Trying to find the perfect gift for the Trekker in your life? Why not try Tiberius cologne? Or, if you’re feeling the love, maybe the scent of Pon Farr will do the trick… though maybe smelling like a frisky Vulcan may not work out so well. Of course, anything’s better than Red Shirt.
Honestly, though, I have to admit I’d much prefer this.
Tip o’ the VISOR to BABloggee Lindsay F.
Filed under: Hybrid, Plants/Manufacturing, Ford, Electric
At the Detroit Auto Show in January, Ford announced that it would bring production of battery packs for its hybrid and plug-in vehicles in-house by 2012, in time for the launch of its next-generation models. At the time, Ford would only say that the production facility would be somewhere in southeast Michigan without giving specifics.
According to The Detroit News, it now appears that the packs will be produced at the site of the defunct Rawsonville plant in Ypsilanti, MI. The facility had previously manufactured a variety of components, including alternators, fuel pumps, injectors and wiper motors. Rawsonville had been included in the Visteon spin-off in 2000, but was later re-absorbed into Ford as part of Automotive Components Holdings when Visteon was struggling to avoid bankruptcy. Ford tried and failed to sell the facility. and it has been closed for several years. In recent weeks demolition work has been ongoing at the site, perhaps in preparation for new construction. (Wrong plant, the Rawsonville plant is a couple of miles away from another ACH plant being demolished.)
Ford’s battery packs are currently assembled by Delphi using cells from Sanyo. the automaker will continue to source cells from suppliers while building the packs and battery management systems itself.
When Ford made its original announcement in January, it said the combination of battery and hybrid vehicle production could create 1,000 new jobs in the area. That would certainly be welcome news to the region, which has been particularly hard-hit by the current recession. A Ford spokesperson declined to comment on the plant location, except to say that an announcement would be forthcoming.
[Source: The Detroit News]
Report: Ford to build battery packs in Ypsilanti, MI originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 10:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
[JURIST] Australian Immigration Minister Chris Evans announced Friday that that his country will temporarily suspend processing all asylum claims from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Evans, a cabinet minister under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, said that Afghani and Sri Lankan asylum seekers would be denied entry because of improved security situations in those countries. Sri Lankan asylum claims processing would be will be suspended for three months, while Afghani claims will be suspended for six months, after which the policy will be reviewed in light of security assessments from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Evans said that the new procedures are intended to ensure that “Australia’s refugee processing system continues to recognise those genuinely in need of our protection.” The policy will not affect those refugees already on Christmas Island, a key processing center for unauthorized immigrants. Refugees from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan account for 80 percent of all asylum claims filed in Australia. Opposition parties have criticized the new policy as an election maneuver meant to get more votes. Rights groups, including Amnesty International and the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) have expressed concerns about the policy’s effect on legitimate asylum seekers.
Australia announced this week that they would accept three Cuban refugees held at the Guantanamo Bay Migration Operations Center, which is not affiliated at the Naval Detention Center at Guantanamo Bay. In November 2006, the High Court of Australia ruled that a “holder of a temporary protection visa is not entitled to further protection in Australia if they are no longer in danger in the country from which they fled” and that the person may not remain a refugee. Australia’s mandatory detention policy, which requires any non-citizen without a visa seeking entry to be detained, had previously been challenged by rights groups.
BMW motorcycles have traditionally suffered from an image problem. Seen as long on comfort but short on power and handling, BMW’s old airhead bikes were called “Gummikuh” (rubber cow) in their native Germany. Their R1100S was the first Beemer I ever rode that impressed me; so much, in fact, that I had to buy one. It was a great sport tourer, even if it was a little down on power.
BMW has put an end to those days with their S1000RR superbike. They’ve abandoned the quirky Duolever front end in favor of a traditional fork, and the bike is powered by a chain, not a driveshaft. It makes 193 horsepower, which puts it on par with the best from Japan and Italy.
So how well does it work on a track? In the hands of Chris “Teach” McNeil, lapping California’s Infineon Raceway, very well. Enjoy the vid, but check any preconceived notions of BMW motorcycles at the door.
Source: Two Wheels Blog
Marines fight insurgents on road to Marjeh, Helmand Province, Afghanistan (photo: DVIDSHUB via Flickr)
Stop the presses, we might have some good news on the war in Afghanistan. Savor it:
Washington, D.C. – In a letter sent to President Barack Obama today, U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and U.S. Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Walter Jones (R-NC) urged him to set a flexible timetable for removing U.S. troops from Afghanistan and transition to a sustainable counterterrorism strategy for the region. The bipartisan group of legislators suggested that “rather than investing a disproportionate amount of our resources in Afghanistan, we need to shift resources to pursuing al Qaeda’s global network.”
What, only a letter urging something? It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s a positive sign that both parties are realizing the futility of Afghanistan. And they’re not turning against the war on their own, they’re listening to the American people. At a time when the CIA is writing memos on the best way to subvert democracies, it’s a good sign that at least our democracy is still working.
Last month, the anti-war movement got its 3 hour debate on H.Con.Res 248, and while the resolution itself ultimately failed, it did serve as a shot across the bow of the House leadership. While some may claim the movement is irrelevant, it proved we could still get even our wildest fantasies, like an immediate and complete withdrawal, all the way to the House floor for debate. Have the Repeal Obamacare folks done anything close to that? Nope, but it helps us keep this in perspective when we talk about which movements actually have real momentum and power, and which ones are just shameless partisan pandering. The movement to end the US conflict in Afghanistan does have momentum, and as we’ll see, it’s affecting both parties.
Now forgive me for playing stenographer to the politicians, but let’s take a look at the new letter in its entirety:
We are very concerned that the United States’ military strategy in Afghanistan is not in our best national security interest and makes us dependent upon an unreliable partner in the Afghan government, as recent events highlight. An open-ended, military-centric nation-building campaign in Afghanistan is risky and not necessary to protect the United States, and it undercuts our ability to pursue al Qaeda’s global network. Moreover, we are concerned that it may increase instability in Afghanistan, as well as Pakistan — where al Qaeda’s leadership is located — at the expense of other approaches that could conserve both lives and resources. In this light, we urge you to set a flexible timetable for removing U.S. troops from Afghanistan and transition to a sustainable counterterrorism strategy for the region.
The attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day serves as a reminder that we have not been adequately prioritizing the need to track down al Qaeda, especially in emerging safe havens such as Yemen. Rather than investing a disproportionate amount of our resources in Afghanistan, we need to shift resources to pursuing al Qaeda’s global network.
Borrowing tens of billions of dollars to pay for military operations in Afghanistan has implications not only for our broader national security needs, but also here at home, particularly given current record deficits, high unemployment and proposed reductions in domestic spending. Our domestic priorities, as well as our ability to address effectively our security needs, have suffered from this diversion of funds and resources.
Setting a timetable for the orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops does not mean ceasing our engagement in Afghanistan and the region. Our continued commitment to assist the people of Afghanistan will remain important in supporting the emergence of responsive and capable government institutions that can address the socioeconomic and political issues destabilizing the country. However, we need to recognize that corruption and lack of legitimacy in the Afghan government make our current approach unlikely to succeed. While we appreciate your efforts to hold President Karzai accountable, his recent outbursts only raise more questions about his willingness to take the necessary steps to address corruption and security on which our current strategy relies.
We should not spend tens of billions of dollars or ask a hundred thousand U.S. service members to risk their lives unnecessarily. Rather, we should transition to a sustainable counter-terrorism strategy for the region based on an orderly timetable. Such a timetable could be flexible, but it would need to clearly specify any variables that would warrant its alteration.
We urge you to set forth a timetable for the redeployment of U.S. troops and appreciate your consideration.
This is worlds away from where we were just a month ago with the extremism of 248. This is a thoughtful examination of US national priorities and a reasonable request for a simple, flexible timetable. We don’t have to pull out tomorrow, but just give us a ballpark estimate of when you’re going to be done. Easy. It also includes plenty of wiggle room for other legitimate US concerns in the region, like development and governance, but it remains implicitly against continued military involvement. (more…)
BlackBerry owners will be the first to admit the web browser is lagging behind those on other smartphone platforms. The browser is much better than it was in the past, but it pales when compared with other browsers. The Skyfire browser that has been in development on the BlackBerry platform was highly anticipated as it brings a near desktop browsing experience to the smartphone. The Skyfire CEO has dashed hopes of seeing it on the BlackBerry any time soon, as the company has stopped development to concentrate on the Android version of Skyfire.
The Skyfire browser is unique in that it renders all web pages on the company’s servers, making it possible to view web sites that other mobile browsers cannot handle. Skyfire users can even watch Hulu and other embedded video without missing a beat.
The BlackBerry version of the browser had been in development for a while, and even entered an alpha stage. This would indicate the effort was at a fairly advanced stage, so the recent statement by Skyfire CEO Jeff Glueck that development on the BlackBerry version was halting was unexpected.
The Blackberry developer environment is not as favorable for cutting-edge application development. The APIs are fragmented and inconsistent, and the Java virtual machine Blackberry requires is not efficient. While Blackberry users are desperate for a better browser – we know, and we hear them – we only want to bring out something that meets our high standards and is truly great.
On the surface it seems the company is throwing in the towel until a better development environment is released by RIM, which would be in the next version 6.0. I suspect the rapid growth of the Android platform is a bigger factor, especially given Gluecks’ statement:
We see Android as a fast-rising ecosystem, with a rich, totally open developer environment, a healthy app market and a healthy advertising and search ecosystem. The Android OS has a tremendous amount of interest from handset makers and carriers, and also has a strong need for making the explosion of video more network optimized (Skyfire’s wheelhouse).
Skyfire is a small company and the development team is not a big one, so it makes sense for it to focus on the hot area. It further demonstrates how much Android has grown in such a short time. No one can afford to ignore it.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 9, 2010
WEEKEND GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR
SATURDAY, APRIL 10 AND SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 2010
The President has no scheduled public events on Saturday.
On Sunday, the President will hold separate bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Singh of India, President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, President Zuma of South Africa, and Prime Minister Gilani of Pakistan at Blair House. The President will also hold a courtesy call with Acting President Jonathan of Nigeria at Blair House. There will be pool sprays at the top of each meeting.
Saturday’s In-Town Travel Pool
Wires: AP, Reuters, Bloomberg
Wire Photos: AP, Reuters, AFP
TV Corr & Crew: NBC
Print: National Journal
Radio: Talk Radio
Sunday’s In-Town Travel Pool
Wires: AP, Reuters, Bloomberg
Wire Photos: AP, Reuters, AFP
TV Corr & Crew: ABC
Print: Newsday
Radio: VOA
Saturday, April 10, 2010
EDT
11:30AM Pool Call Time
Sunday, April 11, 2010
EDT
12:30PM Pool Call Time
1:25PM THE PRESIDENT walks to Blair House
Pool spray (Gather time 1:00PM – Stakeout Location)
1:45PM THE PRESIDENT holds bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Singh of India
Blair House
Pool spray at the top
3:00PM THE PRESIDENT holds bilateral meeting with President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan
Blair House
Pool spray at the top
4:00PM THE PRESIDENT holds bilateral meeting with President Zuma of South Africa
Blair House
Pool spray at the top
5:00PM THE PRESIDENT holds bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Gilani of Pakistan
Blair House
Pool spray at the top
5:45PM THE PRESIDENT holds courtesy call with Acting President Jonathan of Nigeria
Blair House
Pool spray at the top
6:05PM THE PRESIDENT walks to the White House
Pool spray
Schedule for Week of April 12, 2010
On Monday and Tuesday, the President will participate in the Nuclear Security Summit, which is dedicated to nuclear security and the threat of nuclear terrorism. The President will meet with leaders of 46 countries to discuss ways to secure vulnerable nuclear material around the world.
On Wednesday, the President will attend a bipartisan Congressional meeting to discuss financial reform at the White House.
On Thursday, the President will travel to Cape Canaveral, Florida where he will deliver remarks at the Kennedy Space Center on the bold new course the Administration is charting for NASA and the future of U.S. Leadership in human space flight.
On Friday, the President will attend meetings at the White House.
###
Marina del Rey is the largest man-made pleasure boat harbor in the world.
But
it could become a tad smaller under a Los Angeles County plan that has
generated much debate in the coastal community. The county wants to
reduce the number of boat slips by 476, from 4,731 to 4,255. If
approved, it would mean a 23% drop in the number of boat slips at the
marina since 1999.
County officials say the reductions are needed to build slips for larger boats, which are in increasing demand.
Santos
H. Kreimann, the director of the county Department of Beaches and
Harbors, said most of the marina’s docks were built in the 1960s, but
as boat construction materials have changed from wood to fiberglass,
boats have become longer and wider.
As a result, the county wants to
accommodate the next generation of boats.
–Rong-Gong Lin II in Marina del Rey
Photo: L.A. Times file
Following the tragic death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski in a plane crash, the country has named Bronislaw Komorowski as its new President on an interim basis.
Elections were to be held later this year, but are now being sped up, and will be held in the next 2.5 months.
Komorowski is the favorite (though he may end up running against Kaczynski’s twin brother, who is also in politics.
As ou can see, he’s an identical twin.
Although there’s no evidence of foul play, let’s state the obvious: Everyone is going to blame Vladimir Putin, even if there’s no merit, and the fact that Putin is being put in charge of the investigation isn’t going to help dispel that.
The fact that Kaczynski was only in Russia commemorating the slaughter of Polish at the hands of the Russian Secret Police in WWII is only going to exacerbate this feeling.
Komorowski’s anti-Russian stance should play very well in teh electorate.
Join the conversation about this story »
Lawyers at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission will urge the government to put the kibosh on Google’s proposed $750 million acquisition of AdMob, Reuters reported last week.
The FTC’s wariness regarding Google is understandable: Google owns Internet search around the world and last year posted a staggering net income of $6.52 billion. AdMob, too, has effectively leveraged its position as a first-mover in mobile Web advertising to become the dominant player in its space, according to figures released late last year from IDC. The market research firm said Google and AdMob together would claim a 24 percent share among U.S. mobile ad networks based on estimated 2009 revenues.
But, as I discuss in my weekly column over at GigaOM Pro (sub req’d) today, mobile advertising is still in its infancy, and it’s far from clear who will emerge as long-term winners in the space. Apple, which last week took direct aim at Google and AdMob with its iAd platform, is gearing up to become a major player in mobile ads as well. And Apple isn’t the only other major player on the field.
Millennial Media — should the AdMob acquisition go through — would be the largest independent firm in the space, with 18 percent of the market according to IDC’s figures. Other contenders include Yahoo, Microsoft and JumpTap, not to mention AOL and Nokia. It’s also worth noting that countless smaller players, such as ChaCha, WHERE, Goldspot and 4INFO, are gaining traction in segments other than display ads, which are AdMob’s bread and butter. And mobile carriers, who have yet to make much of an impact in the space, may yet leverage the user data and demographic information that remain the most potentially effective tools in mobile advertising.
All of which goes to say that AdMob’s position as a leader could change relatively quickly. So while the FTC is right to look closely at the deal, it would be short-sighted to block the acquisition. After all, Third Screen Media was once a leader in mobile marketing too.
Photo courtesy Flickr user Mike Rowehl
A Bank of America worker installed malicious software on his employer’s ATMs that allowed him to make thousands of dollars in fraudulent withdrawals, all without leaving a transaction record, according to federal prosecutors. More »
[JURIST] The US Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation (MDL) on Friday consolidated more than 150 pending lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corporation and transferred them to the US District Court for the Central District of California. The MDL panel said that transferring the cases to California to be heard by Judge James Selna would make the litigation process more streamlined.
Each of the actions currently before the Panel asserts economic damages on behalf of certain classes and/or individuals stemming from an alleged defect in certain Toyota vehicles that causes sudden, unintended acceleration. The cases involve common questions of fact. No doubt, centralization under Section 1407 will eliminate duplicative discovery; prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings, including with respect to class certification; and conserve the resources of the parties, their counsel, and the judiciary.Other transfer options included US District Courts in the Eastern District of Louisiana, and the Middle District of Florida, where large numbers of cases against Toyota were filed. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said earlier this week that that it would seek a record $16.375 million penalty against Toyota for a four month delay in waiting to notify the agency about problems with allegedly “sticky” gas pedals. Toyota has two weeks to appeal the fine. Toyota has been under federal scrutiny since December and has recalled approximately eight million cars. Last month, California’s Orange County District Attorney filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Toyota alleging that the company knowingly sold vehicles with acceleration defects.
Week of April 5 – to – April 9, 2010
Ontario is reaping the benefits of its innovative cleantech regulation.
This week, Ontario issued some $8 billion in new renewable energy contracts as part of the province’s year-old feed-in tariff program. Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, has pioneered the use of cleantech as a catalyst to create a “green collar economy.” Besides the feed-in tariff program, the province has also implemented the Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP), which backs renewable energy projects with long-term power purchase agreements with the Ontario Power Authority. These days, a bulk of the North American renewable energy projects securing financing is backed by RESOP power purchase contracts.
Back to the feed-in tariffs, in this latest round, the Ontario Power Authority announced 184 long-term power purchase contracts with wind, solar, hydro and landfill gas projects. Combined, these will generate about 2,500 megawatts of green power. Ontario claims its feed-in tariff has helped attract 694 green-energy projects since 2007, writes Techpulse360.
While the Ontario regime is, for the most part, lauded for being investor-friendly, one concern is its “local content” obligation requiring that some 60 percent of the equipment used to develop renewable energy projects be sourced in the province. Investors obviously frown at this limitation, but for the provincial government that’s the key provision that will help ensure that these new clean power generation projects actually create the well-paid green collar jobs the province is banking on for its long-term prosperity.
The closest thing the U.S. has to a clean energy policy thus far is the $80 billion allocated from the stimulus law to cleantech. Those stimulus dollars have helped unleash a steady flow of investments and have even convinced some companies to take the next step by going to the public markets to raise cash. Electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors, battery maker A123 Systems, and biofuel maker Codexis, have all issued – or are in the process of issuing – shares. Add to that list Spanish renewable energy developer Renovalia Energy which this week confirmed it was prepping a €250 million (USD $334 million) IPO for 25 percent of the company. U.S. geothermal developer Raser Technologies is also reaching out to investors, as it is planning a $25 million stock issuance managed by Cantor Fitzgerald.
The American Wind Energy Association further confirmed hat the U.S. renewable energy sector is growing in its annual report released this week. The report revealed that the U.S. added more wind capacity in 2009 — some 10,000 megawatts — than in any other year.
Key to this surge in new capacity has been the stimulus program. But with many of its programs reaching their halfway life, as we’ve said before, the industry is aching for clarity and is pushing for a comprehensive clean energy law.
We also learned this week of a possible “casino for wind” deal. An industry source told us that the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in Massachusetts might lift its opposition to the Cape Wind offshore wind project in exchange federal authorities would let the tribe develop a casino. So far no one is talking on the record, at least to us, but we will keep you posted.
VC Watch
Yahoo! Europe former Managing Director Toby Coppel is joining Richard Branson’s cleantech-focused private equity fund Virgin Green Fund as a partner in London.
San Jose, Calif. Chromasun has raised $3 million in a Series A Round of funding led by Danish investor VKR Holding.
Sakti3, the discrete battery developer based in Ann Arbor, Mich., raised $7 million in a Series B funding round, led by Beringea and which included Khosla Ventures as a returning investor.
Energy Investors Funds has formed a joint venture with Saint Augustine, Fla. -based NTE Energy to build and operate hybrid power generation facilities in the U.S.
Rambling
This week Senators Kerry, Lieberman and Graham are expected to unveil their energy and climate change bill, which, if approved, could finally bring this country the long-term clean energy policy it lacks. Beyond the political debate about whether cap -and-trade is really just another tax, what’s forgotten in the bantering are the benefits of such legislation. One is certainty, the crucial commodity that would help uncap new investments, fund crucial R&D and in doing so, ensure that the U.S. leads the greentech revolution, one of President Obama often stated goals. For an example of how smart regulation can help do that, look at Ontario, which is now reaping the fruits of the pioneering climate change and energy legislation it signed into law a few years back.
Image: iStockphoto
(This post appeared at endoftheamericandream.com.)
The talking heads on all the major news shows keep telling us that the U.S. economy is experiencing a recovery. Usually the term “recovery” is accompanied by a qualifier such as “jobless”, but they continue to use the word recovery anyway. We are told that the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression is behind us and that the great American economic machine is roaring back to life and everything will be back to normal soon. So why does it seem like things keep getting worse? Why does it seem like the American Dream is out of reach for more Americans than ever? Why does it seem like economic pain is spreading to more families and more businesses?
Well, maybe it is because things are getting worse.
Gallup’s underemployment measure hit 20.0% on March 15th. This was up from 19.7% two weeks earlier and 19.5% at the start of the year. While the U.S. unemployment rate has leveled off (for now), the truth is that job seekers are increasingly finding that all they can get is part-time work. In the vast majority of cases, part-time work will not pay the mortgage or even really feed a family.
All of this economic pain is causing havoc in many American households. In fact, 1.2 million U.S. households have been lost during the recent recession as economic pain has forced many Americans to move in with relatives. It can be an extremely humbling thing to have to turn to relatives for help, but that is what an increasing number of Americans have been forced to do.
But now there are indications that things may soon get worse for the U.S. economy.
The Federal Reserve is pulling its emergency financial supports from the U.S. financial system, and this is leading some economic analysts to speculate that deflation could be on the horizon.
Already there are signs that the American economy is slowing down. The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that consumer borrowing declined by $11.5 billion in February. But it just isn’t consumer borrowing that is slowing down. The biggest banks in the U.S. cut their collective small business lending balance by 1 billion dollars in November 2009. That drop was the seventh monthly decline in a row.
As the U.S. economy slows down, the U.S. government is going to look to U.S. taxpayers to pick up the slack. According to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, the United States will soon have to make difficult choices between higher taxes and reduced social spending.
Higher taxes or reduced government spending?
Maybe both?
Either of those alternatives is not good for the U.S. economy.
And the burden of taxation is falling on an increasingly smaller pool of taxpayers. It turns out that about 47 percent of all Americans will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. The 47 percent who pay no taxes either earned too little or they had so many credits or deductions that they were able to avoid taxes altogether.
It must be nice for them.
Meanwhile, the faith of the American people in the financial system continues to wane as more evidence of corruption keeps coming out. In fact, there are new allegations that JPMorgan Chase has been involved in gold price fixing. Many have suspected for a long time that there was some really funny business going on with gold prices, but the latest bombshells that have been dropped by whistle blowers are absolutely mind blowing.
But it is about time that we learned more about what is going on at these major banks. After all, they know so much about us. For example, it has come out that the data mining operations of the major credit card companies are becoming so sophisticated that they can actually predict how likely you are to get a divorce.
Isn’t that lovely?
Big Brother is watching.
And this is only just the beginning.
With the stated intent of combating illegal immigration, Senators Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham are creating new legislation that would institute a national identification card.
Will we all soon be forced to take a national identification card with us wherever we go?
Will we all soon be forced to show “our papers” whenever we are confronted by authorities?
Let’s hope not.
But things are getting really crazy out there. So many of the things that we used to take for granted are quickly disappearing into thin air.
What in the world is happening to America?
Join the conversation about this story »
TorStar Rosie DiManno wrote an interesting and insightful piece, “Tiger Woods’ rebirth brought to you by Nike“. I’ve previously commented on the Nike/Tiger apology ad, here is an excerpt from Rosie’s article,
“Just when it seems that Tiger Woods has got a grasp of scruples – which are not the same thing as morals – he puts his foot in it.
To sell shoes.
Allows Nike to exploit both his personal travails and the memory of a beloved father with the most distasteful TV commercial in recent memory – a creepy admonition from beyond the grave as Woods stares silently, sombrely, into the camera.
Earl Woods is Dead Man Talking, his words from a 2004 documentary resurrected in a stark black-and-white ad that hit the airwaves on the eve of the Masters in Augusta, Ga. The commentary – he sounds like James Earl Jones playing God – is mystifying but larded with momentous dramatic import under the circumstances.
[…] The current ad is Nike playing the dead dad card for penitence and profit. At best, it’s a wincing act of self-flagellation, the son mutely acknowledging how much he’s let down the one person he always strived to impress. It’s hard to believe Nike had the nerve to go there and that Tiger allowed it.
Creatively, the commercial is effective in its evocative moodiness. Yet if it was a genuine statement that Tiger Woods wanted to make, one more expression of remorse – specifically skewed as contrite conscience to the ghost of his father – then there were more pure vehicles for doing so. Even a public service announcement, however weirdly presented – in aid of what, the pitfalls of sex addiction? – would have been more palatable. At least there would have been no grimy profit quotient attached.
Instead, Woods has prostituted both himself and his father for the benefit of his most important sponsor – admittedly one of the few that have stood by the fallen star throughout his troubles.
[…] The polite, hush-hush cathedral of golf at Augusta has provided a favourably made-to-order environment for Tiger’s Second Act. But it would have gone over better without the commercial break for penitent, papa and swoosh.”
Filed under: advertising, Love, Lovemarks, media, people 
Is it ethical to pirate ebooks of texts you already bought in a bookstore? Randy Cohen, the New York Times Magazine ethicist who weekly presides over readers’ matters of morality, says yes it is. More »
Filed under: Aftermarket, Etc., Technology
Before we say anything at all about the Sony RDP-NWV500 speaker system, please allow us to get this sentiment off our collective chests: Why? There are precious few automobiles on the road these days featuring sound systems that lack the ability to attach a portable MP3 player, and even if your current car doesn’t have one, you could always just get an integrated replacement unit that does.
With that established, let’s take an look at Sony’s utterly mystifying new cupholder speaker system. It boasts 16 watts of power and reportedly pumps out 360-degree sound from its 56-mm woofer and 20-mm tweeter. The unit is designed to fit into a standard cupholder and draws its power from your car’s 12-volt accessory socket.
Of course, if you do choose to go the route of the Sony Sound Mug, you could always remove your car’s stereo system entirely and add a bunch more cupholders. Click past the break for a video plus one more image.
Continue reading Sony Sound Mug fits your car’s cupholders, but why? [w/video]
Sony Sound Mug fits your car’s cupholders, but why? [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 09:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) isn’t something you read a lot about in the news. Most headlines are grabbed by some of the government’s more well-known interventions such as the home buyer credit and the Treasury’s foreclosure prevention program. But all three are part of Washington’s unprecedented effort to prop up the ailing U.S. residential real estate market. The NSP is a smaller endeavor, but its methods could be more effective than any of the others in staunching the housing market’s bleeding while also creating jobs.
The NSP was first implemented through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (.pdf) during the Bush administration. It allocated $4 billion to “redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed upon homes and residential properties.” The Obama administration stimulus from 2009 added another $2 billion to the same effort. Through the program, municipalities can purchase foreclosed or abandoned homes, get them renovated and then subsidize their sale to new home buyers with low to moderate incomes.
Such government efforts are controversial, to be sure. Anyone who believes the government shouldn’t be involved in propping up the housing market might oppose the program. But even critics can probably appreciate its lack of moral hazard — the homes sold though this program have already been foreclosed. For it to be effective its funds should be used to accomplish three main goals: reduce the foreclosure inventory, increase employment and revitalize neighborhoods.
Individual municipalities have some flexibility over how they implement the program. A good case study can be found in Pompano Beach, a city in south Florida’s Broward County. The NSP’s 2008 legislation awarded the city $4.3 million in March 2009 due to its extremely high concentration of foreclosures.
How the Program Works
Interim Director Miriam Carrillo and Community Development Specialist Linda Connors of the city’s Housing and Urban Development program provided a hypothetical example of how the program works:
How well does this program stack up to the criteria mentioned earlier?
Reduces Foreclosure Inventory
Only city residents who do not currently own a home are allowed to purchase a property through the Pompano program. That means each house sold necessarily reduces inventory. The new owners also must occupy the home. Having fewer properties for sale will result in house prices stabilizing more quickly.
Increases Employment
Another nice aspect of the Pompano program is its officials’ decision to renovate the homes before sale. Through a competitive process, the city selects contractors to fix up the houses. South Florida’s economy was heavily reliant on real estate during the bubble. As a result, the housing market’s collapse brought on very high unemployment. As of February, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach metropolitan statistical area had an 11.3% unemployment rate — higher than the national average of 9.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The construction jobs associated with this program will help employ some of those workers who would be otherwise jobless.
Revitalizes Neighborhood
The program also helps not only the homes it buys and renovates, but those in the surrounding area. When some of a neighborhood’s homes increase in price and become more attractive, the other homes also benefit by their values increasing as well. Again, this will help home prices to stabilize.
Other Features
The program’s design is also good from a fiscal soundness perspective. The funding allocated is all that will be spent: the city takes on no risk. Since private banks fund the mortgages, once the house is sold, the city can’t lose more money than what has been allocated. The government lets banks worry about the creditworthiness of the individual, since the bank will be the one that incurs a loss if the new borrower defaults. And due to the subsidy, the borrower begins with a nice chunk of equity right-off-the-bat, which should lessen default risk.
Of course, Pompano’s program is just one example of many neighborhood stabilization endeavors going on throughout the U.S. The details of other programs may vary, but the objective is the same: reduce foreclosure inventory and stabilize local economies.
WWF today awarded Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett the prestigious Leaders for a Living Planet award, in recognition of significant commitments to the expansion and enhancement of Australia’s protected areas.
The award, presented to Minister Garrett at the opening of the Healthy Parks, Healthy People Congress at the Melbourne Convention Centre, is one of the highest honours given to individuals by the global conservation organisation.
"Through programs such as Reef Rescue and the National Reserve System, Minister Garrett’s commitments to protected areas represent major progress towards the establishment of a safety net for Australiaâs wildlife," said Greg Bourne, WWF-Australia CEO.
"They also promise real economic benefits in terms of tourism, clean water, clean air and climate mitigation. "In addition, increased funding for Indigenous Protected Areas and ranger programs promise significant improvements in health and wellbeing for Indigenous communities.
"This award recognises that conservation is more than a portfolio for Minister Garrett. Instead, it has been a lifetime commitment."
Mr Bourne presented the award certificate and letter to Minister Garrett on behalf of WWF-International Director General Jim Leape.
Minister Garrett is the first Australian recipient of a Leaders for a Living Planet award, which has been awarded to over 50 government and non-government conservation leader since 2002, recognising a wide variety of initiatives. Recent recipients include Nepal’s Climate-For-Life Ambassadors Apa and Dawa Sherpa.
Specific commitments made by Minister Garrett recognised by the Award include:
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Computerworld.com has pulled together the various rumours for Microsoft’s new social networking device. Speaking to various sources that have been briefed on the handsets, they note the devices will come in 2 form factors, a clamshell that twists open and a candy-bar shape and several lively colours. The handsets will be exclusive to Verizon, and will range in price between $100 and $150.
The device will run some elements of the announced Windows Phone 7 Series operating system, but not the entire OS. It will also include elements of the Sidekick, designed by Danger Inc., which was later acquired by Microsoft, and the Zune media player. It will have a tile-based user interface that is said to be rather smooth and attractive.
Like the Sidekick the handset will be manufactured by Sharp, but only feature Microsoft and Verizon branding.
Both models are fashioned to please the young social-networking crowd and will emphasize social networking functions rather than heavy-duty browsing as some smartphones do, meaning it will provide tools to reach contacts through Facebook and other social networks, as well as GPS and location-based applications to help find friends.
"It’s for the social networking crowd, including men and women in their twenties," the source added.
To add our own collection of rumours, leaks and inferences, we note the device has recently been shown to come with a charging dock.
Analysis of a leaked ROM shows the device to be packed with sensors, including a 3 axis digital compass, proximity and light sensors, possibly HD Radio support and powered by a Nvidia Tegra chipset. The screen resolution will be Half-VGA for the slider and QVGA for the portrait device. Despite being on Verizon, the handset will fortunately also have WIFI support. It will support microSD cards, unlike Windows Phone 7.
There will be GSM versions called the Pure and Pride, these will likely run on the Vodafone network.
It will feature a marketplace, but that will owe more to the Zune marketplace than the Windows Mobile or Windows Phone 7 version, without free access to developers. It will not be able to run applications for either of those OS’s. The user interface will however still use XNA and possibly Silverlight.
Is there a place for a feature-phone-type device such as this when several smartphones on the same Verizon network, with similar features, such as the Palm Pre and Droid Eris, are selling for the same price or even cheaper? Let us know below.