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Navigon has announced the coming arrival of their MobileNavigator for both Android and Windows based phones. The program originally launched on the iPhone where it is one of the more popular navigation apps. MobileNavigator sports a number of interesting features, including the display of actual road signs on your phone and built in maps for use when there is no cellular coverage.

The Windows Mobile version will launch next week for the discounted price of $69.00, which will jump to the full price of $89.00 on February 14. The Android app will launch at some point in spring for a price that has not been set at this time. Seeing as new Android phones have the built in (and very effective in my opinion) Google Navigator, it will be interesting to see how much lower they drop the price, or if they try to force it into the market at $89.

This is a bit late, but here’s the list of new stuff available this week on the US PlayStation Store. Standouts are the new Borderlands DLC, a Dark Void demo, and the release of Matt Hazard: Blood

Degree Men and Ochocinco to Donate Thousands of Dollars to Charity During Playoffs

Men love challenges, from pushing themselves at the gym to working hard at the office to stepping up for a good cause.

On or off the field, from the locker room to the meeting room, men need a product that will protect and allow them to perform at their best.

No matter the situation, men can always count on Degree® Men’s line of anti-perspirants and deodorants to help them rise to the challenge.

They know Degree won’t let them down when they need it most.

Degree Men Charity Challenge

In an effort to help men rise to the challenge in all aspects of life, Degree Men and Cincinnati wide receiver Chad Ochocinco are kicking off a month-long Degree Men Charity Challenge campaign to support Feed The Children.

Ochocinco, a world-class athlete, is known for his flashy play and ability to rise to the challenge both on and off the field. Likewise, Feed The Children rises to the challenge and delivers more than 100 million pounds of food and medicine to needy children and families around the globe every year.

The two are teaming up with Degree to ask men across America to rise to the challenge and support a great cause during the football playoffs.

During the postseason, Ochocinco and Degree Men will pledge to rise to the challenge off the football field by tying donations to Ochocinco’s performance on the field. They plan to donate $100 to Feed The Children for every yard Ochocinco gains during the playoffs, up to $10,000.

For all men who rise to the challenge with donations of their own to Feed The Children, Degree Men won’t let them down and will match all donations up to $40,000.

“Degree Men is proud to partner with a charity and an athlete who rise to the challenge, and we’re excited to support Ochocinco with a charity donation based on his performance during the postseason,” said Jay Mathew, Marketing Director, Degree Men.

“Men can feel ready to rise to the challenge when they use Degree because they know it won’t let them down; we’re ready to back that up by matching all donations up to $40,000.”

During the course of the football postseason, Ochocinco (@OGOchoCinco) will post “tweets” reminding fans that Degree won’t let them down and encouraging them to rise to the challenge and make donations to Feed The Children.

“Whether it’s making plays on the field or it’s helping feed hungry children off the field, I can rise to the challenge in all aspects of life with Degree Men because it won’t let me down,” said Chad Ochocinco.

“For every yard I gain during the postseason, Degree Men and I will donate $100 to Feed The Children. I want to encourage all my fans to rise to the challenge and make a donation to Feed The Children.”

“We are so thankful to Chad Ochocinco and Degree Men for selecting Feed The Children once again as the charity of choice for the Degree Men Charity Challenge,” said Tony Sellars, spokesperson for Feed The Children.

“Their ongoing support will help countless children in need throughout the United States and around the world.”

Ochocinco Wide Receiver Challenge

Football fans know that Chad Ochocinco is one of the best wide receivers to put on pads.

To give fans a taste of what it’s like to rise to the challenge like Ochocinco, Degree is encouraging fans to participate in the Ochocinco Wide Receiver Challenge to help Feed The Children.

From Jan. 30 – Feb. 2 at select Miami retailers, for a $5 donation to Feed The Children, football fans can put on shoulder pads and a helmet and catch deep football passes, just like Ochocinco.

Men who rise to the challenge can be assured that Degree Men won’t let them down – Degree will provide them with a chance to win great prizes including a VIP pass to Chad Ochocinco’s party in Miami. All of the money raised during the Ochocinco Wide Receiver Challenge will be donated to Feed The Children.

How to Donate to The Degree Men Charity Challenge

Ochocinco fans can donate to Feed The Children by visiting FeedTheChildren.org/Ochocinco. Degree Men and Chad Ochocinco will match all fan donations up to $40,000.

Chad Ochocinco and Degree Men will announce the final tally of donations to Feed The Children in Miami on February 4, 2010.

Degree Men Helps Men Rise to the Challenge

Degree Men’s line of anti-perspirants and deodorants is specifically designed to release extra protection when it’s needed most. Whether it’s in football or life, men can be assured to rise to the challenge with Degree because it won’t let them down.

ABOUT UNILEVER:

Unilever’s mission is to add vitality to life. We meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. Each day, around the world, consumers make 160 million decisions to purchase Unilever products.

In the United States, the portfolio includes major brand icons such as: Axe, Ben & Jerry’s, Bertolli, Breyers, Caress, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal care products, Hellmann’s, Klondike, Knorr, Lipton, Popsicle, Promise, Q-Tips, Skippy, Slim-Fast, Suave, Sunsilk and Vaseline.

All of the preceding brand names are registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies.

Dedicated to serving consumers and the communities where we live, work and play, Unilever employs more than 14,000 people in both the United States and Puerto Rico – generating nearly $10 billion in sales in 2007. For more information, visit unileverusa.com.

ABOUT FEED THE CHILDREN:

Founded in 1979, Feed The Children is consistently ranked as one of the 10 largest international charities in the U.S., based on private, non-government support.

Feed The Children is a Christian, international, nonprofit relief organization with headquarters in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, that delivers food, medicine, clothing and other necessities to individuals, children and families who lack these essentials due to famine, war, poverty or natural disasters.

In FY 2008, Feed The Children distributed more than 133 million pounds of food and other essentials to children and their families in all 50 states and internationally, supplementing more than 760,000 meals each day.

Since its founding, the organization has reached out to help those in need in 119 countries around the globe. For more information, please visit feedthechildren.org.

Jeff Siegel, Managing Editor, Green Chip Stocks

Investing In Green (8 min)

• 2009’s best performing sectors in green stocks
• Green tech spaces to be bullish on in 2010
• The best way for investors to take advantage of green innovations
• The reasoning behind Buffett’s investment in BYD

Produced By: Kamelia Angelova & William Wei

More Video: TBI Calendar Click HERE >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Warren Buffett’s Electric Car Gamble Is No Sure Thing
• China: A Threat Or Opportunity For A Greener Future?
• Green Tech VC Activity Down Big In 2009

Anything packaged in a new and better way, sounds new and better. Similarly the concept of solar updraft technology has been reintroduced, this time by Australia-based EnviroMission Ltd. They have announced plans to build two solar updrafts spanning hundreds of acres in La Paz County. The solar updrafts technology is a tall solar tower generating energy by forcing heated air through a shaft lined with wind turbines. By turning the wind turbine, energy is produced. The towers will each have 2,400 foot chimneys over a greenhouse measuring four square miles.
[Inhabitat]

Even if these weapons remain controversial abroad, we believe support within the U.S. is accelerating due to their cost-effectiveness and the obviously lower risk soldiers need to take.

In case you missed it, the U.S. just allegedly had five successful drone strikes in a week:

CNN: "The drone strikes are part of an overall set of tactics which make up the strategy for victory," said Arizona Republican John McCain. "They have been very effective, and they have knocked al Qaeda and other Islamic extremist organizations off balance."

Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, said the drones were "a critical element of our effort, our campaign, our strategy to deny the terrorists who are terrorizing the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan a safe haven from which to strike them and us in the United States."

The senators made their comments during a congressional visit that took them to Iraq and Afghanistan. Next on their itinerary is Pakistan.

Read more here >

Thing is, from an investor perspective, we don't know of any decent listed drone-related plays. Feel free to suggest ideas.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Shiite Militants Hack U.S. Drones With $25 Software
• Predator Drones Now Defend Commercial Shipping
• Why Super Advanced Drone Fighters Might Make War Less Common

Many people are now feeling that bloated, regretful feeling that comes with overindulging over the holidays. Rachael Ray wants to help, along with Liz Vacariello, author of the new diet book 400 Calorie Fix.

About the diet

The diet plan is based on eating four, 400-calorie meals every day. There are no off-limit foods as long as you don’t eat more than 400 calories at a time, or make up for excesses by eating less later in the day. The book aims to help retrain readers’ eyes to understand what 400 calories of 400 different foods looks like.

To lose more weight more quickly, Vacariello says people can have three 400-calorie meals instead, and men and those with active lifestyles can have five meals a day. Dropping down to three meals a day can help a person lose about 11 pounds in two weeks, she said.

Little changes for big results

On this visit to the show, Vacariello dropped in on a viewer who was struggling with weight loss and revealed problem areas and items in the kitchen that can keep people from losing weight.

First, she suggested taking the computer out of the kitchen, because people who eat when engaged with electronics consume the equivalent of an extra meal a day in calories.

“You’re signaling to yourself and your family that this is an activity that doesn’t involve food,” Vacariello said of moving the computer.

Second, put junk food, if you have to have it in your house, on the kids’ eye level and healthier choices on the eye level of parents so you’ll be reminded the healthier food is there.

Using smaller plates is another good tip, she says, noting that using a two-inch smaller plate yields a 22 percent reduction in calorie consumption, providing a two-pound-a-month weight loss.

Bright lights stimulate appetites and make us eat more quickly, so eat by lamp light or a dimmed overhead light instead of under full illumination. And when the meal is done, turn off the lights in the kitchen to indicate that food time is over and the kitchen is closed.

Vacariello says when the kitchen is home base and people spend most of their time there, they end of snacking throughout the day. So rediscover the rest of your house and you’ll automatically eat less, she says.

(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

From the RSS feed of CalorieLab News (REF3076322B7)

Change your kitchen, lose the weight

If there’s one company that is the bane of advertisers, TiVo would be it. Their “timeshifting” devices (i.e. DVRs) have enabled consumers not only to watch TV later, but to skip commercials and get to what they really want to watch. And while most consumers may not own a TiVo, they can get a similar DVR through their cable/satellite provider. As it would turn out, TiVo is also interested in how people skip commercials and keeps track of stuff like that. They decided to compare last years smartphone companies ads, pitting Research in Motions’s BlackBerry line against Palm (Apple’s not just a smartphone company, so despite their excellent commercials they don’t count here).

What’s interesting is that despite the fact that BlackBerry ads were both more plentiful and better positioned in a block of ads (first being better), Palm’s ads were skipped over less often. Palm’s ads that were in the “first pod position” were actually skipped 20% less than similarly-placed BlackBerry ads. Palm’s ads also were skipped less overall in households with incomes over $150,000.

The ads that Palm ran were also notably shorter than RIM’s, with 97% of the Palm ads running for just 15 seconds. The shorter ads logged 30% less fast-forwarding than 30-second ads. On the flipside, 26% of BlackBerry ads ran for a full minute, and those only suffered 4% more skipping than the 30-second versions.

Most of those Palm ads were creepy lady commercials, so it’s hard to say whether people were fascinated by the product or by the commercials themselves. Either way, it has a tiny part of us wondering if maybe we burned the witch too soon, so to speak.

With Palm’s new ad campaign under way and the devices soon to spread to other US networks, it should be interesting to see this comparison again next year.

Africa, as we all know is a very under-developed region. Thousands of children are undernourished whereas the employment opportunities are also very meager. With the new concept of solar powered irrigation, the conditions there have become better there. Not only is there more employment opportunity because of the installation of the solar panels, but the irrigation allows for more and better quality of food to be produced within the country. This improvement has been seen in the sub-Saharan Africa. Interestingly, only 4-percent of the cropland in sub-Saharan Africa is irrigated, most communities rely on rain-fed agriculture.
[ecofriendlymag]

Acai Berry Actives is a diet pill that claims it will help you lose weight, increase metabolism, fight fatigue, and increase energy. This Acai Berry Actives review will show that Acai Berry Actives will not cause weight loss. It is not the answer to your diet pill needs.

Acai Berry Actives Ingredients

The Acai Berry Actives website lists only two ingredients: acai berry and green tea. Acai berry is all the rage right now. Don’t be fooled by all the hype; although acai berry does contain antioxidants, it does NOT cause weight loss. It is just like the hoodia craze. It is touted by celebrities but has no scientific research to back it up.

Green tea has been proven to contribute to weight loss. In order for green tea to be effective, it has to be taken in doses of 300 mg or more per day. Acai Berry Actives does not state how much green tea it contains, therefore there is no way for this Acai Berry Actives review to determine if there is enough green tea in Acai Berry Actives diet pills to contribute to weight loss.

Acai Berry Actives Cost

Acai Berry Actives diet pills cost $49.95 for a one month supply. Although this is not especially expensive for a diet pill, considering there is no evidence that Acai Berry Actives will actually cause weight loss, $49.95 is too much to pay for it. If you really want to lose weight, use a diet pill that includes clinically proven ingredients in the necessary amounts.

Acai Berry Actives Guarantee

Acai Berry Actives offers a 90 day return policy. While I like the length of the return policy, I’m less a fan of the terms. You can return unopened packages only.

Therefore, if you try Acai Berry Actives and it doesn’t work (which it won’t), you can’t get a refund on the packages you have started using. In addition, you will be charged a $10 restocking fee for any returned product.

Acai Berry Actives Weight Management Club

The Acai Berry Actives website explains that by purchasing Acai Berry Actives, you will be enrolled in a weight management club, a free online fitness program for Acai Berry Actives customers. The management club supposedly offers diet plans, exercise programs, and fitness tracking systems that are available only to Acai Berry Actives customers, not to the general public.

Acai Berry Actives Affiliate Program

Acai Berry Actives offers an Affiliate Program. Basically, you get other people to sign up to buy Acai Berry Actives and you get commission on everything they buy. The website states that affiliates make 50% commission. Its interesting, considering other companies who offer similar programs don’t offer nearly that percentage in commission.

Acai Berry Actives Conclusion

This Acai Berry Actives review finds Acai Berry Actives is overpriced. In addition, there is no reason to believe Acai Berry Actives will actually cause weight loss. Save yourself some money, time, and headache by using a diet pill with proven ingredients in proven amounts.

Boston.com: Some analysts said yesterday that it now seems inevitable that the consumer agency will not survive the Senate negotiations. “I think that is the price of compromise,’’ said James Hamilton, principal analyst at CCH Inc., a large financial information company.

Senator Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican who sits on the committee and is playing a key role in the negotiations, said in an interview yesterday that it would be a mistake to create a stand-alone agency. In a sign of the type of compromise that Republicans might accept, Gregg suggested consumer protection could be given a priority at existing agencies instead of creating a separate, new government entity.

“A much better approach is to raise the level of responsibility within the regulatory agencies so that they understand [consumer protection] is a coequal requirement with safety and soundness’’ of banks, Gregg said.

Dodd said in a recent interview with the Globe that he “absolutely’’ supports the agency. To find a middle ground, Dodd said, he is seeking a “construct’’ of the agency that will satisfy all sides.

Read more here >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Peter Schiff: Chris Dodd's Retirement Won't Fix Our Broken System
• Surprise! Dodd's Replacement On The Banking Committee Is Another Big Friend To Big Finance
• Democrats Are Actually Really, Really Glad Chris Dodd Has Dropped Out Of The Race

Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt doesn’t know why docs haven’t embraced databases to help them sort through medical information. Atul Gawande, the Harvard surgeon and New Yorker writer, suggested an explanation.

Gawande, who has a new book on the benefits of checklists, spoke yesterday to a meeting of a group that advises President Obama on science and technology. Schmidt is part of that group.

According to a blog post from the journal Science, Schmidt said:

So when you show up at the doctor with some set of symptoms, in my ideal world what would happen is that the doctor would type in the symptoms he or she also observes, and it would be matched against the data in this repository. Then this knowledge engine would use best practices, and all the knowledge in the world to give physicians some sort of standardized guidance. This is a generalized form of the checklists that you’re talking about …

As computer scientists, this is a platform database problem, and we do these very, very well, as a general rule. And it befuddles me why medicine hasn’t organized itself around these platform opportunities.

Gawande’s explanation, as quoted in the Science blog:

I think part of the bafflement occurs because the folks who know how to make such systems don’t understand how the clinical encounter actually operates.

In particular, Gawande said, a database is likely to return more information than a clinician could make sense of during a patient visit when there are “15 minutes to manage six problems.” Still, he added, the right kind of apps for “for your iPhone or whatever the new Google one is” (ouch!) could be useful for doctors.

This sort of discussion has been going on for years, but it has added urgency these days because over the next few years the federal government will pay doctors and hospitals tens of billions of dollars to start using electronic medical records.

At some point, an archived Webcast of yesterday’s panel meeting will be available here.

Image: iStockphoto

The U.S. jobless rate was unchanged at 10% in December, following a decline the previous month, but the government’s broader measure of unemployment ticked up 0.1 percentage point to 17.3%.

The comprehensive gauge of labor underutilization, known as the “U-6″ for its data classification by the Labor Department, accounts for people who have stopped looking for work or who can’t find full-time jobs. Though the rate is still 0.1 percentage point below its high of 17.4% in October, its continuing divergence from the official number (the “U-3″ unemployment measure) indicates the job market has a long way to go before growth in the economy translates into relief for workers.

The 10% unemployment rate is calculated based on people who are without jobs, who are available to work and who have actively sought work in the prior four weeks. The “actively looking for work” definition is fairly broad, including people who contacted an employer, employment agency, job center or friends; sent out resumes or filled out applications; or answered or placed ads, among other things.

The U-6 figure includes everyone in the official rate plus “marginally attached workers” — those who are neither working nor looking for work, but say they want a job and have looked for work recently; and people who are employed part-time for economic reasons, meaning they want full-time work but took a part-time schedule instead because that’s all they could find.

In the coming months, the U-6 measure may be an important signal for the labor market. The official jobless rate is likely to hold steady or rise through the first half of the year as more people return to the job market. That means Americans who now fall into the U-6 category, for stopping their job searches due to discouragement, will eventually fall into the U-3 category as they restart their job hunt.

A U-6 figure that converges toward the official rate (even an official rate that’s above 10%) could indicate improving confidence in the labor market and the overall economy. This month pushes convergence even further away.