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We all love our pets but not the poop they leave behind. Well to make things easier every time our loving pet decides to answer nature’s call, Tohoku Kankyo, a Japanese based company has come up with an awesome way to dispose off the poop and also food leftovers with its composting baby, the Samu Dog Robot. Using heat and an additive, this robot swallows (sounds disgusting) up all the poop and leftovers and composts it. The poop your pet leaves behind can be harmful if disposed of wrongly using a non-heated compost bin, since it is full of harmful bacteria and parasites, ready to spread diseases. Now here’s the glitch, this awesome composting can that both, you and your pet will simply adore (taken that it is shaped like a dog) is available only in Japan and from specialty importers. Also, this environment friendly way of disposing off leftovers from your table and your pets poop will burn a $900 hole in your pocket.

[Trendhunter]

Facebook is clearly an increasing part of many people’s lives, but as your friends list grows along with the number of Facebook apps you may use, the built-in notifications system is getting swamped with messages many of which aren’t that relevant to the user. One of the biggest issues is with app notifications as many developers chose them as a sure-fi… (read more)

Even after welcoming two daughters with wife Jennifer Garner, actor Ben Affleck is still “desperate” for a son and is busy coaxing the actress for one more child.

The couple already have girls Violet, four, and 12-month-old Seraphina, but Ben has his heart set on a boy to complete the trio. Jennifer, on the other hand, is reluctant to abandon the figure she’s worked so hard to achieve for yet another pregnancy.

The actress tells Us Weekly: “Ben would like a boy, but I don’t want another baby right now.”

And Garner’s friends are on her side, with one pal telling the actress: “You don’t want to do that all over again. You worked hard to get your body back.”

The new spoiler which will be featured in the Sprint Cup for the 2010 season has began being put through its paces, as it took for the first time to the track at the Texas Motor Speedway. The men which tested it are Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Brian Vickers and Greg Biffle, who have been running the new spoiler during the Goodyear tire test. The conclusion?

"It didn’t seem to be a big balance change, which was good," Stewart told Autosport. "That means you won’t have to reinvent … (read more)

AFP reports on the latest tidal power project in South Korea (the global hotspot for such initiatives) – GS Engineering to build major tidal power plant.

South Korean firm GS Engineering and Construction said Wednesday it has won a 3.4-billion-dollar contract to build one of the world’s largest tidal power stations. Under the deal signed with the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co, GS Engineering will build the power station on the west coast near Gangwha Island, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Seoul.

Construction will start in late 2011 with a view to completion in 2017. The power station will have a capacity of 1.3 million kilowatts per hour or 2.41 billion kilowatts per year. …

South Korea is also in the process of building three other tidal power plants on the west coast.

Could this be evidence that Apple’s little touchscreen portable thingamybob won’t be called the iSlate? Developer iBuiltThis may have a case on his hands if Apple rips the name off, seen as how his app has been available since November 2008.

The app is described as a “digital clapper board that can help video enthusiasts add a touch of Hollywood magic to their videos,” and while the last update was May 2009 it’s still available to download now for $2.99. OR maybe Apple uploaded the iSlate app to the App Store themselves, hoping to throw everyone off the scent? Yeh, I’m probably watching too many X-Files eps. [MobileEnt]

Strap yourself up and fly off to space with NASA’s Puffin. Everything nice, cool and awesome is usually hushed up before it finally shows its glorious head in the market. It’s the same with the Puffin. NASA has finally claimed that the one-person aircraft called Puffin that they have been building is for real! Now that’s something we all would love to have. This plane will work on electricity and can take off vertically like a helicopter. It can also fly to a whopping 300mph, helping you travel quickly from one place to another by flying, just like your favorite masked superhero! Also, this plane is quite and doesn’t make a sound while flying, unlike helicopters.

Using technology present today, the plane can fly for 50 miles, but with future developments in technology, NASA anticipates a triple rise in cruising range by the year 2017. The Puffin is simply a jet pack with a cockpit. The fact that it runs on electricity enables an environment friendly and carbon free cruise in the sky. So will man reach the sky in this vehicle by NASA? Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

[Dvice]

Boston foreclosures will be turned into affordable housing units using the $13.6 million the city received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under the second funding round of its Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

The money will be used to acquire and fix vacant distressed properties in the most foreclosure-battered neighborhoods of East Boston, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Mattapan and Roxbury. According to city officials, there are 860 dilapidated foreclosure properties across the city that need to be rehabilitated, 275 of which are located in the five neighborhoods.

Aaron Gorstein, head of the Citizens Housing and Planning Association, said that his group is going to continue working with the office of Mayor Thomas Menino to put bankruptcy homes and other derelict properties into productive use.

Boston has been rehabilitating foreclosure properties under a program launched with help from Bank of America. Now, it is carrying out the program with assistance from additional backers like Wells Fargo and Fannie Mae. It has already acquired 17 foreclosures and has chosen 44 more units to purchase.

A study from the University of Massachusetts in Boston found that a big portion of Boston foreclosures resulted from risky mortgages provided to black and Latino homeowners. The study said that more than 50 percent of blacks and Latinos who took out home loans were provided with subprime loans, far above the 13-percent share of white borrowers.

According to Warren Group, foreclosure activity in Massachusetts slowed in November last year, but is expected to rise again because of the increase in mortgage defaults.

Actual foreclosures in the state decreased in November 2009 to 701 units, a 21-percent drop from the 888 deeds posted in November 2008 and a 23-percent drop from the 912 deeds filed in October 2009.

Total foreclosure postings in the state from January to November 2009 reached 8,409, marking a drop of 27 percent from the 11,494 posted during the same 11-month period in 2008.

Foreclosure filings in November totaled 1,937, down by 16 percent from 2,296 petitions in October but up by 45 percent from 1,335 petitions in November 2008.

Through the 11-month period from January to November 2009, nearly 26,000 foreclosure petitions were filed, a 29-percent jump from 20,179 petitions during the same 11-month period in 2008.

With the slowdown in Boston foreclosures, the drop in the unemployment rate and increase in single-family house sales, analysts hope that the city continues to recover in 2010.

While most of the World Rally Championship contenders for the 2010 season are switching to newer, improved machines – or at least try out the new S2000 cars before the rule-changing 2011 campaign – Norwegian driver Mads Ostberg will use a different strategy for the upcoming rallying event he’s going to start, namely the season opening Rally Sweden.

According to the official site of the WRC, the 11th finisher in the 2009 WRC standings has decided to trade his Subaru S14 WRC2008 for an older ve… (read more)

Adam Lambert is back in the arms of his former flame- just three months after the couple called it quits.

The gay rocker — a sensation on Season 8 of American Idol – split from interior designer Drake Labry in November, with reports speculating that Lambert wanted to focus promoting his debut album, For Your Entertainment. However, the pair has reportedly reconciled, sources tell E! Online. Adam and Drake were spotted enjoying a night out at Hollywood hotspot Avalon.

“(They) were sitting at a private table with friends, but the two of them could not keep their hands off of each other,” a spywitness says. “Drake was stroking Adam’s leg, and Adam could barely take his eyes off of him. They both seemed to be in a great mood and were keeping more to themselves instead of mingling with nearby friends.”

Peugeot released details of the 2010 107 Sweet Years version, a flavor that proved to be one of the best-selling models across the 107 range. The car comes with a number of customizations for both the interior and the exterior and also features a number of upgrades concerning the offered equipment levels.

First of all, the Sweet Years boasts an AvMap Geosat 6 Drive Safe navigation system, with maps included in the price. A multimedia system is available as well and comprises popular features … (read more)

Using wind power as an alternate source of energy can sometimes prove difficult since the apparatus used is large and setting up these wind turbines requires space. To overcome these hurdles and make the use of wind energy more easily portable, designers Marcos Madia, Sergio Ohashi and Juan Manuel Pantano have come up with a foldable wind powered generator. Known as the Eolic, these generators use the same principles as those huge turbines we see on the outskirts of our country-sides with the only difference of being foldable and can be easily assembled. The Eolic will find its use for construction work in places with no power supply and can also be used to provide energy in homes. Also, the entire equipment can be packed into a single box. The body of the Eolic is made of light weight materials like aluminum and carbon fiber. Innovations like these will help change the way we generate electricity for our everyday use.

[LikeCool]

The Mexican authorities are failing in their duty to protect human rights activists from killings and life-threatening harassment and attacks, Amnesty International warned on Thursday in a new report.

The report Standing up for justice and dignity: Human Rights defenders in Mexico describes more than 15 cases of defenders who have suffered killings, attacks, harassment, threats and  imprisonment on fabricated charges between 2007 and 2009 to prevent them from doing their work.

"Defending human rights in Mexico is life-threatening and the government is not doing enough to tackle the problem," said Nancy Tapias-Torrado, researcher on human rights defenders at Amnesty International. "When one human rights defender is attacked, threatened or killed, it sends a dangerous message to many others and denies hope to all those on whose behalf the defender is working".

Amnesty International said it believes there are dozens of such cases, very few of which are effectively investigated and even fewer brought to justice. In none of the cases included in the report has a full investigation been carried out and in only two of them suspects are in detention.

Human rights defenders take action to protect and promote human rights. States have a responsibility to protect these people and ensure they can carry out their work.

Activists working to protect the rights of communities living in poverty, those who defend the rights of Indigenous peoples or work to protect the environment are at particular risk of attack. Their work is seen as interfering with powerful political or economic interests. Too often they are treated as trouble-makers not as human rights defenders working for a better society where respect for human rights can be a reality.

Obtilia Eugenio Manuel, founder and president of the Organization of the Me’ phaa Indigenous People (OPIM) in Guerrero, southern Mexico, has been the victim of numerous death threats and acts of intimidation since 1998.

The campaign of intimidation against her got so serious in recent years, Obtilia and her family were forced to flee their community out of fear. For example, in January 2009, a man who had been following her on several occasions shouted at her: "Do you think you’re so brave? Are you a real woman? Let’s hope you also go to prison… If you don’t go to prison, we’ll kill you."

None of the threats or acts of intimidation against Obtilia has been investigated.

In another case, Ricardo Murillo Monge, a spokesperson and founder member of the Sinaloan Civic Front (FCS), was found dead in his car in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa State, on 6 September 2007. Only two years later, on 31 August 2009, Salomón Monárrez, another spokesperson for the FCS, narrowly survived an assassination attempt.

"The Mexican government must urgently develop an effective and comprehensive programme of protection for human rights defenders," said Nancy Tapias-Torrado.

Activists standing up for justice in Mexico (Feature, 21 January 2010)

Call on the Mexican government to protect human rights activists

Tara Reid is getting married.

The American Pie actress and reformed partygirl is delighted after her boyfriend, German millionaire Internet entrepreneur Michael Axtmann, flew into Los Angeles to propose to her on Monday, the actress’ rep told PEOPLE Wednesday. Axtmann popped the question to Tara while dining at The Little Door restaurant in L.A. on Monday night. The rep said, “Michael surprised Tara with a beautiful round brilliant cut ring. Tara was so happy, and the other patrons clapped and yelled out, ‘Congratulations.’”

The businessman reportedly texted friends after the proposal to say: “Tara just got the ring from me and is over the moon.”

The couple – who have been dating since May 2009 – plan to tie the knot in Mexico this summer. Tara was previously engaged to former MTV VJ Carson Daly.

The SMH has an article on the chief of GM’s Volt initiative who, bizarrely, is a climate skeptic – but thinks electric cars are inevitable anyway because of peak oil – Global warming? Don’t blame the car.

Senior General Motors executive Bob Lutz has slammed scientists and environmentalists, saying global warming has little to do with humans and more to do with solar flares and sunspots. The self-confessed petrolhead and man who proudly claims to be a progenitor of the Chevrolet Volt electric car (due in Australia in 2012) still scoffs at global warming.

Lutz, who in 2008 memorably described global warming as a “crock of shit”, once again aired his views while meeting with a group of Australian journalists at the Detroit motor show last week. “I am not going to give a speech on this because everytime I do I get in trouble,” Lutz said, then immediately began explaining his views. …

So why is Lutz such a strong proponent of the Volt and the electrification of the automobile? Peak oil is the answer.

Lutz argues that continued dependence on oil as demand inevitably increases will simply exacerbate boom and bust economic cycles. That’s especially the case as Chinese car sales grow. In 20 years he estimates the China market will equal the rest of the world combined.

“At that point we have to have alternative drive systems, which to me have to be electric,” Lutz said.

Un clásico que renace en versión española, editores de periódicos contra Google News, con amenaza de querella sobre la mesa (El economista). En el debate en sí no hay muchas novedades, las mismas voces señalan que quien no quiere salir en Google puede conseguirlo con facilidad y que éste manda tráfico a los medios, algo por lo que deberían estar agradecidos… personalmente, sigo comprendiendo que no lo estén.

Google no es el amigo de los medios, es un intermediario que actúa en beneficio propio. Un día integra la cartelera y empieza a utilizar su posición dominante en el mercado de las búsquedas para entrar en servicios y contenidos. Los medios están acostumbrados a intermediarios – los distribuidores físicos – que no cambian el modo de hacer negocio de sus ingresos sino que comisionan. Pasar a un intermediario-interfaz con el usuario, que se lleva gran parte del negocio de la publicidad (no directamente en Google News, pero sí en el buscador) y que por criterio propio reparte el tráfico es algo que no se debe digerir bien, es comprensible que no estén felices con la situación.

Y hasta ahí llega la comprensión en la batalla de editores contra Google News, si los usuarios deciden utilizar un agregador o cualquier otro intermediario ante los contenidos es porque les aporta valor. Puedes decidir lo que prefieras, pero en una internet en la que existen Google News y Menéame y tienen tráfico, es mejor salir en ellos lo máximo posible que no salir. A abundancia de contenidos, pensar en un modelo de lector de periódico de toda la vida, que lee todos de una misma fuente, no es realista y puedes acabar luchando contra los enlaces a tu web con la excusa de que tal web te coge un extracto. La pelea al final no es contra tal o cual agregador, es ante la imposibilidad de repetir el mismo modelo del siglo XX en lo que a dominar la relación con el usuario y el reparto de la tarta publicitaria se refiere. No creo que los editores tengan razón – si exceptuamos casos que empiezan a rallar el abuso de posición dominante – pero es comprensible que no estén felices con el cambio.

Relacionado: Las publicaciones ante los intermediarios que agregan.

Imagen de Carlos Carreter.