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  • Rumors and speculation: No Intel in the tablet, no Flash either

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    (TUAW Tablet concept, designed by reader Juan Secin)

    Scott Moritz over at The Street has new information about the tablet today (though bewarned: Moritz isn’t first in the hearts of Apple crystal-ball gazers): he says that the tablet does not include any Intel chips inside, and that Apple has instead elected to go with another provider for the little pieces of metal and plastic that will power what many expect to be the new revolution in portable computing. He cites Apple’s “design manufacturing partners” as sources, although of course neither Intel nor Apple have anything to say about the subject.

    And elsewhere in the tablet rumorscape, John Gruber has a followup to his big tablet speculation post that’s worth a read. He says that yes, of course, the App Store will deliver apps to the platform, that yes, there may be an SDK delay (although don’t forget, we’ve already heard about a possible new SDK going around), that yes, the new tablet may offer up non-app iTunes content from indie providers, and finally that no, the tablet probably won’t have Flash, for the same reasons that the iPhone doesn’t.

    Which all sounds legit, though even Gruber admitted in his other post that his theories were based on reasoning more than any secrets he’d heard. We’re getting a pretty good picture of the tablet as we go along here — odds are it’ll get even clearer before we see the thing on stage.

    TUAWRumors and speculation: No Intel in the tablet, no Flash either originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Apple releases Bonjour update

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    Apple released a Bonjour update today that is suppose to improve the connections between iTunes and the Apple TV. For those who have downloaded it and own an Apple TV, have you seen any improvements? Please let us know in the comments.

    Bonjour Update 2010-001 is available now via Software Update. It is not yet available through Apple’s support downloads site.

    Thanks to all those who sent in the tip!

    TUAWApple releases Bonjour update originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Luxury Homes and Mansion’s Thread

    (Okay, if there is already a similar thread in existence then please lock and refer me to that particular thread. )

    This thread is for the posting of pictures of Large scale Luxury Homes/Mansions.

    Have fun 🙂

  • 2010 Chevrolet Aveo RS leaks out

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    2010 Chevrolet Aveo RS – Click above for image gallery

    We’re just a few hours away from the official release of the 2010 Chevrolet Aveo RS, but that hasn’t stopped a few low-quality images from leaking out before tonight’s unveiling. All the details will be revealed when the embargo lifts tonight, but color us impressed so far.

    Check back at midnight for all the official information.

    [Source: Auto.blog.rs (no relation) via MotorTrend]

    2010 Chevrolet Aveo RS leaks out originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Video: Jaguar Leaping Cat motorcycle now a runner

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    Massow Concept Motorcycles Jaguar – Click above to watch the video after the jump

    Happen to be a Jaguar lover with a hankering for unique motorcycles? If not, we can’t imagine that you’d want to ride around on a massive Leaping Cat sculpture capable of hitting speeds of 50 miles per hour, but that hasn’t stopped Massow Concept Motorcycles from creating just such a beast. Called the NightShadow, the foundation of the motorcycle is an air-cooled Buell S3’s 1200cc V-twin powerplant.

    We first saw the Jaguar-shaped motorcycle back in August of 2008, and it seems as if the bike is now completely operational. We like to think of Autoblog as a family-friendly site, so we won’t say what it looks like to ride. Regardless, if Jaguar isn’t your cup of tea, Massow has designed a slew of other concepts that take well-known logos and turns them into something resembling a motorcycle. Check a few of them out in our gallery below and click past the break to see the Jaguar Leaper motorcycle in action.

    [Source: Massow Design via Two Wheels Blog]

    Continue reading Video: Jaguar Leaping Cat motorcycle now a runner

    Video: Jaguar Leaping Cat motorcycle now a runner originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Wyden, Merkley Announce $5 Million for Renewable Energy Job Training – TMCnet

    Jan 07, 2010 (Congressional Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX) — Washington, D.C.-. Continuing efforts to position Oregon as a leader in the renewable energy industry, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D- Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D- Ore …


  • Small earthquake hits Bay Area

    An earthquake that registered a 4.1 on the Richter Scale hit the Bay Area Thursday morning at 10:09 a.m., about seven miles from Milpitas. The earthquake did not appear to have caused significant damage or injury, though reports of the quake quickly traveled around the area.

    The earthquake was felt on campus and did not cause any damage to the University. Students that were awake reported a minor stir, while those who didn’t have morning class may have slept through it.

    The San Andreas Fault has an 11-percent likelihood of a 6.7-or-greater quake within 30 years, according to The San Francisco Chronicle and U.S. Geological Survey seismologist David Oppenheimer.

  • Tila Tequila “Takes A Break” From Grieving

    “Can’t a bitch take a break from grieving?!” pint-sized psycho Tila Tequila Tweeted as she smiled, climbed trees, and posed for photogs outside her Los Angeles on Thursday. Tila seemed rather upbeat despite the recent passing of her socialite “wifey,” Casey Johnson — heiress to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical empire.

    I am no psychologist, but I’d like to know why this girl is allowed to walk the streets without medication? It doesn’t take a Rhode Scholar to see that Tila’s got some mayjah issues. Bipolar maybe? Crack perhaps?







  • There’s an app for SYNC: Ford adds Twitter, Pandora and Stitcher app to SYNC

    Ford Motor Co. at the 2010 International CES

    Since you can now Twitter from basically everywhere, FoMoCo figured to add Tweeting to its vehicles. At the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, Ford revealed plans to offer a new web-connected dashboard technologies the include OpenBeak, a mobile Twitter application formerly known as TwitterBerry.

    Ford Pandora SystemJoining OpenBeak, Pandora and Stitcher will also offer their apps as the Dearborn automakers first partners to enable their services to be controlled by SYNC.

    “To use OpenBeak, Pandora or Stitcher in the car right now, drivers have to take their eyes off the road and manually control the device,” explained VanDagens. “Recent research shows that activity that draws drivers’ eyes off the road substantially increases the risk of accidents. By allowing drivers to control the app through SYNC’s voice commands and steering wheel buttons, we can hopefully reduce distraction for millions of drivers wanting to enjoy these apps during their commutes.”

    Pandora is the most popular Internet radio service in the world, while Stitcher allows users to create personalized, on-demand Internet radio stations with news, talk and entertainment programming.

    Hit the jump for the press release.

    MyFord Touch / MyLincoln Touch:

    MyFord Touch MyFord Touch MyLincoln Touch MyLincoln Touch

    Press Release:

    LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2010 – Ford Motor Company today announced Pandora, Stitcher and Orangatame’s OpenBeak (formerly TwitterBerry) are the first partners to enable their apps to be controlled in the car by SYNC using the new application programming interface (API) in the SYNC software development kit.

    “SYNC’s open platform approach is unique in the industry and allows us to capitalize on the ever-improving capabilities of mobile devices,” said Doug VanDagens, director of Ford Connected Services Solutions Organization. “Smartphone mobile apps are experiencing explosive growth, and consumers are becoming dependent on them for news, entertainment and information, so we’re excited to be working with some of the most popular apps on the market, OpenBeak, Pandora and Stitcher, to showcase the potential of the SYNC API.”

    The SYNC API is being created in conjunction with a related software development kit (SDK) and associated hardware that will include a Ford radio head and related SYNC components configured to operate outside of the vehicle. The entire package is planned for broader rollout later this year and will allow developers to modify existing mobile applications and create all-new apps that can interface with Ford’s popular SYNC voice-activated in-car communications system.

    By enabling developers to integrate the SYNC API into their apps, Ford is providing customers with the capability to access the applications they use most while in the car. Leveraging SYNC’s safer voice commands and steering wheel controls, drivers are able to keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. Using an open API model allows Ford to leverage the mobile device as an operating system and processor, while using SYNC to access the vehicle controls.

    Ford is joining millions of customers in embracing the app marketplace. Studies show what was a nonexistent niche just three years ago is expected to blossom into a $4 billion industry by 2012. The App Store, run by Apple, is one of dozens of application marketplaces and already boasts more than 100,000 mobile apps and more than 2 billion downloads.

    Similar sites serving other mobile operating systems, such as Android and BlackBerry®, have experienced the same explosive growth. Analysts predict the mobile device will become the No. 1 source for Internet access by 2020, surpassing the home computer. Ford and SYNC will answer the consumer demand by offering the only platform available for drivers to safely manage their mobile applications.

    Customers will be able to download SYNC-enabled mobile apps through the same app store interfaces consumers currently use. As SYNC-enabled versions of existing apps are released into the app stores, users will be prompted to download the latest version upon connection. Also, as developers grasp the notion that the vehicle interior has opened to them, a new dimension of apps designed from the outset to maximize the unique in-car environment will follow.

    OpenBeak
    OpenBeak is a mobile client for posting updates and reading messages on Twitter. It works over the data network, so users don’t need to use Short Message Service from their mobile phones. OpenBeak is the evolution of the original Twitter app for BlackBerry smartphones, TwitterBerry, which was launched in 2007. OpenBeak reflects the app’s expansion beyond its original functionality.

    The SYNC application will take the Twitter experience to a whole new level, with safety while interacting in the vehicle as the main goal. Timelines, direct messages and friends can be read out loud. While listening to a particular tweet, the display indicates the user and elapsed time since the tweet was written. Also planned is the capability to retweet a post, be notified when new messages are received or tweets appear in a user’s timeline and, upon startup, present the total number of new tweets. Steering wheel controls will skip to the next tweet or go back to the previous item in the timeline.

    Pandora
    With more than 40 million users, Pandora is the most popular Internet radio service in the world. Users simply enter a favorite song or artist into Pandora and the app quickly creates personalized radio stations, based on that musical style. The use of Pandora’s thumb up/thumb down feature allows listeners to further curate their stations and enjoy a stream of great music, perfectly suited to their taste – new and old, well known and obscure.

    Pandora’s mobile audience, 17 million strong and growing rapidly, is ripe for the SYNC application, which will allow them to further extend their listening into the car. With the SYNC-enabled Pandora app, listeners can use vehicle controls to pause and skip songs, and use voice commands to thumb up or down songs, switch between Pandora stations, or create a new station from a currently playing artist or song.

    Stitcher
    Focusing on the mobile market, Stitcher allows listeners to create personalized, on-demand Internet radio stations with news, talk and entertainment programming. Within the Stitcher app, users choose the programs they want “stitched” together, and the app then streams that content to the user’s mobile device. Stitcher also will recommend new programs that come online if they match with the types of programs the user already has chosen.

    Since its release in 2008, Stitcher has received numerous awards including a People’s Choice Webby award for mobile news, a Best of ’09 award from San Francisco magazine and a PC Mag Top 10 App of 2009.
    Additional apps to come

    Working with new partners, Ford is completing beta-testing on the SDK. Once the kits are out of the beta-testing stage, a broader release of the development tools is planned for late 2010. Initial reports have been positive, with one of Ford’s development partners creating a SYNC-enabled version of its app just three days after receiving the development tools.

    “We’re really encouraged by the rapid development time and positive feedback we’ve seen from our first partners,” said VanDagens. “Getting app functionality inside the vehicle, controllable through vehicle interfaces, will be huge for customer convenience and for helping drivers complete their tasks while keeping their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.”

    – By: Omar Rana

    Source: Ford (via PocketBerry)


  • Kodak’s 25-Foot Touchscreen Video Table [Microsoft Surface]

    CES is rotten with Microsoft Surface tables, but there can be only one king. This is Kodak’s 25-foot-long, multi-faced touch table. It is huge.







  • SOUTH ASIA: UNTAPPED RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES AWAIT DEVELOPMENT – Investors Business Daily

    SRINAGAR, Jan 7, 2010, 2010 (IPS/GIN via COMTEX) — With its vast renewable energy potential, South Asia can lead the world in achieving energy security. But sources within the region said it needs technological and financial support from the …


  • Follow the Gizmodo CES Crew Twitter List, See Through Our Eyes Tweets [Announcements]

    What’s it really like to be working CES for Gizmodo? Follow our Gizmodo CES Crew Twitter List and find out how we really feel about the show. We must warn you though, this place is fucking crazy.

    The sights, sounds and thoughts of working CES can be pretty entertaining at times. So if you want an inside look at what we’re really doing in Vegas our Gizmodo CES Crew Twitter List is the perfect place to find out. Here’s the link:

    Gizmodo CES Crew Twitter List

    Also, Did you know Gizmodo has a Facebook and Twitter page? Depending on which site you use the most, our Facebook and Twitter pages are a great way to see Gizmodo’s most interesting stories. Here’s what you need to know:

    Don’t worry, we never spam our Facebook or Twitter pages with a crazy amount of updates. We reserve these pages for our most interesting stories or breaking news. Becoming a fan of the Gizmodo Facebook Page or following the Gizmodo Twitter is super easy and all you have to do is follow the links below.

    Gizmodo Facebook
    Gizmodo Twitter

    We think you’ll enjoy seeing our stories in your Facebook or Twitter updates, and if you have any friends or colleagues that get the same entertainment from reading Giz we suggest you tip them off to become a Fan or Follow.







  • Pour Coke Into This Phone Concept To Charge It (And Rot Its Teeth) [Concepts]

    Wouldn’t it be great if you could charge your phone by pouring Coca-Cola into it? Like the Delorean in Back To The Future? You’d never have a flat battery again! Of course, it’d be even better if it was water-compatible.

    This concept phone was created by designer Daizi Zheng, who said of the design:

    “The concept is using bio battery to replace the traditional battery to create a pollution free environment. Bio battery is an ecologically friendly energy generates electricity from carbohydrates (currently sugar) and utilizes enzymes as the catalyst. By using bio battery as the power source of the phone, it only needs a pack of sugary drink and it generates water and oxygen while the battery dies out.”

    It’s a great idea, but I very much doubt we’ll see Nokia adopting it anyday soon. [Daizi Zheng via LikeCool]







  • Boxee News: Beta Now Available for Public Download, Box Has Tegra 2 Chip [Boxee]

    Boxee just confirmed that their upcoming Boxee Box made in conjunction with D-Link will have NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 chipset. They also mentoned that the Boxee Beta is free for the world to download. Rejoice!

    The Boxee Box will be based around a dual-core Arm Cortex A9 chip that should let it to zip around various multimedia apps with ease. As for the Beta, its available for OS X, Windows and Ubuntu (but not Apple TV). They also mentioned they’d like to have version 1.0 finished for CES next year.

    And lastly, they hacked together a little bookmarklet for Boxee fanboys so that you can add web videos to your Boxee queue when you’re browsing the internet outside the app. Neat stuff. [Boxee]







  • Climate Post: Warming apparently takes extra time off for holidays

    by Eric Roston

    First things first: Our story left off at the COP-15 negotiations, minutes after world leaders released their three-page Copenhagen Accord [pdf],
    a broad statement of political intent to address the issues
    that—according to the (old) U.N. schedule—should have been addressed by
    now. This result begs the question: Did 2009 end with more or with less
    ambiguity about how to address climate change? The potential answers
    feel more like a Rorschach test than points of debate.

    We do know certain things: No one has any
    illusions about the difficulty of bringing the community of nations to
    agreement on how to rebuild the global energy economy. We know that
    the United Nations process failed to produce a legally binding
    emissions-reduction and sustainable-development treaty. Or even a
    political agreement that offers clear guidance to a treaty. We know
    that China frustrated European and American leaders at key moments, even blocking discussion
    of national efforts in the Accord, a move that caused German Chancellor
    Angela German Merkel to demand, “Why can’t we even mention our own
    targets?” It will be interesting to watch the build-up to COP-16,
    in Mexico City this November, given the certainly dramatic, inevitably
    anti-climactic (anti-climatic?), year-long sprint to Copenhagen.

    We are confident that we have very little idea what course the U.S. Senate will take in coming weeks and months. The leadership troika of Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) appears to be pushing ahead,
    despite the pessimism engulfing much of the chattering class. Political
    intrigue erupted this week when two Democratic senators, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut
    and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, announced their retirements, putting
    at risk the majority’s ability to maintain a filibuster-defeating
    voting block. We continue to expect global media interest in geo-engineering to vary inversely with media interest in emissions reductions. And we know that observable phenomena consistent with warming predictions continue to emerge.

    Continued international and U.S. policy uncertainty puts renewed
    spotlight on nascent regional programs, and on the private sector.
    Companies making up the FTSE 100 are, on average, projecting that they will meet the U.K.’s target of a
    two-to-three percent reduction annually, according to a new Carbon
    Disclosure Project report.
    Global investment managers (not, of course, compelled to act, as FTSE
    firms are, by a new U.K. law) have yet to substantially incorporate
    climate risk assessments into their portfolios. Perhaps Google will find a way to solve some of the complications involved in the struggle toward carbon neutrality.

    The Center for Public Integrity prefaces the coming activity on climate legislation with a deep dive into lobbying records. The number of registered businesses and groups
    hovered steadily, around 1,160. But that number conceals about 140
    newcomers to the debate, including highly visible consumer firms, such
    as Campbell Soup Company, Kellogg Company, and Del Monte Foods. “[T]he
    domestic politics are only growing ‘curiouser and curiouser,’ as Alice
    might say from Wonderland,” report Marianne Lavelle and M.B. Pell.

    New Year’s resolutions: The holiday break gave Climate Post some time to think about this project, the year passed, and the year ahead (and, for a goof, to begin reading the “climategate” e-mails). And a slow news week opens up space to share thoughts.

    The conceit of traditional news-gathering, and by extension, this
    blog, is that what just happened is more important than anything else.
    After all, it is called “the news,” and not “the recentlies” or “the
    interestings.” But given the sweep of information available to each of
    us with the touch of a key, there’s no longer a reason to limit
    ourselves to the news, when “the recentlies” and “the interestings” can
    really enrich the conversation.

    So, how can we enrich the conversation? First, by acknowledging that it’s a conversation. Climate Post is
    a community, a smallish, newish one, and I’m curious about how to make
    this fact a little bit more visible. This missive goes out to friends
    of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and Duke
    University, and is reproduced at the environmental magazine, Grist.org.

    Energy and climate change, and all they encompass—economics, policy,
    science, business, competing values—are extraordinarily complicated,
    hence the initial idea for Climate Post to begin with. So, other than what’s “news” in a given week, what can
    we help you with? What came up at a dinner party over the holidays that
    no one could answer, or that sparked an hour-long discussion, or is
    reported in contradictory ways? There’s an opportunity here for Climate Post to become something of an information or research concierge,
    particularly in regard to policy and the work of my colleagues at the
    Institute. Again, in policy, science, business, behavior, it takes a
    lot of listening and learning just to become comfortable with what the
    solutions are.

    Space restraints being what they are (i.e., restraining), we won’t be
    able to hit every desirable topic every week. But hopefully the swarm
    will guide us all toward engaging, informative, and productive
    conversation, while still flying close to the original mission. This
    blog is my blog. This blog is your blog. This blog was made for you and
    me.

    Eric Roston is Senior Associate at the Nicholas Institute and author of The Carbon Age: How Life’s Core Element Has Become Civilization’s Greatest Threat. Prologue available at here.

    Related Links:

    With new year comes second chance to save the world

    A conversation with Indian youth activist Ruchi Jain

    Copenhagen blame game is obstacle to 2010 climate deal






  • ASKY to take to the wing

    By Kaleyesus Bekele

    The new pan African airline, ASKy Airline, is set to start operation on January 15.

    The multinational private airline was established by West African investors. The airline is based in Lome, Togo. The Ethiopian Airlines has bought a 25 percent stake on ASKY and signed a five-year management contract with the board of directors of ASKY. Bussera Awel, who was vice-president for commercial operations at Ethiopian, was appointed chief executive officer of ASKY last October.

    The board recently held a meeting under the chairmanship of Mr. Gervais Koffi Djondo, chairman of the board of directors. During that session, ASKY directors examined the code of ethics and corporate governance policy document as well as the shareholders’ agreement. The directors expressed their satisfaction with the progress report on the action plan leading to the start of operations. The board congratulated Bussera Awel, CEO of the airline and his team for the volume of work done.

    The board also expressed satisfaction at new subscriptions to increase the capital of ASKY, as registered in various countries of the sub-region.

    After an overall assessment of the situation of the company and the air transport environment in the sub-region, the board decided to set January 2010 as the start-up date for the airline’s flights. The airline will serve-west and central Africa. It will later extends its wings to Europe, North America and Asia. ASKY has leased two Boeing 737s which are currently at the maintenance hangar of Ethiopian. The B737s are being painted the logo of ASKY.
    http://en.ethiopianreporter.com/content/view/2096/26/

    I just found this article very interesting.

  • Bairro Rio da Prata (Campo Grande, Rio de Janeiro, RJ) – A periferia da periferia do Rio de Janeiro.

    Caros foristas, como estou de férias, resolvi fazer um “tour” pela periferia do meu bairro. Decidi tirar parcas fotos do Bairro Rio da Prata. Só ficou faltando as fotos da cachoeira que pretendo “enxertá-las” mais tarde. Esse bairro é conhecido pela gastronomia, pois nos fins de semana “bomba” de pessoas que vão ao local para comer, dançar e paquerar…rs
    Na verdade, eu mesmo fiquei surpreso com o Rio da Prata que conheci há anos atrás e o sub-bairro que encontrei hoje 😆

    01 – Início do bairro

    02 – Praça central do bairro

    03 – Principal Igreja Católica do local

    04 – Foto da praça vista por cima.

    05 – As casas são bem hibridas, pois não há um padrão. É fácil achar uma casa caidinha e ao lado uma bonita casa ou mesmo um casarão…rs

    06 – O local é bem arborizado

    07

    08

    09

    10 – Mais fotos da praça principal.

    11 – Há muitos bares. Esse é o Bar Mistura.

    12 – Este é o Rancho da Prata.

    13 – Idem

    14 – Bar Cachaça com mel…rs

    15 – Padaria e Mercado.

    16 – Bar Corruptos S/A

    17 – Isso aqui deve ser um futuro “point”, mas nem procurei saber, pois estava com pressa e o sol…rs

    18 – Uma sorveteria bem simples.

    19 – Mais fotos da pracinha…rs

    20 – Esse é o mais famoso de todos, a “Casa da Dirce”. Eu comi uma panqueca de camarão que eu nunca vi algo mais gostoso da minha vida. A “Casa da Dirce” está mudando para esse novo local mais espaçoso, pois onde era na dava conta de tanta gente. :banana:

    21 – Casinha bem simples…

    22 – Casinha bonitinha…

    23 – Urbanismo precário…rs

    24

    25 – A pavimentação das ruas deixa a desejar…

    26

    27

    28

    29

    30 – Adorei essa casa. É enorme

    31 – Idem

    32 – Idem

    33 – Idem

    34

    35 – Novos condomínios pintando no pedaço. Terrenos vendidos a R$ 100 mil reais, e, as casas são padronizadas.

    36

    37 – Esse aqui é outro condomínio de nome Residencial Rio da Prata. Casas de alto padrão.

    38 – Idem

    39 – Idem

    40 – Idem

    41 – Idem

    42 – Idem

    43 – Idem

    44 – Mais uma casa…

    45 – Mais um condomínio de casas ou casarões…rs

    46 – Uma das ruas do bairro; puro bucolismo…rs

    47 – E, finalizando, essa rua leva a cachoeira que eu fiquei devendo…rs

    Espero que tenham gostado de conhecer a periferia da periferia…rs

    OBSERVAÇÃO: HÁ VÁRIOS MORROS, MAS NENHUM DELES TEM FAVELAS, ALGO QUASE QUE IMPOSSÍVEL NA CIDADE DO RIO DE JANEIRO

  • Killarney

    Hi!

    Here are some photos I toke in Killarney when i did a travel around the Republic of Ireland in September 2008.

  • Housing and Mortgages: 6th Inning, Private Equity, Pending Home Sales, Mike White Charts, Beth Court – More, Prime Mortgages

    bill-coppedge-dec09-1 original content selection by MortgageNewsClips.com

     

    risk-over-reward

    Preshocks in the Housing Market – Alpha – The housing markets took an earthquake in 2007 and 2008, which then slammed into the broader financial markets and the global economy. Today, there are some additional vibrations, and it’s unclear whether these are (benign) aftershocks, or troubling and more likely, preshocks for a 2010 earthquake. … I’d say we’re only in the 5th or 6th inning of the deflationary collapse (barring the eventual inflationary exit)… … – has thoughtsRisk Over Reward Blog

    ————

    mortgage-news-daily

    Private Equity Groups Investing in Mortgage Operations – by C.M. “Corky” Watts, CMB  – MortgageNewsDaily 
    ————

    ta1 the-atlantic

    NAR Pending Home Sales Plummet – by Daniel Indiviglio – … Its Pending Home Sales Index dropped a whopping 16% in November compared to October. It’s still 15.5% higher than it was a year ago, but the month-over-month decline is troubling since the trend had been consistently positive for some time.  … – this is significant has reasonsThe Atlantic

    ————

    ndw1 new-observations

    10 great charts – A New Year’s Guide of 10 Key Charts To See Before You Buy A Home – Michael White – New Observations

    ————

    nyt1

    Beth Court Series – Optimism Is Fresh Arrival in California Cul-de-Sac – By JENNIFER STEINHAUER – … Pockets of America are haltingly on the mend, and the Beth Court cul-de-sac here is one of them. A dozen lives unraveled on the block during the recession; now the empty houses are full, and Mr. Winkler and the other fathers are working again. … – NY Times

    ————

    boston

    Prime mortgages are next hurdleRising joblessness is undermining homeowners with the best credit – By Kathleen M. Howley and Mike Dorning – … an increase in mortgage defaults among prime borrowers in 2009 is likely to accelerate this year, slowing the real estate recovery even as Americans become more optimistic about the economy, said Robert Shiller and Karl Case, the economists who created the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. … – Boston.com

  • Order to Shut Down Websites Critical of Apex Technology Group is Dangerous and Wrong

    Over the holidays, a New Jersey court issued an order requiring upstream providers to shut down three anti-H1-B websites that is deeply dangerous and wrong. The order not only tries to remove allegedly defamatory messages but also requires a complete shutdown of the websites and even purports to require the cooperation of the hosting companies and domain registrars of the websites to do so and for other service providers to identify anonymous speakers.

    The plaintiff in the lawsuit, Apex Technology Group, is a staffing and consulting services company. Apex describes itself as “delivering sophisticated technology-enabled solutions to maximize complex business needs.” The dispute apparently started when someone uploaded a document purporting to be an Apex employment agreement to docstoc.com, and noted several terms the poster considered unfair to H1-B workers (copy of original post). The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. The defendant websites allegedly linked to this post and document, and Apex demanded its removal. Curiously, Apex simultaneously claimed that the document defamed them and that they were its copyright owners. This is unusual, since people rarely defame themselves with their own copyrighted works.

    The document and the surrounding controversy prompted further heated discussion in which the websites allegedly accused Apex of being a “bodyshop” that engaged in bad practices while employing H1-B visa workers from India. According to papers Apex filed with the court, at least one website claimed that its members provided evidence of widespread visa and labor fraud by Apex, which they apparently reported to the government. Apex denies any wrongdoing.

    Rather than responding to the substance of the criticisms, Apex took the matter to court to try to remove them from the internet. On December 23, Judge James Hurley issued a prior restraint against endh1b.com, itgrunt.com and guestworkerfraud.com, ordering the websites to remove all postings about Apex Technology Group or its President, Sarvesh Kumar Dharayan, until further order of the court. The court also ordered the sites’ ISPs/domain name registrars (DiscountASP.NET, GoDaddy.com, Domains By Proxy and Network Solutions) to stop hosting and “immediately shut down and disable” the websites. Finally, the order requires the ISPs to provide identity information about their customers.

    This order dangerously overreaches. By restricting access to entire websites, it places a prior restraint on all of the speech on the websites, even if that speech is unrelated to Apex or Mr. Dharayan. Imagine if a court could order Amazon.com or Yelp.com shut down because of a disparaging review of a single product.

    Prior restraints are improper in cases such as this due to the obvious First Amendment problems they pose. Courts limit such injunction to the rare circumstances when (1) the activity to be restrained poses either a clear and present danger or a serious and imminent threat to a protected competing interest, (2) the order is narrowly drawn and (3) less restrictive alternatives are not available. Instead, damages are the preferred sanction for defamatory speech. Here, Apex says it is not even seeking damages. And even if Apex had a valid defamation claim, the wholesale shutdown of a website is not a narrow remedy for a few allegedly defamatory postings.

    The New Jersey court’s overreaching order shutting down these websites also is inconsistent with federal law to the extent that it holds service providers to account for user posts. Among other claims, Apex complains about several postings by a anonymous posters that were “allowed to remain public” on Apex’s comment sections. Yet, section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act protects websites that host content posted by users, providing immunity for a website from state law claims (like defamation) based on the publication of “information provided by another information content provider.”

    Additionally, the order has troubling implications about the longstanding constitutional right to anonymous speech. In fact, New Jersey was one of the first jurisdictions to apply the right to anonymous speech to the Internet, rendering a decision that has been widely followed over the last decade. Nevertheless, the court ordered Comcast, Yahoo and Facebook to provide identifying information on the anonymous speakers despite the fact that neither the speakers nor the service providers where present at the hearing. Comcast, which is covered by the Cable Privacy Act, was to provide 14 days for the user to challenge the order, while Yahoo and Facebook were ordered to provide the information in 5 days (over the Christmas weekend), without a provision for challenging the order. Facebook has stood up to the order and has not provided the requested information.

    Ordinarily, in order to safeguard this First Amendment right, a litigant seeking to unmask an anonymous speaker would need to obtain a subpoena from an appropriate court (i.e. Santa Clara county in California for Yahoo) and serve the service provider. Then the service provider would provide adequate notice to the user, and the user could move to quash the subpoena, asserting whatever defenses the user may have. These procedures are vital to protecting speech rights, and it was inappropriate and unnecessary for the New Jersey court to short-cut that process, especially over a holiday period when its is all the more difficult to obtain emergency legal assistance.

    Finally, it was wrong for the court to require the upstream providers to unplug the website. Under New Jersey law, injunctions should only reach those who engage in “active concert or participation” with the person who acted wrongly. There’s no indication that the upstream providers or domain name registrars for the websites even knew about the postings in question, much less acted in “active concert” with them. Requiring domain name registrars to turn off websites in litigation about the website is a tactic that has already been rejected.

    The New Jersey court order is therefore wrong in at least four ways: (1) it creates a prior restraint that takes down too much speech, (2) it wrongly punishes websites for the speech of their commenters, (3) it wrongly requires the identification of anonymous speakers without sufficient opportunity to challenge the disclosure, and (4) it wrongly enlists out-of-jurisdiction upstream providers who did not act in concert with the websites in taking down speech. We hope the parties and the upstream and domain name hosts involved will seek to overturn it.