Every indication so far is that this week is starting how last week ended off.
Here’s how Japan is looking in early action.
Meanwhile commodities continue to head lower.
Crude oil is trading below $71 now. Copper is is off as well.
Join the conversation about this story »
David writes, “My tattoos each mark–although in rather oblique and coded ways–life events, or at least transitions that are important to me (several are a rebus for my 1999 dissertation in post-structuralist political philosophy). This 10th tattoo, of Hemoglobin A, perhaps requires less decoding than many. Over the last couple years, I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing people, on the computer science side of things, who have built the world’s fastest supercomputer–called Anton, after so-called ‘father of microbiology’ Antonie van Leeuwenhoek–which is highly specialized for computing molecular dynamics. As a gesture to this opportunity, I commemorate it with a molecular rendering (of the PDB chemical 2W6V, using VMD and the NewCartoon rendering style) of the sort that the chemist who do the actual MD often look at. Of course, Hemoglobin is a well-known molecule to laypersons, and it is one that is easy enough to give a metaphorical or mimetic sense to; the molecule is inscribed above my heart, whose function is largely to pump around oxygen-carrying Hemoglobin (hence giving my body life, vitality, energy, etc).”
Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.
Well the day is almost over, and here is the second to the last reader though that will be posted until further notice.
I am, or was until Windows Phone 7 was announced, a big fan of Windows Mobile based on the following features which are important for my mobile needs:
easy UI customization
multi-tasking
plethora of business class 3rd party apps
available alternate browsers which did both the full / mobile web well
the ability to purchase apps from multiple places
open file system with included file explorer
a wide variety of screen sizes / physical keyboards
Copy / Paste
I will reserve final judgement on Windows Phone 7 until the specs are finalized, and I have a chance to play with the new OS. I like the current 6.x and earlier WM interface customized with utilities such as Pocket Plus, and I multi-task applications daily. I have tried the slicker UI shells for WM, but usually return to the standard UI utilizing Pocket Plus enhancements. Since I prefer the larger screen devices (Toshiba e830, Dell X51v, HP210, Samsung Mondi), I rarely use a stylus. Even the standard Windows Today screen is finger friendly on a large screen. With Pocket Plus, I can customize the Today screen to allow easy access to frequent tasks with a minimum of steps. Both Resco Keyboard Pro, and SPB Keyboard are easy to use, and finger friendly particularly on the larger screen devices. Although both are finger friendly, and easy to use, SPB Keyboard is now my preferred input method because it is more customizable.
From my perspective, the pendulum has swung way too far in the direction of how pretty, animated, and slick the UI’s are vs. does the device do what you want easily, quickly, reliably, and with the minimum number of inputs. It seems that no matter how feature deficient a device may be, how "locked down" the device is, or how many more steps it takes to perform a task, it is ok with the tech press as long as there are multiple animated transitions, and it looks "cool" I realize MS had to make a major change to keep pace with the more modern, finger friendly, eye candy centric phone OS’s, and I do not have a problem with that per se. Non-tech consumers today expect eye candy, finger friendly UI’s, and Microsoft desires to focus on consumers with Windows Phone 7 rather than their traditional business / enterprise focus with older WM versions. Unfortunately, IMO, they went too far, and threw the baby out with the bath water, Based on the limited info available, the things I liked about WM such as multi-tasking, and customizable UI’s have been discarded for extensive social network integration, and slickness.
The Metro UI is certainly different, and less flashy than some other UI’s. Although not a huge fan of eye candy interfaces, Metro almost looks a little too bland aesthetically. With prior WM UI’s, if I wanted a different look, I could change the interface easily with numerous 3rd party options which will no longer be allowed with Windows Phone 7. Maybe Metro will look better when I see it on a device vs. the video demonstration. The Hub concept is also interesting, but I reserve judgement until I use it. Not sure whether the hub concept is the next step forward in UI design, or the next Edsel (for younger, and international readers, the Edsel was a late 50’s car that did not sell well, and was cancelled quickly). I know I am probably in the minority, but I am disappointed with Windows Phone 7 based on:
no / limited multitasking
no UI customization
no external storage cards
all apps must be purchased from the Microsoft Marketplace
no copy / paste
no user accessible file system (apps can only see their directory) – this is the killer for me
A further expansion of that last bullet point is needed. I use multiple HanDBase databases daily, and several spreadsheets. Due to the plethora of mobile devices I have, I always keep the latest version of data files on my home NAS, and on my website. With files in both locations, I always have access to the latest versions of all files no matter where I may be located, no matter which device was used to perform the latest update, and regardless of which device I am using at the time. With the iPhone, and now with Windows Phone 7, I may be able to download the latest version to the device using a third party app, but the app on the phone may not be able to access the file due to the restricted file access. I know HanDBase on the iPhone can not see / use HanDBase files that are loaded via a 3rd party FTP application from a NAS, and initial info indicates Windows Phone 7 may not be able to either. I need the ability to upload / download files directly to a mobile device without being tethered to a computer, and all apps on the mobile device need the ability to see / use associated data files no matter which directory they are located in, or how they were loaded. In addition to using a NAS and my website as repositories for the latest versions of data files, I frequently exchange files / CAB’s between mobile devices, or between a PC and a mobile device using Bluetooth. It is essential that my mobile devices offer a robust, non-restricted Bluetooth stack.
I do reserve final judgement until Windows Phone 7 is released. Hopefully, Microsoft will return the features I need. If not, I may be switching to Android.
Last October, Evoluce showed off its 47-inch multi-touch LCD HD display monster which can register an unlimited number of simultaneous contact points from both stylus and human touch. Not content with mere touchscreen technology, the company has now unveiled geo-spatial gesture functionality which allows users to control actions on the screen at up to a meter away…
Continue Reading Evoluce brings gesture control to 47-inch touchscreen display
Tags: Evoluce,
Geo-spatial,
gesture control,
Multi-touch,
Touchscreen,
Windows 7
Related Articles:
Filed under: Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, Toyota
Hypocrisy is again the order of the day as Congress continues to look into the actions of Toyota following a report earlier this year claiming that a fault had been found that could trigger unintended acceleration. Using polling data to help craft a message to manipulate public opinion is standard political procedure, so it should come as no surprise to anyone in on Capitol Hill that Toyota would consider doing the same thing.
When Southern Illinois University professor David Gilbert purported to demonstrate how unintended acceleration could happen in Toyotas, he and Sean Kane went before Congress to testify about their findings. Toyota investigated Gilbert’s test procedure and then later proceeded to debunk it. However, it also hired pollster Joel Benenson to gather data that could potentially be used to discredit Kane and Gilbert, possibly via an ad campaign.
No such campaign has been initiated to date, but it certainly seems disingenuous on the part of anyone in Congress to criticize Toyota for doing what it can to defend its reputation. If Gilbert and Kane had motives that went beyond simply finding the truth behind what was happening with these vehicles, then Toyota surely had a right to expose them. Likewise, if Toyota is hiding information, Gilbert, Congress, or anyone else has the same right to seek and reveal the truth.
[Source: The Washington Post]
Report: Toyota had ‘attack plan’ to discredit congressional testimony witnesses originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 16 May 2010 20:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Be EBN’s Guest at Computex Taipei 2010
Taipei, Taiwan- EBN Technology Corp., the POS (point-of-sales) solution provider, sincerely invites you to visit us at COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2010 from June,1st to 5th.
Deliver the latest touch concepts into the industrial panel PC and POS business at COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2010, EBN presents you the new generation touch POS solution, complete retail POS solution and full range industrial Panel PC series.
Come to visit EBN!
EBN brings more ideas about the complete solution for you which is focusing on the retail ¡Bhospitality industry and self-service technology to offer you the more convenient life. It is giving you the widest range of choices to enhance your life and cut down your cost at this recession.
EBN Technology Corp. is dedicated to provide the best POS solutions for worldwide customers. In the COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2010, you will find EBN’s excellent product lines such as advance self-service technology, all-in-one POS terminals, advanced fanless industrial Panel PC and embedded Computer BOXPCs., EBN presents you the significant and potential contrivances to help your business growth in 2010 and beyond.
Product Topic
Launch the lateest all-in-one POS Terminal with the high-level Intel ATOM Dual Core CPU
Advanced self-service technology to empower your better life and friendly touch experience. Ć
All-in-one fanless touch POS solution delivers stable high performance for daily operation. Easy affordable complete POS solution enhances your retail business straight away. Ć
Handheld POS terminal with wireless connection helps you build up a mobile working environment.
8.4″~15″ ultra slim industrial Panel PC with excellent touch interfaces for the growing industrial market
Fanless Embedded Computer BOXPCs with high performance and stable operations fit space-constrained applications.
Modularized design POS terminals with high performance technology ensure you save the maintenance cost and down time.
Date & Venue
Date : June 1-5, 2010 (Open Time¡G09¡G00-18¡G00)
Venue : TWTC Nangang Exhibition Upper Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
Booth Number : M1320
TEL :886-2-26969292 FAX : 886-2-26969393 Mail : [email protected]
Address:10F, NO. 90, Sec. 1, Sintai 5th Rd., Sijhih City, Taipei County 221, Taiwan
www.ebn-pos.com
St. Louis – Watlow®, a designer and manufacturer of electric heaters, controllers and temperature sensors, has expanded the EZ-ZONE® ST integrated controller family to include phase angle power switching and increased load current. The EZ-ZONE ST now features single phase solid state relay output up from 40 to 75 amperes and phase angle power switching with soft-start to prevent high in-rush currents, load failure or blown fuses.
Watlow’s EZ-ZONE ST with new phase angle control and higher current capacity is perfect for the production of PV cells where size and temperature uniformity are required to reliably produce a cell with high conversion yields. Radiant quartz (tungsten) lamps are commonly used in the manufacturing of PV cells to deliver a variety of specific thermal profiles rapidly. To overcome inherent limitations (low resistance / high in-rush currents), these heating lamps require phase angle power to function properly. These lamps are also usually ganged into small banks for improved temperature uniformity. For these banks, the requirement is temperature control, power switching, current monitoring, over-temperature protection and field communications yet remain small and compact. The EZ-ZONE ST meets all of these requirements.
This expanded offering improves thermal uniformity, temperature repeatability and provides the functionality of multiple components and footprints collapsed into one. The newer size takes up less overall surface area inside the panel than an equivalent solution assembled from discrete devices. The design of the EZ-ZONE ST provides a complete thermal system kit to reduce project and engineering design time and is already tested and validated for the specified ampacity.
The EZ-ZONE ST comes complete with a free internal communications bus (standard bus) which provides a single entry point for configuration and monitoring or location to access multiple controllers on the bus. For those applications requiring a display or remote user interface (RUI), the EZ-ZONE ST has the option of adding a 1/16 DIN RUI as a stand-along device or combining the RUI with gateway functionality. The gateway will access higher level field buses (PROFIBUS, Ethernet/IP™, DeviceNet™ or Modbus®) by converting standard bus to the field protocol once instead of outfitting each controller with an independent protocol card, and all at a much lower cost point.
For additional information call your nearest Watlow representative.
Missler Software, an international CAD/CAM software developer of integrated CAD/CAM solutions, recently opened a new development centre in Delémont, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The new subsidiary is called Missler Software Switzerland and will be in charge of the development of CAD/CAM solutions for the Swiss turn market, an activity which Missler Software believes to be complementary to its core CAD/CAM TopSolid range. 4 employees will be based in the new offices. The creation of Missler Software Switzerland also reinforces Missler Software’s partnership with company JINFO, who will distribute the TopSolid product range in the French-speaking region of Switzerland.
Trend-Setting Shrinking Technology
During the last couple of years, the technology used
to apply shrink-sleeves on bottles has changed. While
steam tunnels were primarily used for shrinking in
the past, today’s producers of beverage and dairy
products tend to use more cost-effective hot-air
technology.
Rising global temperatures could cause the vast Amazonian rainforest — sometimes viewed as the lungs of the Earth — to give off significant carbon dioxide, worsening the climate-changing problem of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, an authority on tropical forests said Thursday (April 29).
Deborah Clark, a researcher at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said temperature observations have shown a quarter-degree Celsius rise in tropical temperatures for each of the last three decades. Most worrisome, however, is that the photosynthetic process that drives the consumption of carbon dioxide by trees begins to decline when temperatures get too high. In that case, the trees’ respiration — in which carbon dioxide is emitted — becomes greater than the carbon dioxide uptake in photosynthesis.
“Tropical climate has already started changing, quite strongly and quite rapidly,” Clark said. “Conditions for tropical forests into the future are going to become more stressful.”
Clark was among a group of authorities from around the world that came to Harvard for the Sixth Annual Harvard Plant Biology Symposium. The event, “Trees and the Global Environment,” was hosted by the Plant Biology Initiative and organized by Noel Michele Holbrook, the Bullard Professor of Forestry, and Stuart Davies, director of Asian programs at the Arnold Arboretum.
“There’s a recognition — certainly at the Arboretum — that understanding the whole spectrum of how forests and trees interact with the environment hasn’t been addressed so well,” Davies said.
The two-day event, held at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, Mass., brought together researchers with a wide range of expertise, including computer modeling of how trees fit into the global environment, tree physiology, population biology, and community scale interactions.
Clark said that people tend to discount the importance of trees and plants and their role as the foundation of the ecosystem. Tropical forests alone, for example, hold 25 percent of the carbon in the terrestrial biosphere and process enormous quantities of carbon daily. Further, the natural world, mainly through plants and the ocean, has been humanity’s ally in the fight against climate change, storing away about half of the carbon dioxide humanity has emitted, said Clark.
Clark said she is most concerned about the effect of climate change on lowland tropical forests, which grow in places that already have high temperatures. A continued increase in temperatures could push these trees past the tipping point where the carbon dioxide taken in through photosynthesis drops below that lost in respiration, making them net carbon dioxide emitters. One study showed that tipping point to be about 28 degrees Celsius, or 82 Fahrenheit. Another study showed that the average temperature in the Costa Rican rainforest she studies reaching that point by 2020, meaning much higher temperatures in the daytime, as well as higher nighttime temperatures.
Hand in hand with higher temperatures comes the fear of increased drought. Though the trees are adapted to periodic such conditions, severe droughts can reduce leaf area and kill off trees, Clark said.
“We’re quite concerned about … how warming is going to impinge on these forests,” Clark said.
One caveat on those fears, Clark said, is the possibility that higher CO2 levels will have a fertilizing effect on the trees, allowing them to withstand less favorable conditions. Though there is hope of a fertilizer effect, her studies haven’t detected one.
“I’d say there’s no evidence of a CO2 fertilization effect coming to the rescue,” Clark said.
One potential area of positive news could be nearby, in the Harvard Forest. Steven Wofsy, the Rotch Professor of Atmospheric and Environmental Science, discussed results of his own studies at the forest in Petersham, as well as in the Amazon.
Wofsy said the Harvard Forest, which has been studied for decades, continues to grow, taking up carbon dioxide as it does. Like much of the forest covering New England, the original forest was cleared for farmland in earlier centuries and is growing back. Harvard Forest is a transitional forest, affected by a variety of factors, some climactic, some not.
The forest, he said, was pasture in the mid-1800s, then abandoned between 1830 and 1890. Even as it has grown, the forest has experienced many shocks, each of which can open the area to tree regrowth. Gypsy moth infestations and ice storms have killed trees, opening the canopy for new trees. The legacy of past pollution like acid rain and the land’s farming history are likely also at play as the forest continues to mature and deadfall accumulates, holding carbon until it decomposes.
Another possible factor, Wofsy said, is that the forests’ growing season has increased since he began studying it in 1990, rising from between 100 and 135 days to closer to 145 to 150 days.
“That’s a big impact,” Wofsy said.
Wofsy said forest growth in April is vigorous enough that it takes up carbon dioxide overall, something it didn’t do years ago. With warmer temperatures, the evergreen white pines in the forest can kick right into action, while the deciduous trees are still putting out their leaves.
Temperatures have climbed about three-fourths of a degree Celsius, something else that would affect the trees.
Wofsy’s Amazonian studies haven’t provided answers as dramatic. His measurements indicate hopes that the Amazonian forest would be a sink of carbon dioxide, removing excess from the atmosphere to sequester in tree trunks, roots, and leaves, do not bear fruit. Instead, he said, they show a near carbon balance.
“You hardly ever see anything where the Amazon is sucking CO2 out of the atmosphere. It just doesn’t do that,” Wofsy said.
Wofsy said the future carbon dioxide uptake of the Amazonian and New England forests can’t be predicted at this point.
“I really think nobody knows what a forest like Harvard Forest can be under current conditions,” Wofsy said.
Following Bill Harris’ comment on Are causal loop diagrams useful? I went looking for Coyle’s hybrid influence diagrams. I didn’t find them, but instead ran across this interesting conversation in the SDR:
The tradition, one might call it the orthodoxy, in system dynamics is that a problem can only be analysed, and policy guidance given, through the aegis of a fully quantified model. In the last 15 years, however, a number of purely qualitative models have been described, and have been criticised, in the literature. This article briefly reviews that debate and then discusses some of the problems and risks sometimes involved in quantification. Those problems are exemplified by an analysis of a particular model, which turns out to bear little relation to the real problem it purported to analyse. Some qualitative models are then reviewed to show that they can, indeed, lead to policy insights and five roles for qualitative models are identified. Finally, a research agenda is proposed to determine the wise balance between qualitative and quantitative models.
… In none of this work was it stated or implied that dynamic behaviour can reliably be inferred from a complex diagram; it has simply been argued that describing a system is, in itself, a useful thing to do and may lead to better understanding of the problem in question. It has, on the other hand, been implied that, in some cases, quantification might be fraught with so many uncertainties that the model’s outputs could be so misleading that the policy inferences drawn from them might be illusory. The research issue is whether or not there are circumstances in which the uncertainties of simulation may be so large that the results are seriously misleading to the analyst and the client. … This stream of work has attracted some adverse comment. Lane has gone so far as to assert that system dynamics without quantified simulation is an oxymoron and has called it ‘system dynamics lite (sic)’. …
Coyle (2000) Qualitative and quantitative modelling in system dynamics: some research questions
Jack Homer and Rogelio Oliva aren’t buying it:
Geoff Coyle has recently posed the question as to whether or not there may be situations in which computer simulation adds no value beyond that gained from qualitative causal-loop mapping. We argue that simulation nearly always adds value, even in the face of significant uncertainties about data and the formulation of soft variables. This value derives from the fact that simulation models are formally testable, making it possible to draw behavioral and policy inferences reliably through simulation in a way that is rarely possible with maps alone. Even in those cases in which the uncertainties are too great to reach firm conclusions from a model, simulation can provide value by indicating which pieces of information would be required in order to make firm conclusions possible. Though qualitative mapping is useful for describing a problem situation and its possible causes and solutions, the added value of simulation modeling suggests that it should be used for dynamic analysis whenever the stakes are significant and time and budget permit.
Homer & Oliva (2001) Maps and models in system dynamics: a response to Coyle
Coyle rejoins:
This rejoinder clarifies that there is significant agreement between my position and that of Homer and Oliva as elaborated in their response. Where we differ is largely to the extent that quantification offers worthwhile benefit over and above analysis from qualitative analysis (diagrams and discourse) alone. Quantification may indeed offer potential value in many cases, though even here it may not actually represent ‘‘value for money’’. However, even more concerning is that in other cases the risks associated with attempting to quantify multiple and poorly understood soft relationships are likely to outweigh whatever potential benefit there might be. To support these propositions I add further citations to published work that recount effective qualitative-only based studies, and I offer a further real-world example where any attempts to quantify ‘‘multiple softness’’ could have lead to confusion rather than enlightenment. My proposition remains that this is an issue that deserves real research to test the positions of Homer and Oliva, myself, and no doubt others, which are at this stage largely based on personal experiences and anecdotal evidence.
My take: I agree with Coyle that qualitative models can often lead to insight. However, I don’t buy the argument that the risks of quantification of poorly understood soft variables exceeds the benefits. First, if the variables in question are really too squishy to get a grip on, that part of the modeling effort will fail. Even so, the modeler will have some other working pieces that are more physical or certain, providing insight into the context in which the soft variables operate. Second, as long as the modeler is doing things right, which means spending ample effort on validation and sensitivity analysis, the danger of dodgy quantification will reveal itself as large uncertainties in behavior subject to the assumptions in question. Third, the mere attempt to quantify the qualitative is likely to yield some insight into the uncertain variables, which exceeds that derived from the purely qualitative approach. In fact, I would argue that the greater danger lies in the qualitative approach, because it is quite likely that plausible-looking constructs on a diagram will go unchallenged, yet harbor deep conceptual problems that would be revealed by modeling.
I see this as a cost-benefit question. With infinite resources, a model always beats a diagram. The trouble is that in many cases time, money and the will of participants are in short supply, or can’t be justified given the small scale of a problem. Often in those cases a qualitative approach is justified, and diagramming or other elicitation of structure is likely to yield a better outcome than pure talk. Also, where resources are limited, an overzealous modeling attempt could lead to narrow focus, overemphasis on easily quantifiable concepts, and implementation failure due to too much model and not enough process. If there’s a risk to modeling, that’s it – but that’s a risk of bad modeling, and there are many of those.
With all the changes Microsoft is bringing to our favorite OS… Windows Phones, Pocketnow had some time to do a video demo. The video is a very detailed version of what we already know from our last post. My buddy Brandon takes you through the newly activated Dialer, to show you how it looks, and how it works in the background.
He follows that with a preview of the Office application, HUB, and more. Thankfully, I do not like being a spoiler, so watch the video and comment below on these new changes Windows Phones has, and if its good enough for you.
—Nexage: Ernie Cormier has been appointed CEO and president, taking over for Founder Devkumar Gandi. Cormier has held executive roles at Lagardere, Nextel and Virgin Media (NSDQ: VMED). He also serves on the boards of directors for Integrated Mobile and New Potato Technologies.
—PlayPhone: Three digital media execs join the team: Chia-Lin Simmons is VP of marketing, Richard Hancock is chief commercial officer to EMEA and Ata Ivanov is VP of engineering. Simmons has held management positions at AOL (NYSE: AOL), Amazon’s Audible, Wired and CNET, among others. Hancock previously spent nine years on Zed’s worldwide management team and Ivanov co-founded TV search company Jacked.
—Clearwire: Sean Maloney has resigned from the company’s board of directors due to medical reasons. He is currently on leave from Intel (NSDQ: INTC), where he holds the positions of executive vice president and co-general manager of Intel Architecture Group (IAG). In the interim, Arvind Sodhani, EVP of Intel and president of Intel Capital, has been nominated to the company’s board of directors.
—Motally: The mobile analytics firm added members to its board of directors and advisory board: Former M:Metrics and Jupiter Research executive Seamus McAteer is joining Motally’s board of directors. Joining the advisory board are Web Analytics Veteran Rand Schulman, former AdMob VP & Managing Director Niren Hiro, former President of Jupiter Media (NSDQ: JUPM) Metrix Doug McFarland, and former TheBroth COO Ben Wan.
Hennessey Porsche Panamera Turbo
We have a special place for Hennessey Performance Engineering in our hearts. While we eagerly look forward to the company’s Venom GT, we’ll have to satisfy our taste with this Hennessey modified Porsche Panamera Turbo, which gains a total of 50-hp or 23-hp at the wheels.
Click here to get prices on the 2010 Porsche Panamera.
Hennessey also offers a 800-hp upgrade. Modifications include a stainless steel exhaust systems, air induction modifications, computer upgrades, Hennessey wheel upgrades, turbo upgrades, intercooler upgrades and more.
Check out the video after the jump and make sure you turn up your volume.
Refresher: The $89,800 Porsche Panamera S is powered by a 400-hp V8 allowing for a 0-60 mph time of 5.2 seconds with a top speed of 175 mph. The $93,800 Panamera 4S is powered by the same 400-hp V8. The $132,600 Porsche Panamera Turbo is powered by a turbocharged V8 making 500-hp allowing for a 0-60 mph time of 4.0 seconds with a top speed of 188 mph. The Porsche Panamera V6 and Porsche Panamera 4 are powered by a 3.6L V6 engine making 300-hp and a peak torque of 295 lb-ft. Prices start at $74,400 for the base V6 Panamera and $78,900 for the V6 Panamera 4.
– By: Omar Rana
An LG Ally promo video has hit the internet and it definitely has us thinking a release is merely weeks away. Check out the clip below and you’ll hear all sorts of wonderful references to Android apps including Latitutude, OpenTable, and eBay. At the end of the video a website is shown directing folks to LG.com/ally, which (for now) redirects to lgim2.com. We’re only a week away from Iron Man 2’s May 7th release. Naturally, we’d expect to see LG or Verizon step up with an announcement.
Are you ready for back-to-back super phones from Verizon!? (clip after the break)
Source: Android Central
In a recent daily email from my college – Lafayette College, Easton, PA – there was a link about green graduation gowns.
Seems more colleges and universities are going green and using gowns made from recycled materials … typically plastic bottles.
" … University of Texas students … saving 23 water bottles from landfills just by donning their cap and gown."
"GreenWeaver graduation regalia are being introduced to graduates at several universities nationwide this year as part of the growing movement to make graduation ceremonies more eco-friendly."
" … Michigan State University is printing diplomas and graduation programs on recycled paper in addition to using recycled caps and gowns. Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas will be using artificial flowers to decorate the stage … Lafayette College … is offering biodegradable robes that will easily degrade after one wear."
Via: ABCNews LINK
Plenty of people have been having fun with some comments that Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz’s made in a BBC interview about the company’s competitive position vis-à-vis Google. The notoriously outspoken Bartz, who took over as CEO from co-founder Jerry Yang in 2009, told the British news service that Google was going to have “a problem” if it didn’t diversify its business, and that it was going to have to find a way to do “a lot more than search.” Mike Arrington at TechCrunch suggested that Bartz must have been smoking something in order to come to this conclusion, while Kara Swisher at All Things Digital said that the Yahoo CEO was “trash talking” its larger rival.
Let’s face it, it’s pretty easy to make fun of Yahoo — in fact, in some ways, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. For at least the last several years, it has been a perennial also-ran in virtually every category that matters online, whether it’s social networking or search or keyword advertising or content. After trying and failing to beat (or even match) Google at its own game, Yahoo was finally forced to accept a deal with Microsoft, which was also failing to have much success on its own. The two companies are now propping each other up and trying to do together what they couldn’t do separately, but are still so far from setting the industry on fire they might as well be in a different game.
But you know what? Carol Bartz, who has gained a reputation for calling a spade a shovel, also happens to be right. Yes, Yahoo is sucking wind in most departments, as most people writing about her comments have pointed out, and so the company is hardly in a position to tell Google what to do — especially when Google reported revenue growth of 23 percent in the last quarter, something Yahoo would kill to do. But she is still right: After years of trying to broaden its business, Google is still 99.9 percent search (OK, 95 percent).
Obviously, that business is doing just fine, and Google is expanding it through acquisitions such as AdMob, which does mobile advertising. And the company continues to come closer to generating meaningful revenues from YouTube and other properties. But the reality is that virtually all the company’s revenues still come from search-related keyword advertising. That may be a great business right now, but what if it stops being so great? What if social search and social advertising becomes a bigger threat to that business, as Liz argued in a recent GigaOM Pro report (sub req’d)?
Some analysts are becoming concerned about Google’s lack of ability to broaden its business even a tiny bit. After the latest earnings report, Barclays Capital analyst Douglas Anmuth dropped his price target for the stock to $650, citing a lack of growth momentum beyond search and advertising. “A significant revenue driver beyond core search has not materialized and it’s becoming tougher for the company to beat numbers,” Anmuth said in a research note.
Chris Baggini, an investment manager with Aberdeen Asset Management, also wants to start seeing some other revenue sources. “Google continues to gain share, but I’d be very disappointed if four years from now they were not getting revenue from other sources,” he said. And the way the company has rolled out new products such as Buzz and Wave and the Chrome OS, without any clear model for how they are going to contribute to the business, has some concerned as well. “Google has the problem of too much money and not enough control over what to do with it,” Rob Enderle, an analyst at Enderle Group, said recently. “As a result, they are building complexity at an alarming rate, and that complexity should eventually choke them, much as it did Microsoft.”
Is Google in danger of imploding — or even slowing down substantially — any time soon? Hardly. But that doesn’t mean Carol Bartz is wrong, and we shouldn’t let ourselves be blinded to that just because her company isn’t doing very well.
Post and thumbnail photos courtesy of Flickr user Yodel Anecdotal
The gear heads over at CoverEFX decided to take good and make it better with their recently released and upgraded version of the Volkswagen Touareg W12. Along the way upgrading both the style and performance in a way that only CoverEFX can. This being one installment of VW tuning we’ve been graced with from CoverEFX, they have showed us their skills with this tuned Touareg. The VW Touareg W12 Sport Edition SUV was styled with an aerodynamics package including roof spoiler, front and rear bumpers, and side skirts. The exterior sports new 20-inch Kahn RS light alloy wheels along with lowering the suspension.
Under the hood the Touareg tuning experts at CoverEFX replaced the ECU, installed custom air filters, and also a high grade steel exhaust silencer from Cargraphic. With all this, the VW Touareg managed a power output of 500 HP. Going one step further, the tuners removed the speed limiter, but have not released the performance figures for the tuned Touareg. Be ready to hand over 140,500 euros for these modifications, which includes the price of the new car.
[Source: CoverEFX]
While Avatar was technically impeccable, we have already said that 3D is Hollywood’s next big scam. Film critic, Russ Meyer devotee (amen), and overall good guy Roger Ebert agrees. And he provides a definitive list of reasons: More »
Roger Ebert – movie – Russ Meyer – Arts – History
