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Google has been using logo ‘doodles’ for years now to mark special occasions and celebrations and lately it looks like it’s stepping up the process. So, it’s not much of a surprise that Google is sporting a holiday related logo already and, in fact, it’s the first from a series of images which the search engine will apparently roll out during this period.

To start things off, Google is now displaying an image of a post card over the regular logo, though not the usual snow, Christmas trees or reindeers but rather sand and palm trees. It’s not completely out of theme though, as the palm tree is decked out with Christmas lights. Moving the mouse over the doodle reveals a note from the company wishing “Happy Holidays from Google!”

Clicking on the doodle doesn’t lead to the usual search results page but rather to a page listing the Google logos for the 2009 holidays. Seeing as this is the first, it’s the only one listed at the moment, but the page does indicate that others are coming. The next one could be coming as early as tomorrow and we’ll have to wait and see how long the series goes. What’s more, Google may have a few more surprises ready as it gets closer to Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

Google’s homepage has another interesting trick up its sleeve, introduced a short while… (read more)

I’m not on an airplane again until 2010 (1/6/10 to be exact when I head to Las Vegas for CES) which is a relief since I flew 87 segments 2009.  Ok – not as much as Ryan Bingham in Up in the Air (very good BTW) but enough to decide to boycott United whenever possible.

One pleasant surprise on a flight from DEN to OAK on SWA was the presence of Wi-Fi.  I paid my $12 and worked online for two hours instead of using my airplane sleeping superpower.  Little did I know that I was on one of the four planes in the SWA fleet of 500 that had Wi-Fi according to the Gizmodo Complete Inflight Wi-Fi Cheat Sheet.

I think 2010 is the year that Wi-Fi will finally roll out across the domestic airline fleet.  It’s been in the works since 2000 and I remembered waiting, and waiting, and waiting for Connexion to roll out.  And then forgetting about it.  Until sometime earlier this year when Virgin America started offering in-flight Wi-Fi and quickly became my (and many of my friends) method of transport between the east coast and the west coast.  Todd Dagres from Spark Capital nailed it when he tweeted (presumably from an airplane) “True fact – planes with WiFi travel 2x faster than planes without.”

There is something magical about sitting on a seat in a giant metal tube that is flying 30,000 feet above the earth and playing FarmVille.  It finally feels like this is going to happen in 2010.  Hopefully there will be a lot more FarmVille than Skype on airplanes, although if everyone on the plane is on Skype at the same time it probably won’t bother anyone – too much. 

If you are traveling on a flight using Gogo Inflight Internet, My Money Blog has published a set of promotional codes that will give you free Wi-Fi through 1/7/10.  Oh – and join the Gizmodo Mile High Club while you are at it.

And one final question – is it “Wi-Fi” or “WiFi”?  That’ll keep the airline marketing weenies busy for a while trying to figure out the right answer.

Crude oil futures are tickling $75 a barrel on geopolitical worries after fresh attacks on Iraqi pipelines and renewed violence in Nigeria, Bloomberg reports. Shell can’t MEND the Nigerian mess, and is ready to throw in the towel on its Nigerian onshore operations, in the WSJ.

Ready for the Copenhagen post-mortems? The moderate climate-change accord reached over the weekend in Denmark has pleased pretty much no one, and punts all the big questions for resolution at a later date. That’s the most horrifying conclusion out of Copenhagen, in the WSJ: “Far from resolving the issue, the Copenhagen conference set up months more of international haggling over what to do about climate change.” The FT offers a detailed look at how the final accord came to be.

It’s time for the blame game over who killed Copenhagen. U.K. climate minister Ed Miliband blames China, in The Guardian. China, for its part, is satisfied with a “goaless draw,” also in The Guardian. Europe feels blindsided by the last-minute talks brokered by President Obama, in the NYT.

What does the Copenhagen accord really mean? For Michael Levi of CFR, it’s a meaningful agreement but raises questions about the utility of the UN process for tackling climate change. Harvard’s Rob Stavins takes a deep dive into the accord, and weighs the potential impact internationally and in the U.S.

Speaking of which, there’s a division of opinion on whether the climate deal helps or hurts U.S. legislative prospects. For Bloomberg, getting developing countries to agree to something makes a climate bill an easier sell in the Senate. For Politico, the U.S. gave away too much and got too little in return.

The WSJ edit page is clear on what happened: “What Copenhagen offered instead was a lesson in limits for a White House partial to symbolic gestures and routinely disappointed by reality.”

Tom Friedman milks Copenhagen head-shaking to make another call for a clean-energy revolution: “An Earth Race led by America — built on markets, economic competition, national self-interest and strategic advantage — is a much more self-sustaining way to reduce carbon emissions than a festival of voluntary, nonbinding commitments at a U.N. conference.”

So what about that clean-energy future? A couple of green-versus-green battles shaping up. Sen. Dianne Feinstein will introduce legislation to protect the Mojave Desert from despoilers–and renewable energy, in the L.A. Times. And the Sierra Club is both for and against newfangled natural-gas production, which may be cleaner-burning than coal but the production of which gives enviros the heebies, in the WSJ.

Earth2Tech offers a detailed look at Solyndra, the solar power company just emerging from stealth mode and preparing a public offer.

Finally, from China with love: Duke Energy is in talks with China’s State Grid to build transmission networks in the U.S. with Chinese technology, in the WSJ.

Un culebrón menos en la Fórmula 1. Jose María López ya ha firmado un contrato con la nueva escudería USF1. La noticia ha sido confirmada por el propio piloto en el siguiente comunicado:

El presupuesto ya está. Ahora tenemos que esperar sólo unos días para que se realice el anuncio. Ellos están tan ansiosos como nosotros de confirmar todo.

Por lo tanto, se espera que el anuncio oficial se haga por lo menos antes del día de navidad. También cabe destacar que ya tienen casi finalizado su monoplaza en Charlotte.

Además, para ir preparando su regreso a la Fórmula 1 y asi poder refrescar el pilotaje de un monoplaza, López tiene previstas una sesiones de entrenamiento con un F3 en el circuito Termas de Río Hondo para los días 28 y 29 de diciembre.

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1. Kimi Raikkonen podría haber firmado un pre-contrato con Red Bull
2. USF1 montará su sede europea en Motorland Aragón
3. La escudería USF1 rechaza a los pilotos no estadounidenses

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A little over a year ago a stunt driver named Chris Morena took a Dodge pickup off a dealer lot, installed a roll cage, racing seat and metal bracing for the bed, then used it to jump over a slew of cars and through two fireballs. He was only trying to go 134 feet. Instead, he went 193 feet and set a jumping distance record in a pickup.

Until a few days ago. That’s when race driver Jonny Greaves took his closed-course 2WD racing truck and jumped 301 feet and happily remained alive to talk about it. Employing a bit of Back to the Future precision, calculations had worked out that his truck had to be the end of the jump ramp going 105.5 mph and, managing to hit that, he went exactly 301 feet. It isn’t car launching, but it’s now the mark to beat for 2WD trucks.

Just as impressive, Greaves had been doing practice runs that went as far as 200 feet before the record-setting attempt, and he nailed those as well. Perhaps Travis Pastrana, who’s had slightly less luck on the run-up to his 270-foot New Year’s Eve stunt, might want to give Greaves a ring.

[Source: Race Dezert]

Jonny Greaves jumps 301 feet to claim 2WD truck record originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This chart from Fitch, via Paul Kedrosky, shows the history of Las Vegas since 1971.

As Paul notes:

You can see some interesting trends, including that the current troubles really began, as was the case in most of the U.S. back in the late-1990s, as visitor traffic growth fell off below 5% and Vegas tried every trick to compensate.

Meanwhile, the 2008-2011 period is seeing some major growth in room inventory once again. Let’s hope visitor volume growth really jumps las they expect.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Dubai’s Overbuilt Hotels Make Vegas Look Healthy
• Meet The Man Who Blew $127 Million And Most Of His Family’s Fortune Gambling In Vegas
• Famed Vegas Icon Binion’s Hotel To Close Down

by Andrée Zaleska

Family and crew show their climate commitment at the JP Green House.As I write this, the Northeast is methodically being blanketed with a thick blessing of snow, shutting everything down, as if the earth knows we need comfort and beauty after this horrible week.

The crisis of our planet manifested at Copenhagen. We held a vigil for 350, singing Dylan into the howling winds of downtown Boston, outside of John Kerry’s empty office. We fasted at the request of 350.org. We followed the grim updates with little expectation, and we rejoiced at the protests of the people and the righteous rage of the global South.

Down at the house, Monday morning we found only two of our work-team, looking grim. Placetailor is a design-build firm that specializes in Passive House design. They’re serious, purposeful, knowledgeable young men who ride their bikes onto the site each day because they eschew unnecessary use of fossil fuels. They work on one project at a time, meticulously, getting it right. Over the weekend their upcoming project had fallen apart, and with nothing else on the horizon once they complete work on the JPGH next month, they had to lay off most of the staff. Mitch, Michael, and Tony were gone, off to look for other building work in a tough economy.

Though there are both state- and utilities-sponsored programs to support and promote green building in our area, the JP Green House and Placetailor have failed to qualify. Going well beyond weatherizing and insulation, into the realm of zero-carbon, perhaps inspires anxiety in funders? We have to ask: Where is the real impetus and funding to build the houses of the future? Where is the bailout for the planet—and shouldn’t this be a part of it?

Worse still, Ken and I seem to be ready to fall victim to the stereotype that building houses ruins relationships. For a year we have struggled with the mounting costs of this project, which has come out at 10 times the cost we originally (naively) projected. I have the full-time job and most of the capital, and Ken has the vision, the carpentry skills, the fundraising experience. It seemed workable, but the reality of the past year has been a constant struggle  to procure the right amounts of money at the right time, costing us both much of our retirement funds.

In a fallen economy, and with the level of denial pervading our society about climate change, there is little work for a radical environmental campaigner. And we have chosen to put our political energy behind 350.org, the most effective, and least-funded environmental campaign ever seen. My job, too, has suffered from the fracturing of my attention and commitments. It can be difficult to take anything not related to climate seriously. We risk underemployment if not unemployment by taking on this commitment to activism.

New siding, fresh snow.We both carry marriages behind us like bags of bones, and I, in particular, have such abiding doubts about the institution itself that I refuse to ever consider remarriage. I have been prone to spells of witchiness, wherein I rage and stomp and declare that I never intended to take in a homeless environmentalist and his child. I have insisted on binding contracts to codify what each of us owes the other, and the project itself. Ken has fairly countered that he cannot live with the unpredictability of my anger, and that we must act as a team going forward, or not go forward.

We have tried to take the thing apart, reduce it to its essence—which for us seems to be love and activism. Perhaps that essence will remain even if the relationship fails. We have, if nothing else, always been able to envision a very different future.

The JP Green House stands majestically with the snow against the beautiful red siding, the huge Canadian windows opening the south side to the light. Last week we were offered a great deal on two wind-turbines. Generous gifts and loans have been coming our way, and a community is watching. It’s our job to make this happen for our kids, if nothing else. It’s bigger than we are, and it stands for a real, livable future—we couldn’t abandon that.

Spread the news on what the føck is going on in Copenhagen with friends via email, Facebook, Twitter, or smoke signals.

Related Links:

Copenhagen coal in the stocking?

What you need to know following the Copenhagen climate summit

Obama to world in Copenhagen: ‘We will do what we say.’ Now tell it to the Senate.

Sea Buckthorn
Scientific Name(s): Hippophae rhamnoides L. Family: Elaeagnaceae

Common Name(s): Sea buckthorn

Uses of Sea Buckthorn

Numerous pharmacological effects are documented in the scientific literature, including antimicrobial, antiulcerogenic, antioxidant, anticancer, radioprotective activity, platelet aggregation, liver injury, cardiovascular risk factors, and effects on skin and mucosa.

Chemistry

Sea buckthorn contains carotenoids, tocopherols, sterols, flavonoids, lipids, ascorbic acid, and tannins.

Flavonols in the leaves, fruit, or juice of sea buckthorn are noted because of their antioxidant and anticarcinogenic activity. Most occur as C-3 glucosides, rutinosides, and sophorosides.

Flavon-3-ols found in the juice of sea buckthorn include (+) catechin (and +/- gallocatechin) and (-) epicatechin.

Phenolic acids found in the leaves, juice, or fruit of sea buckthorn include gallic, protecatechuic, p-coumaric, ferulic, p-hydroxybenzoic, and ellagic acid.

Tocopherols and tocotrienols in the fruit or seeds of sea buckthorn, collectively known as vitamin E, have antioxidant activity. A-Tocopherol has the highest antioxidant activity and is the most abundant tocopherol, comprising approximately 76% to 89% of the berry.

Carotenoids found in the fruit of sea buckthorn may decrease the risk for age-related macular degeneration and include α-, β-, and γ-carotene; Lycopene; Zeaxanthin; Zeaxanthin dipalmitat; And β-cryptoxanthin palmitate. The antioxidant activity is more potent with extracted sea buckthorn oil because of higher carotenoid levels. Organic acids in the juice of sea buckthorn have been identified as oxalic, citric, tartaric, malic, quinic, and ascorbic acid.

Fatty acid composition differs between the seed oil and soft parts of the fruit. The seed oil contains linoleic, α-linoleic, oleic, palmitic, stearic, and vaccenic acids. The fruit contains palmitoleic, palmitic, and oleic acids. Sterols are found in 1% to 2% of the seed oil and 1% to 3% in the soft parts of the fruit as sitosterol, isofucosterol, campsterol, stigmastanol, citrostadienol, avenasterol, cycloartenol, 24-methylenecycloartanol, and obtusifoliol.

More than 40 volatile compounds are in the fruit and leaves of sea buckthorn. Steam distillation of the fruit yielded 8 aliphatic esters, 9 aliphatic alcohols, and 10 aliphatic hydrocarbons. The primary constituents of the volatile fruit aromas are ethyl dodecenoate, ethyl octanoate, decanol, ethyl decanoate, and ethyl dodecanoate.

The tannins hippophaenins A and B have been isolated from the leaves of sea buckthorn.

Product Name: Lemon Balm P E
Botanical Name:Melissa officinalis (a member of the mint family)
Common Names: Balm, Balm Mint, , Bee Balm, Blue Balm, Cure-all, Honey Plant, Melissa, Melisse, Scholars Herb, Sweet Balm
Appearance: Fine Light brown to brown Powder
Assay: 3%-5% Rosmarinic acid
Function:
1) Antioxidant and antitumor activity
2) Antimicrobial, antiviral activity against a variety of viruses, including herpes simplex virus (HSV) and HIV-1
3) Mild sedatives, anxiety reduction and hypnotics
4) Modulate for mood and cognitive enhancement, mild sedative and sleep aid
5) Memory-enhancing properties
6) Widely use as a mild sedative and antibacterial agent.
Packing and Storage: Packed in fiber drum, LDPE bag inside. Net weight: 25kg/drum. Keep away from moisture, strong heat and sunlight.

Zerumbone is a sesquiterpene phytochemical from a type of edible ginger known as “Zingiber Zerumbet Smith” grown in Southeast Asia or “Zingiber aromaticum”, called also in china as Wild Ginger. Zerumbone is currently being explored for its effects on cancer in general and Leukemia in particular.
Medicinal Properties of Zerumbone:
Suppresses free radical generation;
Anti-inflammatory;
Suppresses cancer cell proliferation accompanied by apoptosis: “abolishes NF-kappaB and IkappaBalpha kinase activation leading to suppression of anti-apoptotic and metastatic gene expression, upregulation of apoptosis, and downregulation of invasion. ” (See article below)Counters HIV activity (IC50=0.14mM).
Scientific Data on Zerumbone:
Synonyms:
1. (E, E, E)-2, 6, 9, 9-Tetramethyl-2, 6, 10-cycloundecatrien-1-one 2, 6, 10-Cycloundecatrien-1-one, 2, 6, 9, 9-tetramethyl-, (E, E, E)- 471-05-6
2. Shampoo Ginger, Pinecone Ginger.
Chemical Formula: C15H22O
Molecular Weight: 218.340
The Plant:
Zingiber Zerumbet Smith is from KINGHERBS’ farm. The 2-3 years old rhizome is used.Historical Uses of Zerumbone:This variety of Ginger was carried by Polynesians throughout the islands of the Pacific, from Taiwan where it has always been used by the indigenous population, to Hawaii where it is known as “awapuhi”. Zerumbet Ginger is used in cooking for flavour, in the treatment of swellings, strains and bruises as a poultice, as a decoction for settling upset stomachs, for toothache as an anaesthetic, for the treament of cuts and sores, and for tinea and ringworm. The clear liquid contents of the cones are used as a shampoo. The parts used are the rhizome, the leaves and the cone.
Abstracts of Following Research on Zerumbone are available from KINGHERBS INC.
1: Zerumbone as treatment for cancer.
2: Zerumbone as treatment for Leukemia.
3: Zerumbone as treatment for tumor.
4: Zerumbone and inflamation.

Resveratrol is an active component extracted from Huzhang (Polygonum cuspidatum) in China.It is an antioxidant phenol and a potent vasodilator that inhibits serum triglyceride synthesis, lipid peroxidation, and platelet aggregation. It is extensively used for treatment of blood vessel disease such as atherosclerosis and hyperlipidemia. In addition, it has anti-virus and anti-inflammatory activity, can treat acute microbial infections and viral hepatitis, ect.
Origin: Polygonum cuspidatum
CAS Number: 501-36-0
Synonyms: Trans-3, 4′, -5-trihydroxystilebene
Molecular Formula: C14H12O3
Molecular Weight: 228.2
Appearance: Off-white Powder
Purity: Minimum 98%
Solubility: Clear faint yellow solution at 50Mg/Ml in acetone.
Storage: The product is stable stored at 4Centidegree and in a dampproof, airtight, lightresistant area for at least two years.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard has an interesting column in today’s Telegraph arguing that the EU’s austerity “diktat” towards Southern Europe is creating a climate of anger, anarchy, and terrorism.

Greece’s Revolutionary Struggle detonated a car bomb at the Athens Stock Exchange in September. Citigroup’s branches have been targeted twice this year.

Hooded extremists attacked the rector of Athens University in his office this month, sending him to hospital with head injuries.

In Milan, the Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI) planted 2kg of dynamite last week at Bocconi University, the symbol of the free market in Italy.

What, specifically, is the issue?

The hard-Left resurgence cannot be blamed on monetary union as such, yet the two are linked. EMU has always been viewed as a capitalist conspiracy – a “bankers’ ramp” – in Left-wing circles. While their view may seem odd to us, they are entirely right to think that poor people in certain countries are victims of the experiment.

Unemployment is 19pc in Spain (43pc for youth) on Eurostat data. Greece is catching up fast. Labour minister Andreas Loverdos said Greek joblessness has jumped above 18pc over the last two months as EU-funded workfare schemes expire.

This will get worse. Southern Europe is being ordered to carry out IMF-style austerity, without the IMF-style devaluation required to rectify the massive imbalances that have built up between North and South under the euro. The victims are caught like France and Germany under the Gold Standard of the early 1930s, when society was broken on a wheel of deflation decrees.

Read the whole story at The Telegraph >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• 10 Looming Geopolitical Disasters
• Gartman: The EU Exodus Is Coming
• Gulf States Ignore Dubai And Greece And Pursue Unified Currency Because They’re So Worried About The Dollar

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If we could all just get along like these three unusual friends, we would live in a much different world.

In human society, people often do not like others simply because they are different. Humans kill over this matter. In more normal and everyday life, people may not kill each other but may not be as friendly or open to those from a different background, with a different color, with different views, or even with a different style.

In the animal kingdom, dangerous predators are not generally friends — they keep their distance. But in some cases (i.e. when being raised together), animals and humans alike can learn to be caring friends with those they might not have ever said hello to.

In the short story below, you can see how a lion, a tiger and a bear (Shere Khan, Baloo and Leo) became true friends, in the real world not a Disney story.

Read more of this story »

Despite a last-minute weekend deal that put the Senate on the brink of passing health care reform this week, liberal and moderate Democrats remain on a collision course over the bill, as both sides dug in Sunday for the next phase of negotiations.

President Barack Obama’s liberal base and powerful union leaders once hoped the expected House-Senate conference would partly undo a year of retreats and compromises, with Obama weighing in to nudge the moderate Senate bill to the left.

But the titanic struggle to lock in Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) as the 60th senator for the first key test vote early Monday morning has changed all that.

Read the whole story at POLITICO >>

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Healthcare Reform Is One Step Closer To Reality After Huge 1:00 AM Vote Gets To 60
• With Healthcare, Democrats Commit Unprecedented Act Of Political Suicide
• Healthcare Stocks On Fire As Investors Wake Up And Realize Healthcare "Reform" Is A Giant Sellout

Here at Just A Guy Thing we try to write about stuff that’s of interest to men, but we know we can’t cover everything. That’s where The Toilet Paper comes in. It’s an email newsletter that provides a funny, smart burst of daily news delivered straight to your in-box.

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The folks at The Toilet Paper know you’re intelligent, but also know you don’t have all the time in the world to keep up with the latest stuff. While it’s certainly journalistic, The Toilet Paper most definitely does not take itself too seriously, keeping things light and witty.

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Has anyone ever said "Don’t let the bedbugs bite!" to you before you’ve gone to bed?

My grandparents used to say it to me when I used to sleep over at their house as a kid. I always thought that they were being cute and bedbugs, like the boogieman, lived in the land of make-believe. Today I find bedbugs very real—I’m sitting at a friend’s apartment while the exterminators spray my place for bedbugs.

It seems my neighbors had some bedbugs stowaway in their luggage on an overseas trip and my apartment complex is spraying to ensure they don’t take over the building. Bedbugs are nasty creatures. During the day they live under your bed and/or floor board and at night they come out to feast on your blood.

These pests were thought to have been eradicated with the use of DDT in the 1940’s, but during the the last decade bedbugs made a comeback. The most likely cause of their resurgence is today’s pest-control methods get rid of other pests but don’t kill bedbugs.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the bugs are not known to spread disease and the best way to treat a bedbug infestation is to contact your local exterminator. I had to move my furniture 3 feet away from the wall, take everything off the floor and remove my cats from the apartment for the exterminator. I consider that a small price to pay to keep bedbug infestation in the land of make-believe.

Have you ever had a bedbug problem?

The NFO filter is only for use with silos, closed containers etc., in which the direct inlet of transport air and material is required.

The filter can be designed to accommodate large quantities of air and contemn inant material and for either continuous operation or with a 15 minute cleaning pause every four hours.

The NFo filter can handle from 1 500 m3/h (900 cfm), and is for outdoor installation, or can be built into the silo.

Construction and operation

The NFO filter is a self-supporting structure with an open base. It requires a completely sealed silo design for high pressure, on which the filter is mounted directly. The high pressure within the silo forces the air through the filter, causing the filtered material to fall into the container.

The filter’s capacity is thus in practice limited only by the size of the roof area.

The NFO filter can be supplied with automatic filter bag cleaning.