tagged w/ Cell Phones
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Jamie is the smartest in her office. She's only 12.
This is an ad created by Current TV viewers. We call it a VCAM. Learn more about how you can get your work on TV at http://current.com/vcam.Jamie is the smartest in her office. She's only 12.
This is an ad created by... more
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Jamie has a lot to do when she wakes up in the morning. She's only 12.
This is an ad created by Current TV viewers. We call it a VCAM. Learn more about how you can get your work on TV at http://current.com/vcam.Jamie has a lot to do when she wakes up in the morning. She's only 12.
This... more
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This week in randomness: Masturbate to Christine O'Donnell Day, weird religions and practices, Kate Winslet's merkin, plenty of robots and stuff about Japan too.This week in randomness: Masturbate to Christine O'Donnell Day, weird religions... more
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By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger
Maybe it’s time for environmentalists prioritize do-it-yourself climate fixes instead of looking to politicians. There are all sorts of options, including, for those dedicated enough, switching to an insect-based diet, as Change.org reports.
But in the private sector, inventors, corporations, and small businesses — farmers in particular — are finding more palatable ways to scale down their environmental impact. In short, politicians aren’t the only ones with the power to make high-profile statements and strong choices on climate change.
No solar on the White House
Environmental crusader Bill McKibben had already given up on Congress; now the White House has disappointed, too. McKibben and other leaders in the climate change movement are eschewing lobbying on legislation in favor of pushing for more visible, direct action on climate issues. To that end, McKibben, along with three students, asked the White House last week to reinstall one of Jimmy Carter’s solar panels on the roof. The answer was no.
McKibben describes the Obama administration’s response to his request as “uncool…Asked to do something easy and symbolic to rekindle a little of the joy that had turned out so many of us as volunteers for Obama in 2008, they point blank said no,” according to Truthout.
The administration officials that they met with, though, wanted to make sure that the climate activists knew something was being done to improve the country’s environment. They touted the president’s initiative to green the federal government—federal buildings in particular. One official, McKibben says, spoke more than once about a Portland, Ore., building that would soon have a “green curtain,” likely a hanging garden.
It’s not that McKibben disapproved. “Actually, it’s kind of great,” he wrote. “Still, I doubt many people are going to build their own vegetated fins.”
The talking cure
That’s the ultimate question: What will people build on their own? Solar panels could be one answer, although they haven’t quite caught on yet. There are all sorts of technologies, though, that could help us minimize our carbon footprint. Grist’s Ashley Braun checks out one new idea: drawing energy from sound waves:
Using that standby found in sunscreen, zinc oxide, to turn sound waves into electricity, these scientists have heard the bells of success starting to ring in their ears. Similar to other technologies aimed at harvesting energy from walking or dancing, this concept could also turn the roar of traffic into the hum of low-carbon electrons. How sweet the sound of renewable energy.
Scientists are considering using this technology in cell phones, creating, ideally, a device that would never have be plugged in, assuming, of course, that its owner used it frequently enough, and used it as a phone, rather than an e-mail/web-surfing/GPS device.
Go private?
Another option for climate reformers could be focusing on the private sector. Corporations have gotten the message that consumers buy green products, and more are churning out sustainable, climate-friendly offerings.
Care2’s Emily Logan points to Nestle, eBay, and Sunny D as three companies that have heard the green gospel. Nestle is investing in sustainable coffee; eBay is pushing out reusable shipping boxes; and Sunny D, the beverage company, met its zero-waste goal three years ahead of schedule.
“Of course, like most large corporations who are making efforts toward sustainability, some of these companies have a long way to go,” Logan writes. “But giving credit where credit is due is increasingly important when it comes to the environment.”
You are what you eat
The farm sector is one private industry that deserves more scrutiny and pressure. Recall that agriculture interests ran one of the most successful campaigns to be exempted from the cap-and-trade bill, when it was working its way through the House. Even among liberals, the industry has its defenders: local, sustainable agriculture just won’t work to feed the masses, the argument goes.
The problem with that line of reasoning is that we still haven’t seen how large sustainable farms can grow. Take Joel Salatin, the crusading farmer made famous by Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Salatin has been running a successful operation, Polyface Farm, for years while relying on organic and sustainable methods. As David E. Gumport reports at Chelsea Green, Salatin’s farm has only grown:
Standing in front of a group of about 50 romping pigs, [Salatin] proudly revealed that Polyface has hit the the $2 million annual sales level, while sticking to Salatin’s policy of not shipping food outside a 100-mile radius. The effect, he says, has been to strengthen local businesses–everything from a local breakfast diner serving visitors to his farm to local feed and supply companies.
Salatin is convinced his methods can be used to feed the entire population. What’s certain is that there is room for more of this sort of growth in the agricultural system.
Here, too, would-be reformers run back into politicians: Salatin’s food safety practices are not exactly FDA-approved, and to reseed his methods elsewhere, the government would need to relax safety standards for smaller, alternatives operations.
But for now, this sort of effort, and others outside of Washington seem to be making the largest impact.
This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the environment by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Mulch for a complete list of articles on environmental issues, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, health care and immigration issues, check out The Audit, The Pulse, and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger
Maybe it’s time for... more
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This could be one of the best ways to charge your phone, just by talking to your friends and using it more often! Scientists in Korea are claiming to be able to generate electricity from sound and speech and researchers say t...
http://bit.ly/9nXxIcThis could be one of the best ways to charge your phone, just by talking to your... more
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"North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has found an unlikely ally to help raise cash for his impoverished regime: The Dude, the pot-smoking underachiever played by Jeff Bridges in the movie “The Big Lebowski.”
Programmers from North Korea’s General Federation of Science and Technology developed a 2007 mobile-phone bowling game based on the 1998 film, as well as “Men in Black: Alien Assault,” according to two executives at Nosotek Joint Venture Company, which markets software from North Korea for foreign clients. Both games were published by a unit of News Corp., the New York-based media company, a spokeswoman for the unit said.
They represent a growing software industry championed by Kim that is boosting the economy of one of the poorest countries in the world and raising the technological skills of workers. Contracting with North Korean companies is legal under United Nations sanctions unless they are linked to the arms trade.
“From the government’s point of view, foreign currency is the main reason to nurture and support these activities,” said Andrei Lankov, an academic specializing in North Korea at Seoul- based Kookmin University. “These activities help to fund the regime, but at the same time they bring knowledge of the outside world to people who could effect change.”
The technological education of graduates from North Korean universities has “become significantly better,” Volker Eloesser, a founder of Pyongyang-based Nosotek, said in an e- mail. Companies with “hundreds or even thousands of staff each” operate in North Korea, he said.
Double-Edged Sword
Better trained programmers may also bolster the regime’s cyberwarfare capabilities, said Kim Heung Kwang, who taught computer science at universities in the north for 19 years before defecting to South Korea in 2004. South Korea’s presidential office said July 28 the nation had received intelligence that North Korea may plan an Internet-based attack.
Won Sei Hoon, director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, told lawmakers last October that North Korea’s postal ministry was responsible for cyber attacks in July 2009 on dozens of websites in South Korea and the U.S.
President Barack Obama widened U.S. financial sanctions on North Korea on Aug. 30, freezing assets of North Korean officials, companies and government agencies suspected of “illicit and deceptive activities” that support the regime’s weapons industry."
Read the full article linked below:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-06/kim-jong-il-bowls-for-murdoch-dollars-with-video-games-made-in-north-korea.html
Picture Link:
http://kotaku.com/5631690/cyberwarfare-north-korea-rupert-murdoch-and-the-big-lebowski"North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has found an unlikely ally to help raise cash... more
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Source: 2 arrested at airport may have been on test run
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/08/30/netherlands.airport.arrests/index.html?hpt=T1
Dutch arrests may have been dry run, U.S. source says
By the CNN Wire Staff
August 30, 2010 10:20 p.m. EDT
The arrestees had flown from the U.S. to the Netherlands, but luggage from one was on a different plane, an official said.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* NEW: Men in custody may have been testing security
* NEW: The items included bottles with phones or watches attached
* Arrests follow Chicago-to-Amsterdam flight
* Dutch investigators keep lid on details
(CNN) -- Two men held in the Netherlands may have been trying to test U.S. airport security by putting bottles with electronic devices attached in checked baggage, a U.S. law enforcement source said Monday.
The men were taken into custody after landing in Amsterdam on a flight from Chicago, Illinois, Dutch prosecutors said. Both men were being held at Amsterdam's Schiphol International Airport at the request of Dutch national police, airport spokesman Robert Kapel said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said they were arrested after "suspicious items" in their luggage raised concern.
"The items were not deemed to be dangerous in and of themselves, and as we share information with our international partners, Dutch authorities were notified of the suspicious items," the U.S. agency said. "This matter continues to be under investigation."
Those items were an empty shampoo bottle with watches attached to it and an empty bottle of a stomach medicine with mobile phones attached, according to the U.S. law enforcement source, who has been briefed on the investigation. That has raised concern that the men may have been testing a future terrorist plot, the source said.
Attempts to sneak liquid explosives aboard jetliners were at the heart of a 2006 plot broken up by British authorities. That case led U.S. authorities to ban all but small quantities of liquids from aircraft cabins.
U.S. law enforcement officials told CNN that the checked bags contained knives and box cutters as well. Passengers have been banned from carrying those items on aircraft since the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
The source identified the men aboard United Airlines Flight 908, from Chicago, Illinois, to Amsterdam, as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al-Soofi and Hezem al-Murisi. Al-Soofi began his trip by boarding a flight in Birmingham, Alabama, and al-Murisi originally flew from Memphis, Tennessee, the law enforcement source said.
Another U.S. law enforcement official said both men were in the United States legally, but their countries of origin were not immediately known. That official said neither of the passengers were carrying items that are barred from aircraft, and federal air marshals were aboard the Chicago-to-Amsterdam flight.
However, the law enforcement source said al-Soofi was ticketed for a flight that went to Washington's Dulles International Airport, with continuing stops in Dubai and Yemen, while both he and al-Murisi were aboard the Chicago-to-Amsterdam flight. Al-Soofi's luggage went aboard the Chicago-to-Washington flight without him, the source said, in what amounted to another violation of U.S. safety protocols.
A U.S. government official said items in at least one of the bags were being examined by law enforcement authorities at Dulles on Monday night.
The official said al-Soofi and al-Murisi were seated near each other on the Chicago-to-Amsterdam flight, but were not seated next to each other. Authorities are still looking into whether the men were traveling together or simply had similar itineraries, the official said.
CNN's Nic Robertson, Jeanne Meserve, Mike Ahlers and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.Source: 2 arrested at airport may have been on test run... more
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The Droid "ERIS" Box Only. Make the android bot, the parts are already there, you just need to cut them.The Droid "ERIS" Box Only. Make the android bot, the parts are already... more
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We live in a strange world that lets us do just about anything on a phone, and now MIT researchers have developed a prototype Android app that lets users check their eyesight and create an eyeglasses prescription all on their own. There’s no need for an appointment, it’s cheaper than an eye exam and the whole process takes about three minutes.
Read more: http://www.whitespace.bz/ws/web/forms/pulse/PulseMainArticle.aspx?id=501We live in a strange world that lets us do just about anything on a phone, and now MIT... more
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Distracted driving is a major issue but in-car technology has made huge leaps for driving safety. Steve Kidera from the Consumer Electronics Association shows new gadgets consumers are using to stay safe on the road.Distracted driving is a major issue but in-car technology has made huge leaps for... more
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The new iPhone was unveiled the other week. (You can read all about that here.) Suffice to say, it does pretty much everything you could want from a phone. And it looks nice, which is the exact opposite of my first ever mobile
Check out the GalleryThe new iPhone was unveiled the other week. (You can read all about that here.)... more
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The largest global study detailing research into radiation and mobile phones plainly shows that there is no clear link between mobile phones and cancer. The response from San Francisco is to ensure radiation labeling on phones.The largest global study detailing research into radiation and mobile phones plainly... more
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BP has decided to develop their own condom! Introducing THE BP CONDOM! From the Unscripted Sketch Comedy Show Apt 303BP has decided to develop their own condom! Introducing THE BP CONDOM! From the... more
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UN to airlift gorillas from DR Congo
By the CNN Wire Staff
June 6, 2010 5:39 a.m. EDT
(CNN) -- The United Nations will carry out a second airlift of baby gorillas, one of the world's most endangered species, from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The operation, planned for mid-July, will take the gorillas to a sanctuary where they will be cared for before being released into the wild, the U.N. said Saturday.
The first such rescue was undertaken on May 27.
Until now, the Congo Basin in Central Africa had been a rainforest refuge for gorillas and other apes.
But the threats to the gorillas' survival are so acute that a study that predicted only 10 percent of the gorilla population will remain by 2030 is now considered too optimistic.
A new U.N. report, released in March, said gorillas may go extinct in much of central Africa by the mid-2020s.
The situation is especially critical in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
There, militias have seized large chunks of gorilla land and logged and mined it. They have done so because the illegal trade in timber and in metals such as gold and coltan -- used in cell phones -- generates between $14 million and $50 million a year for them, the report says.
As the militia fight the army, the insecurity in the region has driven thousands into refugee camps. Professional poachers have taken to providing "bush meat" -- wild animal meat -- to the refugees and to the workers in the mining and logging camps. And increasingly, that meat comes from apes, the report said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01250/baby-gorilla_1250136i.jpgUN to airlift gorillas from DR Congo
By the CNN Wire Staff
June 6, 2010 5:39 a.m.... more
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As smartphones and the applications that run on them take off, businesses and consumers are beginning to confront a budding dark side of the wireless Web.As smartphones and the applications that run on them take off, businesses and... more
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This dynamo-powered smartphone charger kit from Nokia, including a charger, dynamo and phone holder. When docked to the latter with a 2mm charger jack, the electrical generator will produce energy to juice up the handset. According to Nokia, the dynamo starts charging when the speed of the bicycle reaches 6kmh and stops when it hits 50kmh. It matches the efficiency of a normal charger when the bike is traveling at 12kmh.
According to Nokia, the Bicycle Charger Kit will be available in India, China, and selected markets in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia Pacific in Q4. It will retail at 15 euros.This dynamo-powered smartphone charger kit from Nokia, including a charger, dynamo and... more
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https://intuitlabs.com/free-android-apps-will-boost-your-productivity
With over 30,000 apps currently available in the Android Market, it can be difficult to separate the useful from the inane. Be it part of managing your business, recreation, or personal life, these mobile applications are actually helpful and have the ability to help save precious time from your busy schedule.https://intuitlabs.com/free-android-apps-will-boost-your-productivity
With over... more
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The asbestos industry, in harmony with many of its insurers, systematically developed and then suppressed information on the carcinogenicity of asbestos. As a result, millions of workers were exposed to the carcinogen and today in the USA, about ten thousand people die each year from asbestos related diseases.
These numbers are set to rise. A new study was carried out by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), who say that over the next ten years, the number of deaths will far exceed 100,000.
So, who’s to blame?
read more at Heroin and Cornflakes....http://arch1design.com/blog/?p=7727The asbestos industry, in harmony with many of its insurers, systematically developed... more
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TORONTO – A married Canadian woman is suing her cell phone company, saying its billing practices exposed her extramarital affair and ruined her life.
The Toronto Star reports Gabriella Nagy is suing Rogers Wireless, Inc. for $600,000 for invasion of privacy and breach of contract.
The newspaper reports that in 2007, Rogers sent a monthly bill for Nagy's cell phone to her home under her maiden name. In June of that year, her husband decided to add Rogers internet and home phone service to the house.
The Star reports the following month that Rogers mailed a "global" invoice to the Nagy home that included an itemized bill for Nagy's cell phone service. Nagy's husband discovered several hour-long phone calls to a single phone number.
Nagy tells the paper that her husband called the number and the person on the other end confirmed the affair.
"My husband didn't tell me that's how he found out, he just left," said Nagy.
The statement of claim alleges that Rogers "unilaterally terminated its cellular contract with the plaintiff that had been in her maiden name and included it in the husband’s account that was under his surname."
Rogers, in a statement of defense, denies terminating Nagy's contract. It also says the company "cannot be held responsible for the condition of the marriage, for the plaintiff's affair and consequential marriage break-up, nor the effects the break-up has had on her." Rogers does admit consolidating invoices sent to the couple, saying it saved the couple money and increased administrative efficiency.
Since her husband left, Nagy says she was so distraught that she lost her $100,000 per year job. Her statement of claim reportedly states "The plaintiff wept uncontrollably at her workplace ... and became incapable of performing her employment duties."
“It was a mistake,” Nagy reportedly said about the affair, “But I didn’t deserve to lose my life over it.
“I want others to know what a big corporation has done. I trusted Rogers with my personal information. We had a contract — and agreement that put my life right in their hands.”
The couple has two children, ages 6 and 7.TORONTO – A married Canadian woman is suing her cell phone company, saying its... more
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