Having cold feet with your iPhone will cost you $325 starting June 1. AT&T is increasing the fee for breaking early two-year smartphone contracts from $199. The carrier is also decreasing the early termination fee for “dumb” phones by $25 to $150. [AP] (Thanks to Jim!)
NUMMI factory in Fremont, California
Toyota Motors Corp and Tesla Motors last night announced a historic partnership in which both automakers will mass produce electric-vehicles. As a part of the partnership, Toyota will purchase a $50 million stock in Tesla. Tesla also said it will purchase the NUMMI factory in Fremont, California to produce electric-vehicles starting off with the Model S sedan.
Reuters is now reporting that the United Auto Workers are urging Toyota and Tesla to hire union workers when they reopen the doors to the closed NUMMI plant. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said that the news of Toyota and Tesla’s partnership to build EVs in Fremont was “welcome new.”
“Our union’s hope is that this venture will give first hiring preference to former NUMMI employees who are already trained and highly skilled,” Gettelfinger said.
The NUMMI factory originally produced the Toyota Corolla and Tacoma and the Pontiac Vibe for GM before closing its doors after GM pulled its stake during its bankruptcy process in 2009. The plant employed about 4,500 workers represented by the UAW.
– By: Omar Rana
Source: Reuters
Sony Australia has announced the release of a Billabong special edition VAIO W, available in Australia this June at $749SRP. The funky “Imperial Lime” colored lid has splashes of lime green, blue, and black and is the first product collaboration between Sony and Billabong. The notebook comes with Billabong content, including images and video from a new TV series featuring a selection of Billabong’s key surfing athletes. And if your wondering, the color scheme is taken from Billabong’s 2010 Summer board short range destined for retail stores in Australia this July.
Kent Tanigaki, VAIO Marketing Manager Sony Australia, said the product collaboration with Billabong highlighted the focus by both brands on the development of relevant product for the youth market.
“The average age of notebook users is getting younger as they are increasingly used in schools and universities.” Tanigaki said.
“Teaming up with Billabong, the world’s leading action sports and lifestyle company, on this new VAIO notebook is a fantasytic way for us to create a product that really appears to a younger tech savvy audience. Like Sony, the billabong name commands huge respect all around the world and the VAIO W series Imperial Lime will connect with fans of both brands. Together we chose the Imperial Lime design for our first join product because it utilizes bold colors and a story that will resonate with Billabong’s audience.”
The specs of this netbook are pretty appealing to. It has a Intel Atom N450, which has hyperthreading and runs Windows 7 Starter. I have a VAIO W myself and upgraded it to Windows 7 Professional after installing 2GB of RAM. It runs the Aero theme like a dream and the display is quite crisp. It’s a shame however that the right shift key is smaller than usual which can be a minor irritant. The isolation keyboard keys are always nice to use.
Nonetheless, as I said before the 10.1 LED backlit widescreen display (1366×768) can’t play 1080P video on YouTube, but is still very strong. I can run Photoshop, Office 2010 and other applications you wouldn’t really think to run on a netbook with relative ease. It’s mostly due to the aforementioned 1.6GHz Intel processor. It also has a huge 250GB hard drive, which is really quite insane for such a small laptop.
And finally it has an Ethernet port, 2 USB ports, and good quality built-in webcam and microphone that’s useful for Skype or even recording lectures.
Mesmo antes de a Opel iniciar as vendas do nova Meriva, que ocorrerá daqui a algumas semanas na Europa, o monovolume compacto já emplacou um título na Europa, sendo elegido por consumidores como o veiculo de melhor design da categoria.
O evento foi idealizado pela revista alemã Auto Bild, que ouviu 100.000 consumidores locais que elegeram o Opel Meriva como o principal destaque entre as categorias de veículos SUV, Monovolume e 4X4, enfrentando e vencendo 16 concorrentes. Isso mostra a força do design do novo Meriva, que seguiu as mesmas linhas do também aclamados novo Opel Astra e Insignia.
A Opel comemorou o título recebido por seu veiculo, dizendo através de seu vice-presidente, Mark Adams que: “Este prêmio demonstra, uma vez mais, que o público reconhece que alcançamos o nosso objectivo. O Meriva tem um design inovador, desportivo e elegante”. Adams ainda ressalta o fato de o prêmio ter sido escolhido pelos próprios consumidores: “O fato de terem sido os próprios consumidores a votar (…) torna este prêmio muito mais especial”.
Veja logo abaixo as fotos divulgadas da nova Opel Meriva, que realmente conta com um visual totalmente rejuvenescido e muito interessante para sua categoria.
Fonte: AutoPortal
Dear Readers,
Our founder, a digital warrior and friend to many of you, Rafat Ali, is stepping down after eight years building and growing ContentNext. As many of you know, Guardian News & Media acquired ContentNext, and Rafat has decided this is a good time for him to take a break and think about the next chapter. This is the statement the Guardian released today.
Caroline Little
CEO, ContentNext
CEO, Guardian North America
—
Guardian News & Media and ContentNext today announced that ContentNext Founder and Editor Rafat Ali will be leaving the company at the beginning of July. Rafat Ali started paidContent as a blog in 2002, and later added three other sites, paidContent.uk, mocoNews and contentSutra, before the business was purchased by Guardian News & Media in 2008. ContentNext now has some 600,000 unique users and its websites, with their blend of news and analysis, are a must read for senior executives in the media, entertainment, publishing, advertising, mobile, marketing and technology sectors.
Tim Brooks, Managing Director of Guardian News & Media, said: ” As anyone who follows the company and reads our sites knows, Rafat has done an amazing job of building ContentNext from the ground up and we wish him every success in the future.”
Ernie Sander, who has been the managing editor at ContentNext for the past 18 months, will assume a wider strategic role. Co-editor Staci Kramer, Rafat’s first hire at the company, will continue to be a thought leader on and off the site.
Pininfarina suma un modelo más al concepto del Bluecar que desarrolla en forma conjunta con los franceses del grupo Bolloré y que se promete como una opción realmente accesible para quien quiera internarse en el terreno de los eléctricos. Pero mientras tanto, el Nido EV es presentado como una opción más y es parte de los festejos del 80º aniversario del famoso estudio de diseño.
El Nido EV es un coche destinado para un uso en ciudad por su reducido tamaño y su bajo peso. Es un concepto biplaza solamente un poco más grande que un Smart, con un peso total de unos 900 kilos.
Según los datos que acompañan a esta presentación, cuenta con un motor eléctrico de 40 caballos, con 92 libras de par motor. El rango anunciado es de unos 135 kilómetros, con una velocidad máxima de 120 km/h. Acelera hasta 100 km/h en 6,7 segundos y puede recargarse por completo en 8 horas.
Pininfarina tiene en mente desarrollar este coche como parte de un diseño modular que agrupe a diferentes tipos de eléctricos e incluso híbridos, de cuatro puertas, coupé y vehículos comerciales. Según parece una variante de cuatro puertas está en marcha y será mostrada oportunamente. Todo indica que es un proyecto que tiene muchas posibilidades de no quedarse en el camino y que promete mucho para Pininfarina como futuro fabricante de eléctricos.
Vía | Autocar
Blame state for financial distress
If you pay into Social Security, your employer is required by law to contribute a matching amount into the system on your behalf.
PENSION CONCERNS: Evanston teachers grill lawmakers
Evanston teachers grilled lawmakers Monday about reports the cash-strapped state may skip a $4 billion payment to the state’s pension systems, including the teachers’ plan that provides monthly income during retirement.
STATE AFFAIRS: Throw lawmakers into ;’debtors’ prison’?
Illinois has more than $120 billion in debt and unfunded obligations, or roughly $10,000 for every man, woman and child in the state.
Illinois House to resume budget work Monday
The Democratic-dominated legislature will renew its push for a new budget next week, trying to finish ahead of a deadline that would bring Republicans into the mix.
Brady misses hundreds of votes; Quinn criticized for absence
SPRINGFIELD – GOP nominee for governor Bill Brady recently missed more than 200 votes as a state senator during the waning weeks of the legislative session, a Daily Herald review of voting records found.
District 204 pushes idea of ‘deadbeat’ state
Hoping to change state law to allow the school district to legally withhold income tax payments from Springfield, Indian Prairie District 204 will consider a resolution urging lawmakers to approve a “deadbeat amendment.”
“Lessons Learned” Part II: Dr. Sheffield’s initiatives
ROCKFORD (WREX) – The job description: reform Rockford’s school system and, in essence, alter the city’s future. Community leaders have long stressed the two are tied together. So as Dr. LaVonne Sheffield ends year one of her superintendent contract, 13 News focuses on her initiatives in part two of our series “Lessons Learned.”
U-46 announces plans to recall 200 teachers
Two hundred Elgin Area School District U-46 teachers will be getting an extra nice start to their weekends.
Career center faces $200,000 in proposed tuition cuts
Nearly 70 students would be denied spots under District 186 plan
High school juniors and seniors will be fighting for fewer slots in Capital Area Career Center programs if the Springfield School District approves $200,000 in tuition cuts that would limit the number of students it sends there next fall.
CUSD 201 avoids increasing class sizes, at least for now
Community Unit School District 201 in Westmont will not have to increase class sizes to balance its budget, but school officials left the door open for more crowded classrooms in the fall.
Music student fee to help retain teachers in Indian Prairie schools
Ten dismissed music teachers will be restored to the District 204 payroll this fall, but parents will directly pay some of the cost.
Nine years later, HBR to get state funding
HINCKLEY — When Hinckley-Big Rock School District officials won a state grant for nearly $2 million of a $5.5 million construction project, they didn’t know they would be waiting nine years for the money.
University of Illinois trustees approve tuition increase, $620,000 salary for new president
CHICAGO (AP) — University of Illinois trustees voted Thursday to raise tuition for new students by 9.5 percent and approved a contract that pays the school’s incoming president approximately $620,000 a year — about $170,000 more than the man he’ll replace
Ed Dept: $437 million in teacher incentive grants
The U.S. Department of Education will give $437 million in competitive grants to districts that reward teachers for improving student achievement in high-need schools.
Service Above Self awards going to six people in Rockford area
ROCKFORD (WREX) – Downtown Rockford Rotary will present its Annual Service Above Self Awards to six people this afternoon.
Golden Apple names Chicago-area winners
Golden Apple has announced its recipients of the Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching in the Chicago area
Give Quinn the power to stave off meltdown
The state Legislature plans to return to work Monday to slap together a lot of half-baked schemes to paper over a $13 billion deficit.
Who Wears the Pants in Illinois? It’s Not Quinn
Pat Quinn is learning something every governor should know from the moment he takes the oath of office: he’s not the most powerful elected official in Illinois. Not even close.
Politics lately seems about as appetizing as an old canine chew toy, one of those pockmarked rawhide bones covered with doggie drool and bits of regurgitated kibble. The baying pack fights over the bone, yanking it from one pair of slavering jaws to the next. It flips into the air, tumbles at my feet. And I’m supposed to fall to the ground and chomp down on that?
Can States Fix Their Pension Problems?
An article in The Times today details how “errors, misunderstandings and wishful thinking” have caused public pension costs in New York State to explode.
Bill requires diversity in Calif. pension funds
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s public pension funds would have to report the ethnicity and gender of some of the outside investment managers they hire under a bill that passed the state Assembly on Thursday.
baksheesh \bak-SHEESH\, noun:
1. A gratuity, present or tip.
2. A gratuity, tip, or bribe paid to expedite service.
verb:
1. To give a tip.
Michael Giberson
News headlines say, “Orlando wants to prevent gas price gouging,” though the practice Orlando politicians want to stop isn’t price gouging, per se. Rather, the target of the proposal is gasoline retailers near Orlando International Airport who charge substantially higher gasoline prices than neighboring stations. The proposal would require gasoline stations near the airport to post prices in a standardized manner.
Normally, competition between gasoline retailers keeps prices from getting too far apart in a region because at least some customers engage in comparison shopping. Not all customers will comparison shop, and not even all price-aware customers will switch brands or delay refueling for a few pennies a gallon, so retail gasoline markets usually sport a range of prices.
But most of the time the difference between high and low is on the order of 15 or 20 cents a gallon. A station near the Orlando airport has had gasolines prices that almost doubled the prices of other gasoline retailers in Orlando (for example, as noted here before, prices at $4.99 a gallon with competitors asking $2.59 to $2.75 a gallon).
It is an interesting little business niche. Likely most of the sales go to tourists returning a rental car to the airport before hopping a flight home. Likely the tourists are in a rush, they want to refuel near the airport to avoid paying a refueling charge, and they don’t have a good idea on where to buy cheap fuel around the airport. The price isn’t posted on a roadside sign, but the tourist likely assumes, based on general market experience, that the price isn’t too far out of line with neighboring stations. Many start pumping the gas without checking the price on the pump – a few gag at the price but pump anyway – and a very few get back into the car and go in search of cheaper fuel.
The principled libertarian in me objects to imposing the price posting requirement as an infringement on the station owners’ freedom to operate his business the way he sees fit. The consequentialist in me, though, finds it hard to oppose the proposal. It seems a relatively targeted proposal to help consumers avoid paying the high prices that otherwise flourish in this little niche.
Maybe I should worry not so much about this narrowly targeted proposal itself, this minimalist nudge, but rather I should worry about a government that wants to expand its authority over voluntary deals between retailer and consumer. Is this the sort of nudge that eventually shoves society onto a slipperly slope down the road to serfdom?
The principled libertarian in me objects, but the overwhelming majority of the voices in my head say the benefits of this proposal will exceed the costs: targeted in scope and aimed at helping the consumer make an informed choice. Why not?
Belle Centre is the witness to the revival of their own Montreal Canadiens on its 3rd game con Philadelphia Flyers. Thursday’s match has been dominated by the Habs from beginning to end where the final board has 5-1 which is adjusting the series scale to 2-1, Flyers still on the lead.
Much of what the Flyers have done in the past two games seem to have stayed in the Wachovia Center. Michael Leighton is not anymore the unbreakable wall that never allowed 58 attempts from the Canadiens. But what made the Flyers sunk lower in the game are the turnovers that sum up to 11.
Adding another defeat much more a blank score while on their home arena are amongst the reason the Canadiens said after their first win. Captain Mike Richards sees the rally of his team as “an ass-kicking” match.
Evident desperation on the part of the Canadiens worked for them all throughout the game. Both goalie and defensemen is able to contain their counterparts before they face another stuck up minutes.
What can only be called as a seamless victory in the part of Montreal Canadiens will go through a validation come Tuesday where they still enjoy home edge.
Related posts:
We’ve all been there. You’re out and about. You look down at your iPhone, and the battery indicator is screaming. No sweat; you’ll just pop into your favorite spot and charge up. But wait! You forgot your charger at home! How are the honeys gonna hit you up on the two-way if the two-way is dead?
The Scosche flipSync, released today, solves all of our dead two-way (I’m seriously going to call it that from now on. Or at least the rest of this post.) problems, without bulking up your bag.
As if the gents up above don’t do a fine enough job explaining it: the flipSync sits on your keychain, and takes up about the same amount of space as a car remote. Pop it apart, and you’ve got a full-fledged iPhone (or microUSB, if you go that route) charger. It goes on sale this afternoon at Best Buy for $20 a pop. Expensive? A bit — but remember: you’re doing it for the honeys.
Two-way.
The eternally-single Kim Kardashian is seeking professional help in her quest to find a new man to hitch her famous caboose to.
At 29, pals squeal that the unlucky-in-love reality stunner has become “desperate” to get hitched again before she hits 30. In typical Kardashian form, Kim’s taken a huge step in obtaining that goal, , if a tabloid scoop featured in the May 31 issue of In Touch Weekly is to be believed.
A celeb-gawker claims: “Kim has hired a professional matchmaker to help her find love. She wants to find a rich, successful businessman to date, but she doesn’t have much time to meet men, so she’s turning to a professional.”
Kim is hoping a Los Angeles-based wingwoman will help her find a “committed-minded, respectful mate.” The star certainly hasn’t had been very successful on that front in recent years. Her first marriage to allegedly abusive music producer Damon Thomas ended in divorce. Then her relationship with R&B crooner Ray J was ripped about by the controversy surrounding their infamous sex tape. More recently, Kim split from Super Bowl champ Reggie Bush — a rumored womanizer.
Chris Groves takes Circle of Blue’s creative director, J. Carl Ganter, on an exploration of one of the world’s most iconic karst regions.
Welcome to Circle of Blue Radio’s Series 5 in 15, where we’re asking global thought leaders five questions in 15 minutes, more or less. These are experts working in journalism, science, communication design, and water. I’m J. Carl Ganter. Today’s program is underwritten by Traverse Internet Law: tech savvy lawyers, representing internet and technology companies. In early May 2010, Nashville, Tennessee, was drowning. The Grand Ole Opry and the entire downtown was under water following torrential rains. But not far away–near Bowling Green, Kentucky–researchers were going underground into caverns carved through solid limestone by eons of water flow. They wanted to get a sense of how an ancient cave system was behaving as the rains fell above. So, deep down, in Mammoth Cave, I joined Dr. Chris Groves, a world renown cave and limestone karst expert who directs the Hoffman Institute at Western Kentucky University. I follow him on a tour of tunnels, water, and a bit of history.
Just as we’re coming down here in River Hall at Mammoth Cave is the lowest level that are on the public tours, and you can see how the floor’s kind of dark. There’s actually kind of a bathtub ring right here, so this is the highest that the water’s got just in the last couple days and now apparently is receding. This level here that you can see, this is about 45 feet higher than the normal “low” water condition. You see some of the water’s still pooled up. In fact, those benches are usually lined up along the side. They’ve apparently been floating in a lake, and that’s their position as the lake receded. You can see also these–what look like giant rulers, that are essentially giant rulers–those are kind of an old fashioned version of the methods that they used to look at the water levels during the floods. Now, actually, there’s computers that are measuring with probes back there, but just from looking at those, they saw that it was up to 45 feet.
The last time it got up here was up to right about here. . . was in 1984, so we’re real close to it. I have some data from a study in a river in another part of the cave, where it flooded in 1997, where it rained a little bit less than this one, and we have data from there that the river rose about 94 feet in 12 hours–including rising about 24 feet per hour at one point. And 1997 was here. That tape up there was from 1984. Then on the point of that rock up, there there’s actually some tags up there from 1937. So it’s definitely a very dynamic system in here.
We’ll take a little side trip up here that’s pretty cool. So what happens here is that this is the place where the sandstone over top has been removed by erosion–so this waterproof cover has been removed so that you can hear all the water coming down through waterfalls, especially with the rainfall. Now if you look here, this is a bottomless pit–obviously not quite bottomless, since that’s about 90 feet–in fact, it doesn’t look as deep as it usually is because the water’s so high; it’s actually flooded back. I’m not sure, that water may be 20 feet deep? You can make the trip now; you can dive in there just like in Acapulco? I’ll hold your camera if you want, Carl–if you want to try it.
Any of these side passages we’re seeing pretty frequently. . . some of these just extend for miles and miles and miles. One thing about this is that the Cave here is not a pretty dangerous or difficult cave to explore.–I mean, it is because it’s so vast; there’s definitely very remote sections of it–but of all the hazards, this idea of flooding is really the most potentially hazardous issue.
One of the most famous cave explorers was a guy named Stephen Bishop in the 1830’s and 1840’s. He really got very interested in the Cave and made really very significant discoveries. Everything that we’ve just seen from the lower levels that we’ve just been in–Green River Hall and Mammoth Dome–he discovered. One of the stories is that right across here, what we’re seeing is a bottomless pit, he had come to this point from the main entrance up to here in the 1830’s sometime and had gone across the pit to the unexplored passage to our right and apparently had come with either a cedar pole or some kind of ladder, depending on which story you hear, and set it right across here where we are and made the first trip. During the subsequent trip, he discovered Mammoth Dome, where we came down the steps, and River Hall, the actual river that we didn’t get to see because it’s flooded. In fact, there, when he discovered the underground rivers down there, he was the first person to see the eyeless fish that are quite well known for Mammoth Cave. This was a place of great adventure, apparently.
This waterfall runs continuously, but a lot of times–during drier conditions–it’s just a little drip, drip, drip. Here it’s flowing pretty well because of the rainfall we’ve had.
Our theme is composed by Nedev Kahn, and Circle of Blue Radio is underwritten by Traverse Legal, PLC, internet attorneys specializing in trademark, copyright, and patent infringement litigation.
The battle between Apple and Google is heating up! It’s safe to say that the dueling CEOs of Jobs and Schmidt aren’t on the closest of terms right now. But why all the negative energy? Let’s show them making nice. More »
While the anti-science crowd scours the globe desperately looking for any indication of their imaginary cooling, reality has intruded again.
Because they and the media — and even some scientists who don’t follow the subject closely — tend to take a two-dimensional view of the Arctic, they along with much of the public have been fooled into thinking the Arctic “recovered” in the past two years because sea ice extent appeared to recover. Heck, some even claimed last month the Arctic ice was “recovering” to the 1979-2000 average.
Climate Progress readers have long understood that trends in multi-year ice — ice volume — are what matter most in terms of the long-term survivability of the Arctic ice in the summer (see New study supports finding that “the amount of [multi-year] sea ice in the northern hemisphere was the lowest on record in 2009″).
CP readers have also understood that Arctic volume did not recover in the last two years. Quite the reverse — we appear to have been breaking volume records over the past several months according to the Polar Science Center:
Total Arctic Ice Volume for March 2010 is 20,300 km^3, the lowest over the 1979-2009 period and 38% below the 1979 maximum. September Ice Volume was lowest in 2009 at 5,800 km^3 or 67% below its 1979 maximum.
That is, in September, PSC says we saw the lowest volume ever, and in March, we saw the lowest volume for that month, according to their Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System (PIOMAS). Cryosphere scientists I have spoken to say PIOMAS is best for showing long-term trends, and they do recommend the caveat that it is a model, and so conclusions should be viewed accordingly. That said, as the website shows, the analysis has been validated.
I would also note that even the sea ice area measurements are based on remote data that must be interpreted using models. A recent study, “Perennial pack ice in the southern Beaufort Sea was not as it appeared in the summer of 2009” by Barber et al. suggested that satellite (and other) measurements of Arctic sea ice extent were apparently deceived into OVERestimating summer sea ice extent in 2009:
In September 2009 we observed a much different sea icescape in the Southern Beaufort Sea than anticipated, based on remotely sensed products. Radarsat derived ice charts predicted 7 to 9 tenths multi-year (MY) or thick first-year (FY) sea ice throughout most of the Southern Beaufort Sea in the deep water of the Canada Basin. In situ observations found heavily decayed, very small remnant MY and FY floes interspersed with new ice between floes, in melt ponds, thaw holes and growing over negative freeboard older ice. This icescape contained approximately 25% open water, predominantly distributed in between floes or in thaw holes connected to the ocean below. Although this rotten ice regime was quite different that the expected MY regime in terms of ice volume and strength, their near-surface physical properties were found to be sufficiently alike that their radiometric and scattering characteristics were almost identical.
Last week, Arctic explorers again reported conditions they did not expect:
A group of British explorers just back from a 60-day trip to the North Pole said on Monday they had encountered unusual conditions, including ice sheets that drifted far faster than they had expected.
The three-member team walked across the frozen Arctic Ocean to study the impact of increased carbon dioxide absorption by the sea, which could make the water more acidic and put crucial food chains under pressure.
Expedition leader Ann Daniels said the ice drifted so much that they eventually covered 500 nautical miles (576 miles) rather than the 268 nautical miles initially envisaged.
One possible reason for the rapid drift was a lack of ice, she suggested. Satellite imagery reveals rapidly melting ice sheets in the Arctic, a region which is heating up three times more quickly than the rest of the Earth….
“None of us had ever experienced that amount of southerly drift on our previous expeditions, and it continued for such a long period of time. We kept expecting it to stop, we began to pray it would stop,” Daniels said….
Many scientists link the higher Arctic temperatures to the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming….
Ah, those blame-mongering “many scientists.” Seriously, Reuters, can’t we get something just a little better than three hedges — “many” and “link” and “blamed”? Can’t we get by with, say, just one friggin’ hedge? (Plus that sentence as written makes no sense — The higher temperatures are the same as global warming)
How about “Many scientists say the higher Arctic temperatures are from global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions”? How about no hedges: “Climate scientists say the higher Arctic temperatures are from global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions.”
The story continues
“We spent a couple of days walking on ice that was three or four inches thick with no other thicker ice around, which was a big surprise to us,” he told the news conference….
Last month explorers at the team’s ice base some 680 miles (1,100 km) further south reported a three-minute rain shower, which they described as a freak event.
It’s time to stop being surprised by the fact that the ice is so damn thin — see my May 2009 post, North Pole poised to be largely ice-free by 2020: “It’s like the Arctic is covered with an egg shell and the egg shell is now just cracking completely.”
And it’s time to stop calling extreme weather “freak events.” But I digress.
The PIOMAS analysis appears to be the best volume model around, and here is their latest anomaly graph:
Note: “Anomalies for each day are calculated relative to the average over the 1979 -2009 period for that day to remove the annual cycle.” The sharp drop at the end is not to a record low absolute level of ice volume, but to apparent record low for the month.
So, will we see a record low area and record low area this year?
One cryosphere scientist I e-mailed who doesn’t want to make predictions on the record thinks we’re on track to beat last year’s area and hit the 2008 level — unless we get the same kind of weather pattern that we had back in 2007, in which case we would set the record and perhaps by a very large margin. Note that although we are apparently below 2007 sea-ice area now, we aren’t at the record low area for this month (click here).
The volume record seems more probable given where the sea ice extent is now compared to 2007 and how much less volume we appear to be starting with right now. Of course, the sea ice extent is more visible and anything less than the record of 2007 will no doubt be dismissed by some. But at least with the the Polar Science Center work, we will have a nearly contemporaneous, well-validated model to track the volume.
I still like my odds on a 90% ice free Arctic by 2020 (see “Another big climate bet — Of Ice and Men“).
[Note: Any reader who is good at data graphing, please email me here.]
It’s no secret that MPEG-LA, the private company that handles patent pools for a variety of digital video standards, including the widely used H.264 — and recently began dabbling in patent trolling, has suggested that there can be no digital video without licensing patents from its patent pools. And, of course, there were just rumors (kicked off by a Steve Jobs email), that MPEG-LA was gearing up to sue any “open” video standard out of existence. Well, that whole story got a bit more complex this week when Google announced its plans to open up its VP8 video codec, and make it royalty free, under the WebM name.
Of course, you didn’t think that MPEG-LA would take that calmly, did you? MPEG-LA’s boss claims he’s working to create a patent pool around VP8… meaning that what Google insists is now royalty free, might not end up being royalty free if MPEG-LA has its way. Of course, the good news here is that you now have Google’s cash around to back up any potential patent fight, but it may take years (and years and years) before any resolution comes of it. And, in the end, for MPEG-LA, that might be the real goal. If it can just create enough uncertainty around VP8 through patent threats and lawsuits (even if it loses), it might hope that it can retain its hold on the market with H.264.
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This is how Matta has been feeling since the November signing date.
Now that we’ve discussed all of next year’s players including what positions they could theoretically play, let’s try to paste together an idea of what the starting lineup might look like next season.
Before we begin I want to point out that there is a long time before any of this actually gets set in stone. We have no idea how certain people will play compared to how they performed last season (especially the new guys), and so the vast majority of this is guesswork. Part of this, also, is to give an early sense of excitement for the upcoming season because there is so much talent on this team that it’s nigh disgusting. It was rough having to choose who to play and who to sit in each lineup – Matta has to be smiling a little bit at having to deal with this particular “problem”.
“Small” Lineup
| “Small” | Starters | Backups |
| 1 | Craft | Smith |
| 2 | Diebler | Sibert |
| 3 | Buford | Thomas |
| 4 | Lighty | Weatherspoon |
| 5 | Lauderdale/Sullinger | Kecman |
Here’s the fun with the “Small” Lineup. You could plug any of Thomas, Weatherspoon, Sullinger or Lauderdale in at the 5 spot and probably do pretty well for yourself considering you go small in order to push the pace and deal with a faster smaller lineup. The advantage of Lauderdale is that he gives you experience plus good size without actually being comparatively “big”. The biggest downfall with both Sullinger and Lauderdale is that they don’t have the speed to play the 5 spot in a small lineup. Thomas or Weatherspoon, or even Kecman would be a better fit for the 5 spot there, but I think you don’t want to give up on the talent/experience and shot changing ability of Lauderdale and Sullinger.
“Big” Lineup
| Bigs | ||
| 1 | Smith | Craft |
| 2 | Diebler/Buford | Buford/Diebler |
| 3 | Thomas/Weatherspoon | Lighty |
| 4 | Lauderdale | Weatherspoon/Thomas |
| 5 | Sullinger | Sarikopoulos |
Take a look at the “Bigs” for a minute and tell me what you see. First, Thomas and Weatherspoon are interchangeable at the 3 and 4 spots and I have them shift to the 4 in the backups so that Lighty can make an appearance somewhere. Second, Big Z Sarikopoulos plays a heavier role here than anywhere else for obvious reasons. Lastly, Buford as a backup? This is one place that there could be a lot of play. I place Buford as the backup primarily because Diebler’s ability’s from outside the arc would be more handy in a court of big guys than Buford’s all around ability – though Matta’s comments about working on his 3 point shot may change that come time for the season. Also, Diebler has an inch on Buford, giving him a slight advantage for the Big spot (though an inch difference almost might as well be nonexistent). Lighty also get’s relegated to the backups due to his lack of size and minor inconsistency from the outside.
“Traditional” Lineup
| Traditional | ||
| 1 | Craft | Smith |
| 2 | Diebler | Sibert |
| 3 | Buford | Lighty |
| 4 | Weatherspoon | Thomas |
| 5 | Sullinger | Lauderdale |
The Traditional offense is predicated on the idea of getting a balance of Big guys down low and faster, smaller, guys outside. Given Weatherspoon’s propensity for the dunk and his ability to play down low, I give him the nod over Thomas in the traditional style offense. Lighty would be downgraded to the “6-man” coming off the bench as a primary defensive specialist. The hope is that Craft would provide enough defensive ability that having Lighty on the bench to start the game wouldn’t be a liability. Lauderdale takes a seat to Sullinger based on sheer talent, though I wouldn’t be surprised if Dallas starts due to his more extensive experience.
Max Talent
| Skill | ||
| 1 | Buford | Craft |
| 2 | Diebler | Smith |
| 3 | Lighty | Sibert |
| 4 | Thomas | Weatherspoon |
| 5 | Sullinger | Lauderdale |
The last lineup I want to examine is the “Best Skill” lineup. Obviously this lineup is based on having the best 5 players on the court to start the game. Weatherspoon is replaced with Thomas, compared to the Traditional offense, due to Thomas’ increased versatility compared to Weatherspoon who seems to operate better in the paint. Also, Lighty makes an appearance in the starting lineup as Buford moves up to the Point Guard position. Smith takes a shot at the 2 spot while Sibert moves down to 3, taking advantage of some of their other skill sets.
It’s pretty obvious from inspection that the job of delegating who gets playing time at this point would not be a fun one. If I had to wager a guess as to what lineup we might see in November for the first game might be the last one given the overall experience and talent of the lineup. However, it might as well be a coinflip depending upon how people look in fall practice and during the exhibition games before hand. All I know for certain is that the Buckeyes are absolutely swimming in talent right now and it’s going to be exciting to see how things turn out in the end.
This year, PS3s in Japan will get caught up in a terrifying struggle between giant robots. No, it’s not another Gundam game, although it does have a few Gundams in it. It’s Namco Bandai and From Software’s
Jessie James, former husband of Oscar winner actress Sandra Bullock, admits that he “threw away” a wonderful marriage and life by cheating on his wife. James calls himself the world’s most hated man. He tells ABC News that he “took a pretty amazing life and amazing success and marriage… and threw it away by my own hands. The first interview at ABC News’ Nightline will be scheduled to air on Tuesday. The motorcycle builder who turned reality into a reality TV star is asked if he’s the most hated man in the country after he cheated on his wife replied, “I think the most hated man in the world now”. James had a moment in the interview where he started to cry and asks for a break. His marriage with Sandra Bullock lasted for six years and seemed happy to some people.
The stripper Michelle “Bombshell” McGee was the first to come out and say that she had an extended relationship with James followed by a few other women who later stepped forward. After the couple – Bullock and James – separated, Bullock showed her baby boy whom she adopted. James and Bullock had planned the adoption together before the incident. After the split, James spent time in sex rehab and in seen in Los Angeles where he’s often seen to drive his kids to school. Bullock had already filed for divorce and had moved to New Orleans with her baby boy, Louis.
James said, “Sandy is the love of my life. But considering the pain and devastation I have caused her, it would be selfish not to let her go. Right now, it is time for me to beat this addiction.”
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In the end, all things do come to an end. The good and bad part is, it is never a definite marker, but all part of a process. And so it has been for me. After pouring exactly eight years of my life and a lifetime into this, I am leaving ContentNext and paidContent in early July. I will continue to advise the company for the rest of the year.
For most of you who know me, this isn’t coming as a huge surprise. I have been wrestling with this for months now, and the two-year mark under the Guardian and the eight-year mark since I launched the first site, seems appropriate enough as a closure point.
The last two years under Guardian have been illuminating, to say the least. Being part of a big company brings its own level of complexities; during a huge financial crisis, it makes for a roller-coaster ride. The high of the sale dissipated quickly, and pulling back and hunkering down isn’t fun, much less entrepreneurial. To Guardian’s credit, amidst the mothership’s own perfect storm, they stood by us, and we have survived, though much smaller.
I am leaving the company while the editorial is still at the peak of its reputation, even though we are half the team we used to be. It really is a miracle. And the edit leadership under our ME Ernie Sander and my longtime partner-in-crime and co-editor Staci D Kramer gets the full credit for it, as do our scrappy group of talented journalists. The business side is a rebuild-in-process that I hope Guardian continues to support in kind and spirit.
paidContent and the company has given me a lot: it saved my life, literally (subject of a book someday); it gave me an existence, purpose and sustenance, in that order. It gave me way more chances in life than I probably deserved. I burned the candle on both ends, and then in the middle. And to think that I entered this country little over a decade ago, and in that time, got a degree, worked at two dotcoms, started one, sold it, lived in Bloomington, Ind., NYC, London, Los Angeles and back in NYC, and am now moving on to the next phase of my career. Next phase of my life.
As for my future, the honest answer is, I am in the middle of figuring it out. The good part is I have lots of choices; the bad part is that I have lots of choices. Very likely it will be another startup, in a larger media and marketing space. But in the immediate future, you will see my head pop up in places like Iceland, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Socotra Island (Google it!) and other parts of Central Asia. That’s the head-clearing trip of a lifetime, for the summer months after I finish here.
At the end, I really have to thank my family, friends, colleagues and readers, who cared enough to care. You all gave me and a bunch of us outliers a chance to do something magical for a long time. Please continue reading and supporting paidContent and ContentNext; I merely started the story.
