Blog

Environmental News Network: The rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere means far more energy is coming into Earth’s climate system than is going out, but half of that energy is missing and could eventually reappear as another sign of climate change, scientists said on Thursday.

In stable climate times, the amount of heat coming into Earth’s system is equal to the amount leaving it, but these are not stable times, said John Fasullo of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, a co-author of the report in the journal Science.

The gap between what’s entering the climate system and what’s leaving is about 37 times the heat energy produced by all human activities, from driving cars and running power plants to burning wood.

Half of that gap is unaccounted for, Fasullo and his co-author Kevin Trenberth reported. It hasn’t left the climate system but it hasn’t been detected with satellites
, ocean sensors or other technology.The rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere means far more energy is coming into Earth’s climate system than is going out, but half of that energy is missing and could eventually reappear as another sign of climate change, scientists said on Thursday.

In stable climate times, the amount of heat coming into Earth’s system is equal to the amount leaving it, but these are not stable times, said John Fasullo of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, a co-author of the report in the journal Science.

The gap between what’s entering the climate system and what’s leaving is about 37 times the heat energy produced by all human activities, from driving cars and running power plants to burning wood.

Half of that gap is unaccounted for, Fasullo and his co-author Kevin Trenberth reported. It hasn’t left the climate system but it hasn’t been detected with satellites, ocean sensors or other technology.The rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere means far more energy is coming into Earth’s climate system than is going out, but half of that energy is missing and could eventually reappear as another sign of climate change, scientists said on Thursday.

In stable climate times, the amount of heat coming into Earth’s system is equal to the amount leaving it, but these are not stable times, said John Fasullo of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, a co-author of the report in the journal Science.

The gap between what’s entering the climate system and what’s leaving is about 37 times the heat energy produced by all human activities, from driving cars and running power plants to burning wood.

Read more>>

Share This

Can the Securities and Exchange Commission ride Goldman Sachs back to credibility? Perhaps, but it will take more than one high-profile lawsuit to restore the reputation of America’s top financial cop. L’Affaire Madoff was pretty close to a brand killer. But the move is powerful evidence — and warning — that the agency is out of the doughnut shop and back on the beat.

The all-points bulletin went out not long ago. Under the leadership of a new chairman and enforcement director, the SEC’s Obama years have marked a hard switch from the laissez-faire enforcement posture of the Bush administration. In 2009, the regulator opened twice as many investigations as in 2008, with fines up 35 percent. The new assertiveness helped tamp down talk on Capitol Hill that the SEC should be merged with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or subsumed into a giant super-regulator.

But aggression can also lead to unforced errors. The regulator was impatient with the New York attorney general’s office during its tag-team litigation effort against Bank of America. So it dumped its legal partner and went it alone. The result: A judge threw out a $33 million SEC fine against BofA regarding bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch employees. And the judge called a later $150 million settlement between the two sides “half-baked justice at best”.

The SEC also failed to execute in its case against Cohmad Securities and the firm’s involvement with Bernard Madoff. In February, a federal court dismissed the SEC’s “flimsy” charges that Cohmad helped enable the notorious Ponzi schemer. And little has transpired in the more than nine months since the agency filed an insider trading complaint against former Countrywide boss Angelo Mozilo.

So a failed case against Goldman for alleged securities fraud might leave the SEC in worse shape. It would also open the watchdog to charges that the timing of its charges, right in the middle of a debate over financial reform, was merely an attempt by the Obama administration to intimidate Wall Street into supporting its get-tough legislation. But in the meantime, the financial industry will be looking hard over its shoulder for the first time in years.

Brian Beutler at Talking Points Memo reports that Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has signed Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s letter in opposition to the Democrats’ financial reform bill. Republicans claim — inaccurately, experts say — that the bill will lead to more Wall Street bailouts. Here is the text:

Dear Leader Reid:

We encourage you to take a bipartisan and inclusive approach, rather than the partisan path you chose on health care.

A bipartisan bill should address the damaging financial practices of big Wall Street firms and government-sponsored entities that led to unprecedented taxpayer bailouts and caused our government to take on enormous amounts of debt. We simply cannot ask the American taxpayer to continue to subsidize this “too big to fail” policy. We must ensure that Wall Street no longer believes or relies on Main Street to bail them out. Inaction is not an option. However, it is imperative that what we do does not worsen the current economic climate or codify the circumstances that led to the last financial crisis.

We are united in our opposition to the partisan legislation reported by the Senate Banking Committee. As currently constructed, this bill allows for endless taxpayer bailouts of Wall Street and establishes new and unlimited regulatory powers that will stifle small businesses and community banks.

This is a complex issue that could have unintended consequences on job growth, the ability of Americans and business owners to access credit, and the United States’ role as a worldwide leader in innovation and capital formation. The consequences of this bill will reverberate across our economy for years to come.

We urge you to support the bipartisan negotiations by the Banking and Agriculture Committees. We are confident that the Senate can overcome political tensions and provide a bipartisan approach to financial reform this year.

But today’s events have only made financial regulation reform more popular and more urgent. If Republican leadership plans to filibuster, I would be surprised to see it hold onto all 41 Senators for any period of time. More likely, Republicans and Democrats will agree to various popular amendments to make them both look good after a few weeks of back and forth.

March’s unemployment report was celebrated by economists as showing the most job growth seen in three years. But not all states were popping the champagne. Some saw their labor markets worsen. In fact, 32 states had more unemployed residents in March than in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This may begin to show that the labor market recovery will not be felt equally by all states.

The five worst states were Michigan (14.1%), Nevada, (13.4%), California (12.6%), Rhode Island (12.6%), and Florida (12.3%). Of those five, Michigan and Rhode Island experienced job growth; the other three endured more job losses. North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska remained the only three states with unemployment rates below 5%. North Dakota actually saw its rate decline by 0.1% to 4.1%.

California had the greatest number of additional unemployed residents with 30,500 more in March. It was followed by Virginia and Florida with 9,100 and 8,400 more, respectively. New York showed the most positive change with 12,700 fewer unemployed residents.

In terms of worsening unemployment rates, the most negatively affected states were Colorado, Nevada, Virginia, Montana, and New Mexico. All five saw their rates increase by 0.2%. 19 states had a 0.1% rise. Louisiana saw its rate decline the most, by 0.4%. South Carolina and the District of Columbia each enjoyed a 0.3% decline in their unemployment percentages.

The following chart shows the top-20 states with the highest increase in unemployment rate for March from February (#s in thousands):

That last column is revealing: it shows each state’s ranking in March foreclosure severity (foreclosures per housing unit). Six of the 10 worst states are on this list. The column also shows that only two of the 10-best states in terms of foreclosure severity are listed. If you compare the rankings of all 50 states for foreclosure severity and unemployment rate increase, they have a positive correlation of 0.31. While that’s not terribly compelling at this point, the correlation should be watched over the next few months to see whether ailing local housing markets weigh on states’ job market recovery.

Note: All statistics are seasonally adjusted.

Find it here. And here is a section-by-section summary.

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPad several weeks ago, one of the key announcements was that the new tablet device would feature an e-reader that would compete directly with the Amazon Kindle and would also have a built-in electronic bookstore. I have spent the last week with a new iPad using the iBooks app and shopping in the iBookstore to see how it works. In my short experience with the iPad, I can say that I like iBooks but I am not sure if this app will be the revolution in publishing that iTunes was for the music industry.

iBooks

The Library

iBooks is an e-reader app for the iPad that you use to manage and read electronic books. You are first greeted by a wood-grained bookshelf where thumbnail images of the covers of your e-books reside. You can also use a list view where you can sort the books by title, author, category or the sorting used on the bookshelf.

These sorting options are the source of my first complaint. Sorting is not available in the bookshelf view. Instead, books are arranged by the order in which they were added to your library. The lack of sorting and search options makes the bookshelf view very limited, even though it is visually appealing.

Reading

Tapping a cover opens up the book to either the first page or the previous spot where you were reading. Pages appear side by side in landscape view or a single page at a time in portrait view. You switch pages by swiping left or right, or simply tapping on the edge of the page. The controls will fade after a moment to let you concentrate on the material, but reappear quickly with a tap to the middle of the page. You can adjust the font size and the font face as well as the brightness of the screen by using the controls at the top right of the screen.

Turning pages by grabbing the corner and pulling your finger across reveals a pleasant attention to detail. You can just make out the faint impression of the reverse side of the page as it flips over. However, this is really just eye candy because tapping at the edge of the screen with your thumbs is much easier when holding the iPad as a book. The little animation that flips the page over with the tap is nice and fast and improves the experience

Searching & Bookmarking

While I have some emotional attachment to books (I love the smell of new bindings and leather covers), there are some real advantages to electronic books that just cannot be matched with paper. You can search the e-book by word or phrase by tapping and holding over a word to select it and then choosing from the options in the pop-up dialog, which includes an option to look up the word in the built-in dictionary.

Full-text search is a little slow in longer books, but fast enough that the few seconds wait is not unbearable. The search dialog provides additional options to look for the word or phrase with Google or Wikipedia.

Selections can be saved to Bookmarks that are saved and then made accessible from the Table of Contents view. They appear on the page with yellow highlighting as if you had used a pen to mark the word of passage.

Eyestrain

One concern about the iPad as a reading device is that the bright, LED-backlit, IPS LCD screen may induce more eyestrain than the reflective e-ink display used in the Kindle, Nook, and other e-readers. While there are no clinical studies yet that have measured increased eyestrain with LCD displays compared to e-ink screens, anecdotal evidence suggests that many people prefer e-ink. One reason suggested by ophthalmologists interviewed in the LA Times, NY Times, and the Wall Street Journal may be that screen brightness is the primary cause of discomfort on LCD screens. Having a brightness control available in the app, in addition to the auto-adjusting feature that responds to changes in ambient light, is a nice step towards providing comfort for extended reading.

Once you move outside, the glare on the glossy iPad screen makes reading difficult and I suspect that glare causes additional eyestrain just from trying to focus your eyes past the distracting mirror images on the glass.

In my own reading, I found that stretches of up to an hour were perfectly comfortable, including time this last weekend driving through twisty mountain roads, as long as I positioned the iPad out of direct sunlight. I read a lot of books in my (precious little) spare time and I think I still prefer the heft, feel, and look of paper books for many uses. I imagine that different people will have a different reaction, but you should not be scared of the iPad for reading.

iBookstore

The iBookstore is reached by clicking on the “Store” button inside the iBooks app. The five major publishers announced at the iPad debut in January are selling titles alongside thousands of free books from the Gutenberg Project. Prices vary widely for the paid content. I saw everything from $6.99 to $14.99 in a quick scan.

Searching for titles or authors will helpfully suggest possible matches as you type, but browsing is a bit frustrating due to the limited options. You can browse the featured, new and bestselling books, the top 25 New York Times Bestsellers, and the top 50 paid and free books in the iBookstore. You can also browse the categories to see the top sellers in that section.

Browsing by category is frustrating. There are only 21 categories and no sub-categories to drill down and explore. The iBookstore will only display the top 50 paid and free books. Some categories do not list free books and then show the top 60 paid books as a small concession.

As the number of titles grows in the store, I really want Apple to add some additional options for discovering content. In addition, I found that the selection is a bit limited at this time. Several titles that I have been wanting to read, which are available in the Kindle store, were not listed in the iBookstore.

Revolutionary?

I do not think that iBooks will revolutionize the book publishing industry, at least not in its current form. Printed books are still great for reading at the beach (sun and sand are not iPad friendly) and can be lent out, shared or donated after you are done with them.

The advantages of e-books (searching, bookmarking) are really apparent with reference books like software programming titles. Some technical publishers like O’Reilly have made at least part of their catalog available in ePub, but through their own online store, not the iBookstore. Textbooks are the other area where e-books would be fantastic. Kids today routinely carry 30-40 pound backpacks and the iPad would probably put a few chiropractors out of business if that load could be replaced by a 1.5 pound device with all the required texts loaded on it.

iBooks will be a decent success partly for novelty and partly for the fact that the demographic that is buying the iPad is more likely to look past the limitations of e-books and appreciate the convenience.

The real revolution will come when textbooks with visually complex layouts like sidebars, graphs, charts, footnotes, are made available. I suspect that it will not happen in the current ePub format though.

Most trek to Palau to behold beneath its sea. Become a certified diver? Check. My EPA dive team colleagues warned it would be hard to top, until I’m diving off Massachusetts this summer I can’t say, but I’ve likely been completely spoiled.

I started caring about animals far earlier than usual. Natural instincts were supplemented by growing up outside catching pollywogs, and when indoors, watching a 1980s, taped, National Geographic special on whales and sharks, incessantly… (Where scientists test which wetsuit colors attract Jaws the most, I think it was a tie, and divers caress sleeping Tiger sharks?!) While Palau didn’t have whales, it is the first country to create a shark sanctuary throughout its marine territory; and thank goodness.

We probably saw 50 sharks on the trip, I lost count. White tip, black tip, grey reef! I never felt threatened as they gently swam by. Diving Blue Corner, seeing these beautiful creatures, catching a glimpse into their behavior, just feet away took my breath away. I wanted to dive deeper and watch them for hours.

I heard of shark finning, seen atrocious images, but it really hit me there. How unnecessary to destroy these fascinating animals? Palau’s shark population and diversity had been devastated by foreign vessels, but heroic efforts in the community over the past decade helped the government enact some of the toughest shark protection legislation in the world.

Concerned Palauans had Ron’s Leidich’s help (told you he knows his stuff) along with Noah Idechong, Delegate to Palau’s National Congress and founding member of the Palau Conservation Society. Local efforts were aided by the help of Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week.” Both Ron and marine biologist Ethan Daniels helped the film crew capture the plight of Palau’s threatened shark population by surprising a foreign vessel with holds full of shark carcasses and fins. While it wasn’t yet illegal, the ship falsely declared the cargo as “tuna and other permitted catch” to Palau Customs officials. This captured for the world to see, caused international outcry and support to protect Palau’s top, living, attraction. Dermot Keane, another friendly face at Sam’s Tours, who we met after diving went on to launch the Palau Shark Sanctuary in November 2001, to continue the fight to end shark finning in Palau and around the world.

About the author: Jeanethe Falvey, EPA New England, on detail, EPA’s Office of Web Communications.

Love listening to your music that you can’t bear to part with it wherever you go? Well, Sony has just the thing for you then with their spanking new waterproof NWZ-W250 Walkman MP3 player that allows you to listen to your favorite tunes wherever you are, even when it is raining when you exercise. Of course, chances are most folks dressed in suits would eschew this for something more formal simply because of their lifestyle, but the more active ones among you who absolutely need your music whenever you sweat it out outdoors might want to give this a shot, especially when it is water resistant and can be used even in the shower. To top it all off, the NWZ-W250 Walkman MP3 player is wearable for easier portability, making it the perfect fit for sport and active lifestyles. The NWZ-W250 Walkman MP3 player is proud to be the first wire-free MP3 player from Sony which is capable of resisting rain splashes or sweat of a gruelling gym session. All you need to do after exercising is to rinse the NWZ-W250 under the tap until all your sweat and grime is washed away, or you can do so while having a post-workout shower with your favorite tracks still making music into your ears. Nice to know it doesn’t come in just one drab color, as you can choose from a quartet of sporty colors, while the light, all-in-one design does away with the classic tangle of headphone wires which will be a damper especially when you’re trying to concentrate on your workout, running session or dancing class. It ships with 13.5mm EX Series headphones that offer clear, powerful Walkman sound alongside total comfort and a secure fit during physical activity. For those who want to go through their playlist quickly, the ZAPPIN technology included will scan through stored tracks, playing a short sample from each song to help you choose the correct music at that particular time. The more forgetful ones will definitely love the quick 3-minute charge time that offers enough juice to keep it running for 90 minutes of non-stop audio playback. When fully charged, the battery offers up to 11 hours of uninterrupted listening time, which is more than enough even for marathon runners. No idea on pricing, but the NWZ-W250 Walkman MP3 player will arrive in store shelves from Sony later this May.

Share This

Response to both Obama’s space policy and my blog post about it were pretty much as I expected. Haters, lovers, people who didn’t actually read what I wrote or listened to what Obama actually said, some thoughtful, some knee jerk. The usual.

But my favorite is from Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO), who, in a press release, posted this:

The decision by the Obama administration to gut NASA’s manned flight program does more than jeopardize the long term goals of solar system exploration, the cancellation of the space shuttles replacement will effectively leave the United States reliant upon the Soviet Union to grant us access to low earth orbit. As a member of the Armed Services Committee I am very concerned with that possibility, and as an American I am disappointed by the prospect.

It doesn’t surprise me that someone would erroneously say that Obama is gutting the manned space flight program, when we know he isn’t and when he may in fact be saving it. It doesn’t surprise me that people are forgetting that private industry is poised to take us into low Earth orbit before Constellation could have, though it’s odd for a “fiscally conservative” Republican Congressman — and therefore, one assume, pro-business — to forget such a thing.

It also doesn’t surprise me that someone would blame Obama about us having to rely on foreign partners for access to space after the Shuttle retires, and it certainly doesn’t surprise me that a Republican Congressman would say such a thing, even though this necessity came about because of President Bush’s decision to retire the Shuttle and not have a replacement ready for at least five years after.

But what I do find really interesting is that a Congressman on the Armed Services Committee would refer to Russia as “the Soviet Union”.

Pssst! Congressman Akin: it’s the 21st century. It stopped being the USSR in 1991. I guess it’s hard to keep up with such things if you can’t see Russia from your state, though.

[Update (14:30 MT): Apparently, Congressman Akin’s release has been updated, replacing “Soviet Union” with “Russian Federation”. My congratulations and thanks to his team. Now, if they could fix the other egregiously wrong things he said in that release, we’ll be copacetic.]

Tip o’ the Cossack hat to ScottW.

Engadget reports that Dell will soon be announcing the Dell Streak 7 inch and 10 inch tablets. The rumored launch date of the 7 inch Dell Streak is late 2010, while that of the 10 inch one is early 2011. It is possible that the device may initially be launched under the AT&T network. Engadget also reports that Dell’s Aero – the lightest Android handset to be ever announced – will be released in June, this year.

No other details about Dell’s Streak series of tablet devices are known. When the folks at Engadget contacted Dell regarding the Streak series of tablets, they got a very “insightful” reply :

“Dell continually develops and tests new products that extend the mobile experience. We have not made any product announcements and do not comment on speculation, rumor or unannounced products.”

It will be interesting to see whether the Dell Streak series of tablets run on Android OS or Windows 7. As of now, no further information about the specifications of Dell Streak tablets are available. The processor, amount of RAM, and the hard disk capacity, all remain a mystery. Since Android OS now supports the Intel Atom processor, it might very well be possible that the Dell Streak tablets use the new Atom Sandy bridge processors.

Don’t miss these Related Posts:

• Dell launches Studio 14z Series of Notebook
• Dell kills the XPS series of laptops, launches new Alienware M17x Notebook
• Key Announcements From Dell Press Conference
• Android based Vega Tablet
• Charge Dell Latitude Z Wirelessly

Join Techie Buzz on Your Favorite Social Networking Sites

• Become a Techie Buzz fan on Facebook
• Follow Techie Buzz on Twitter

That prominent inhabitant of Chez Scatter, the Large Large Smelly Boy, recently visited the barber for the first time in close to a year and had his lordly lion’s mane buzzed off. The shearing revealed, to our surprise, the makings of muttonchops: a good pair of sideburns settling in. We see a chin crop in his future. (The moustache is already making inroads.)

So it is with heightened interest that Mr. Scatter notes the opening of Keep Portland Beard, an exhibition of hairy art that opens Monday at The Tribute Gallery near downtown Portland and will luxuriate through May 1. Mr. Scatter has been seeing a lot of minimalism and a bit of Papa Murphy’s art of late (it comes half-baked, and you’re supposed to finish it at home in the oven of your own mind), so the chance to catch a show that glorifies excess suggests a welcome break.

Mr. Scatter tries to keep his own beard well-trimmed, with varying degrees of success: Sometimes it’s just too much bother.

He recalls the story, perhaps apocryphal, about George Bernard Shaw as a lad, observing his father in mid-shave. “Why do you shave your face, Papa?” the little critic is supposed to have asked. Father Shaw stopped, held his razor in mid-air, turned to his son and replied: “I’ll be damned if I know.” Then he wiped the lather from his face and never shaved again. Or so we recall the tale.

Keep Portland Beard is the brainchild of Michael Buchino, proprietor of the quirky online Beard Revue, which displays and grades public displays of hirsute vitality. No, we didn’t know it existed, either. After happily wasting a few minutes at the site, we’re glad we know now.

Buchino has curated a show that includes artworks by Rachel Caldwell, Erin Dollar, Chad Eaton, Chris Hornbecker, Jamie Reed, Ashley Goldberg, Bryan Keplesky, Brooke Weeber, Ian Seniff, Kyle Durrie, Lloyd Winter, Santiago Uceda, BT Livermore and Patrick Weishampel, in addition to himself. You can see their bios here.

And if this seems to you like a thin idea for an art exhibition, give it a chance: It might grow on you.

*

ILLUSTRATIONS, from top:

– George Bernard Shaw in 1925/Wikimedia Commons

In my view, one of the most important aspects of next generation vehicles is how well their drivers (and passengers) can interact with them. As our cars become much more complicated machines that provide increasing access to valuable information available through features such as detailed navigation, energy usage statistics, vehicle status reports, and Internet access, they also risk becoming too complicated for people to effectively use them.

(more…)

Top o’ the news

• HTC, Verizon officially announce Droid Incredible, available April 29 for $199
• Hey, Verizon fans: Do you still care about the Nexus One?

Hardware news

• Verizon Droid Eris hits end of life in May
• Rogers officially launches the Xperia X10
• Xperia X10 Mini & X10 Mini Pro hitting Rogers this summer ?
• Game Gripper brings Emu-goodness to the Droid
• HTC Desire appears on U.S. Cellular rebate form
• myTouch Slide seen with Android 2.1, Sense
• myTouch Slide coming in 3 colors
• Samsung Galaxy S passes the FCC
• Mysterious MotoBlur device comes from the wood ward?
• Maybe that square Moto Android phone is real after all (and called the Twist)
• Google reportedly working on its own Android-based tablet
• Motorola Devour review
• Review: Nexus One car dock

Software news

• Android 2.1 now on more than a quarter of Android phones
• Where Motorola stands on Android 2.1 updates
• Official test release candidate for the Sprint Hero 2.1 leaked
• T-Mobile Motorola Cliq software update now official (but still isn’t Android 2.1)
• Android getting ‘official’ Twitter app, too
• About the recent Nexus One update rumor …
• Android 2.1 now blamed for some of Nexus One (and now Droid) screen ‘issues’
• Google updates gmail Web app
• Google buys U.K. visual search startup Plink, could help improve Goggles
• Adobe CEO says Flash coming in second half of the year
• New features in Firefox mobile (but a working Android version’s a ways away)

Google news

• Google announces Q1 2010 earnings
• Android Market now has 38,000 ‘apps’
• Nexus One ‘is a profitable business,’ Google says

Contests

• Android Central Asks: What’s your favorite racing game? [contest]
• Win Phil’s Nexus One: Second batch of entries [contest]

Want to be on the podcast?

Sure, you can just listen to the AndroidCentral Podcast. (And you should.) But it’s much more fun to be a part of it. And there are several ways you can do so.

• E-mail us: Have a question and want us to answer it on-air? E-mail us here.
• Voicemail: We love actually hearing from you. You can leave us a voicemail toll-free at (888) 468-6158 Ext. 222.
• The intro: Want to introduce the podcast? Leave us your name, what Android phone you’re using, and where you’re from. You can do so in a voicemail, or record it at home and e-mail it to us. Here’s an example: "Hi. My name’s Phil Nickinson. I use the Motorola Droid. Now get ready for the AndroidCentral Podcast."

You can also find us on Twitter: @androidcentral | @philnickinson | @tcpj_mickey | AndroidCentral staff list.

Credits

The AndroidCentral Podcast is sponsored by the AndroidCentral Store. And thanks to these great artists for providing their music under the Creative Commons license:

• Pure Attitude, by Kevin MacLeod, Incompetech.
• Summertime Instrumental by cdk, ccmixter.org

It’s official: America’s Sweetheart Jennifer Aniston launching a new fragrance this summer called Lolavie. She talked with Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) about her decision to join Kim Kardashian, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, and the numerous other celebs crowding the perfume counter, and revealed a new ad that shows her lounging on a rock, wrapped in a towel — shivering.

“It’s been a year-and-a-half journey. I’d been asked to do things before, and it never felt organic,” Aniston told WWD Friday. “But when Leon [Falic, president of the Falic Fashion Group] approached me to be involved with the process from inception to fruition, I thought, ‘This could be a creative expression,’” she explained.

Aniston, who has yet to reveal the scent of the perfume, noted that she’s worked hard to make sure her scent “smells natural.”

Lolavie will launched this June at Harrods in London. A release date has not yet been confirmed for the US.

When it’s time to make executive compensation decisions, companies seek input from several sources. Those usually include the Compensation committee, the executives themselves, and outside consulting companies that specialize in researching what other executives at the ubiquitous “peer companies” earn.

But Comp committees often act as though shareholders – like children born in the 1950s – should be “seen, but not heard.” In fact, in most of the SEC filings we read, directors adamantly oppose shareholder “say on pay” resolutions.

That’s not the case, however, at Amgen, Inc., (AMGN) the recipient of today’s coveted footnoted gold star.

Amgen’s recent proxy includes an intriguing – and, so far as we can tell, unique – method that invites shareholders to express their thoughts about how the top executives are paid. At the bottom of page 50, here’s what you’ll find:

Obviously this is a cost-effective way of getting input from shareholders, assuming that they read the proxy and then complete the survey.

But we also found it interesting that Amgen – a huge company whose NEOs earned total compensation packages in 2009 that ranged from $4.9 million to $15.3 million – is the company that’s blazing this trail to encourage shareholders to express their opinions.

We called Amgen’s media relations department to ask why the company took this step and how the response has been to date.  We haven’t heard back yet; however, if we get an answer, we’ll add it to this post as an update.

But regardless of Amgen’s reasons for including this concept in its proxy, we think that finding new ways for shareholders to communicate with the companies they invest in is a smart practice.  Wouldn’t it be great if other companies followed suit?

Special thanks to Amy A. for bringing this gem to our attention.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has chosen to endorse Marco Rubio over Governor Charlie Crist in Florida’s GOP Senate primary.

Senior Romney advisers tell Fox News that Romney will make the official announcement Saturday, before personally campaigning with Rubio in Tampa on Monday.

Romney is the latest GOP 2008 presidential candidate to endorse Rubio. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani have already endorsed the former speaker of the Florida House.

Romney spoke with each candidate, both of whom had sought the endorsement, but in the end Romney aides say the former Governor saw Rubio as the candidate with the stronger conservative record. Romney’s PAC, Free and Strong America, will contribute $5,000 to the Rubio campaign.

Some insiders see this as a classic case of political payback.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Florida Governor Charlie Crist was one of the most sought after endorsements in the country.

Rudy Giuliani had staked his entire campaign on the Sunshine State and thought he had the backing of Crist all lined up.

Romney also courted Crist heavily for the endorsement, but in the end Crist gave the nod to the eventual 2008 GOP nominee, Arizona Senator John McCain.

Now, surprising precisely no one, both Giuliani and Romney have chosen Rubio over Crist.

If you’re a Samsung Moment or HTC Hero user on Sprint, today’s Android 2.1 news may be of interest to you.  At least it would be for me.

First and foremost, the gang over at Android Guys talked to a customer service representative who claimed that the Hero update “is being launched in the first week ok [sic] May.”  Lines up quite nicely with the document obtained by the guys at Phandroid, which claims that “the wait is almost over,” and that we’re looking at an “early May” release date.  We’ve seen two rumored dates in April come and go, so will the May rumor come to fruition?  Time will tell.  Moment and Hero users, 2.1 is in sight!

Via Phandroid

by Lou Bendrick

Everyone’s a critic: one of our panelists gropes for a sniff of biscuit.Photo: Jason Houston

I’ve got a bone to pick with conventional dog biscuits. Like commercial dog food, they are made with un-green or even potentially dangerous ingredients. Surely, they’re unworthy of a companion who greets your return from the mailbox with nothing less than rapture.

But are the spendy, natural and/or organic versions worth the price of reducing Rover’s carbon pawprint? Will your dog eat them, or even prefer them to cheap, commercial Milk-Bones?

Our esteemed critics are ready for their treats. Photo: Jason HoustonTo find out, I grabbed some Milk Bones (for comparison purposes) and higher-quality (even organic!) biscuits to test whether dogs prefer one over the other. Then I assembled a canine tasting panel. For scientific purposes, I went for a range of dogs across age groups and breeds. My four-legged panel includes:

Burn: a ten-year-old, painfully sentient, ball-obsessed Border Collie.

Lulu: a two-year-old cartoonishly cute Cockapoo with a high-pitched bark that could sever one’s auditory nerves.
Sugar Ray: a beanbag-shaped, geriatric Pug with a seriously deviated septum.

Austin: a handsome seven-year-old Australian Shepherd with glacial eyes.

The plan was to give each dog a choice: Milk Bone or fancy biscuit?

I also managed to talk the dog’s adult owner-companions into joining in the taste-test. Don’t wrinkle your nose—the “eco” biscuits in this taste-off were of higher quality than most of the stuff found in school cafeterias. Personally speaking, I’ve eaten many dog biscuits on a dare during my childhood, which explains why I have great teeth and a glossy coat.

Our mixed panel of beasts—canine and hominoid—found:

Wagatha’s Super Berry Biscuit

Ingredients: Whole millet flour, dark rye flour, barley flour, oat flour, canola oil, whole eggs, brown rice flour, flax seed, quinoa, sunflower seeds, apples, cranberries, carrots, blueberries, apple cider vinegar, alfalfa, rosemary, allspice, ginger, calendula.

Price: $7.99 for 9 ounces

These small classically bone-shaped, USDA certified 100 percent organic treats from Vermont are pretty much vegetarian, though not vegan. Lulu clearly preferred this treat over the Milk Bone and Austin, the Aussie, consumed it with little chewing. Sugar Ray backed away from the bowl and observed the biscuits from a safe distance. Burn, perhaps searching for her tennis ball, left the room. The humans thought these treats smelled like “berries and bacon” and “tea.” Taste-wise, the humans were pleasantly surprised. “I’ve had things at the health food store that taste like this!” Another taster thought he detected “sundried tomato.” Wrong!

Newman’s Own Organics Salmon & Sweet Potato dog treat

Ingredients: Barley flour*, ground salmon, sweet potatoes*, carrots*, apples*, chicken fat (preserved naturally with mixed tocopherols and lecithin), rolled oats, rosemary extract. (*certified organic)

Price: $4.29 for 10 ounces

Okay, so a few ingredients here are organic and that’s cool, but what’s up with the conventional salmon? I know that Newman’s Own Organics is trying to do the right thing, but surely they know about environmental hazards of farm-raised salmon. The dogs were not impressed with the cutesy heart shape, or, surprisingly, the fishy smell. The Pug could not be enticed even when the biscuit was waved in front of what passed for his nose. Only the Aussie was game (he pulled both bones, the Newman’s and the Milk Bone control, out the dog dishes and gobbled them). Most of the hominid tasters meanwhile were repulsed. Two ran to the sink to flush their mouths. “It’s like the cardboard the fish was stored in!” said one taster. “It gets worse with saliva,” said another. But one taster chomped approvingly and said, “I like salmon!” (It should be noted that, while in Africa, said taster once drank goat’s blood directly from the animal’s neck.)

Mr. Barky’s Vegetarian Dog Biscuits

Ingredients: Wheat flour, whole oat groats, whole ground brown rice, whole ground yellow corn, whole barley, soy flour, sunflower oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), calcium ascorbate (source of vitamin C), yucca schidigera extract, vitamin E supplement, vitamin A acetate, vitamin D2 supplement (calciferol), D-pantothenic acid, niacin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin supplement, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin B12 supplement, biotin, zinc amino acid chelate, calcium amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, iron amino acid chelate, cobalt amino acid chelate, sodium selenite.

Price: $5.99 for 21 ounces

We all know that dogs aren’t vegetarian. What I think is going on with these biscuits is that, by avoiding potentially creepy animal ingredients, owner-companions can assuage their own guilt. Although vegetarian is the greenest way to go for the planet, a veggie bikkie may leave your dog pining for the backyard squirrels. Sugar Ray took an unenthusiastic whiff at this multivitamin-posing-as-snack and hit the ground. Lulu seemed unable to smell it at all. (She wagged her stumpy tail and circled the bowls suspiciously.) True to form, Austin ate it while the Milk Bone was still in his mouth. The human tasters were unenthused, comparing these bix to “straight-up cardboard,” and “Zwieback teething biscuits” and, most damningly, “like Ryvita!”

Harmony Farms Health Bars with Apples & Yogurt

Ingredients: Oat flour, pearl barley, rye flour, oatmeal, dried egg, apples, blueberries, yogurt, oat fiber, chicken liver, flaxseed, salt, calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, chicken fat (preserved with natural mixed tocopherols), carrots, cinnamon.

Price: $4.29 for 18 ounces

Health bars … really? With non-organic chicken liver and fat? And WTF are “natural mixed tocopherols”? At this point in the tasting the Burn started looking despondent and went on a hunger strike. The clearly well-fed Pug lay down again, either out of boredom or because of aching joints. Lulu sniffed, snubbed and cocked her cute little head as if to say, “I do not understand your silly species.” Austin, on the other hand, sniffed at the Milk bone and then clearly chose the Harmony Farms bar. The humans, meanwhile, were ready to serve these with tea. “Almost cookie-like!” enthused one, while another concurred “like an unsweetened graham cracker.” One mother’s comment: “This is like something I’d make for the kids, but without the rendered chicken fat!”

Organix Organic Dog Cookies, organic peanut butter flavor

Ingredients: Organic chicken, organic peas, organic brown rice, organic oats, organic barley, organic chicken fat naturally preserves with mixed tocopherols (form of vitamin E) natural chicken liver flavor, organic natural peanut butter flavor, organic flaxseed, rosemary extract.

Price: $5.69 for 12 ounces

Right off the bat I wondered, why peanut butter flavor and not actual peanut butter? I mean, how freakin’ hard is it to put peanut butter in the batter? The dogs must have wondered this, too. Austin was the only dog who ate this biscuit. Lulu pranced away, Sugar Ray seemed close to death, and if Burn had opposable thumbs she—convinced that she was being subjected to this because she had done something truly horrible—would have committed seppuku. At this point we offered her a choice of all of the biscuits, and she rolled her Jesus-like eyes to the ceiling (Forgive them father, they know not what to eat). The bipeds, meanwhile, agreed on the extremely crunchy texture but deemed this cookie “not peanut buttery” and tasting like “dog food smells.” Zinger: “It tastes like something you’d have at a Super Bowl party in the suburbs.”

Milk Bone Medium Dog Biscuits for Dogs 20-50 pounds

Ingredients: Wheat flour, wheat bran, meat and bone meal, milk, wheat germ, beef fat (preserved with tocopherols), salt, dicalcium phosphate, natural flavor, calcium carbonate, brewers dried yeast, malted barley flour, sodium metabisulfite (used as a preservative), vitamins & minerals (choline chloride, zinc sulfate, vitamin E supplement, D-calcium pantothenate, vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, ethylenediamine dihydriodide, riboflavin supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement).

Price: $3.49 for 26 ounces

With the exception of Austin, all of the dogs snubbed these iconic treats. A few human tasters patently refused to put them in their mouths. Those brave enough to try this courtesy-of-the-rendering plant treat were rewarded not with fresh breath, but with something “salty and chickeny” and “like wet fur” and most strangely, “like a taste bomb—an exploding harpoon.”

The Bottom line

Let’s be honest here: Canine taste-tests are for purely for entertainment. Dogs’ taste preferences range from super-fussy to so undiscriminating that they will eat road kill, litter box contents (“Almond Roca”) or even their own feces. That said, the winner of this particular taste test was Wagatha’s, based on the fact that two out four dogs ate them. The humans, meanwhile, seemed to actually enjoy the Harmony Health Bars and the Wagatha’s. (And really, aren’t many of the choices we humans make for our dogs about us, not them? Hence those humiliating dog pajamas, breath spray, canopy-style dog beds, Halloween costumes-need I go on?) The bottom line is that owner-companions should carefully read ingredients, avoid the potentially scary and environmentally bad stuff (the generic meats, animal byproducts, digest and meals that are the consequences of factory farming, HFCS, artificial dyes, preservatives and cheapo grain fillers like corn and rice), and make a choice based on your dog’s fussiness level. Also, consult your vet about your dog’s specific needs.

Lastly (you regular readers know what’s coming) … if you want to save money and avoid stepping into a big ole pile of carbon caused by shipping and packaging story-bought dog snacks, follow Umbra’s advice and bake your own treat. 

Related Links:

Ask Umbra’s DIY healthy junk food: Kale chips [VIDEO]

Live Chat with Tom Philpott

Ask Umbra knocks off Twinkies organically [VIDEO]

For the first time, President Obama today threw his support behind the marathon push to grant the residents of the nation’s capitol a voting representative in Congress. From the White House statement:

Americans from all walks of life are gathering in Washington today to remind members of Congress that although DC residents pay federal taxes and serve honorably in our armed services, they do not have a vote in Congress or full autonomy over local issues.  And so I urge Congress to finally pass legislation that provides DC residents with voting representation and to take steps to improve the Home Rule Charter.

The bill — which also gives Utah another House member — passed the Senate last year, but not before Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) successfully attached an amendment scrapping most of D.C.’s strict gun laws. Realizing that moderate Democrats in the House would support that provision, liberal House leaders have refused to bring the bill to the floor, leaving it idle for the last 14 months.

Earlier this week, there was a breakthrough: Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), a fierce opponent of the Ensign amendment, reluctantly agreed to accept some version of it for the sake of giving the District more voice in Congress.

“It is now clear that the gun amendment can be passed as a stand-alone bill or attached to another piece of legislation, and we see no better opportunity in sight for voting rights for our residents,” she said.

The New York Times disagrees. In an editorial today, the paper argues that the elimination of the gun restrictions is too high a price to pay for the underlying bill.

“The legislation would intrude on home-rule prerogatives by repealing the district’s restrictions on semiautomatic weapons, rolling back requirements for registering most guns and even dropping existing criminal penalties for owners of unregistered firearms,” the Times says.”It is a cynical, sickening compromise.”