The year is winding down, and as the end approaches it is a good time for reflection. That reflection can take many forms — some sites compile a list of the most highly trafficked posts of the year, an interesting look at hot topics of the year. I thought about doing such a list, but decided to take a different tack at the look back.

What sets jkOnTheRun apart from other tech sites is the engaging community. A lot of posts on the site result in good conversations, and a sharing of ideas and views. We have a very intelligent audience, and the sharing of ideas in the comments is a valuable resource to us all. There is often more good information shared in the comments on the posts here than on many tech sites in general. So it seems only fitting to list the 10 most engaging posts on jkOnTheRun for 2009. This was determined by the number of comments left on the posts, an indicator of the best conversations here for the year.

Here is the top 10 list of conversations:

1. Windows Mobile vs. Android: WinMo is Better Than You Think. Nothing fires up good conversation like the passion toward one platform or another. This post pointed out that Windows Mobile is not as bad as many think, even though it is frequently bashed.

2. Verizon MiFi 2200 Review– Mobile Broadband Done Right. The MiFi is the gadget I consider the best gadget of the entire year, and the comments show that I am not alone with that view.

3. 10 Updates My Palm Pre Needs Now. The Palm Pre was a big launch this year, and as innovative as the phone is, it’s not perfect. This post addressed things the Pre was lacking at launch.

4.  Kevin Tofel Needs Your Thoughts and Prayers. We are fortunate to have the great community here, and we consider you our friends. The friendship we have forged was never more evident than when Kevin faced a tragedy this year and many stepped up to offer good thoughts for him during that rough time.

5.  We Have a New Look! What Do You Think? When we updated the tired look of the site we asked for your opinions and you didn’t disappoint us.

6.  I’m Putting My Palm Pre on Notice. Kevin kicked up some dust when he put his Pre on notice. His frustrations with the phone touched a nerve with many other Pre owners.

7.  Palm Pre: Thoughts After Using it a Day. No question the Palm Pre was one of the hottest mobile tech topics this year as it appears multiple times in this list. My impressions of the phone after using it a day kicked off a good conversation.

8.  Is Gmail’s Spam Filtering Failing For You, Too? Gmail has grown positively huge, and when a lot of spam started creeping into the inbox, many had some things to say about that.

9.  Palm Pre WebCast Tidbit: Browser Nearly 4x Faster than iPhone. The Pre makes the list again as a lot of folks got excited to see how fast the browser operates. The video in the post demonstrates how fast the Pre browser handled a complex web site.

10. HP tc1100 — a Viable Alternative to the Netbook. Netbooks have been big news this year, and this post that pointed out low-cost alternatives was a good conversation starter.

Toyota is the undisputed world leader in hybrid vehicle sales, so it’s no surprise the company dominates the charts when it comes to patents for “electric propulsion vehicles.” A recent study conducted by the Japan Patent Office on global trends in the EV industry found that 76 percent of the 16,670 patents filed for electric propulsion vehicles (here defined as pure electric vehicles, hybrids and fuel cell vehicles, yet excluding railroad vehicles) came from Japanese companies.

As you can see in the tables above (unedited version here), Toyota has filed dramatically more patent applications than anyone else. What’s surprising is this this list only takes into account patent applications filed from 2001 to 2006, which is after the Prius debuted. Many more applications were filed in this time frame than in 1995-2000, and the numbers are still climbing.

[Source: Tech-On]

REPORT: 76% of “electric propulsion vehicle” patent applications come from Japan originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ever wonder how much time you spend sending messages on your BlackBerry? How about the amount of time you play Word Mole? A handful of applications will provide you with a rough breakdown, but none I’ve seen are quite as elegant as SmrtMonitor. It’s from the makers of SmrtGuard, a wireless backup and remote tracking service for BIS users. The application tracks how much time you spend on each BlackBerry application and then presents it in a number of formats.

(more…)

Owners of 2005 – 2007 Chevrolet Corvette and 2006 – 2007 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 with a removable roof may have the unpleasant surprise to lose the roof entirely due to a bad roof and adhesive binding the roof panel to the frame. At least this is what Chevrolet says, as it announced it is recalling 22,000 Corvettes to fix the issue.

"General Motors is recalling certain model Corvette and Corvette Z06 equipped with removable roof. The adhesive between the roof panel and the fr… (read more)

The entire pharmaceutical industry is based on the idea that for whatever’s wrong with you, there’s a patented chemical pill that can make it better. Feeling some anxiety? There’s a pill for that. Have high blood pressure? There’s a pill for that, too. Suffering from sleepless nights? There’s yet another pill for that, too.

Importantly, modern medicine and the pharmaceutical industry both believe there is no limit to how many prescription medications you can simultaneously take. If you have ten health problems, they’ve got ten different pills for you. And when those pills cause twenty different dangerous side effects, they’re ready for twenty more prescriptions for you to dutifully swallow. Read more…

Often people call a travel pillow by the name neck pillow, however it’s not correct. A neck pillow is a pillow for sleeping that helps relieve pain and improve spinal posture by having a built-in neck roll that supports your neck. They are often called support pillows or orthopedic pillows. They help maintain the correct curvature in your spine on your back and keep the spine in alignment when on your side.

A travel pillow is a U-shaped pillow that you can use for neck support when on a plane, traveling by bus, or a car. You can call it a travel neck pillow, but calling a travel pillow a neck pillow or calling a neck pillow a travel pillow is not technically correct.

So to make sure you don’t make a mistake when trying to find, order, or recommend one of these, you now will know what a true neck pillow is versus a travel pillow.

Visit Arc4life.com for your online selection of cervical support neck pillows, orthopedic pain relief products and Home traction units. Products for pain relief.

Additional Reading Resources:

• Travel Pillows that Will Keep you Comfortable
• Travel Pain Free this Holiday Season with the Right Neck Pillow
• A Supportive Travel Neck Pillow for a 20 Hr Flight…
• Home Neck Pain Relief with Surgery or Medications?
• Sleeping During A Flight with the Right Neck Neck Pillow
  

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Goldman Sachs plans to launch a bevy of emerging markets exchange-traded funds (ETFs) according to regulatory filings. These new funds could track the Brazilian, Chinese, Indian, and Korean stock markets, in addition to others.

As we understand it, they would be the first ETFs directly from Goldman, though Goldman already has some Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs) and there are also ETFs that currently exist following Goldman-constructed indices as benchmarks.

It’s an interesting move that shows how ETFs are increasingly being marketed to the big boys. We doubt Goldman is simply trying to build up its retail trader client base. These ETFs will likely be for institutions to replace smaller fund managers, we speculate. If a large U.S. fund wants some Brazilian exposure, they’ll be able to invest in a Brazil-tracking Goldman ETF rather than hire some plain vanilla Brazil fund who would simply track the benchmark anyways.

Index Universe: However, the filing only mentions index-based ETFs—not actively managed ones—which is interesting, given that Goldman is better known for its active management strategies.

Both the equity and fixed-income funds will also be allowed to utilize cash and in-kind redemptions, which should help keep spreads narrow. No mention was made of fees or what indexes would be used. A 40-APP is not a definitive signal that a firm will begin launching ETFs in the near future, but it does seem likely that 2010 could see the first ETFs from Goldman hit the market.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Goldman: Admit It, This Recovery Sucks
• The Goldman Housing Scandal Isn’t A Scandal: It’s Inevitable
• Goldman Blasts The New York Times’s Hit-Job

We’ve already seen that early builds of Google’s Chromium OS can be hacked onto existing machines, but those Chrome OS netbooks that the software giant has planned for next year have remained curiously elusive until now. According to both IBTimes and Netbook News, the company is in talks with a number of outfits in order to bring at least a few sub-$300 options to the market that are well suited to power through its first non-mobile operating system. For starters, we’re told that the 10.1-inch machine will be ARM-based, while NVIDIA’s Tegra platform (likely the second generation) steers the graphical ship. There’s also promise of a multitouch panel (1,280 x 720 resolution), 64GB SSD, WiFi, 2GB of RAM, integrated 3G connectivity, Bluetooth, an Ethernet jack, an undisclosed amount of USB sockets, webcam, 3.5mm audio jack, a multi-card reader, a 4- or 6-cell battery and optional GPS. Wilder still, a $200 configuration could very well pop up, and it looks as if (at least initially) Google will sell the device(s) directly through its own website — much like Fusion Garage has done with the Joojoo tablet. ‘Course, it’ll still take some arm twisting to get the low-end crowd to try anything not labeled “Windows,” but if anyone can do it, it’s the company that inexplicably kept Gmail in “beta” for over five years.

Google’s Chrome OS-based netbook specs leak out, look good originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 07:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Retail sales are up 3.6% for November 1st to Christmas Eve compared to last year.

Good new!

Alas, we only improved 1% from last year if strip out the extra holiday shopping day we had.

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AP:  U.S. stock futures crept higher Monday as investors returning from a long holiday weekend were heartened by good news on retail sales.

Overseas markets were also higher. The dollar weakened against other currencies, giving commodities prices a boost. Bond prices fell.

Data released Monday showed shoppers opened their wallets more this season, a good sign that consumers are feeling better about the economy.

Figures from MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse, which track all forms of payment, show retail sales rose 3.6 percent from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, compared with a 2.3 percent drop a year ago. Adjusting for an extra shopping day between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the number was closer to a 1 percent gain.

Consumer spending is one of the biggest drivers of economic growth and is vital to a sustained recovery.

Investors will also be keeping a close eye on airline stocks after a failed attack on a Northwest flight on Christmas Day. Another incident on the same flight to Detroit from Amsterdam on Sunday raised further alarm.

Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc., which owns Northwest, slipped 14 cents to $11.63 in premarket trading. UAL Corp., which operates United Airlines, fell 42 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $12.67.

Stocks are currently at their highest levels of the year, and in the absence of any bad news, analysts say the market is likely to drift higher during the final days of 2009. Trading volume has been extremely light due to the holidays, which can exaggerate price swings. Markets were closed on Friday for Christmas and will be closed again this Friday for New Year’s Day.

Ahead of the market’s open, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 4, or 0.04 percent, to 10,470. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 1.20, or 0.1 percent, to 1,123.20, and Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 4.25, or 0.2 percent, to 1,872.25.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 1.3 percent to its highest close since late August, boosted by encouraging news on factory production. In afternoon trading, Germany’s DAX index rose 0.7 percent, while France’s CAC-40 rose 0.8 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 was closed for a holiday.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.85 percent from 3.80 percent Thursday.

Commodities prices rose as the dollar fell. Commodities are priced in U.S. dollars, so when the greenback is weak they become more attractive to foreign buyers.

The ICE Futures U.S. dollar index, which measures the dollar against other major currencies, slipped 0.1 percent. Oil prices gained 35 cents to $78.40 a barrel in electronic premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold prices also rose.

Major stock indexes ended a holiday-shortened session Thursday at new highs for the year following upbeat reports on unemployment and durable goods orders. This week, readings on home prices and consumer confidence are among the few economic reports expected.

Stocks have managed to grind higher this month despite lingering concerns about the economic recovery. But the gains have been more subdued than in recent months as investors have held back on taking risks heading into the end of the year. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 66.5 percent since hitting 12-year lows in March.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• FLASHBACK: Newsweek’s 1997 Holiday Gadget Shopping List!
• Walmart Takes On Amazon And eBay With New Shopping Portal
• After Dropping, Credit Card Charge-Offs Are Back On The Rise

Nem toda lentidão de computador é sinal de que ele precisa ser formatado. Às vezes mesmo que você tenha longos períodos de lentidão, pode ser algo mais simples do que parece e inclusive relativamente fácil de ser resolvido. Abaixo seguem alguns pequenos “vilões” que podem estar fazendo com que sua experiência no computador seja menos agradável do que deveria. Clique na imagem ou aqui para ler a reportagem do baixaki.

U.S. Troop Fatalities Double in Afghanistan
A U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan on Sunday raised the American death toll in 2009 to exactly twice the number of those soldiers killed there in that country in 2008. After eight years in Afghanistan, 940 U.S.—and 613 coalition—soldiers have died.  Casualty statistics are available at iCasualties.  —JCL Agence France-Presse via Google News: A US solder was killed in Afghanistan, NATO said on Sunday, raising the American death toll to twice the number of those killed there in 2008, according to an AFP tally. The NATO-run International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the soldier died from an improvised explosive device (IED), the biggest killer of foreign troops in the eight-year battle to contain a Taliban insurgency. “An ISAF service member from the United States died following an IED strike in southern Afghanistan Saturday,” the force said in a statement. The death takes this year’s international military casualties in Afghanistan to 506, according to an AFP tally based on independent website icasualties.org which tracks military deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq. Read more

A U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan on Sunday raised the American death toll in 2009 to exactly twice the number of those soldiers killed there in that country in 2008. After eight years in Afghanistan, 940 U.S.—and 613 coalition—soldiers have died.?

Casualty statistics are available at iCasualties.? —JCL

Agence France-Presse via Google News:

A US solder was killed in Afghanistan, NATO said on Sunday, raising the American death toll to twice the number of those killed there in 2008, according to an AFP tally.

The NATO-run International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the soldier died from an improvised explosive device (IED), the biggest killer of foreign troops in the eight-year battle to contain a Taliban insurgency.

“An ISAF service member from the United States died following an IED strike in southern Afghanistan Saturday,” the force said in a statement.

The death takes this year’s international military casualties in Afghanistan to 506, according to an AFP tally based on independent website icasualties.org which tracks military deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Read more

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Quick Fact: On CNN, Matalin falsely claims “Bush inherited” 9-11 attacks and recession

On the December 27 edition of CNN’s State of the Union, Mary Matalin falsely claimed that President George W. Bush “inherited a recession from President Clinton, and we inherited the most tragic attack on our own soil in our nation’s history.” In fact the 9-11 attacks occurred eight months into Bush’s presidency and more than a month after he had received a Presidential Daily Briefing titled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.,” and the recession began in March 2001.

From the December 27 edition of CNN’s State of the Union:

MATALIN: I was there, we inherited a recession from President Clinton, and we inherited the most tragic attack on our own soil in our nation’s history.

Matalin’s comments were September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks killed 2,973 victims in New York City; Arlington, Virginia; and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The 9-11 Commission stated that on August 6, 2001, Bush received a Presidential Daily Briefing titled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.,” and that Bush “did not recall discussing the August 6 report with the Attorney General or whether [then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza] Rice had done so.” The Commission also “found no indication” that Bush’s aides further discussed with him “the possibility of a threat of an al Qaeda attack in the United States” prior to 9-11 — this despite the fact that “[m]ost of the intelligence community recognized in the summer of 2001 that the number and severity of threat reports were unprecedented.”

Perino previously stated that “We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush’s term.” Matalin’s claim about the 9-11 attacks follows former Bush White House Press Secretary Dana Perino’s false assertion on the November 24 edition of Fox News’ Hannity that “We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush’s term.”

Fact: According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, recession began in March 2001 during Bush presidency

NBER determined that recession started exactly 10 years after expansion that began in March 1991, “the longest in the NBER’s chronology.” In March 2001, the U.S. economy went into recession for the first time in 10 years, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). NBER — the private, nonpartisan organization whose business cycle announcements have long been considered the definitive word on the topic — announced its determination on November 26, 2001:

The NBER’s Business Cycle Dating Committee has determined that a peak in business activity occurred in the U.S. economy in March 2001. A peak marks the end of an expansion and the beginning of a recession. The determination of a peak date in March is thus a determination that the expansion that began in March 1991 ended in March 2001 and a recession began. The expansion lasted exactly 10 years, the longest in the NBER’s chronology.

Conservative Attorney: Secret Service ‘Violated My Civil Rights’ Outside White House
Attorney Larry Klayman, the founder of Judicial Watch who first attained gadfly status during the Clinton years, is alleging that the Secret Service mistreated him when he went to the White House last week as part of an effort to force President Obama to reveal details of closed-door meetings with health care lobbyists.

Alaska Journo: Palin’s Banned Media List Written By Todd Palin
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It looks like the Obama Administration just can’t quit the company formerly known as Blackwater.

Weak GDP growth, a soaring government deficit, and lack of credible plans to correct anything has led to growing concerns that the British pound could collapse — becoming less valuable than a euro.

The U.S. dollar looks like a star in comparison given higher expected GDP growth in the U.S. and more relative credibility in the government’s ability to control spending in the longer term.

While the pound/euro currently sits at 1.11, the next stop could be parity.

The Times: Douglas McWilliams, the chief executive of the Centre for Economics and Business Research (cebr), said that the British economy was walking “five yards away from the edge of the cliff” and could be toppled by an “unexpected gust”.

The pound is trading at 1.10 against the euro after hitting a low of 1.02 a year ago. However, currency markets are reflecting the expectation of a win for the Conservatives in next year’s election, raising hopes of tougher action to tackle the deficit. Any signs of Labour closing the gap ahead of the election would result in the pound plunging, according to the cebr.

“If I had to bet, I would bet on the side of parity being broken,” said Mr McWilliams, adding that there was significant downside risk for the euro as a result of the divergent economic performances of countries such as Germany and Greece.

Read more here.

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Bank Of England: The World Is Losing Confidence In Us
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The Tattlesnake – Why the GOP Hates ACORN and the Poor Edition
Remember those ACORN-office videos that a right-wing ringer named James O’Keefe, posing as a pimp, surreptitiously taped with Hannah Giles, a young woman pretending to be his prostitute, that were a media kerfluffle a few months back? Watching them gave me a familiar feeling – it was the same feeling I had back in 2003 […]