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The only good thing about the deadline for this week’s TechCrunch round-up falling on Christmas Day is the absolute certain fact that you won’t be reading the results. After all, with the holiday season in full swing, no one in their right mind will be reading TechCrunch. I certainly won’t.

Safe in that knowledge, I can pretty claim anything I like. That this week’s top story was Mark Zuckerberg being eaten by zebras, for example, or Al Qaeda investing in Twitter. Hell, I could probably claim that Spotify is profitable and it would still pass entirely without remark. Who would know? Just me and Google’s spider.

But I’m a professional – which is why I only missed my Christmas Day deadline by 24 hours – and as such I take seriously my responsibility to bring you this week’s top stories, regardless of whether you care or not. Hell, I’ve even come up with a festive theme in a vain attempt to keep you reading. Even though I know you’re not.

Here we go then…

On the first day of Christmas, TechCrunch gave to you….

One billion dollar exits
Sarah rounded off her South American research trip by profiling Wences Casares and examining the difference between billion dollar exits and what it means to feel “success”.

On the second day of Christmas, TechCrunch gave to you…

Two out of every ten companies suffering from “stealth disease”
Vivek tells stealth start-ups: Get Over Yourselves: Nobody Cares About Your Secrets.

On the third day of Christmas, TechCrunch gave to you…

Three years of Crunchies
The first tickets to the third annual Crunchies sold out very quickly, but there’s still plenty of time to vote for the winners across 18 categories before voting closes on January 6th.

On the fourth day of Christmas, TechCrunch gave to you…

Four screenings of Avatar
Or at least that’s how many Arrington has attended since the movie launched this week and he described it as ‘The iPhone Of Movies’.

On the fifth day of Christmas, TechCrunch gave to you…

Five hundred and fifty million dollars
Over half a billion dollars; the price that Yelp turned down when they walked away from selling to Google.

On the sixth day of Christmas, TechCrunch gave to you…

Six-ty thousand nooks will be shipped by Barnes & Noble this year
…despite issues with shipping pre-orders.

On the seventh day of Christmas, TechCrunch gave to you…

Seven million more dollars raised by ChaCha
….despite issues with their entire business being a joke.

On the eighth day of Christmas, TechCrunch gave to you…

Eight million dollars raised by Livemocha
…in a round led by August Capital to allow the online language-learning community to build new partnership deals and work on product development.

On the ninth day of Christmas, TechCrunch gave to you…

Nine ‘rock-star’ names associated with WePay’s new group payments services
Levchin, McClure, Conway, Y Combinator…

On the tenth day of Christmas, TechCrunch gave to you…

Ten IPO Candidates for 2010
….and, from Europe, ten disappointing tech stories of 2009.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, TechCrunch gave to you…

Eleven billion valuation for Facebook
Up from the company’s $10billion valuation earlier this year.

And finally. On the twelfth day of Christmas, TechCrunch gave to you…

Twelve (at least) religions that I’ve certainly offended by suggesting that the entire world stops for Christmas. I look forward to the comments. Not that I’ll be reading them – after all, it’s Christmas!

Have a good week!

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

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Audi AG registered record sales in the Chinese car market through November. The German car brand managed to sell 140,000 vehicles in the Chinese mainland in the first 11 months of the year, accounting for a 29 percent increase year-on-year.

When compared to the 2008 results, which accounted for some 118,118 vehicles, the 2009 full-year results seem to consolidate Audi’s optimistic prognosis about upcoming years.

"The fast growth of the Chinese market this year… (read more)

En esa competencia por llevar los contenidos de televisión por internet a la tele del salón, Blusens tiene una propuesta bastante interesante, BluBrain. La idea es la de un centro multimedia con mucha conectividad (Wifi, Ethernet, PLC), grabación y reproducción simultánea, disco duro e integración con un sistema NAS doméstico (el servidor se vende aparte)… todo muy completo y con un diseño bien resuelto para colocar en el salón. El precio quizás se les haya ido un poco (400 euros a partir del 15 de Febrero) porque se les va a comparar con soluciones tipo set-top box básico e incluso con discos duros multimedia, aunque BluBrain sea bastante más completo y vaya más a un perfil de quien quiere un HTPC, pero no tener que preocuparse por soluciones a medida. Entendiendo este posicionamiento de producto, el precio es más razonable.

Aunque hablamos de un dispositivo abierto en el que reproducir contenidos descargados y por streaming, un aspecto importante es el lugar privilegiado que gana BluSens y que les ayudará a impulsar su blu:generation, con el que se quieren postular como un nuevo intermediario para vender contenidos. Claro que para que ese negocio tenga sentido necesitan una masa crítica difícilmente alcanzable con el precio de salida de 400 euros, que será complicado rebajar con las características que presenta BluBrain si no se subvenciona pensando en los futuros beneficios de la entrada en contenidos…

Eco Factor: Fuel-saving aircraft uses helium for lift.

The Dynalifter aircraft is a fuel-saving combination of an aircraft and a heavier-than-air airship that requires almost no ground infrastructure. The airship gets aloft with up to 80% lift coming from helium and the remaining provided by a fuel-efficient internal combustion engine.

(more…)

We’re not going so far as to suggest that this here patent application foreshadows the kind of keyboard that’ll be on a certain Apple tablet that may or may not be real, but if the suits in Cupertino do actually have such a device in the works, they’d be silly to not apply this technology to it. Dug up by Apple Insider, the latest app details a multitouch tactile keyboard that would boast a dynamic surface for helping typists keep track of where they’re at on the board. Essentially, the surface would utilize an “articulating frame” in order to raise and retract bumps to make typing without physical keys a wee bit easier, and while we’re certain that it would take some getting used to, it’s bound to be simpler than banging on a static surface that requires your eyes to be on it. Don’t go getting your hopes up, though — wouldn’t want to get them crushed when late January brings you an iPod touch with a camera, now would you?

Latest Apple patent app details multitouch tactile keyboard originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 04:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BAIC recently purchased several Saab assets and, as a result, the Chinese manufacturer is looking into ways to develop four new models and three turbo-engines based on the acquired technology. General Motors announced in mid-December that it decided to sell certain Saab 9-3, current 9-5 and powertrain technology and tooling to Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings Co. Ltd (BAIC).

The Chinese manufacturer was one of the those interested to take control of Saab but only together with… (read more)

You have probably come across exotic-sounding terms such as “chakra”, “prana”, “aura”, and “tantra” in your course of reading books on spirituality, sex, and healing in the New Age literature section of the bookstore. But what’s the real scoop behind these exotic vocabularies?

Are All Energy Healings the Same?

Chakra or energy center is a term used in Pranic healing, an ancient Hindu system of energy healing. “Prana” means life energy. “Aura” is another terminology traced to Pranic healing. Aura is a non-physical body that consists of energy, which exists along with our physical body. The aura that covers our body is said to have seven layers pertaining to the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of an individual as manifested by energy. Studying the color and thickness of auras give ideas on the state of health of individuals. Six colors are associated with aura and interpreted into six personalities. These colors are all present in an individual but one or two are more pronounced.
Green – ambitious achiever
Blue – spiritual peacemaker
White – unconventional chameleon
Red – activist
Orange – creative communicator
Violet – psychic

Although Tantra is popularly associated with the peculiar practice of sex and spirituality, it is another method of energy healing. It comes from the word “tan” which means to spread or expand. The concept of connectedness is a recurring theme in Tantric writings on sex and spirituality. As a method of healing, spirituality and sex figure prominently. It is presupposed that the union of man and woman can reach spiritual levels during orgasm, which removes the body and mind off collected impurities. These impurities being negative energies can in turn manifest as physical illnesses.

Unlike Pranic and Tantric healings, which have Hindu origins, Reiki originated from Japan. It is relatively younger than Pranic and Tantric healings having been rediscovered in the early 1900’s. Reiki stands for universal energy, an energy brought forth by higher intelligence. Students of Reiki are taught how to tap this energy to heal physical, emotional, and mental illnesses.

Although Pranic, Tantra, and Reiki are all systems of energy healing, they differ in the type of energy tapped for healing: life energy, sexual energy, and universal energy respectively.

The concepts of the connectedness of mind, body, and spirit; the connection of individuals to all living and nonliving things around them and to the universe; and how energy impacts physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being are some of the salient similarities of these three healing methods.

Why Do People Turn to Energy Healing?

Pranic, Tantric, and Reiki are considered alternative methods of healing. In spite of the availability and relative accessibility of modern medicine, how come more and more people are being drawned to them? Here are some possible reasons:

· Energy healing worked where modern medicine failed.

For several reasons both explainable and unexplainable, modern medical treatment failed to heal ailments and conditions in several if not many persons. Research or data may not be able to support this statement. But for the families of the dying as well as for the dying patient, they would take the risk of using alternative methods ranging from herbals and organics, faith healers, witch doctors, and New Age healing techniques just to be get well.

· People perceive modern medicine to be isolating.

Medical treatments are oftentimes focused on the disease and its causative agent, which can make a patient feel isolated and treated like a mere host of the disease. Although recent developments in hospital practice are gradually promoting the holistic treatment of a patient, the perception still persists. Unlike in energy healing, since energy and spirituality are intimately linked, the patient feels that all aspects of his health are being attended to.

· Energy healing is non-obtrusive and natural thus it is safer.

Repeated surgical procedures are physically and emotionally traumatic for most patients. It is but a logical and attractive option to both patient and families to look for less stressful health interventions. Moreover, with the rising popularity of New Age religions, going natural is the way to go.

· Energy healing is a good way of relieving stress.

Meditation is part and parcel of energy healing methods and this is an added come-on for highly stressed people. Moreover, sophisticated equipment is not required thus it becomes all the more convenient for students and future students of energy healing.

The battle between alternative healing and mainstream medicine continues as both present the benefits of their approach. But in the final analysis, what matters is the restoration of good health.

AMBOY, Calif. — Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation in Congress on Monday to protect a million acres of the Mojave Desert in California by scuttling some 13 big solar plants and wind farms planned for the region. • But before the bill to …

Alors que la récente Golf actuelle n’est qu’une (grosse) évolution de la génération précédente,Volkswagen prépare déjà activement sa remplaçante. Au menu: innovation à tous les étages… et conservatisme esthétique, bien sur.

Ca n’est pas confirmé par VW, mais pas démenti non plus, la Golf 7ème. du nom devrait faire son apparition sur le marché dès 2012. C’est un timing bien serré pour la marque, la 6ème. étant encore toute fraîche. Mais une fraicheur relative quand on sait qu’elle est à mi-chemin entre le restyling de la 5ème. et une véritable nouvelle génération. Une plateforme qui,pour être bien née, n’en est pas moins proche de l’âge de la retraite.

Timing serré également pour les ingénieurs de Wolfsburg, tant la nouvelle Golf promet de nouveautés. Bien entendu, la tâche s’avère moins ardue pour les designers. Il n’est pas possible pour VW d’innover dans ce domaine avec la Golf, on le sait. La maison dépend bien trop de sa compacte pour prendre des risques, que d’ailleurs sa clientèle ne lui demande pas. La « 7″ s’annonce donc comme une évolution de la « 6″, dont on a déjà un aperçu très proche. Une vue d’une maquette en cours de finition a en effet été aperçue malencontreusement dans une vidéo récemment. Wolfsburg n’a pas démenti qu’il s’agissait bien de la future Golf, mais a tout de même ôté le passage de la vidéo en question. Quant-à Walter De Silva, designer en chef, et faut-il le rappeler auteur de l’Alfa 156, il a déclaré que la Golf VII occupait même ses nuits. S’il le dit…

Les designers au travail sur la Golf VII.Une image échappée d'une vidéo consacrée au concept L1 et tournée au centre de style de VW.

 Mis à part l’arrière, on a déjà une bonne idée de la voiture finale. De nombreux photoshops on fleuri depuis dans les magazines et sur Internet. Je vous ai mis les plus réussis ci-dessous. Les changements ne sont pas anodins par rapport au modèle actuel, avec des feux plus effilés, des flancs creusés en partie basse, un capot bombé et des vitres latérales plus élancées. Au final, une allure plus dynamique que les générations précédentes. De Silva a effectivement eu plus de travail que sur le nouveau Touareg, dont nous reparlerons dans quelques jours. Mais ça, ce n’était pas difficile.

La Golf VII vue par Auto Express.Notez les nervures et le bombage du capot,les flancs creusés en partie basse et les vitres latérales plus élancées que sur les Golf précédentes.

Côté technique maintenant, tout change. Downsizing à tous les étages pour commencer. Utilisant la nouvelle plateforme modulaire du groupe, la MQB,comme les Tiguan II et Scirocco II par exemple, la voiture devrait peser au bas mot 100kg. de moins que l’actuelle génération, on parle même d’un gain de 130 kg. Ce résultat sera le fruit, outre l’emploi de la MQB, d’un travail en profondeur sur les matériaux,mais également de moteurs plus légers. VW travaille en effet sur un 1.2 TSI essence de 105cv., outre le 1.4,et sur un hybride diesel 1.5, accouplé à 3 petits moteurs électriques. Ce dernier sera plug-in (branchement sur le secteur) et offrira un mode tout-électrique pour des trajets zéro émissions jusqu’à 50 km/h. et avec 50 km.d’autonomie. Zéro consommation aussi dans ce cas, et il semble que la voiture pourrait être annoncée avec une conso. de 2.1 litres aux 100 en trajet combiné. Chiffre qui est sans doute optimiste en pratique mais en dit long sur les ambitions de VW en la matière.

Côté moteurs toujours, VW travaille sur un moteur HCCI, à « auto-allumage ». La technique n’est pas récente mais a été peu appliquée jusqu’à présent. Mercedes avait fait forte impression en présentant son 4 cylindres 1.8 Turbo, appelé « Diesotto » sur une classe S en 2007. L’engin annonçait 238cv. et 400Nm. pour 6l./100!… Ces moteurs sont sans doute la voie la plus prometteuse en matière de downsizing des grosses cylindrées essence, et ne consomme pas plus que les diesel. A suivre donc…

Des Golf VI hybrides et plug-in sont déjà en test en Allemagne.Le système est dénommé Twin Drive chez VW.

Au rayon technique toujours, la fameuse boite double-embrayage du groupe, la DSG, passera à 7 rapports sur toutes les motorisations « hautes », essence comme diesel.

Côté gamme enfin, il semble que s’annonce le retour du cabriolet dans les déclinaisons de la Golf VII, les classiques 3 et 5 portes, le break, et probablement aussi un coupé à coffre, type série 1 Coupé.

Les feux semblent plus réalistes sur cette illustration que sur la précédente,contrairement au bouclier.Pour le reste,tout y est également.

–> A voir également ces jours-ci concernant le Golf et Volkswagen: Le père Noël VW en Golf GTI…

Nouveau:  pour profiter facilement et rapidement des notifications de nouveautés sur le site, pensez à vous abonner via Twitter. Chaque modification,nouvel article ou nouvelle vidéo sur notre chaîne Youtube, fait l’objet d’un Tweet immédiat!

The Eugene Water & Electric Board’s power supply just got a bit greener. The publicly owned utility, in cooperation with several other Pacific Northwest utilities, has brought a new batch of wind turbines online. Beginning last week, Harvest Wind …

Amigos míos!!! MUY FELIZ NAVIDAD!! Como la pasaron?… Espero que todos la hayan vivido con mucha alegría y junto a los suyos repartiendo cariño, charlas, anécdotas y todas esas cosas tan sencillas pero que nos hacen tan felices, inexplicablemente la vida se rige por ese tipo de leyes irónicas en donde las cosas mas simples son las que nos hacen mas felices.

Por lo pronto les comento que me voy de viaje…?¿?¿ si.. de viaje, aca nomás, no muy lejos, se encuentra a sólo 6 días calendario, el lugar se llama 2010. Pero para ello, me estoy preparando bastante bien, cargando en mi valija las cosas esenciales tales como el cariño de mis seres queridos, mis ilusiones y sueños, mis alegrias, mis errores para no volverlos a cometer, y tantas cosas más las cual hacen de hoy lo que soy.

Pero eso sí, dejo en el placard las cosas que en la aduana de esa ciudad no me van a dejar pasar, tales como el miedo, desencuentros, tristezas, fracasos; igual dicha aduana no es muy estricta que digamos y se podrían pasar de algún que otro modo, pero bueno, esta en mi llevarlas o no? por eso pensé que si viajo por placer prefiero hacerlo renovado, pero no olvidando aquellas situaciones que fueron mi aprendiz.

El pasaje sale a las 23:59 del 31 de diciembre de 2009 y llegamos a ciudad destino a las 00:00 del 1 de enero. Muy cerca no? Si, la verdad que si, tanto que el avión que me tomo no alcanza a subir que ya esta bajando, pero que abismo tan grande las separa. Por eso a este viaje lo voy a encarar con mucha ahinco y pasión, siendo positivo en todo momento, y en esos tiempos en dónde nada sonríe me refugiaré en mis seres queridos para no bajar los brazos. Voy a renovar metas, y trataré de cumplir todo lo que me proponga, o al menos lo intentaré.

Eso sí antes de salir, voy a revisar esta valija que bastante cargada se encuentra, no vaya a ser que se intente colar por el bolsillo chico el “miedo”, porque no quiero poseerlo, no quiero tener miedo al fracaso, no quiero tener miedo a los malos momentos, no quiero tenerlo, porque quiero encarar este año nuevo con todo!! y lo que me salga mal, bienvenido sea, como dije anteriormente, serán mi aprendiz para no volverlos a cometer!

Les aviso que dado el precio del pasaje, (por cierto muy barato $0,00) compre varios….. vienen??

“Feliz 2010 para todos mis lectores, muchas gracias por sus comentarios y por tomarse un tiempo para leer mis escritos, es un honor para mi.” Les dejo un video de Rodrigo, para cargar las pilas para el año nuevo que esta por entrar, próspero año nuevo y SALUD…!!

Do you have even the slightest clue what you get when you shove a perfectly operational Mac mini, JBL Spot subwoofer and WMF1 coffeemaker into a perfectly defunct iMac DV case? The iMac CS, that’s what. In one of the most bizarre and aspirational mods we’ve seen in quite some time, one Klaus Diebel has managed to combine three devices that wouldn’t typically be shoved within the same enclosure… into the same enclosure. The result is a coffee-making media server that just so happens to boast its own inbuilt sound system, or in other words, exactly what you need to start a street corner java shop.The bad news is that a customized version will set you back at least €300 ($431), but the good news is that you can probably build your own for less. Just make sure you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into before embarking — we’ve got a vague idea that this won’t enhance the lives of many.

Barista-approved mod shoves a coffeemaker, Mac mini and subwoofer into an iMac DV case originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 01:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eco Factor: Sustainable architecture designed to minimize energy requirements.

David Chipperfield Architects has received the green light for a $130.5 million expansion of the St. Louis Art Museum. The new modernist wing will be able to provide over 200,000 square-feet of space, increasing the museum’s gallery and public space by 30 percent.

(more…)

Today, one kitty Christmas gift has brought anything but peace to our home. Turns out his present has caused some outright displays of envy as it is just too enticing for her not to want too.

She’s hasn’t stayed away, except when he’s sitting guarding it from her licks.

Eco Factor: Electric vehicle charging station powered by renewable energy.

Toyota Industries Corp. has developed a new charging station for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles that is powered by solar energy. The municipal government of Toyota City has adopted the stations and plans to build 21 stations at 11 places.

(more…)

Eco Factor: Eye implants powered by onboard solar cells.

Researchers at Stanford University have developed photovoltaic chip implants for people suffering from degradation in their photoreceptor cells. The implants feature miniature solar cells that power the processing retinal chip.

(more…)

Homebrew coder A128 has recently released a new version of Seno DS Music Sequencer, an easy to use homebrew music live sequencer for the Nintendo DS that uses WAV samples or sounds recorded via the DS microphone.

Do youngsters (and adults) write “thank you” notes any more?

For Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, acts of thoughtfulness and kindness?  Do they even take time to send an e-mail, Facebook or Twitter thank you?

Image: sxc.hu

The day after Christmas, my mom sat us four children down at the dining table where we wrote “thank you” notes to friends and relatives who had given us gifts.  The same occurred after our birthdays.

There was no need to object.  It simply was what you did…to write thank you notes of appreciation for what you had received.

I’ve taught this to my daughter and she to her children.  Even though they live with us, the grandchildren frequently write thank you notes to my husband and me for gifts and something we’ve done for them.

I know there have been times when we’ve all forgotten or didn’t get the notes written in a timely fashion.  However, I hope these were few and far between.

Most people enjoy receiving a hand written note, even in these days of electronic correspondence.  Doing something is important whether it is:

• A hand written note
• A postcard
• An e-mail
• A phone call
• A text message
• A message on social media like Facebook or Twitter
• A person-to-person thank you
• A card the children or you have made

How you teach your children to say “thank you?”

Post from: Blisstree

Writing Christmas “Thank You” Notes