photo: Land Rover Our Planet / Creative Commons In case you missed it–though how you could is somewhat beyond me– China has overtaken the United States in wind power installations , just beating out the US with an estimated 40,000 MW of installed capacity at the end of 2010. But according to new estimates of the effect that climate change may have on average wind speeds, China may be… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …A female missionary from the US was fatally shot in Mexico yesterday, the AP reports. Husband Sam Davis drove his wife, Nancy, 59, back over the border after gunmen in a pickup shot her in the head after trying to stop their vehicle, he told police. Davis drove against traffic…
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Image: Gawker There are some that herald Barack Obama as the greenest president in a long time. And it’s true — his administration has done more than any other in recent memory to reign in pollution and promote clean energy. Aggressive CAFE standards , a mobilized EPA, and clean energy stimulus in the Recovery Act were all jumps in the right direction. So he walks the walk — why isn’t he talking the talk? At least, not … Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Authorities in Chile are launching an investigation into the death of former President Salvador Allende in 1973. His body was found in the presidential palace after it was stormed by the forces of Augusto Pinochet, who launched the military coup that toppled the socialist Allende. The investigation will try to…
Continue reading …Engadget interview: SCEA’s Jack Tretton talks Sony NGP, announces (and then denounces) PlayStation Suite for PS3
January 27, 2011 No Comment
Ever since his candid and humorous E3 2009 Sony keynote introduction — wherein he thanked the audience for showing up despite the big news ( PSP Go ) having already been leaked — we’ve always had something of a soft spot for Jack Tretton. We managed to have a sit-down with the SCEA President-CEO following the company’s big Tokyo meeting, a non-working NGP unit in tow. For a brief moment, Tretton “confirmed” that PlayStation Suite games (currently slated for Android devices) would work on PlayStation 3. We asked rather directly, to which he responded, “Yes, they will. Yeah.” By the next question, however, he explained that he might’ve misspoken and wanted to clarify that Suite is only NGP right now. It should come as no surprise, then, that there was no talk of Suite for any other devices, be it Bravia sets or Google TV. Tretton said there was at least one compatible Android device currently on the market but wouldn’t elaborate — given the 2.3 requirement, we’re presuming he meant the Nexus S . We weren’t able to get him to budge on the issue of the NGP’s price, but we did ask him to opine on the Nintendo 3DS’s $250 tag. Instead of offering friendly competitive jabs, he said only, “I think if the quality’s there, then the people will find a way to buy it, within reason… I think that if you could create content that consumers sees compelling, they’ll find money that they didn’t think they had.” A bit too reminiscent of former boss Ken Kutaragi’s old adages , but hey, it’s not like we expected a sub-$300 sticker, anyway. Some other highlights: Tretton wouldn’t definitively say whether or not original PSP titles are in Suite’s future — “at this point, it’s PlayStation One games, but I think it can go in a number of directions.” This runs a bit counter to what Kaz Hirai said earlier in the day, but either he might’ve misspoken or the translator erred. The controller overlay we saw used as an example at the event was just that — an example, with no guarantee of future use. That “holiday 2011″ launch applies to at least one territory, but Sony was “ambiguous for a reason” (i.e. simultaneous global rollout is a dream but far from a promise.) We probably won’t have a clearer image until fall rolls around, sometime after E3. No discussion on battery life, but Sony is “certainly look to improve upon [original PSP].” For what it’s worth, that one measured about 4.5 to 7 hours at launch, and Sony eventually sold an extended-life pack. PS Suite will have non-gaming apps. A WiFi-only version? “We haven’t made any determination on models yet,” which is infinitely more vague than the confirmation of non-3G SKUs from SCEE president Andrew House. Will Sony or a Sony partner make a flagship device to show off the Suite? A, dare we say, PlayStation phone ? “Stay tuned” was all Tretton would say, followed by a laugh. Hey, at least we acknowledged the elephant in the room. Full transcription after the break. Gallery: Sony NGP detailed hands-on Continue reading Engadget interview: SCEA’s Jack Tretton talks Sony NGP, announces (and then denounces) PlayStation Suite for PS3 Engadget interview: SCEA’s Jack Tretton talks Sony NGP, announces (and then denounces) PlayStation Suite for PS3 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …‘Selective Editing’: Jon Stewart Unfairly Rips Bill O’Reilly With Help From Left-Wing Media
January 27, 2011 No CommentYesterday, in this piece about Stephen Colbert, I mentioned Jon Stewart’s attack on Fox News
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During last night’s snowstorm, a cab was spotted burning on 2nd Ave in NYC shortly before suddenly exploding in close proximity to firefighters. According to the YouTuber who uploaded the video, no one was hurt. [ neighborhoodr .] Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : The Daily What Discovery Date : 27/01/2011 21:25 Number of articles : 3
Continue reading …The indigenous Sami peoples in the Arctic have found a way to help reindeer survive the ravages of climate change—but we’re guessing the deer don’t like it too much. Fluctuating temperatures have been a challenge for the reindeer, because melting snow often refreezes and forms ice over the pastures…
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Wall Street executives, US regulatory agencies, and the US federal reserve are all being blamed in a new report into the causes of the 2008 financial meltdown. The country’s presidential commission also concluded the financial meltdown could have been avoided altogether. But even as it wraps up its two year inquiry, the 10-member panel remains sharply divided over the causes. The report reflects the views of six Democrats – while the four Republicans have written dissenting opinions. It also lays much of the blame on what it says are the “reckless” practices of financial firms like Fannie Mae, AIG and Bear Stearns. It says poor controls led to excessive borrowing and risky investments on mortgages. It also faults “weak” government regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission and US Central Bank – for failing to rein in the banks they supervised. Singled out is former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan – for backing de-regulation practies that accelerated the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Lobbyists are also being heavily blamed. Al Jazeera’s Nick Spicer reports.
Continue reading …Microsoft announces Q2 earnings: $6.63b profit, Xbox revenue up 55%, Windows down 29%
January 27, 2011 No Comment
Microsoft just announced it’s had itself a solid second quarter, posting an $6.63 billion profit on record revenues of $19.95 billion. That’s more or less about the same as last year, when it racked up a $6.66 billion profit on $19 billion in revenue — and while the numbers look stable and Redmond managed to slightly beat estimates, things are changing fast underneath the bottom line: strong Kinect and Xbox 360 sales drove Entertainment and Devices Division revenue up 55 percent to $3.6 billion, but Windows and Windows Live revenue fell nearly 30 percent to $5.05 billion. That means the revenue gap between Microsoft’s consumer device business and the Windows business is now just some $1.3 billion, compared to $4.8 billion this time last year — and it undoubtedly explains why Xbox got top billing at Ballmer’s CES keynote this year, after traditionally being ignored, and why Microsoft is moving Windows to ARM as the mobile and tablet spaces heat up. As for Windows Phone 7, there’s nary a peep, even though Microsoft was just crowing about moving 2 million licenses yesterday — we’re taking that to mean the infant OS hasn’t had any meaningful impact on revenue yet. We’re going to jump on the call at 5:30PM ET, we’ll let you know if anything good happens. Update: Corrected the profit numbers: it’s a $6.63b profit and a $8.17b operating income, not a $8.17b profit. Update 2: As noted by our friend Michael Gartenberg, Microsoft’s Q210 Windows division revenue was boosted by the inclusion of $1.71 billion in deferred Windows 7 upgrade sales and OEM pre-sales, so if you take those out, the gap between Windows and Xbox went from 3.1 billion in Q210 to 1.3 billion this quarter, and Windows sales are down 8 percent. It’s not a huge change for the big picture, but it’s worth noting the revenue deferral in context — Microsoft moved cash around so it would have a huge launch quarter for Windows 7, and now things are evening out. Microsoft announces Q2 earnings: $6.63b profit, Xbox revenue up 55%, Windows down 29% originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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