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<title>Haaze.com / TheBestHawaiiSite / All</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
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<pubDate>Fri, 21 Jan 2011 08:10:54 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Chemists introduce 'killer' bacteria-fighting paper]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=chemists-introduce-killer-bacteria-fighting-paper</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=chemists-introduce-killer-bacteria-fighting-paper</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 21 Jan 2011 08:10:54 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Social</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=chemists-introduce-killer-bacteria-fighting-paper</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Researchers found that the silver nanoparticles penetrated the paper surface to a depth of more than 1 micrometer (or 1,000 nanometers), resulting in highly stable coatings.(Credit:American Chemical Society)Chemists at Bar-Ilan University in Israel say they have developed and successfully tested &quot;killer paper&quot; coated with silver nanoparticles--each roughly 1/50,000 the width of a human hair--that can fight bacteria such as E. coli and S. aureus.Described in the American Chemical Society journal Langmuir, researcher Aharon Gedanken tells me that while colloidal silver is already widely used as an antimicrobial agent, what's new about his team's research is the process by which silver nanoparticles are deposited onto paper to develop antimicrobial properties.The team was able to control both the thickness of the silver coating and particle size while using ultrasonication to attach the nanoparticles to the paper' because the coatings are highly stable and anchored so strongly to the surface, they are long-lasting.&quot;What is special about the technique is that the nanoparticles are embedded in the surface in such a way that they are not removed by washings,&quot; Gedanken says by e-mail. &quot;Our coated textiles were washed 65 cycles by hospital washing machines...and still revealed antibacterial properties.&quot;While the team must now work toward FDA approval in the U.S., Gedanken says the paper could promote longer shelf life as a food packaging material, and perhaps someday reduce or even do away with the practice of preserving foods through radiation, heat treatment, or low temperature storage.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Bing search market share inches up]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bing-search-market-share-inches-up</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bing-search-market-share-inches-up</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 16 Dec 2010 08:10:04 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bing-search-market-share-inches-up</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Bing's share of the search engine market crept up a bit in November, while Google and Yahoo both were relatively flat, according to the November U.S. Search Engine Rankings from ComScore.For the month, Bing saw its share of the U.S. search market inch up 0.3 of a percentage point, the same as it did in October. Google and Yahoo both lost only 0.1 of a percentage point. A drop like that would be meaningless to most companies, but especially to Google, which still holds a commanding 66.2 percent chunk of the search engine market.Though it's been losing more and more share overtime, Yahoo is still in second place with 16.4 percent of the market. Bing, still in third place with an 11.8 percent share, has slowly been playing catch up with Yahoo.(Credit:ComScore)Looking at the number of searches, Google led the way with 10.6 billion searches run in November, followed by Yahoo with 2.6 billion and Bing with 1.9 billion. Overall, more than 16 billion searches were conducted by U.S. Internet users during the month.Searches &quot;powered by&quot; Google and Bing were also included in ComScore's data.Google's &quot;powered by&quot; share, which includes branded searches run at its own sites as well as AOL and Ask.com, was 69.2 percent, the same as in October. Bing's &quot;powered by&quot; share, which covers searches at Microsoft sites as well as Yahoo, was 24 percent, a gain of half a percentage point over the prior month.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[In China, kids attach condoms to their phones]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=in-china-kids-attach-condoms-to-their-phones</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=in-china-kids-attach-condoms-to-their-phones</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 03 Dec 2010 08:10:24 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=in-china-kids-attach-condoms-to-their-phones</guid>
<description><![CDATA[What could possibly go wrong(Credit:iFeng)In what's apparently a move to display the message &quot;I play safe,&quot; some Chinese kids are attaching condoms to their cell phones. Instead of keeping their jimmy hats in their pockets or wallets like us puritan Westerners, the young and hip of the Far East are just putting it out there, saying, &quot;Look, I use condoms.&quot; Good for you, proactive Chinese teens!The phone charms are called &quot;Interesting Imported Condoms,&quot; and the wrappers feature zodiac signs or popular cartoon characters such as Astroboy. This, it seems, helps the phone charms appeal to teens, a demographic for whom condoms can be important.We're not saying, though, that these &quot;Interesting Imported Condoms&quot; should be brought over here. In fact, InventorSpot notes that the condoms are generic, with no manufacturer, type, or expiration date shown. This writer wouldn't trust his health, or the next 18 years of his life, to a mystery like that. He thinks that instead he'll stick with the dispensers in his local dive bar. Then again, maybe these condoms aren't meant to be used but rather just to say, &quot;Seriously, I'm careful, you should be too.&quot; If so, there's nothing wrong with that.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Clearwire scores funding, adds Wi-Fi modem]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=clearwire-scores-funding-adds-wi-fi-modem</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=clearwire-scores-funding-adds-wi-fi-modem</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 02 Dec 2010 08:10:27 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=clearwire-scores-funding-adds-wi-fi-modem</guid>
<description><![CDATA[As competition in the 4G wireless market heats up, Clearwire has finalized a deal to create more funding so it can continue building its nationwide 4G wireless network.It also has released a new product. The company said today it plans to sell more than $1.1 billion in a debt offering. The company has spent months negotiating and looking for ways to inject more money into the business. The company said last month that without new funding it might not be able to continue building its nationwide WiMax 4G wireless network.  Clearwire is majority owned by Sprint Nextel, the nation's third largest wireless provider. Cable giants Comcast and Time Warner Cable also own stakes in the company, as do Google and Intel.The Clear modem with Wi-Fi(Credit:Clearwire) Clearwire had also considered other avenues of funding, such as a bigger investment from Sprint. It was even talking with rival T-Mobile USA about an investment in the company. Clearwire executives had also said the company was considering selling some of its spectrum. So far, the company has not said whether these options have been taken off the table with the new round of debt issued. But analysts believe the company will still need more money in the coming years to continue building its network. How much Some analysts estimate the company will need another $3 billion in the next couple of years to continue building its WiMax network.Clearwire said recently that it now covers 103 million people around the U.S. in 68 markets. The service is already available in cities such as Washington, D.C., New York, and Seattle.The news of additional funding comes as Verizon Wireless announced the launch of its 4G wireless network. Starting Sunday, Verizon will begin offering its next-generation wireless service in 38 markets across the country. Verizon is currently the largest wireless operator in the U.S., and its service will be available to 110 million potential customers on day one, the company has said.Clearwire claims its network offers download speeds between 3Mbps and 6Mbps, while Verizon, which uses a competing technology called LTE, claims average download speeds between 6Mbps and 12 Mbps. Clearwire's choice of technology could become a problem for the company, although executives say the company is also open to adopting other technologies, such as LTE.With most of the world's carriers using LTE, there will likely be fewer WiMax-enabled devices on the market. To combat this problem, Clearwire has embraced Wi-Fi, a widely adopted technology that is finding its way into everything from smartphones to printers. In an effort to make its service more flexible and more appealing to consumers, Clearwire has been announcing products that incorporate Wi-Fi technology. Today, it released the Clear Modem with Wi-Fi. The device enables people to get the Clear WiMax service to their home and then connect laptops, tablets, iPods, smartphones, and whatever Wi-Fi enabled devices they have to the Clear broadband network.The Clear Modem with Wi-Fi supports 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi capable devices and supports Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista 32/64,Windows 7 32/64 andMac OS8 or higher. The modem costs $120 or can be leased for $7 a month. Monthly data service starts at $35. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Sony returning to e-reader market in Japan]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-returning-to-e-reader-market-in-japan</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-returning-to-e-reader-market-in-japan</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 25 Nov 2010 08:10:09 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-returning-to-e-reader-market-in-japan</guid>
<description><![CDATA[One might have thought Sony was selling e-readers on its home turf. But it actually abandoned Japan's e-reader market in 2007 and is only now returning with its new touch-screen models, which go on sale there on December 10th.The Sony PRS-350 is going Japanese on December 10th.(Credit:Sony)The price for the 5-inch Pocket Edition PRS-350 will be 20,000 yen ($240) and the Touch Edition PRS-650 will cost 25,000 yen ($299). Reuters reports Sony will launch with 20,000 Japanese-language titles in its e-book store and hopes to sell &quot;300,000 Readers in the first year and win half the domestic market by 2012.&quot;Currently, Sony's biggest Reader competitor in Japan isApple's iPad. But Sharp will soon release a couple of tablets under its new Galapagos brand and Amazon looms on the horizon. Sony Electronics Senior Vice President Fujio Noguchi said he believes, &quot;Japan has the potential to become the world's second- or third-largest market for e-readers, but there are some complex aspects to the market.&quot; Some of these involve a rather &quot;cautious attitude by publishers,&quot; which continue to limit the number of digital books sold in Japan.Via Reuters<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Feds take initial step in allocating spectrum]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=feds-take-initial-step-in-allocating-spectrum</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=feds-take-initial-step-in-allocating-spectrum</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Nov 2010 08:10:22 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=feds-take-initial-step-in-allocating-spectrum</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The federal government has taken the first step in freeing up more spectrum for wireless broadband services in the United States. On Monday, the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration issued a report identifying 115MHz of wireless spectrum that can be shared among federal agencies and commercial users. The report proposes that the spectrum be reallocated for commercial wireless broadband use within five years. The report and the reallocation proposal are part of a broader effort by the Obama administration to free up 500MHz of wireless spectrum to be used for new emerging wireless services. In June, President Obama asked the NTIA and the Department of Commerce to identify 500MHz of spectrum from government agencies and other sources that could be used to fuel the growing need for wireless spectrum. Obama's memorandum followed the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Plan, which was presented to Congress in March and called for 500MHz of new wireless spectrum to be added for commercial use over the next 10 years.The 115MHz of spectrum the NTIA identified in its report is just the initial step in meeting this goal, as the administration looks for other spectrum that can be freed up. In its 10-year plan, the NTIA proposed reallocating 115MHz of spectrum currently used by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Pentagon for radar systems and weather information.Specifically, the NTIA recommends that spectrum from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Department of Defense, which is used for radar systems and weather information, be reallocated or shared among commercial users. The NTIA also identified 2,200MHz of spectrum that it needs to evaluate. Of the spectrum that will be evaluated, about 28 percent is currently used only by federal agencies, while 35 percent is allocated for commercial use. The two groups share the remaining 37 percent.The FCC has warned that without more spectrum allocated in the U.S., wireless operators will not be able to meet consumer demand for new mobile services. &quot;The future of our mobile economy depends on spectrum, America's invisible infrastructure,&quot; FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement. &quot;If we don't act to update our spectrum policies for the 21st century, we're going to face a spectrum crunch that will stifle American innovation, economic growth, and job creation.&quot;The wireless industry applauded the effort, but called it a &quot;just a start.&quot; Freeing up spectrum below 3GHz is particularly important because it can deliver the most robust mobile broadband services.&quot;The 15MHz of spectrum that NTIA has identified below 3GHz is just a start,&quot;CTIA President Steve Largent said in a press release. &quot;By making spectrum available for auction, the federal government will enable the wireless industry to continue to invest billions of dollars to purchase the licensed spectrum, and billions more to build and upgrade the networks that fuel our 'virtuous cycle' of innovation.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Clean-energy action shifts to states postelection]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=clean-energy-action-shifts-to-states-postelection</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=clean-energy-action-shifts-to-states-postelection</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 03 Nov 2010 07:10:31 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=clean-energy-action-shifts-to-states-postelection</guid>
<description><![CDATA[BOSTON--For clean-energy businesses, the mantra to think globally and act locally now resonates more than ever.The advance of Republican politicians in yesterday's national elections means that state-level efforts to encourage green technologies become more important, according to speakers on a panel at the Sixth Annual Clean Energy Conference here today. The political shake-up means that national policies to cap carbon emissions and stimulate alternatives to fossil fuels are less likely to happen, they said.&quot;Policy via mandates is going to have serious problems in the House of Representatives and the Senate,&quot; Melanie Kenderine, the executive director of the MIT Energy Initiative, said during a panel this morning. &quot;We are bringing leaders into the House and Senate who are serious climate deniers and I think that's very problematic.&quot; In a ballot question California voted to keep in place a global warming bill to cap emissions and voters there elected Jerry Brown as governor, who has said he will support clean-energy industries. In Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, whose administration has backed green tech businesses, was re-elected. But policies in other states, notably state-level renewable portfolio standards, will be challenged in places, such as Colorado, said Peter Rothstein, the president of the New England Clean Energy Council. About half of the states now have mandates that require utilities to get a percentage of their electricity from renewable sources.Even if many state-level programs stay in place, entrepreneurs who work in green technology need to contend with a patchwork of programs, Rothstein said. What's preferred is a unified national energy policy, something other countries are doing, he said. &quot;The rest of the world is out-investing us,&quot; Rothstein said. &quot;Part of the story now will be whether companies will be able to grow and have access to early markets here in the U.S. Or will they be founded by universities and start-ups and need to go elsewhere to scale&quot;Energy efficiency is one area where states and cities can continue to make advances, said Henrietta Davis, the vice mayor of Cambridge, Mass. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which puts a cap on carbon emissions from utilities, has successfully put most of that money towards energy efficiency efforts, said Rothstein.Meanwhile, several national programs already in place may not be renewed. The ARPA-E program, which has proved popular with scientists and entrepreneurs, was funded by $400 million in the stimulus plan, but now needs to be funded as part of the budget, panelists noted. Vincent DeVito, a partner at law firm Bowditch &amp; Dewey, said that the change in the political picture at the national level won't have that much impact, particularly with regard to carbon emissions, given that the last Congress failed to pass a comprehensive climate and energy bill. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Logitech keyboard goes solar]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=logitech-keyboard-goes-solar</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=logitech-keyboard-goes-solar</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 2010 07:10:21 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=logitech-keyboard-goes-solar</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Just when you thought solar was headed everywhere--rooftops, utility poles, and deserts, to name a few places--it's coming to your keyboard too.Logitech&amp;39's solar-powered K750 keyboard(Credit:Logitech)Logitech today launched a wireless solar keyboard, its first. The K750 powers itself via integrated solar panels. Without light, the $79 keyboard can operate for three months.The keyboard's tech sounds very familiar to what you can find in a watch. Logitech's solar keyboard is powered by integrated solar panels across the top and comes with an app that will be available November 15. The app tracks battery levels and has a meter to alert you when power is low.Read more of &quot;Logitech launches solar-powered keyboard&quot; at ZDNet's Between the Lines.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Some iTunes special promotions aren't so special]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=some-itunes-special-promotions-arent-so-special</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=some-itunes-special-promotions-arent-so-special</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 2010 07:10:07 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=some-itunes-special-promotions-arent-so-special</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Apple isn't offering much savings for consumers in an iTunes promotion of indie music. Screen shot of iTunes spotlight on indie artists. (Credit:Screen shot by Greg Sandoval/CNET)On iTunes homepage today, Apple posted an ad linking to a list of nine songs from independent artists, including &quot;Too Much&quot; from Sufjan Stevens, &quot;Golden Haze&quot; from Wild Nothing, and &quot;Revival&quot; from Deerhunter. According to the blog Digital Audio Insider, a Web search found that the first five songs are available for free elsewhere on the Web. &quot;The first five tracks are all songs the respective artists and record companies are already giving away online,&quot; DAI wrote. &quot;The Sufjan Stevens track is a freebie at his Bandcamp page. Songs from Wild Nothing and Deerhunter are authorized free downloads at Pitchfork.&quot; Apple's a $42 billion company, so it's hard for me to believe iTunes managers did this intentionally. A company representative didn't respond to an interview request. Apparently, the lesson here is that it pays to shop around regardless of how many bells and whistles surround a promotion. Regardless of the retailer, &quot;special promotions&quot; often prove not to be very special. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Star Trek's Enterprise now has an owner's manual]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=star-treks-enterprise-now-has-an-owners-manual</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=star-treks-enterprise-now-has-an-owners-manual</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 31 Oct 2010 07:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=star-treks-enterprise-now-has-an-owners-manual</guid>
<description><![CDATA[As we enter the season of buying people things they don't like, it is fortunate that one company has stopped to think what the world might truly be missing.Haynes, a company that has made its name and fortune out of creating perfectly bound owners' manuals for every conceivablecar, has taken its talents to celestial heights.According to the Daily Mail, the company is releasing an owner's manual for the USS Enterprise. This would seem to be a little more difficult than creating a manual for a Ford Escort. The Enterprise went through quite a few iterations and some of the technology seemed to be a little more sophisticated than that offered by Detroit's finest.Haynes' manuals try to make the complex seem less so and the company claims it has managed to stay true to its mission with this Enterprise enterprise.Now you can go forth and repair it.(Credit:CC Marcin Wichary/Flickr)&quot;People want to know how warp engines work. We explain that. People want to know how transporters work. We explain that,&quot; Haynes' Derek Smith told StarTrek.com.One wonders, though, whether this manual can possibly satisfy those who have lived, breathed and dreamed of hot wiring a star ship.Smith admitted to StarTrek.com: &quot;It just wasn't possible to do a complete strip down and rebuild of each ship like we would for our car and motorcycle manuals. For a start, most of the Enterprises have been destroyed, but I think workshop space would have been tight in any case.&quot; Well, indeed. And then you have to wonder just how many more than its 160 pages a full Enterprise manual might have required, if the authors had gone into every technical specification.The manual is also highly reticent about the version of the Enterprise that appeared in the J.J. Abrams 2009 movie. It seems that technical information about that star ship was scant. So Haynes didn't want to make too many guesses about the innards of its undercarriage.Nevertheless, I am sure that many will appreciate this opportunity to pore over the intimate details of so many Enterprises.Personally, though, I will not be buying it. I am still in therapy trying to deal with John Carpenter's revelation about the villain's mask in &quot;Halloween.&quot; For it was actually a spray-painted, reshaped William Shatner Captain James Kirk mask that a prop guy bought in an LA store.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Hotmail Active Views Look To Make Email&nbsp'Interactive]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hotmail-active-views-look-to-make-emailnbspinteractive</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hotmail-active-views-look-to-make-emailnbspinteractive</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hotmail-active-views-look-to-make-emailnbspinteractive</guid>
<description><![CDATA[These days, most emails you get from major services like LinkedIn or Orbitz are full of rich graphics and other elements that make the message feel more like a webpage than the basic text emails from days of yore. But there&amp;'s been a key thing missing: these emails are all static, so their content goes stale. Depending on how often you check your inbox, that hot deal from Orbitz may be long gone by the time you see it, or the movie recommendations from Netflix may already be out of stock.Today, Hotmail is launching a new feature as part of its Active View platform that looks to fix this. The email provider has teamed with a handful of select parters to provide rich, dynamic emails that will update when you open them, and allow you to interact with services directly from your inbox. In other words, they&amp;'re making email a lot more like real websites.For starters, Hotmail will be offering this enhanced email from four providers: Orbitz, Monster, Netflix, and LinkedIn. Orbitz&amp;'s messages will display current travel deals (instead of stale ones that you may have missed), and will also let you search for flights directly from your inbox. Netflix will give you recommendations based on what it has in stock at the time you open the message. LinkedIn will let you approve new work connections from your inbox, and so on.Dharmesh Mehta, director of product management for Windows Live, says that the feature will be rolling out over the coming weeks for the services mentioned above, and that more services will be added early next year.  From a technology standpoint, the platform has a few security systems in place to ensure that these rich emails are only coming from trusted parties. The first safeguard is that this system isn&amp;'t open to all inbound messages a4&quot; only trusted services will be allowed to send them. And Microsoft is using OAuth to allow users to directly connect their inboxes to the third parties services they&amp;'re interacting with from their inbox.Mehta says that Hotmail will be approaching the other major email providers to talk about turning this into an industry standard, given that it doesn&amp;'t really make sense for services like LinkedIn to have to build multiple versions of their &amp;8216'dynamic&amp;' emails.It sounds like a cool system that could save time, but I&amp;'m not a big fan of the fact that only &amp;8216'trusted&amp;' providers will be able to enable this functionality. Sure, it makes sense to help safeguard users against spam, but I can&amp;'t help but think that startups looking to get their services in the hands of users will be at a severe disadvantage if their big-name competitor is allowed to offer Active Views, and they aren&amp;'t. Hopefully Microsoft plans to open up this system more broadly down the line.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[GM backs hydrogen fueling stations in Hawaii &8212' setting the stage for Chevy sales]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gm-backs-hydrogen-fueling-stations-in-hawaii-8212-setting-the-stage-for-chevy-sales</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gm-backs-hydrogen-fueling-stations-in-hawaii-8212-setting-the-stage-for-chevy-sales</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gm-backs-hydrogen-fueling-stations-in-hawaii-8212-setting-the-stage-for-chevy-sales</guid>
<description><![CDATA[GM announced it will join an initiative to build hydrogen car fueling infrastructure and increase hydrogen cars on the roads in Hawaii by 2015.The initiative is called theHawaii Hydrogen Initiative, and it aims to make hydrogen available for all one million residents on the island of Oahu by 2015 through a total of 20 to 25 hydrogen stations installed around the island. It mirrors some of the infrastructure being built nationwide, like the efforts in Norway previously reported on by VentureBeat. The initiative is led by Hawaiian utility The Gas Company and includes a total of ten companies collaborating on the project.It looks like GM is banking on Hawaii being a good market for its Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell car, if and when the vehicle becomes commercially available. Hawaii has been the state of choice for many electric vehicle and clean energy projects.Hawaii is one of the more progressive clean energy states, banning coal plants and instituting a plan to reach 70 percent of energy use derived from renewables by 2030. That has made it an attractive market to clean energy companies like electric car startup Coda, solar financing company SunRun and electric vehicle infrastructure startup Better Place.It&amp;'s also an interesting move for GM (albeit not a huge one) as it looks to go greener. It&amp;'s bringing out the range extender Chevrolet Volt (a partially electric car), has pledged to invest $40 million in green energy projects and, now, is investing in a small hydrogen infrastructure project. Lately, the major automakers making news for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are folks like Honda and Mercedes-Benz. Both of those companies will begin leasing hydrogen cars in California next year. Hawaii is also big on electric cars and infrastructure and will be among the first states to get the limited-release electric cars coming to market, like the Nissan Leaf and Coda sedan.It&amp;'s also an example of how companies are building the infrastructure for a technology before it&amp;'s actually created or released &amp;8212' like the build-out of electric car chargers nationwide &amp;8212' in some cases by utilities themselves &amp;8211'or Google&amp;'s investment the Atlantic Wind Connection, anambitious transmission backbone for offshore wind farms that have yet to be built (but would need transmission lines in order to become fully operational). Indeed, the supply of hydrogen outstrips the supply of cars in Hawaii at the moment. The Gas Company says it currently makes enough hydrogen to power 10,000 hydrogen cars.Next Story: EA&amp;'s Pogo takes casual games into mobile sphere with iPhone launch Previous Story: Facebook CIO: Salesforce&amp;'s database.com won&amp;'t replace OraclePrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell car, Chevy Equinox, Chevy Volt, Coda sedan, electric car infrastructure, Equinox, fuel cells, Hawaii, Hydrogen, hydrogen fuel cell cars, hydrogen fueling infrastructure, Nissan LeafCompanies: Better Place, Chevrolet, Coda, GM, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Sunrun, The Gas Company          Tags: Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell car, Chevy Equinox, Chevy Volt, Coda sedan, electric car infrastructure, Equinox, fuel cells, Hawaii, Hydrogen, hydrogen fuel cell cars, hydrogen fueling infrastructure, Nissan LeafCompanies: Better Place, Chevrolet, Coda, GM, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Sunrun, The Gas CompanyIris Kuo is the VentureBeat's lead GreenBeat writer. She has reported for The Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong, Houston Chronicle, the McClatchy Washington Bureau and Dallas public radio. Iris attended the University of Texas at Dallas and lives in Houston. Follow Iris on Twitter @thestatuskuo (and yes, that's how you  pronounce her last name).VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google&'s Advertiser Assistance Program (Part II: Video&nbsp'Ads)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=googlersquos-advertiser-assistance-program-part-ii-videonbspads</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=googlersquos-advertiser-assistance-program-part-ii-videonbspads</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=googlersquos-advertiser-assistance-program-part-ii-videonbspads</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Well, this is interesting.  Google&amp;'s Advertising Assistance Program extends to video ads.  Earlier today I published an investigative post about Google&amp;'s relationship with Publicis and other large ad agencies and incentive programs whereby Google pays the ad agencies to use its advertising platform.  That post focussed on the demand-side platforms (DSPs) and trading desks inside the ad agencies which sometimes are powered by Google technology under the covers.  Well, it turns out that Google also offers ad agencies incentives to adopt its video and display ads.  A reader who used to work at Google sent us a tip with some text from a PDF marked &amp;''confidential and proprietary&amp;'' that was circulated to Google sales people back in 2009 detailing the &amp;''North America Display &amp;amp' Video Incentive Program.&amp;''  The handout basically lists some sales talking points, including some stats on the disparity between consumer online video viewing and the amount of advertising dollars going to video.  Google never pays rebates, commissions, or kickbacks directly.  Rather it clothes the payments in the guise of technical assistance, on-site consultations, industry research, training, and other assistance to help advertising agencies adopt new kinds of advertising formats such as video.  Apparently, coming up with their own pre-roll video ads for their clients is too taxing for the ad agencies and they need some help.  Google can call these payments whatever it wants, but it has no way of knowing what the ad agencies actually do with the money. Does it really all go towards &amp;''research&amp;'' and &amp;''technical support&amp;'' or does it find its way to help pad their bottom line. If it is the latter, then these payments effectively amount to a kickback.  Before I keep beating up on Google, I should note that Google is not alone here.  Such commissions and kickbacks are standard practice in the advertising industry.  And in fact, when Google tried to stop paying commissions a few years ago, there was an uproar from the agencies (who control the advertising purse strings of most of all the large companies).  That obviously didn&amp;'t go so well, since Google is once again playing ball.Here is the part of the PDF about the financial incentives:Financial IncentiveThe plan includes graduated spend incentives, as well as adoption bonuses to encourage more agencies to try out new media. Participating agencies will receive quarterly reports detailing spend and associated incentives. Incentives will be automatically calculated by Googlea4a4s Finance team, and paid to qualifying agencies on a quarterly basis.Video ResearchGoogle will invest in research initiatives that address both large questions and client specific needs:a4 Industry-wide research will cover ideal formats and mixes for consumer engagementa4 Partnership with specific clients and campaigns will focus on ad effectiveness relationship between various mediaRich Media &amp;amp' Onsite Campaign SupportSince support for constantly evolving rich media formats is both critical and taxing, Google will provide resources to the agency. The program includes, as needed:a4 Technical support to assist in transitioning video and other assets to rich media, easing the execution of these new formatsa4 On-site operational support to assist creative teams in the implementation of large campaignsMin US Spend Payout %$30M+ 10%$20M &amp;8211' &amp;lt'$30M 8%$10M &amp;8211' &amp;lt'$20M 6%$5M &amp;8211' &amp;lt'$10M 4%$3M &amp;8211' &amp;lt'$5M 2%Min US Clients Payout %60+ 4%45 &amp;8211' 59 3%30 &amp;8211' 44 2%15 &amp;8211' 29 1%a4 Annual plan with quarterly cash paymenta4 Based on billed spend during that quartera4 Agencies may aggregate to a single entity if contracted under that single entityPayouts matched to quarterly investment Client adoption increases incentivesa4 Annual plan with quarterly cash paymenta4 Client list pre-determined (at the brand level) -exceptions/additions to be approved by Googlea4a4s Finance teamI asked Google if this program is still in place and spokesperson responded that &amp;''we work with many advertising agencies and marketers to help them develop and invest in new advertising technologies and formats, including technological assistance, measurement, creative development, research funding and co-marketing.&amp;''  He also pointed me to the FAQ on this Adwords Help page, which states:From time to time Google offers participating advertisers certain incentives to accelerate the adoption and investment in Google&amp;'s advertising programs. Advertisers may receive financial incentives, including but not limited to credits, to help fund their campaigns (e.g., in the Google Display and Video Incentive Program, participating agencies receive financial incentives each calendar quarter based upon the amount of their display and video advertising spend for the previous quarter). In addition, advertisers may receive campaign assistance such as industry research and on-site consultation to support the growth of Google&amp;'s advertising programs. If you are eligible for an incentive program, you will be contacted with appropriate opportunities for participation. But just take a look at those incentives.  If an ad agency spends $30 million of its clients&amp;' money on video or display advertising on Google, it would get $3 million back in financial incentives.  On the lower end, $5 million in ad spending, would generate a $100,000 payment.  I&amp;'m sure all that would go to &amp;''research.&amp;''Photo credit: flickr/ Nathan GibbsCrunchBase InformationGoogleInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Kik, the Skype of text messages, continues crazy growth (chart)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=kik-the-skype-of-text-messages-continues-crazy-growth-chart</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=kik-the-skype-of-text-messages-continues-crazy-growth-chart</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=kik-the-skype-of-text-messages-continues-crazy-growth-chart</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Kik, the new chat application for smartphones that is faster and more social than standard text messages, continues to report astounding growth in traffic after exclusively revealing the launch of its service to VentureBeat.The company tells me it registered 250,000 new users in 24 hours yesterday, pushing it over 900,000 total registrations. It&amp;'s on track to blow past a million users today, just two weeks after launch. That growth would be unprecedented for any service. [Update: Just an hour after I posted this, the company says it broke 1.1 million users.]&amp;''And it&amp;'s still accelerating,&amp;'' chief executive Ted Livingston tells me. See chart below.Kik&amp;'s charm is its speed. For now it&amp;'s also dead simple: It doesn&amp;'t let you send attachments, such as photos.Despite that,Kik has some impressive technology behind the scenescreated by Livingston, a former strategist for RIM&amp;'s BlackBerry Messenger unit.And it appears amazingly viral. By targeting smartphone users, it appeals to a subset of all mobile users. But as Livingston explains, those smartphone users are more likely to be connected to each other &amp;8212' and that helps with viral growth. Right now, Kik&amp;'s users are clustered in North America.Once you download Kik (which runs on iPhone, Android or BlackBerry devices), it checks your phone&amp;'s address book and recommends contacts you know who have already have downloaded Kik. This part, I&amp;'ve since realized, is its secret sauce: For me, it pulled contacts aggressively, including some names I didn&amp;'t recognize &amp;8212' but it&amp;'s also really effective, because it let me start chatting with my friends immediately.Kik only takes the final step of adding names to your Kik address book if you message them. You can delete contacts with a finger swipe.Kik competes with apps likeWhatsApp andPingChat. (In a sign of the ecosystem sprouting up around RIM&amp;'s headquarters, Kik&amp;'s offices sits across the hall from PingChat&amp;'s office in the same incubator center in Waterloo, Canada.)WhatsApp arguably has more features. It lets you send multimedia, such as photos, video and audio files. That may be why WhatsApp gets higher ratings in the app stores.Like some IM services, Kik lets you see messages instantly. You can even see when the other person is typing. As a result, it feels more immediate than standard text messages and competing chat apps. It labels each message as either &amp;''sent,&amp;'' &amp;''delivered&amp;'' or &amp;''read,&amp;'' letting you know in real time when the user gets and reads it on the other end. The only other service that does this is BlackBerry Messenger.But Livingston says Kik&amp;'s service is even faster than BBM. And Kik&amp;'s service is free for smartphone users, most of whom are already paying for data plans but may have to pay extra for SMS text messages &amp;8212' which are a notorious ripoff in terms of price per kilobyte of data.Some commenters on my original Kik post said they don&amp;'t think the service&amp;'s improvements are good enough to make them switch from SMS. It&amp;'s yet another app to download, and why do that when everyone already has SMS However, others said it worked so smoothly and speedily that they think it has a very good chance to catch on. One user said it it is &amp;''perfect&amp;'' enough that it beats out similar services, just liked Skype beat out other voice-over-Internet services.Right now, at least, Kik is seeing some crazy growth. The service even hit some traffic limits on RIM yesterday after Kik sent 10 million messages via RIM phones, but Livingston said RIM is increasing the limits.So what do you think Is Kik going to kill SMS, or is it just a passing fadThe chart below shows usage going up significantly from when I lastwrote about the service early Wednesday. Kik drew 12,000 users every half-hour at Thursday&amp;'s peak, up from 12,000 users every hour on Wednesday.Next Story: Neustar beefs up its location data by acquiring Quova Previous Story: Adobe Acrobat X goes beyond PDFPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: IM, instant messaging, sms, text messagesCompanies: Kik, PingChat, WhatsappPeople: Ted Livingston          Tags: IM, instant messaging, sms, text messagesCompanies: Kik, PingChat, WhatsappPeople: Ted LivingstonMatt Marshall is editor and CEO of VentureBeat. Follow him on Twitter at @mmarshall, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft Runs Basically The Worst Internet Startup Ever. 1 Year, Over $2 Billion In&nbsp'Losses]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-runs-basically-the-worst-internet-startup-ever--1-year-over-2-billion-innbsplosses</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-runs-basically-the-worst-internet-startup-ever--1-year-over-2-billion-innbsplosses</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-runs-basically-the-worst-internet-startup-ever--1-year-over-2-billion-innbsplosses</guid>
<description><![CDATA[When you hear the word &amp;''startup&amp;'', you most likely think of an Internet startup. Maybe it&amp;'s funded, maybe not, but its burn rate almost for sure puts it in the red each quarter. Obviously, Microsoft is not a startup. Nor have they been a startup for a long time. But what if you thought of their Online Division as an Internet startup One funded by Microsoft. The thought it terrifying. Or it should be. To Microsoft.Microsoft released their Q1 2011 earnings today. The results were very good except for one very big blemish: the Online Division. Last quarter, the division lost $560 million for Microsoft. That&amp;'s better than the previous quarter when it lost a staggering $696 million, but it&amp;'s much worse than a year ago, when it lost $477 million. In the past year, Microsoft has lost well over $2 billion from the division.Let me repeat that: 1 year, a $2 billion loss.Obviously, any startup that did that would have long since gone under a4&quot; with that kind of burn rate, they probably would have gotten the plug pulled a few weeks into existence no matter how well-funded they were. But Microsoft keeps pumping money into the division. And they have to. Because even they realize it&amp;'s the future.Of all the money Microsoft makes, the vast majority comes from two divisions: Windows &amp;amp' Windows Live Division (Windows) and Microsoft Business Division (Office). They make a good amount of money from the Server &amp;amp' Tools division too, but it&amp;'s less than half of those other two. And both of those two are under direct assault.The web is making Windows (and every operating system) less vital, while at the same time coming up with free and/or cheap tools to replace the relatively expensive Office. And new devices like smartphones and tablets have created an ecosystem where Windows is essentially a non-player (though we&amp;'ll see what happened with the just-released Windows Phone 7). And Office is basically non-existent in these spaces.As this past quarter has shown, Microsoft is fine for the foreseeable future still. People (mainly companies) are still buying Windows and Office licenses. But only a fool would think this is perpetual.Microsoft needs to have a heavy presence online in order to maintain their power going forward. And that&amp;'s why they&amp;'re dumping so much money into it. And you could argue that this strategy has worked with products like Bing. But Microsoft needs more than just this presence, they need to make money here. And not only are they failing at that. They&amp;'re failing in spectacular fashion.Five years ago, Microsoft&amp;'s Online Division was actually making money. Granted, it wasn&amp;'t a lot. But they were in the black. But for the past 19 quarters in a row now, Microsoft has lost money in this division. And as this chart put together last quarter by SAI shows, the losses have actually gotten worse over time. It&amp;'s a bloodbath being covered up by the profits from other divisions.People talk a lot about Google&amp;'s failure to make money off of YouTube. But at least they&amp;'re not bleeding money to this extent. And they may actually be close to profitability. And while it&amp;'s true that Apple hasn&amp;'t been hugely successful online, they really haven&amp;'t tried much. They have MobileMe, which isn&amp;'t hugely popular, but they do make money on. Twitter is another company talked about a lot as not making money. They too seem much closer than Microsoft is at this point. I think it&amp;'s a safe bet that they&amp;'re not running $500 million in the red each quarter.So can Microsoft turn this around With Bing continuing to gain some popularity and Microsoft now in complete control of Yahoo&amp;'s search business, there&amp;'s some hope. But even with those, there doesn&amp;'t seem to be a clear cut way to start making real money without pouring a ton more in. Yahoo Search is in decline and while Microsoft is monetizing Bing, they&amp;'re also spending a huge amount advertising it to get the eyeballs they eventually monetize. 19 quarters of losses in a row is bad enough' the fact that the profit trend is going the wrong way is even more troubling.Is it too late to buy Facebook outright (they own a very small stake) Of course it is, but maybe they can head to SecondMarket and allocate at least some of the $2 billion a year they&amp;'re blowing to buy up some Facebook stock. That would be one way to make money online.[image: Warner Brothers]CrunchBase InformationMicrosoftInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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