar” videos out there. It makes fun of James Cameron’s 15 year journey to create Avatar. And yes, telesync versions of Avatar are available on BitTorrent now. And watching it that way is nothing at all like watching the movie in a theater in 3D.

The video is below:

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