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I am admittedly not the trendiest girl around.  I don’t have designer shoes or a luxury car or get my hair blown out.  Actually, where I live getting your hair blown out means you drove with a window open, but I don’t do that much either.  The NYC crowd would have a field day with how un-cool I am with my suburban clothes and addiction to Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee.  I am about as mainstream as they come, and for this I am generally unapologetic.  It’s who I am and I’m OK with that.

Although un-hip, I am quite interested in doing things to keep myself and my family healthy.  I try mightily to get my children to willingly eat vegetables. I don’t cook red meat. I choose fresh ingredients rather than food-in-a-box whenever possible.  I am embarking on an experiment to be a vegetarian, and I recently gave up caffeine for a month.  I am willing to try new things – within reason.

There was a recent article in the New York Times about the popularity of a fermented tea drink called kombucha.  Apparently this tea can do all kinds of magical things like re-growing hair, calming digestive issues and curing hangovers.  Those who drink it claim that it is quite delish.  Sounds good, right?  I’m in! I could be the first one in the suburbs to partake of this delightful elixir!  How do I get it?

This is where things get a little hairy for me.  Because kombucha is made by immersing a disk of bacteria into brewed tea and letting it sit, unrefrigerated, for up to two weeks.

A disk of bacteria.

In your tea.

On purpose.

I am so not down with that.

I understand the benefits of probiotics.  I eat yogurt (from the refrigerator, thank you very much).  But, I have to admit that I wouldn’t even drink the plain tea if it sat out for two weeks – and the introduction of the bacteria disk into the equation does nothing to improve the situation for me.

I suppose the nature of kombucha is essentially similar to beer.  Fermented substances in a drink are not that uncommon.  And yet, I can’t quite get my head around voluntarily introducing bacteria into a completely acceptable drink like tea.  I guess I don’t brew my own beer either, although I do enjoy drinking it.

There are packaged versions of kombucha available, including one made by Red Bull.  I am slightly more comfortable with the manufactured versions, mostly because I work under the assumption that beverage manufacturers are as terrified of being sued as I am of dying of kombucha poisoning.

I am a big sucker for slick marketing and putting anything, even something utterly disgusting, in a pretty bottle and giving it a fun name goes a long way to drawing my interest.  If I actually went out and purchased a Carpe Diem Kombucha, it would be an ultimate marking success for them.

Ooooo…pretty bottle….fancy name…who cares what’s in it?  I must have it!

I want to be cool and brave enough to jump on this bandwagon and give kombucha a try.  But the reality is that it’s probably beyond my capabilities to be that cool and brave.  And the Dunkin’ Donuts coffee is working just fine for me, thanks!

By Matt Hawes

Via The Washington Post:

Senators will face a crucial test vote Monday that could clear the way for debate on far-reaching legislation to overhaul the nation’s financial regulatory system — or end in a partisan standoff — as Wall Street once again takes center stage on Capitol Hill….

Read the rest.

Be sure your senators hear from you on this crucial issue.  A vote on cloture could still go either way.  Real reform starts with auditing the Fed and continues with ending the government intervention that has helped to wreck our economy – not increasing it.

European Union drug regulators have approved an extended release version of AstraZeneca’s antipsychotic medication, Seroquel, for use by some patients suffering from depression.

The approval of Seroquel XR was announced last week by the European Medicines Agency, which overturned an earlier rejection of the drug by The Netherlands. The EU approval follows a similar green light for the drug by FDA in the U.S. in December. The approvals come despite concerns over the risk of problems from Seroquel, which some believe may outweigh the benefits of using the drug to treat depression

The new version, Seroquel XR, is an extended release formula which European regulators have agreed to allow as an add-on treatment for depression. The Dutch originally reviewed, and rejected, the drug while acting as a reference state for the rest of the EU under mutual recognition procedures in May 2009. AstraZeneca protested the decision and sent a new application to the European Medicines Agency, which reviews drugs for use across the EU.  

Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) is an atypical-antipsychotic that is a top selling drug for AstraZeneca, generating nearly $5 billion a year in sales. More than 19 million people worldwide have used the medication for both approved and non-approved uses. However, side effects of Seroquel have been linked to an increased risk of weight gain, hyperglycemia and diabetes.

Last month, the UK charged AstraZeneca with ethics violation charges, saying that the company made misleading statements about Seroquel weight gain side effects.

AstraZeneca currently faces thousands of Seroquel lawsuits in the United States that allege the company failed to adequately warn about the risk of weight gain and other metabolic side effects, which allegedly caused users to develop diabetes and other Seroquel health problems.

Being a Child of Hollywood has its perks — for instance, sometimes you get your real-life Mrs. Robinson. Michael Douglas is a quarter century older than his Welsh-born wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, but the marriage wasn’t the distinguished gentleman’s first May-December romance.

In a interview with the upcoming May issue of Elle Magazine, Douglas, who won an Academy Award for his 1987 drama Wall Street, has revealed that he was seduced at age of 16 by two of his mother’s friends — both in their thirties at the time.

Brain Bleach!

As a matter fact, the 65-year-old — who wed actress Catherine Zeta-Jones in 2001 — credits the cougars with teaching him everything he knows about sex. Michael declined to reveal the names of the two women, as his mother Diana Dill still has no clue about the criminal encounters.

“I wouldn’t want to get any of them in trouble. Though they’re probably dead now….”

Alan Templeton, whose text Population Genetics and Microevolutionary Theory is right below Hartl & Clark in my book, recently published a strongly worded paper, Coherent and incoherent inference in phylogeography and human evolution. The possibility of statistical errors in published work is not shocking, I have heard that when statisticians are asked to sort through papers in medical genetics journals there are elementary errors in ~3/4 of those which have made it beyond peer review. That being said Templeton seems to be making a stronger case than simple refutation of basic errors, in particular he is suggesting that the “ABC” method which lay at the heart of the paper I reviewed last week is incoherent at the root. Here’s Templeton’s abstract:

A hypothesis is nested within a more general hypothesis when it is a special case of the more general hypothesis. Composite hypotheses consist of more than one component, and in many cases different composite hypotheses can share some but not all of these components and hence are overlapping. In statistics, coherent measures of fit of nested and overlapping composite hypotheses are technically those measures that are consistent with the constraints of formal logic. For example, the probability of the nested special case must be less than or equal to the probability of the general model within which the special case is nested. Any statistic that assigns greater probability to the special case is said to be incoherent. An example of incoherence is shown in human evolution, for which the approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) method assigned a probability to a model of human evolution that was a thousand-fold larger than a more general model within which the first model was fully nested. Possible causes of this incoherence are identified, and corrections and restrictions are suggested to make ABC and similar methods coherent. Another coalescent-based method, nested clade phylogeographic analysis, is coherent and also allows the testing of individual components of composite hypotheses, another attribute lacking in ABC and other coalescent-simulation approaches. Incoherence is a highly undesirable property because it means that the inference is mathematically incorrect and formally illogical, and the published incoherent inferences on human evolution that favor the out-of-Africa replacement hypothesis have no statistical or logical validity.

The method which Templeton favors is naturally one which he has pushed in the past. In any case, I don’t know the statistical details well enough to comment with much knowledge, but I see that a statistician has responded to Templeton already, so I would recommend checking that out. I immediately went looking for responses because the paper uses really strong and dismissive language, and I am somewhat wary of that sort of thing when attempting to tear down the fundamentals of a whole field of research (I want to emphasize that overall I enjoy Templeton’s work, but the paper reminded me a bit too much of Jerry Fodor). His citation of Popper in particular seems an appeal to authority that aims to convince the non-statisticians in the audience, and I don’t see the point of that besides rhetorical utility. I do tend to accept somewhat Templeton’s critique of models which assume very little gene flow between hominin populations before the Out-of-Africa migration, though from what I can tell it does seem that Africa has had relatively little back-migration south of the Sahara over the past 50,000 years, so perhaps this is an older dynamic as well. I am cautiously optimistic that DNA extraction from fossils themselves may put to bed some of these arguments over the dance of parameters, though naturally interpretation is always an issue outside of pure mathematics.

For what it’s worth, here’s the model which Templeton’s method favors:

The thin lines represent continuous gene flow between populations, and the thick lines extremely strong demographic & genetic pulses which overwhelm the genetic structure status quo periodically. I have implied something similar as operative on the smaller scale of H. sapiens sapiens.

Citation: Coherent and incoherent inference in phylogeography and human evolution, PNAS 2010 107 (14) 6376-6381; doi:10.1073/pnas.0910647107

Robotgami—the name says as the ‘bot does. These collectible robot origami figures are collectible pieces of artwork, as described by the artisté Dustin Wallace. More »

Does one set out to create a computer literate family, or to cultivate a creative family familiar with the modern communication capabilities of today’s age? The distinction is subtle, but the benefits of the latter strongly outweigh the former, and thankfully is still quite easy to set up.

The first is to merely grant access to an overwhelming environment and expect time itself to wear down the mental faculties of the unsuspecting, in hopes of some sort of miraculous and divine intervention. In other words, rely on dumb luck by clicking on everything in sight until one achieves success.

The other path is a much narrower one where every user can quickly gain access to that which they desire most. With children, the key in either situation is to find a means to where the young user grows a sense of self-confidence, realizing that they are in control, and a sense of accomplishment that they know how to do it for themselves. This is where the iMac can learn from its little siblings: the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. With these devices, access to what one desires is about all one can do when picking up the device for the first time. The goal is to create just as easy to access of a user interface on the iMac, as one has come to expect on the iPad.

Creating a safe environment for the younger Mac heads in your family, while allowing them to explore and expand their minds, is not only possible in Snow Leopard, it is pretty straight forward and simple to pull off. Once you know that it can be done, it is simply a matter of doing it. This article will assume we are targeting the very young pre-school aged Minis. Knowledge of their ABC’s is a bonus, but not absolutely required. The only time they will be required to interact with the keyboard for input will be their password. And since a separate account will be created and locked down, allowing a simple password will not compromise security to such a degree that one needs to worry too much about. The focus will be on creating large, clearly identifiable icons that can be clicked on to allow access to some of the basics of the Mac.

Creating a New User Account

If you are not familiar with creating Accounts on a Mac, you will need to open the System Preferences application from either the Apple Menu, the Dock, or in the Applications folder. Once in the System Preferences, click on the Accounts icon. In order to keep things simple and consistent, first take a look at the Login Options section of the Accounts window. There may be times when your Minis want to use the computer, and it is not on, or it is asleep. It is important to try to keep the experience as consistent as possible each and every time they want to access the computer. So it would be best to turn off Automatic login, display a list of users on the login window, and to show the restart sleep and shut down buttons.

At this point, go ahead and create a new user account. Create a standard account. Various preferences will need to be modified by logging onto the account before the parental controls will be enabled. So do not enable Parental Controls just yet. For consistency sake, the Account Name may be the same as the child’s e-mail or other online account ID like their MobileMe family account ID. Use their full name as the Full Name since this is something that they will be learning more and more as they enter pre-school and kindergarten.

Make the password some sequence of characters that the child will be able to remember. This will break with all security conventions as it will likely be a weak password. The account will be locked down, and access to the full file system will not be permitted. This is also the first opportunity to allow unfettered access to the Mac, and a strong password that the child does not know will limit their access to the Mac and require someone else to log on for them. If this is a dedicated machine for their use only, and is in a permanent secure location (not a MacBook/Laptop), allowing for a simple and weak password may not be an issue. Using the password hint will help later on once the child learns to read, unless one chooses to make the hint the actual password.

Once the account is created, establishing an icon with the account will help make the account unique and identifiable. At first, they will recognize the icon, and soon identify with the fact that their full name is also being displayed. This icon will be displayed on the login prompt when they first access the Mac. The icon should be an image they can relate with, like their favorite toy, or a self-portrait. Just ensure that it is unique from the other account icons, and is something that the individual will not have any problems remembering. Keep in mind that depending on the age of the user, reading may not be a skill yet mastered. And in some cases, the full alphabet may not be known (yes, Mac users can be that young and still get things done on the Mac).

Some of the initial security setup lies in how things are currently configured on the Mac you intend to allow the Minis to use. It is more than just a good idea to create a separate Administrator account on all Macs and not allow any other user accounts to administer any Mac, it is essential. This is configured separately for each User account in the System Preferences’ Accounts window:

Leave this unchecked

You may also want to configure any other accounts to log off after so many minutes of inactivity, and be sure that all remote access to the machine is disabled.

NOTE: Do not enable parental controls until after the user account has been accessed and configured properly. This is very important and will prevent one from having to re-establish the parental controls over and over again and again for each tweak of the user preferences. This is because one of the applications that the user will not be permitted to use will be System Preferences. These controls can be used to allow quite a bit of freedom for the Mini user without having to enforce constant adult supervision. This freedom to explore on their own creates a sense of freedom and self-confidence that just simply cannot be achieved with constant adult supervision. So rather than direct adult supervision, the Mac allows one to configure and control to a staggering degree indirect adult supervision.

Configuring the Account with the Mini User in Mind

Now that a user account is created, go ahead and log in to the account. Remember, the less there is to click on, the less things can go wrong. The goal is to eliminate as many unnecessary options as possible, provide a consistent experience with each successive login, and maximize the font and visuals as much as possible. For the most part, this will lead to disabling most of the advance features, and controlling the behavior of the mouse, keyboard and screen as much as possible. Go back into System Preferences and proceed to configure the user account.

Appearance – Disable the number of recent items by setting Applications, Documents and Servers to ‘none’.

Spotlight – Uncheck all searchable items, and disable the shortcut keys. This is a user specific setting and will only limit the search capabilities of the specific user that this preference was configured for. It may also be a good idea to establish which areas of the Mac should not be searchable under any circumstances.

Desktop and Screen Saver – Do not randomize anything, keep the desktop image clean and clear of clutter by selecting a solid color. The desktop will be where all shortcuts will be created to launch the applications and web pages. As an added bonus, think about purchasing a custom screen saver like SereneScreen’s Marine Aquarium for Snow Leopard.

Dock – This may not make much sense at first, but minimize the Dock to its smallest size, and hide the Dock. The goal here is to keep the individual away from the Dock entirely. All access to applications and websites will be made accessible via shortcuts on the Desktop. It is also important to manually remove all icons from the Dock. The only two remaining icons on the Dock that will not allow themselves to be removed are the Finder, and the Trash. Think iPad.

Exposé and Spaces – Disable all hot corners in Exposé and disable Spaces entirely. Kids tend to overcompensate their mouse movements and this could be a confusing topic to broach when they constantly hit the hot corners of the screen. Since there is very little functionality that they will need to utilize, it is best to simply disable all opportunities to access other features and applications via hot corners.

Task Bar Icons – Keeping consistent with the theme of minimizing the number of opportunities for a stray mouse to click on something, hiding as many of the tray icons as possible is a good idea as well. This includes but is not limited to the Displays, Airport (Network), Battery (Energy Saver), Clock (Date and Time), Bluetooth, and Time Machine. If you have not been able to locate all of the preferences that add items to the Task Bar, simply hold down the command key and drag the items off of the task bar one by one. Just as you remove items from the Dock.

Finder

Now click on the desktop and the Finder menu should appear on the menu bar. Under the Finder menu, select Preferences. Under General, do not show any items like hard drives and peripherals on the desktop. All access to each application and website will be individually and directly controlled via a shortcut from the desktop. New Finder windows should open to the Desktop as well. Basically direct all attention to the Desktop as much as possible. For the sidebar, uncheck everything so that the sidebar is completely bare. When performing a search, search the current folder only, which again, will hopefully only ever be the Desktop.

Toolbar – Open the Finder and from the View menu, choose to customize the Toolbar. Remove all tools from the toolbar and leave it as bare as possible.

View Options – Right Click (option+click) on the Desktop and select Show View Options from the menu that pops up. If the dialogue that displays does not say Desktop at the top, click on the desktop. Once you are sure that you are modifying the View Options for the desktop, maximize the icon size, grid spacing and text size. Keep the label position at the bottom and continue to show both the item info and preview. The interesting part will be to sort the icons by their respective labels. This will give more control over the positioning of the labels, and create a color coordinated option for organizing utility applications from educational and fun applications.

Safari

Within Safari, some of the basic configurations to establish include either setting up a blank home page, or a familiar home page; perhaps one that was created just for them with large image icons of their favorite websites. Additionally be sure to turn off all of the tool and status bars. This will initially create an experience that each web site is a separate ‘thing’ accessible from a desktop icon. This is perfectly acceptable at first and can be a modified behavior once the Mini user learns that all of the ‘sites’ they are accessing are not on the computer, not in the house, and in some cases not even in the country. Be sure to edit the bookmarks and remove all pre-populated bookmarks as well.

Safari Preferences

Setting Up Parental Controls

Everything is now configured just right and the account is ready for parental lockdown. Kid Proofing a Mac With Parental Controls is now possible. Attempting to do this any earlier and one will find themselves approving access by allowing once way too many times to be the best means to get everything configured. At this point, log out of the account that was created for the Mini user, and log into an administrator account. While it is not absolutely necessary to login to an administrator account, this will eliminate the prompts to authorize each action that is taken. Disabling and Enabling Parental controls will prove to be a real pain as well. Especially when you have an extensive list of e-mail, and chat accounts, as well as a good list of web sites that you want to grant access. Not to mention, establishing a complex set of times and hours that the little one can use the Mac. The preferred route is to create a user account, strip it down to the bare minimum required to make things go, and then to enable parental controls to lock down everything else.

The first choice is to use the simple Finder, or to only allow access to selected applications. While the simple finder is nice, and is what all of the configuring and messing around attempted to achieve to a lesser degree in the above recommendations, in the end, the ability to limit what applications the user has access to outweighed the simplification of the Finder. The recommendation is to utilize the “Only allow selected applications” feature of Parental Controls. From here, one can select exactly what applications the user can launch. At first, un-select all applications and log on to the user account and see what all is possible to accomplish. It is also recommended to disable the ability to administer printers, change passwords, burn CD/DVDs, and even modify the Doc.

Conclusion

Empowering the Mini Mac users in one’s life is simple and straight forward once one gets the hang of creating a user account, customizing System Preferences, and setting up parental controls. The rewards of having a Mini user realize that they are in control and they are able to make the Mac do what they want it to are huge. Playing with Photo Booth and communicating with the grandparents via video over long distances is worth all of the set up. It will not be too long before the Mini user is confident in their own skill set enough to go and check on their own to see if Grandma or Grandpa are online.

Esse fato no mínimo curioso aconteceu há alguns dias atrás em Ohio, Estados Unidos. Um carro conseguiu ser lançado por 53 metros e bater no terceiro andar de um prédio, fazendo a motorista morrer na hora. O carro estava a mais de 150Km/h segundo os investigadores. Após subir a calçada, ele pegou impulso em um barranco e atingiu o prédio, entre o terceiro e o quarto andar.

A motorista era Carmen Ritacco, de 26 anos. O que restou do corpo foi submetido a autópsia e exames toxicológicos, para descobrir se a moça estava embriagada quando aconteceu o acidente.

A única vítima do acidente foi a própria condutora, nenhuma outra pessoa se fetiu. Apenas alguns azulejos de um banheiro foram quebrados com o impacto da batida. Realmente não é algo que costumamos ver todo dia. Vejam o vídeo acima da reportagem do canal NewsChannel5.

Via | Vírgula

Who would have thought that the Sprint-branded Bold 9650’s at WES 2010 would actually be coming to Sprint?

Joking aside, the new BlackBerry will offer Wi-Fi, RIM’s new trackpad, OS 5.0, and increased memory (a total of 512 MB, to be exact).  Despite the changes, the device is nearly identical to the Tour 9630, save for the trackpad, revised battery door design, and “Bold” branding above the camera on the back.  At any rate, it’s nice to see the trackpad taking off.

The full Sprint press release is below.  The Bold 9650 will be available May 23rd for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and new, two-year agreement.  With Sprint getting all official and such, all eyes are on Verizon for their official release – will it come today?  Tomorrow?  Anytime in the near future?

Advanced Features and Refined Style of BlackBerry Bold 9650 Smartphone Coming to Sprint
 
Available in all Sprint sale channels May 23, the new BlackBerry Bold 9650 offers international roaming for a global smartphone experience
 
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – April 26, 2010 – With an extensive array of high-end communications and multimedia features, compact and highly refined design and international roaming capabilities, the new BlackBerry® Bold™ 9650 smartphone will be available from Sprint (NYSE: S). It will operate on Sprint’s nationwide 3G Network domestically, and roams on other high-speed wireless networks around the world for reliable voice and email communication.
 
The BlackBerry Bold 9650 smartphone will be available for $199.99 with a new two-year service agreement, after a $100 mail-in rebate (taxes & surcharges excluded).  It can be purchased in all other Sprint sales channels, including Web sales (www.sprint.com), Telesales (1-800-SPRINT1), Sprint Business Sales, Sprint stores, national retailers and third-party dealers, Sunday, May 23.
 
BlackBerry Bold 9650 provides instant access to email, calendar, contacts, robust business and entertainment applications and location-based services, leveraging the best performing wireless networks in the United States and abroad.  It is also ideally suited for those who want to stay socially connected and share moments through pictures and videos over MMS and popular IM services like BlackBerry® Messenger.  It also offers easy access to social networking sites like Flickr®, MySpace™ and Facebook®, with smooth integration, providing a great view of what’s happening both personally and professionally.
 
“BlackBerry Bold 9650 extends Sprint’s position of offering the best portfolio of BlackBerry smartphones in the industry with a powerful mobility tool for those who want to stay connected, both domestically and abroad,” said Fared Adib, vice president – Product Development, Sprint.  “Our customers will appreciate its fast Web browsing, downloads and streaming as well as social media and productivity enhancing applications. This is an ideal smartphone for juggling busy personal and professional lives.”
 
“The BlackBerry Bold 9650 is a sophisticated and feature-rich smartphone with uncompromising performance that lets you stay connected to the people and content that matter most, whether at home or travelling the world,” said David Smith, vice president of Handheld Product Management, RIM.
 
In addition to top-of-the-line performance, functionality and features, the BlackBerry Bold 9650 smartphone comes with BlackBerry® OS 5.  It is also designed with a smoothly integrated optical trackpad and a distinctive, highly tactile, fretted keyboard and features a large, high-resolution display (480 x 360 resolution at 245 ppi).
 
 
Additional features include:

• Access to up to 10 supported email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts such as Yahoo!®, Windows Live™ Hotmail®, AOL® and Gmail™), plus BlackBerry® Enterprise Server support offering advanced security and IT administration capabilities for corporate deployments
• Built-in GPS and Wi-Fi® (802.11 b/g)
• 3.2 MP camera with flash, variable zoom, image stabilization, autofocus and video recording
• Advanced media player for enjoying pictures, video and music
• 512 MB Flash memory and an expandable memory card slot that supports up to 32 GB microSDHC cards, with a 2 GB microSD card included
• 3.5 mm stereo headset jack
• Support for the Bluetooth® stereo headsets (A2DP/AVCRP)
• Sprint Music Store, Sprint Navigation, Sprint TV®, Sprint Football Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile
• BlackBerry® App World™ for access to thousands of applications

 
The 3G Sprint Mobile Broadband Network (inclusive of data roaming) reaches more than 269 million people, 18,652 cities and 1,838 airports. The Sprint Mobile Broadband Network (inclusive of data roaming) have twice the coverage of AT&T’s current 3G network and 14 times the coverage of T-Mobile’s current 3G network, both based on square miles1.
 
According to Sprint performance data, Sprint Mobile Broadband connections are successfully connected and maintained better than 99 out of 100 times. According to a recent independent network test conducted by PC World, no one has a more reliable network than Sprint based on a recent 13 city 3G performance test 2.
 
BlackBerry Bold 9650 for most customers requires activation on an Everything Data plan or a Business Advantage Messaging and Data plan.  Additional plan options are available for business customers.  For just $69.99 per month, Sprint’s affordable Everything Data 450 plan with Any Mobile, AnytimeSM gives customers unlimited calling with any U.S. wireless user, unlimited text and picture messaging, unlimited Web, email and social networking, and unlimited GPS navigation for the same price AT&T and Verizon charge for unlimited talk only.  Sprint Everything Data plans also automatically enroll customers in the Sprint Premier loyalty program, which provides annual device upgrades, discounted accessories and other benefits.
 
Sprint’s Simply EverythingSM plan offers nationwide unlimited calling, unlimited text and unlimited data, including email, social networking, Web browsing, Sprint Navigation, Sprint TV, streaming music, Sprint Football Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile, for only $99.99 per month (plus taxes and surcharges). That is a $480 savings over two years vs. a comparable AT&T iPhone(R) plan3. (Prices exclude taxes and surcharges.  Both Everything Data and Simply Everything plans are available to existing customers without extending their service agreement. New lines of service require a two-year service agreement.)
 
International Travel
The BlackBerry Bold 9650 smartphone operates domestically on the Sprint 3G network, and globally on 2100 MHz UMTS/HSPA and quad-band EDGE/GSM/GPRS networks where Sprint has international roaming agreements. With this smartphone, Sprint customers have the power to make or receive phone calls in more than 185 countries and access BlackBerry® data services including email, apps and Web browsing in nearly 150 countries.
 
Sprint offers clear value and simplicity with its Worldwide BlackBerry® service plan. The Worldwide BlackBerry plan gives customers unlimited BlackBerry email and Web access in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and other locations using CDMA technology, and with UMTS and EDGE/GSM/GPRS carriers abroad where Sprint has applicable roaming agreements. The plan is available to corporate customers for $69.99 per month, or an additional $40 per month (excluding taxes and surcharges) as an attachable to Simply EverythingSM, Everything Data, Everything Data Family or Business Advantage with Messaging and Data plans.
 
Sprint international voice roaming rates range from $0.59 to $5.99 per minute, depending on where customers are calling.  Customers making frequent calls while in Canada can take advantage of a specific service plan for $2.99 per month which allows calls to be made and received at $0.20 per minute. Additional pricing plans are available exclusively to enterprise customers.
 
Customers also have the option of using a third-party SIM for international voice and data services.

My latest POI guest, Deb Blum, avers that her book sales on Amazon went up appreciably after our show aired (download here and stream here). Like, wow. Didn’t know we had that power. Of course, it may be because I framed Blum’s book, The Poisoner’s Handbook, as a kind of ideal case study in how to communicate science. But, well, it is. If I give the book an endorsement during the show, it’s because it is richly deserved. Blum does a fantastic job of embedding science within a narrative driven by characters and human drama (in this case, the 1920s scientific quest to catch poisoners, who were previously operating with relative impunity). As an author, she thereby ensures that she will both educate readers about chemistry–on the show, for instance, we discuss the crucial difference between ethyl and methyl alcohol, which had no small policy and human health import during Prohibition–and also intrigue and entertain them. There are many, many would-be science communicators who should take a lesson from Blum’s success. And indeed, in one part of the show that was cut, she told me that Hollywood may be interested in the story she’s created. Once again, if you haven’t heard the show yet, …

Hoboken business owner eats his own dog food by installing solar energy on his house.  …

… "Fahmie, founder of Jersey City-based renewable energy company Solevis, chose his home as the site for his company’s first small-scale project, 3.15 kilowatt solar energy system … " …

Via NJ.com: Hoboken Brownstone

Hello! It’s been a few days. I’ve been working, yawn.

I specifically made sure I was not scheduled for yesterday though because of St. Anthony’s Triathlon. It seems like every year it comes and goes and then I hear about it and kick myself for not remembering to go watch. This year, however, I wrote it on my calendar!

But first, here is a ridiculous story: my alarm went off early since I wanted to see the triathlon from beginning to end, at least with the pro athletes.  When I walked out to my car it was still dark, and I thought I saw something two cars down from mine, so I stopped, and then realized it was a person crouching down, hiding behind a car. My heart started immediately racing and I imagined all of these terrible scenarios of someone hiding and ready to pounce on me. I hauled ass up the stairs and fiddled with my keys, thinking someone might be after me! I was freakin’ scared!!!! I slammed the door locked behind me and went into my room to look out the window.
Stupid me, turns out it was just one of the neighbors getting ready to go fishing. It looked like he was hiding because he was picking supplies off the ground to place in his truck. hahah! Well, I followed by instincts anyway. –>paranoid freak!

Besides that fiasco, I was super excited to go to the triathlon. I couldn’t get Mirza to  wake up that early, but that’s okay because I had fun by myself.

Watching all of the marked tri-athletes walk to the water was exhilarating. I started questioning whether I could do something like that, and imagining what it must feel like to walk to the starting point.

Finally, the guns went off and the pro male athletes started. I honestly could not see them in the water.
I walked out far, too; close to the end of the wall until it ended, but I could not see anyone swimming!?
I know they were out there!

I decided to walk over to the bikes, hoping to catch the first person, but he was too fast for me!! I got close to the Vinoy and then I heard the sirens and saw a white SUV leading a definitely serious pro-triathlete through the streets of downtown St. Petersburg! It was inspiring because there were hundred of people cheering and screaming.

After that, I spent a long time over by the bikes watching them head out, until I had to walk back to my car to put change in the meter.

Snapped these on my way to the car

I love downtown St. Pete. We used to spend so much time there when Mirza and I first started dating, but then it just got kind of old. Even over the past 7 years, it has changed tremendously. There are a lot more shops and restaurants. I lived downtown about 2 years ago while finishing up nursing school. I would definitely love to live there again, but it is far from my job.

It was also a perfect day. Not too hot, with a breeze. But I’m sure the wind kind of sucked for the participants.

I made my way back to the race site. As I was walking back, I heard the sirens again around the same spot and sure enough, it was the male pro athlete in the lead coming back from his 40k bike ride!! grrrr, he was too fast for me again.
I did manage to film a quick video, but it is bad quality.
Other random photos:

This post is beginning to get long and photo-heavy. Look for part 2 later this afternoon with the results of the race and pictures of the top athletes running towards the finish line! totally epic.

It’s curious that after announcing the Nexus One would be coming to Verizon, Google’s now directing people to the HTC Incredible instead. Then again, Verizon never said they’d carry the Nexus One. UPDATE: Google confirms no N1 on Verizon: More »

Acquisitions of failed U.S. banks by Bank of Montreal and Toronto-Dominion Bank over the past two weeks may be forcing Royal Bank of Canada to play catch up, Michael Goldberg, an analyst at Desjardins Securities says.  

"With BMO and TD active, there is likely to be increased attention on Royal," Mr. Goldberg said in a note to clients.

"However, this may put pressure on Royal's stock price because it may be viewed as more likely to make a much more significant and dilutive acquisition to strengthen its relatively weak US commercial banking platform."

Late Friday, Bank of Montreal said that Harris Bank, its US commercial banking operating platform, was selected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. bidding process as the buyer of the failed AMCORE Bank of Rockford, Illinois. Harris acquired US$2.5-billion in assets, including US$2-billion of loans, and assumes US$2.1-billion of deposits.

A week earlier, TD said it had been selected as part of a FDIC auction, the buyer of Riverside National
Bank of Florida, First Federal Bank of North Florida and AmericanFirst
Bank, also located in the sunshine state. 

Mr. Goldberg said the BMO deal will likely be viewed as a positive by investors, however, it is not expected to have any material impact on its capital position or earnings.

He added that both the BMO and TD acquisitions demonstrate the willingness of Canadian banks to bolster their U.S.-based operations.

David Pett

Ford Fiesta S1600

Take a look at this new hot-hatch Fiesta that isn’t a Ford ST. It’s actually known as the Ford Fiesta S1600 and is essentially a standard 118-hp Zetec S with an enhance bodykit and some racy touches on the inside and it’s only available in the UK.

“Based on the popular Fiesta Zetec-S – with a generous standard specification that includes alloy pedals and Quickclear windscreen – the sporty Fiesta S1600 interior adds heated, stitched leather sports seats with standard side-airbags, leather steering wheel, handbrake cover and gearknob, plus Motorsport-branded floor mats and scuff plates,” Ford said in a statement.

Click here to get prices on the 2011 Ford Fiesta.

All we know is, Ford has already promised us a global 2012 global Ford Focus that will get a version of the 4-cylinder Ford EcoBoost engine. A high-performance Ford Fiesta, most likely powered by a 4-cylinder EcoBoost as well, has also been recently spotted driving around Dearbon.

Hit the jump for the high-res image gallery.

Ford Fiesta S1600:

– By: Kap Shah

Just a quick heads up for those who want to get a taste of Split/Second. Disney and Black Rock have released a demo for it on Xbox Live. PS3 owners have to wait a while to get their

Oscar-nominated darling Gabourey Sidibe made her debut as host of Saturday Night Live over the weekend, and not everyone is convinced that the supersized beauty, 26, really brought the funny.

While Entertainment Weekly called the showing “funny,” a visibly nervous Gabs flubbed her lines in almost every sketch — a fact that made her the object ridicule in comments plastered across the Twitterverse. The Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy Column even got in on the hazing, branding “Cherry Battle” Gabby’s digital short with Andy Samberg “so not funny it hurts.”

Yikes! We’d love to hear your thoughts on Sidibe’s SNL debut. Take a peek at the Precious star playing a bad state employee in the “2010 Public Employee of the Year” skit.

San Francisco, CA, FPL Group

FPL Energy Services, Inc., a growing Energy Service Company with two federal contracts, and a subsidiary of FPL Group – the US leader in energy from wind and solar systems, is looking to expand the solar/renewable development team.

We are seeking a senior level electrical engineer with experience in solar photovoltaic design for commercial grid tied and utility scale systems. Candidate shall have a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and a California Professional Engineer’s license. The candidate will be responsible for performing site visits to determine the panel layout, selecting and analyzing the appropriate PV system hardware, determining the power generation, and determining the interconnection requirements. In addition, the candidate will be responsible for leading feasibility studies for solar photovoltaic systems. Position will be based out of the San Francisco Bay area in California. Position may be filled at a lower level.

Requires 10 years of electrical design experience, with experience in designing PV systems in the range of 200kW to over one MW. Travel to support the project development activities is required. Work schedule is M-F 8-5, with additional hours as needed. Ability to obtain additional Professional Engineer licenses and having a LEED AP certification is a plus.

Please apply at www.fplcareers.com and reference 1000377.

¿Cómo va a plantear Google su sistema de navegación GPS paso a paso gratis, como un producto para aumentar el valor de la plataforma Android o como un instrumento para intentar reforzar su apuesta en las búsquedas locales? Viendo los últimos anuncios, parece que quieren hacer ambas cosas. En España ya apuntan que con el Nexus One que ofrecerá Vodafone habrá navegación gratis en Mayo, aunque en el tema de si darán la funcionalidad en otras plataformas marean la perdiz. Primero aseguraron que estaría en varias, para luego matizar que “no aseguran que vaya a estar para iPhone” (PcWorld).

Desde que Google anunciara su irrupción ya teníamos claro que el mercado de la navegación GPS iba a quedar tocado ante el desafío de lo gratis. Las reacciones no se hicieron esperar, con Nokia a la cabeza y lo único que queda es ver cómo el resto de la competencia acaba aceptando lo que no tiene vuelta atrás: la navegación básica paso a paso por GPS va a ser gratis y quien quiera cobrar va a tener que ofrecer mucho más valor. ¿Qué cabe esperar por parte de Google? Amortizar varios meses ofreciendo Google Maps Navigation sólo para Android para hacer más atractiva la plataforma (en eso anda Nokia con su publicidad en estos momentos); a medio plazo lo llevarán al resto de sistemas con una cuota de mercado significativa porque si no lo hacen ellos, lo harán otros.

Relacionado: Tomtom Go: Tomtom frente la navegación gratis en los móviles y los navegadores de los coches, Motorola Milestone y por qué se vende más que Nexus One