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Facebook’s lawyers have been getting pretty nasty lately. We recently covered the company’s threats against the creator of a useful Greasemonkey script, and now a developer named Pete Warden has shared the sordid details of his legal run-in with Facebook — where they threatened to sue him for his activity aggregating publicly available data found on Facebook.

You should read the full story, but basically, he built a simple crawler for public Facebook info, initially for his own purposes. He made sure that Facebook’s robots.txt didn’t block such crawlers — and he also emailed someone at Facebook (who he had dealt with before), but didn’t hear back from anyone. As his crawler worked, it started collecting a bunch of interesting data, and so he set up a website to let people explore some of this (again, public) data.

After playing with some of the data himself, he started making some interesting maps and charts with the data, and did a simple analysis of geographic locations of Facebook friend connections to show people what you could do with the data. He noted that if others (such as professional researchers) wanted to dig into the data, he would let them access a version of the data set (with identifying info stripped). The chart he released got picked up by a variety of sites and quickly got passed around.

And that’s when the lawyers called:

On Sunday around 25,000 people read the article, via YCombinator and Reddit. After that a whole bunch of mainstream news sites picked it up, and over 150,000 people visited it on Monday. On Tuesday I was hanging out with my friends at Gnip trying to make sense of it all when my cell phone rang. It was Facebook’s attorney.

He was with the head of their security team, who I knew slightly because I’d reported several security holes to Facebook over the years. The attorney said that they were just about to sue me into oblivion, but in light of my previous good relationship with their security team, they’d give me one chance to stop the process. They asked and received a verbal assurance from me that I wouldn’t publish the data, and sent me on a letter to sign confirming that. Their contention was robots.txt had no legal force and they could sue anyone for accessing their site even if they scrupulously obeyed the instructions it contained. The only legal way to access any web site with a crawler was to obtain prior written permission.

Mathew Ingram reported on the data getting forced down, and got a statement from Facebook that seems to miss the point:

Andrew Noyes, manager of public policy communications at Facebook, said in an email that Warden “aggregated a large amount of data from over 200 million users without our permission, in violation of our terms. He also publicly stated he intended to make that raw data freely available to others.” Noyes also noted that Facebook’s statement of rights and responsibilites says that users agree not to collect users’ content or information “using automated means (such as harvesting bots, robots, spiders, or scrapers) without our permission.”

But I still don’t see what the legal argument is. At best, I could see them terminating his account for disobeying the terms of service — but even then the whole thing doesn’t make much sense. The data is publicly available and, as Peter notes, it’s pretty much standard practice for people to aggregate and analyze such data. However, he also pointed out that he couldn’t afford to be a legal test case, and so he gave in and negotiated with Facebook to remove the data.

In the end, though, this shows Facebook’s rather schizophrenic view towards data and privacy. On the one hand, it tries to push everyone to open up their info, but then if anyone does anything useful with it, they threaten to sue?

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Two alumni of the College of Business Administration at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, are being inducted into the 2010 Junior Achievement of East Tennessee’s Business Hall of Fame.

William “Billy” Carroll Jr., president and CEO of SmartBank, and Tim Williams, co-founder and CEO of 21st Mortgage Corporation will be inducted Thursday, April 8, at the Knoxville Marriott.

Carroll graduated from the college in 1990 with a degree in accounting. In 2007, Carroll and his father, William Y. Carroll Sr., founded and organized SmartBank in Pigeon Forge. SmartBank has now expanded to Sevierville, Gatlinburg and Knoxville.

Tim Williams earned an accounting degree from the college in 1986 as well as an MBA in 1993. 21st Mortgage is the highest volume lender in the manufactured home industry, with a portfolio totaling $5.6 billion. The company is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Co. and is headquartered in Knoxville.

This is the 22nd year for the Hall of Fame, which recognizes business leaders from East Tennessee who have shown an ability to build businesses into an organization vital to the health and progress of the East Tennessee area.

The Junior Achievement of East Tennessee aims to prepare tomorrow’s business leaders through programs that increase financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurialism.

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In March, the Windows team announced the upcoming release of Service Pack 1 for Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2, but did not set a date of availability.

At the time, Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc said, “For Windows 7, SP1 includes only minor updates, among which are previous updates that are already delivered through Windows Update. SP1 for Windows 7 will, however, deliver an updated Remote Desktop client that takes advantage of RemoteFX introduced in the server-side with SP1 for Windows Server 2008 R2.”

Now, ahead of the beta cycle, it appears a recent build of Windows 7 SP1 beta (6.1.7601.16537.amd64fre.win7.100327-0053) has leaked, and it is available as a torrent. We checked a couple of torrent sites, and it is a relatively easy archive to find, so it has been downloaded thousands of times already.

Have you tried this out? Let us know!

Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Cloud computing creates enough disruptions for small businesses that it seems almost folly when we hear some of the stories we do.

We heard one story about an IT department that said that the company could not afford to have more people accessing the Internet. Yes, the Internet is too expensive for small business. Maybe it’s time to scrap the dial up?

Sponsor

Cloud computing is one of those classic disruptions to a business that over time becomes part of the fabric for a how a company operates.

You can either get into it now and be a leader or wait and join with the rest of the masses. That’s not to say going with the masses is a bad thing. Every company has a different timeline.

But take this into consideration:

Think you can’t take on the big companies in your market? Think again. A study by K2 Advisory finds that adoption rates by smaller organizations of public cloud and SaaS services from vendors such as Amazon and Google will outpace the adoption rate of larger enterprises by a factor of two.

That means while the big guys are scratching their heads, the smaller, smarter players can potentially make inroads into markets where they could not go before. Why? It’s just easier to scale and integrate on a global scale.

“In five years’ time the provision of IT to mid-sized and smaller businesses (of less than 1000 employees) will be quite distinct in terms of cloud adoption from enterprises,” said Kathy Ring of K2. ” ‘Indeed, it could be argued that small and mid-sized business use of cloud computing will enhance their agility and their ability to bounce back more quickly from the recession of 2009/10. Many Western enterprises, however, will continue to find that their IT systems are increasingly sclerotic, constrained by client-server ERP systems.’ “

Cloud services leverage the massive server capacity available. It’s elastic in nature, meaning it can scale up or down, based on demand for the service. A small business can expense the cost as opposed to purchasing an IT asset such as a server.

It’s a big reason why online services for small business have grown at such a clip. For example, online conteny management systems are now available that can be used as an alternative to making investments in services that require substantial IT investments. It has meant that small startups are competing in much larger markets against very big competitors. Box.net, for example, just received $15 million in funding. Their target: Microsoft Sharepoint.

Of course, technology companies provide the ability to scale in different ways than other types of services. But there are plenty of examples for how this movement is taking hold. Really, any company can leverage the cloud to take advantage of its storage and application infrastructure.

So, where do you start? Start by trying out some services to get a feeling for what you can do:

Google Docs. See how it compares to Microsoft Office.

Skype. Explore how you can use Internet-based services to replace voice and video.

SugarSync. Get access to your desktop from anywhere, any time. Services like SugarSync offer the capability to access your file and desktop from anywhere you may be:

Small businesses may feel overwhelmed by cloud computing. But it’s worth the effort in experimenting. There is a small window that is open now. Companies that can take advantage of it may be best positioned to compete against their larger counterparts.

Discuss

In response to our highlight of soaring Greek 10-year bond yields, a trader told us we were missing a far more important part of the story:

Everyone is so focused on the 10 yr yield and if or if not they are going to get this 10 yr bond deal done for Greece. One of the most important aspects of the US financial system collapse and most any other major finical collapse in the world according to any economic doctorate you speak to (Rogoff, Reinhardt, etc.etc.) short term rates are the TELLING signs.

Greece 6 month Bill is up 313 bps to 6.60 Yield. You take that 6 month bill rate and add this news that is going around: “Greek banks are being hit by a wave of redemptions as rich citizens and companies look to move their money to big global banks or offshore as the country’s debt crisis rages, the Telegraph newspaper reported on its website.

Markets are losing faith in even the short-term prospects for Greece, not just the longer-term creditworthiness of the nation. And here it is:

Join the conversation about this story »

For as much as exotic dancers (you might call them strippers) show off when they’re spinning around the brass pole on stage at the club, most of them are pretty private about their profession when they’re not at work. That explains why a former dancer of the exotic type filed a lawsuit after she saw a picture of herself being used on a billboard — for a club she never even worked at.

“I was riding in the back of a taxi minding my business looking out a window and, boom, there I am, massive in my underwear for Scores,” the ex-stripper — formerly a dancer at the Penthouse Executive Club — told the NY Daily News about seeing herself on a billboard for the Manhattan strip cub. “I about fell out of my seat.”

So she has filed a lawsuit claiming that she was forced into the 2008 photo shoot and never gave permission for the pics to be used by anyone other than the Penthouse Club.

“She was forced to take these pictures and she never gave anybody consent to use her image,” said her lawyer. “She was told she would never again work for Penthouse unless she took the pictures… There’s a difference between dancing in a small area at a club and having your scantily clad picture put on a billboard for all New York to see.”

On a separate note, anyone wishing to visit Scores while in NYC should be advised that at least one of the women in their billboard doesn’t work there. And we do not believe in false advertising.

Former stripper Nicole Hughes claims she was duped into posing for billboards for Scores [Daily News]

 

          National Geographic’s 11 Planets, written by David Aguilar, is one of the best kid-friendly reference texts on the planets. Up-to-date and full of amazingly vivid computer graphics, 11 Planets teaches students about the new definition of the term “planet” and introduces Ceres in the Asteroid Belt and Eris in the Kuiper Belt. Each planet is given an individual two page spread including a brief informative narrative, three fun facts, a reference to Greek/Roman mythology, its orbit’s position around the sun, and unbelievable graphics.

Curriculum Connections

This is an amazing resource for classroom when studying Earth, Earth’s place in the solar system, and other planets. (ES.4c) The pictures throughout this book would really interest younger children, thus making 11 Planet a great read-aloud. This book would also work really well for research in fifth or sixth grade (6.8) In addition, the interesting tidbits in each planet’s profile include references to Greek/Roman mythology. For example:

“Jupiter was the king of the ancient Roman gods, so his name works for the biggest planet. He was also called Jove, which is why the gas giants are sometimes called Jovian planets. In some languages, Thursday is named for Jupiter.”

Additional Resources

• Calculate your weight and age in the Solar System! For readers who would like a challenge, there is information about the difference between weight and mass and the relationship between gravity, mass and distance.

•  Play the “Missions to Planet Earth” online card game. Help to prepare five important NASA Earth missions. The information from these missions will help scientists understand how to keep Earth in harmony and friendly to all its living things.

•  Play one of these solar systems games to test your knowledge and learn something new! Since it is impossible to link to only one of these games, this is a whole page of great games! I particularly love Planet Impact! and Comet Facts, Myths, & Legends!

Book: 11 Planets
Author: David Aguilar
Illustrations Specialist: Jean Cantu
Publication: National Geographic
Pages: 47
Grade Range: 4-5
ISBN: 978-1-4263-0236-7

We just received an email from a member of the M80 team.  Apparently, they are behind some new viral ad campaigns for Motorola and the Droid.  Below, you will find 4 YoutTube clips, each showcasing a different “hidden feature” found in the handset. Did you know that Droid does streetlight changing and trick shots in billiards?  Neither did we!

It’s somewhat refreshing to see the phone getting some exposure and advertising that doesn’t feel like your masculinity is being called into question.  Just a friendly heads up, the fourth video might come off a little sexist depending on your sensitivity or sense of humor.

Might We Suggest…

• 2.1 Arrives on Select Droids Today, Full Rollout Starts This Week
  According to Engadget, the long awaited Android 2.1 rollout has commenced for Droid owners.  Start earlier today, 1,000 started receiving the notification that an update is available for their phone. …

In the midst of a standoff with the Department of Water and Power over proposed rate increases, members of the Los Angeles City Council plan to roll out a series of proposals to rein in the power of the public utility, which has long been criticized for its lack of transparency.

Councilman Greig Smith said members plan to introduce as many as eight motions Wednesday, including a change to the city charter that would allow the City Council to exert control over the utility’s budget.

“We want to see what they are spending their money on, we want to know what they’re doing. We don’t know, so we need to know that,” Smith said.

Other proposed charter changes, which would go before voters on the ballot next March, would allow the City Council to remove the department’s general manager and members of the DWP board, moves that are now under the purview of the mayor.

The interim DWP general manager, S. David Freeman, angered City Council members this week when he recommended that the DWP board abandon plans to transfer a promised $73.5 million in “surplus revenue” to the city’s cash-strapped treasury. Freeman said his recommendation was based on the fact that the City Council did not approve a rate increase last week that was needed to cover the agency’s bills. Freeman said the utility was losing money regularly due to higher fuel costs so there was no such available "surplus."

The City Council agreed last week to allow the DWP to increase bills by 0.6 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity consumed. DWP board members rejected that, however, and said they wanted an increase of 0.7 cents per kilowatt hour instead. The council then vetoed that proposal.

Both proposals would have provided DWP with 0.5 cents per kilowatt hour to pay for the utility’s existing financial obligations. Any additional money — 0.1 cents under the council’s proposal, 0.2 cents from the DWP board’s proposal — would have been directed toward new energy conservation and renewable power initiatives.

Smith said another proposal that was being introduced Wednesday would change the makeup of the five-member DWP board. Currently the mayor nominates the members and the council confirms them.

Under a plan advanced by Smith and others, two DWP board members would be appointed by the mayor, including one who is an expert in the utility field. Two other members would be named by the City Council, with one serving as a representative from the business community. A fifth would be chosen by neighborhood councils. Commissioners and the general manager could each be removed on a two-thirds vote of the council.

— Maeve Reston at Los Angeles City Hall

Khosla Ventures is putting more money into Sakti3, the discrete battery developer based in Ann Arbor, Mich, as a returning investor in a $7 million Series B funding round, led by Beringea.

Sakti3 was founded in 2007 as a spin out from the University of Michigan by mechanical engineer professor Ann Marie Sastry. Two years ago the company raised $3 million from the Michigan Economic Development Corp., and $2 million from Khosla Ventures.

Sakti3 develops high performance lithium batteries for the automobile sector. The company remains tight-lip about what makes its technology unique compared to other lithium devises.  One thing that’s known is that the company is trying to develop batteries that do not use carbon-based cathodes. Overtime carbon erodes, which can significantly alter performance.

Sastry says Sakti3 is a few years from going commercial.

Wow, haven’t seen a decline like this in a awhile.

The Fed just came out with some very ugly consumer credit numbers, and the Dow is now down about triple digits.

On a sequential basis, consumer credit fell 5%, way worse than expected.

Here’s the full announcement from The Fed.

Below is the chart:

Join the conversation about this story »

The Government Accountability Office has a report out today on the unfunded liabilities of the GM and Chrysler pensions.  The most controversial aspect of the bankruptcy reorganizations orchestrated by the Obama administration is that the companies reaffirmed their obligation to their retirement plans, which are often terminated when a company undergoes a bankruptcy.

For the most part, the terms of the restructuring called for current levels of employee benefits– including pension benefits–to remain in place for at least 1 year. Specifically, the master sale agreements for both companies stipulate that, in general, union employees are to be provided employee benefits that are “not less favorable in the aggregate” than the benefits provided under the employee pension and welfare benefit plans, and contracts and arrangements currently in place; nonunion employees are to receive current levels of compensation and benefits until at least 1 year after the date the agreements are signed.

 A lot of people–including me–regarded this as a gift to the UAW, at the expense not only of the bondholders who had lent the firms money, but also of the company’s future chances at profitability.

The GAO report offers a rather dour picture of the plans’ funding status:

Nevertheless, according to GM’s projections utilizing valuation methods defined under PPA, large cash contributions may be needed to meet its funding obligations to its U.S. pension plans beginning in 2013 (see fig. 4). GM officials told us that cash contributions are not expected to be needed for the next few years because it has a relatively large “credit balance” based on contributions made in prior years that can be used to offset cash contribution requirements that would otherwise be required until that time.47 As of October 1, 2008, GM had about $36 billion of credit balance in its hourly plan and about $10 billion in its salaried plan. However, once these credit balances are exhausted, GM projects that the contributions needed to meet its defined benefit plan funding requirements will total about $12.3 billion for the years 2013 and 2014, and additional contributions may be required thereafter. In its 2008 year-end report, GM noted that due to significant declines in financial markets and deterioration in the value of its plans’ assets, as well as the coverage of additional retirees, including Delphi employees, it may need to make significant contributions to its U.S. plans in 2013 and beyond.

Similarly, Chrysler’s management expects that contributions to meet minimum funding requirements may begin to increase significantly in 2013, but are projected to be relatively minimal until then (see fig. 5). Chrysler, like GM, intends to use credit balances to offset the contribution requirements for some of its plans. As of end-of-year 2009, Chrysler had credit balances of about $3.5 billion for its UAW Pension Plan and about $1.9 billion across the other eight plans for which it provided funding information. In addition, Chrysler also has $600 million in payments from Daimler to help meet its funding requirements over the next few years.49 Nevertheless, Chrysler’s funding projections reveal that about $3.4 billion.

As Pete Davis notes:

GAO notes the complicated role played by the federal government, which guaranteed those pensions and now owns GM and Chrysler. GM and Chrysler bought union peace by overpromising pension benefits, knowing that the taxpayers stood behind those promises. Now what should the government do, take it out on the auto workers or hit the taxpayers to benefit the auto workers? Your elected officials will have little difficulty making this decision, invariably hitting future taxpayers to benefit favored constituents, like the auto workers.

Too true, but how likely is that?  There are a lot of scary big numbers floating around about the potential unfunded liabilities of the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp., which guarantees private sector pensions.  They are indeed huge, and I think it more likely than not that the PBGC will eventually need a bailout.  But not for the total amount of its potential unfunded liabilities; many of those companies will keep operating.

So the important question is, will GM be among the problem children who actually dumps its pension obligations on the taxpayer?  As luck would have it, GM’s numbers are just out, and . . . um . . . they’re losing a lot less money than they used to!!!  Only $4.3 billion since they emerged from bankruptcy.  And the CEO says they might even make a profit in the near future, maybe.

To be fair, that includes whopping dose of one-time charge.  On the other hand, there’s a lot of grim news lurking deeper in the reports, according to The Truth About Cars:

Of course, you have to dig into the numbers to find the bad news, like the $56.4b in “cost of sales,” or the $700m interest cost, or the 48 percent North American capacity utilization in 2009, or the 16.3 percent US car market share.

Make no mistake, these companies are still on life support.  The CBO expects that the lion’s share of the government’s losses on TARP will come, not from anything the Bush administration did, but from the Obama administration’s decision to bail out the automakers and to a lesser extent, its bailout of homeowners.  It seems that a big chunk of our cost may come from picking up the gold plated pensions . . . “Cadillac Plans”, if you will . . . of the automakers.  And lest you think I’m picking on unions over management, it was management that used the UAW as a prop to extract these gargantuan sums from the pockets of innocent taxpayers.

I feel like we ought to get a little something back, here.  At the very least, they could offer everyone in America that OnStar service that sounds so great in the commercials.

(NAV Image Credit: GM Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com/flickr)

It’s almost that time, this May Google is holding its annual I/O conference. Thousands of developers will learn of latest web and Google technologies. The Google ION was the surprise gift at last years conference, the attendees was not aware of this before they got there. This time around Google is sending the free gift ahead of time. Droid’s and Nexus One’s will be shipped out to everyone who pay in advance to attend.

The conference will surely be Android heavy and these free phones will help the developers produce exciting new things for second generation hardware. Getting these phones before the I/O will help developers to get familiar with the latest version of Android. The device you receive will be based on your location and you will not be able to choose the device you get.

Here’s the Email Google is sending out:

This year’s Google I/O is less than 2 months away, and we’re very excited that you and over 4,000 other developers will be joining us in San Francisco. During the 2-day conference, you’ll have over 90 sessions to choose from and the opportunity to meet with developers from over 170 companies that will be demoing their apps and talking in-depth about their use of Google technologies in the Developer Sandbox.

As you might have guessed, Android will have a big presence at this year’s event. To make sure you’re equipped to make the most of your Android experience during Google I/O, we’d like to mail you a Verizon Droid by Motorola before the event.

Bring your Android device to Google I/O
Instead of having you spend time picking up and registering the device during the conference, we want you to be able to get started ASAP. Here are the different ways in which we’re hoping you’ll use the device you receive:

Get to know the Android SDK
Use the device to get started on your first (or next!) Android app using the latest SDK. You’ll find a ton of helpful info atdeveloper.android.com, including the Developer’s Guide. We hope you have new apps or working prototypes by the time of I/O. That way, you’ll be able to get feedback on your app from other developers, including members of the Android team who’ll be leading in-depth sessions and answering attendees’ technical questions during Office Hours (the schedule will be published oncode.google.com/io in April).

Put your device to work at I/O
To encourage active use of your device, we’re amplifying cellular and wireless coverage inside Moscone West, and charging stations will be available for anyone to use. We hope you’ll:
Get I/O info on your device: Before May 19th, we’ll send out details on how to download a conference app that we’re building now. During I/O, you can use the app to instantly access I/O session details and more.
Download apps: Over 40 companies will be demoing the latest and greatest apps available in the Android Market. Check out their demos in the Developer Sandbox, download new apps, and take them for a test drive.
Participate in SCVNGR: We’re collaborating with SCVNGR to produce a location-based mobile game for Google I/O that’ll have you hunting for QR codes hidden throughout the events.

To receive your Android device:
Click the form link below, read the terms and conditions of the offer and fill out the form with your preferred shipping address so we know where you’d like to receive your device. All preferred shipping addresses must be submitted no later than April 18th.
You’ll receive your device 2 to 4 weeks from the day you provide your shipping address.

To learn more about this giveaway for Google I/O, visit our FAQ page. If you have questions that aren’t answered on the website, please send an email to [email protected].

Thanks for your support of Google’s developer initiatives and for registering for Google I/O. We look forward to seeing you in May!

Sincerely,
The Google I/O Team

[via techcrunch]

Researchers at Scotland’s Edinburgh University have outlicensed rights to commercialize self-sustaining treatment for active remediation (STAR), a technology developed to remove toxic chemicals from soil and groundwater. The researchers say the technique will reduce the cost of cleaning areas contaminated with industrial waste by approximately 50% compared to existing methods. STAR safely burns away substances such as oils and petrochemicals in a controlled combustion reaction. The process stops once the contaminants are removed, leaving the original soil or groundwater behind.

The university has entered an exclusive license agreement with U.S. engineering firm Geosyntec Consultants to commercialize the technology. “We see STAR technology as a real game-changer for certain types of sites,” says David Major, environmental scientist at Geosyntec. “We are committed to making this technology available worldwide and especially to establishing a Scottish operation to serve the European marketplace.” Edinburgh Research and Innovation (ERI), the university’s commercialization arm, negotiated the license agreement.

Source:  Science Business

The U.S. EPA asked for your ideas about how to reduce, reuse, and recycle materials and you answered back with your passion, creativity, and many ideas on how to make a difference! U.S. EPA’s national video competition, “Our Planet, Our Stuff, Our Choice,” received over 250 submissions and selecting the finalists proved tough. Please visit our website to check out the 27 finalist videos.

As a reviewer, I was inspired by the creativity and passion that the videos showed. Videos were submitted from every corner of the country from every age group. People showed us how they make a difference with their actions, why it is important and how others can join the wave of people making every day choices to protect the environment.

In mid-April 2010, first, second and third prizes will be awarded along with two student winners and all will receive cash prizes. In 30 to 60 second videos, contestants focus on raising awareness of the connection between the environment and the “stuff” people use, consume, recycle, and throw away.

About the author: Melissa Winters joined EPA’s Seattle office in 2007 where she works to reduce the climate impact of materials and their consumption.

I’m excited to announce a new project: quarterly books featuring the very best from Nourished Kitchen’s posts, recipes and tutorials covering traditional, wholesome foods.  Published at the end of each season, the full-color paperback books cover not only the very best from the preceding season, but also many recipes and tutorials that have not been published at Nourished Kitchen.  This presents an excellent opportunity for you to pick up an easy-to-read guide to traditional foods, the current edition features twenty-five recipes (many unpublished), three articles covering food philosophy, choosing ingredients and feeding kids as well as several tutorials that, in simple step-by-step instructions, teach you how to render lard, soak beans and nuts, make yogurt cheese, make yogurt and brew water kefir.  You can even preview a few sample pages here.(…)
Click here to read the rest of Announcing: Best of Nourished Kitchen (340 words)

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Wondering where your full feed went? Click here to learn why The Nourished Kitchenmoved to summary feeds. Don’t forget to find Nourished Kitchen on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and
© Jenny for The Nourished Kitchen, 2010. |
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China is looking to use off shore wind farms to help power the country … with a significant part of the population on the eastern shore this may prove to better than bringing coal generated power in from the west of China.

China will " … bring online … its first offshore wind farm, a 102-megawatt array located in the Yangtze River delta …"

"… latest in a series of moves … to pad its lead as the world’s largest market for wind power. …"

" … Azure International predicts that China will install 514 megawatts of offshore wind over the next three to four years. By 2010, … expected to invest $100 billion to install up to 30,000 megawatts …"

Via:  SmartPlanet LINK

Monday’s adorable video showing a cat enthusiastically cleaning a sleeping dog started us on a bit of a mission to find other cat-loves-(insert non-feline species name here) videos. Our favorite so far: YouTube user aublet‘s video of Molly the cat and her good pal Chiquita the rat.

When the animals first came to live together, aublet explains, the cat was kept in a separate room whenever Chiquita and aublet’s other rats were let out of their cage. One fateful night, "Chiquita broke herself and [the other rats] out of their cage and she woke me up by climbing on my face," aublet recalls. "I was terrified that Molly had hurt the others, but when I got up, Molly was just patiently watching the rats run around." Good kitty!

After that incident, aublet decided to let the cat interact with the rats — only while they were under the supervision of a watchful human caregiver, of course. Molly and Chiquita became the best of friends and remained so until Chiquita’s death last year. (R.I.P., little rat!)

RELATED:

Your morning adorable: Patient dog meets duckling

Your morning adorable: Gentle horse nuzzles cat

— Lindsay Barnett

Video: aublet via YouTube

The silicone Drop Showerhead—designed by Giulio Iacchetti. For some reason, it makes me anxious. I would always expect it to drop on my head. [IB Rubinetterie via Likecool] More »