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<title>Haaze.com / herman01 / All</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 2011 08:10:12 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title><![CDATA[Target starts selling iPhone 3GS for $49]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=target-starts-selling-iphone-3gs-for-49</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=target-starts-selling-iphone-3gs-for-49</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 2011 08:10:12 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>herman01</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=target-starts-selling-iphone-3gs-for-49</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Apple)It's Target's turn to sell theiPhone 3GS for $49.The company previously sold the iPhone 3GS for $99. The phone is available in 846 stores, Target said.Target's reduced pricing follows AT&amp;T's decision last week to drop the price of the smartphone to $49. Apple is also selling the device at the discounted rate. To take advantage of the discounted pricing, consumers need to sign up for a new two-year agreement with AT&amp;T or be eligible for an upgrade.The cheaper iPhone 3GS likely won't be the only news coming out of Apple's iPhone camp this week. Tomorrow, Verizon is holding a press event in New York City where it just might unveil an iPhone that runs on its network.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[An inside look at Google's loudest critic]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=an-inside-look-at-googles-loudest-critic</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=an-inside-look-at-googles-loudest-critic</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 03 Dec 2010 08:10:15 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>herman01</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=an-inside-look-at-googles-loudest-critic</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Consumer Watchdog&amp;39's John Simpson, Carmen Balber, and Jamie Court (left to right) make last-minute arrangements for their Wednesday privacy conference, dominated by criticism of Google.(Credit:Tom Krazit/CNET)WASHINGTON--In a small brownstone on a quiet tree-lined street in the shadows of the Capitol building, four people are plotting against the most powerful company on the Internet. Tuesday is a busy day at the Washington office of Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group generally focused on health care and insurance companies but with a prominent sideline as arguably the most vocal critic of Google. Office is perhaps an overstatement: the space reminds me more of a college graduate's first apartment than an office. But it's a temporary home to Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court and his disciples as they gear up for a conference that Google CEO Eric Schmidt probably wouldn't rank among his favorites. Court, chief spokesman John Simpson, Washington coordinator Carmen Balber, and social-media strategist Josh Nuni are planning the Future of Online Consumer Protections conference, which was taking place Wednesday amid the Federal Trade Commission's release of a report that threw the government's weight behind a &quot;Do Not Track&quot; list for the Internet: a controversial sentiment among companies that make their money advertising on the Web. They've been handed an early Christmas present courtesy of the European Commission, which chose to announce its decision to formally investigate Google on the eve of Consumer Watchdog's conference as Simpson almost gleefully fields calls from reporters asking for reaction to the investigation. In between drafts of a blog post he's preparing for The Huffington Post on the do-not-track concept, Court issues orders, approves a $5,000 expenditure to Webcast the conference, and holds forth on the evils of Internet advertising companies, insurance companies, and Google. He also thinks it would be a good idea if I read his book, a suggestion repeated more than a few times. &quot;If you let engineers run the world, you're not going to be accountable.&quot;--Jamie Court, Consumer Watchdog president &quot;If you let engineers run the world, you're not going to be accountable,&quot; Court says, enunciating a popular criticism of Google that despite all its engineering prowess, it doesn't exactly understand how to operate in the real world. For its part, Google is mostly bemused by Consumer Watchdog's brand of activism, which generally sends eyes rolling in Mountain View, Calif., but there's no doubt that Court has gotten Google's attention in the past: a Google executive so angered by Consumer Watchdog in 2009 sent a letter to one of its major donors, the Rose Foundation, urging it to revoke its funding. The executive, Bob Boorstin, later apologized. &quot;We're always happy to engage with groups that are interested in constructive solutions. But given Consumer Watchdog's tactics--calling for Google's breakup, releasing information about the home Wi-Fi networks of Congress members, working closely with Microsoft and our other competitors--coupled with the fact that they don't represent any actual consumers, we have doubts about how serious they are,&quot; said Adam Kovacevich, a Google spokesman, in a statement. Truth be told, in Court's mind Google simply exerts too much influence regardless of its intentions. He thinks of Google as a utility, a necessary component of modern life but the master of a space in which competition isn't necessarily a benefit. In that light, Simpson argues several times on Tuesday during conversations with reporters that he doesn't want competition among rival firefighting concerns in his hometown, but he damn sure wants those firefighters to be scrutinized and regulated. But what Court says he's most worried about is the vast amount of data that Google gathers on Internet-surfing habits, especially when it comes to children using Google. In fact, when Consumer Watchdog was looking for funding in 2008 to expand its mission from insurance gadfly to Internet pest, Court says he specifically asked the Rose Foundation, a California-based charitable organization, for $100,000 to target Google--not Internet privacy in general, but Google--because of the company's well-known thirst for data. That grant was followed by a smaller one in 2009, but Consumer Watchdog mostly pays for its anti-Google activities through its general fund of donations and proceeds from legal activities, which apparently was flush enough in September to support a $25,000 outlay to run a video with an extremely creepy depiction of Schmidt in New York's Times Square for six weeks.  Over lunch at a diner a block away from Consumer Watchdog's Washington, D.C., office, Court flashes a sheepish grin when asked about the video, which depicted Schmidt as a creepy ice-cream truck driver bent on gathering as much data about the children on his route as possible. He doesn't exactly apologize for the characterization, believing that when you're up against powerful interests in a hyper-media-oriented 21st century, you can't exactly file a critical position paper and hope for the best. Court says an activist organization with limited resources isn't in a position to refuse a creative ad campaign donated by a sympathetic cartoonist whom Court declines to identify. Indeed, many who would normally be sympathetic to Consumer Watchdog's cause as a preeminent Google critic winced at the video, yet Court suggests that January will bring another anti-Google campaign similar to that video, although he ruled out another tour through Times Square. Court is sensitive to charges that he's a tool of the corporate interests that oppose Google, a list probably headed by Microsoft and AT&amp;T and comprising any number of Internet companies stepped on by the search giant's relentless push into nearly anything it finds feasible and ripe for disruption. He denies receiving funding directly from such companies, arguing that while he could definitely solicit such donations, accepting that money would bring a rash of unintended consequences. Spectrum of criticsStill, Consumer Watchdog does rub elbows with a variety of anti-Googlers.Consumer Watchdog&amp;39's Washington, D.C., office, a few blocks away from the Capitol building, where the group has testified against Google in congressional hearings.(Credit:Tom Krazit/CNET) It used to be affiliated with Grassroots Enterprises, a division of the huge public relations firm Edelman that counts Microsoft among its clients, and, amusingly, uses Google Analytics to chart traffic on sites hosted under its domain. Court said Consumer Watchdog has recently moved its site off Grassroots' servers and is now using an open-source analytics tool to measure traffic on Consumerwatchdog.com.  On the spectrum of Google critics, Court and his group fall somewhere between activists like Scott Cleland and Gary Reback, who both have acknowledged working directly on behalf of Google's competitors (and who both appeared at Consumer Watchdog's conference), and groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Consumers Union, who represent concerned members. Perhaps the most damning criticism of Consumer Watchdog (other than its taste in cartoons) is that the only &quot;consumers&quot; who make up its members are its employees: the group refers to itself as a consumer advocate, but doesn't have an organized group of contributors from among the general public, like other organizations. After two days spent in the company of one of the biggest Google bashers on the planet, there's a sense that the Google-specific attacks may be getting old. That didn't dissuade anyone at Consumer Watchdog's conference from taking swipes at Google, yet Court and his cohorts are starting to acknowledge that Google is just a rather large example of Internet-industry practices that grate on the group in general. Court says Consumer Watchdog is starting to broaden its criticism of Internet companies in general as opposed to bashing Google 24/7, with Facebook squarely in its sights as the next big target for scrutiny. And he acknowledges that any successful regulatory pursuit of Google wouldn't necessarily prevent another company from simply taking over where Google left off, applying many of the same Internet advertising principles that raise his ire. Still, Consumer Watchdog is a co-counsel in the pending legislation over Google's Street View Wi-Fi debacle, easily the biggest privacy-related mistake (or transgression) the company has ever made. Court supplements his budget in part by earning so-called &quot;cy pres&quot; awards, essentially the leftover spoils from lawsuits in which the original class of plaintiffs can't be easily compensated, and he could be in for a big payday once that legislation is eventually satisfied. At the moment the anti-Google business isn't a particularly lucrative one: Consumer Watchdog's conference at the National Press Club was attended by fewer than 50 people and featured barely warmed-over croissant sandwiches for lunch. Google hosted a conference for several hundred business types in April that featured a five-minute tutorial on how to operate the fancy chairs allocated to attendees, sealing the pitch with freeNexus One phones for all in attendance. But it certainly does attract attention, enough attention for Court to divert a fair amount of his energy away from Consumer Watchdog's main causes toward Google. In Court's book, &quot;The Progressive's Guide to Raising Hell,&quot; he wrote &quot;the public can win if its opinion is focused like a beam, and if the right person with a platform holds up a lens at the right time to magnify the force of the public's light.&quot; Court thinks that public distrust of Google is growing, and he wants to be that person holding that lens. Google scoffs at the notion that widespread numbers of people are angry about its methods, but clearly there are some. What Court doesn't mention in the book is that lenses can also be used to turn a very small amount of light into a raging fire. This appears to be his strategy with Google, taking nearly any tidbit that emerges about Google and turning it into an opportunity to bash the company. (Court used Google's decision to celebrate the 40th anniversary of &quot;Sesame Street&quot; with a Google Doodle of Big Bird to launch a trademark attack, calling the doodle &quot;the Trojan Muppet&quot; in suggesting Google was trying to lure children.) It's rhetoric like that that makes it hard for the tech industry to take Consumer Watchdog seriously. For all the rhetoric, however, Court's basic message is simple: Google is the most powerful company on the Internet and needs to be watched extremely closely. At some point, he'll likely find a few sympathetic ears in this town for that message.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Black Friday's online sales rise over last year]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=black-fridays-online-sales-rise-over-last-year</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=black-fridays-online-sales-rise-over-last-year</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 29 Nov 2010 08:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>herman01</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=black-fridays-online-sales-rise-over-last-year</guid>
<description><![CDATA[This year's Black Friday saw a healthy rise in online sales, according to stats out today from ComScore.Cybershoppers collectively plunked down $648 million online on Friday, a gain of 9 percent over the same day last year. Thanksgiving, a day where people typically spend more time filling their bellies than emptying their wallets, saw a solid 28 percent rise in cybersales from last year, hitting $407 million.Overall, the online holiday shopping season has been robust so far, according to market researcher ComScore, with $11.64 billion spent at e-commerce outlets from November 1 to 26, a gain of 13 percent from the same period in 2009.&quot;Although Black Friday is known for the flurry of activity occurring in brick-and-mortar retail stores, online shopping is increasingly becoming the refuge of those preferring to avoid the crowds and long lines,&quot; ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a statement. &quot;The $648 million in online spending this Black Friday represents the heaviest online spending day of the season-to-date and a solid increase over last year's Black Friday.&quot;(Credit:ComScore)Among the top online retailers, Amazon.com grabbed the highest number of vistors on Black Friday with a 25 percent rise over last year, ComScore said. But results among other heavily visited sites varied from 2009's Black Friday. Target's site enjoyed a 9 percent gain in visitors, while Best Buy's site saw just a 1 percent rise and Walmart.com saw a 1 percent decline.More consumers prepped themselves in advance of Black Friday, according to ComScore. To find the best online deals ahead of time, people turned to sites like Black-Friday.net, which saw 3.1 million visitors from November 22 to 26--up 42 percent compared with 2009. BlackFriday.info welcomed 2.7 million visitors, while Black-Friday2010.com experienced the greatest growth with 1.5 million visitors, a jump of 478 percent from last year.IBM's Coremetrics marketing company echoed the positive news provided by ComScore but asserted that online spending on Black Friday actually rose almost 16 percent over last year, with both social-networking sites and mobile devices helping shoppers find the best deals among retailers.The National Retail Federation also vouched for a healthy spending weekend, both online and offline. Results from its survey out today said that 212 million shoppers visited stores and Web sites over the weekend, up from 195 million last year. Total spending hit around $45 billion, with the average shopper spending $365.34, up from $343.31 last year.What were people busy buying on Black Friday, both on the Internet and in the stores Consumer electronics were among the most popular items, according to initial results of a survey by the Consumer Electronics Association, which of course is good news to the organization.Among folks who went shopping on Friday, 58 percent bought some type of consumer electronic device, second in demand only to clothing. Portable MP3 players, video game consoles and accessories, and computers (notebooks and tablets) were the hottest items. The CEA is forecasting that the average holiday shopper will spend $232 on consumer electronics this season, up 5 percent from last year.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[The 404 708: Where we want DrCoolsex to give us a full-body physical (podcast)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-404-708-where-we-want-drcoolsex-to-give-us-a-full-body-physical-podcast</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-404-708-where-we-want-drcoolsex-to-give-us-a-full-body-physical-podcast</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:10:15 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>herman01</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-404-708-where-we-want-drcoolsex-to-give-us-a-full-body-physical-podcast</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Dustin Drury of the comedy group DrCoolSEx joins the show today to talk about their latest viral video about one of our favorite childhood shows, &quot;Doug,&quot; on Nickelodeon. Joining us as well is Scott Stein and Angela Inferrera. Where is Justin A couple of a printer reviews needed to take priority...Doug the Movie(Credit:DrCoolSex)You may only remember Doug, if you're in your mid-20s, but it was certainly a childhood favorite of ours. If not, YouTube it! While you're at it, check out DrCoolSex's parody trailer of a grown-up Doug. You might remember them from the viral movie trailer about Mario Kart.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Apple sued for iOS 4 problems on iPhone 3G, 3GS]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-sued-for-ios-4-problems-on-iphone-3g-3gs</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-sued-for-ios-4-problems-on-iphone-3g-3gs</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 2010 07:10:06 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>herman01</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-sued-for-ios-4-problems-on-iphone-3g-3gs</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Since iOS 4 was released in mid-June,iPhone 3G and 3GS owners have complained that the software has their phones seemingly grinding to a halt: slow keyboard response time, frozen unlock screens, and a battery that drains faster than with previous versions of the software.Now a deeply unsatisfied customer is taking her iOS 4 complaints to court.On Friday, San Diego resident Bianca Wofford sued Apple for violating the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, unfair business practices, and false and deceptive advertising. In the suit she claims that iOS 4 rendered her iPhone 3GS completely unusable and that Apple support has provided no recourse outside of buying a new iPhone 4--and paying AT&amp;T's early upgrade fee--or jailbreaking her phone to downgrade it to some version of iOS 3, which would void her warranty.She also says that Apple knew that the update would cause slowness on older model phones--the 3G and 3GS--and went ahead with the problematic update anyway.The court papers (embedded below) state:&quot;Apple's intent was to ... proliferate its new iOS 4 into the marketplace. Plaintiff is further informed and believes that Apple engineers knew that iOS 4 would substantially undermine, impede, degrade, and decrease speed for consumers who owned third-generation iPhones rather than the newly release iPhone 4...&quot;She also alleges that Apple concealed this and if she and other iPhone 3G and 3GS owners had known that iOS 4 would degrade their phones' performance they would never have upgraded in the first place.Apple hasn't said much publicly about the issue. Steve Jobs allegedly told a customer in August that an update was &quot;coming soon&quot;that would fix the problems, though the authenticity of the e-mail wasn't confirmed.Wofford is seeking class action status for her suit, and is asking for unspecified damages as well as $5,000 for every person whose phone was bricked by iOS 4, and an injunction on Apple's current marketing of iOS 4.iOS 4 Lawsuit        Erica Ogg    Full Profile E-mail Erica Ogg   E-mail Erica Ogg If you have a question or comment for Erica Ogg, you can submit it here. However, because our editors and writers receive hundreds of requests, we cannot tell you when you may receive a response.   Submit your question or comment here: 0 of 1500 characters       Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur. E-mail Erica.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Phone-toting time traveler in Chaplin movie]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=phone-toting-time-traveler-in-chaplin-movie</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=phone-toting-time-traveler-in-chaplin-movie</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:10:23 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>herman01</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=phone-toting-time-traveler-in-chaplin-movie</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Roll up. Roll up. You won't believe your eyes.No, I'm not launching a new Apple product (at least not yet). Instead, I would like you to scan a piece of footage for me and tell me what you see.I would like you to examine a YouTube video that has been sent to me by various readers and eminences. It has already been viewed by more than 1.6 million people. And it shows Irish film director George Clarke declaring that he has seen an old woman--or a man in drag--in the 1928 Charlie Chaplin movie &quot;The Circus.&quot; Why might this be remarkable I am sure even Chaplin himself might have donned a skirt at least at some point in his life. Ah, but this skirted individual, with a hardened Edward G. Robinson-type face, appears to be talking on a cell phone.You did hear me right. She (or he) appears to be in possession of a mobile device and chatting into it. Clarke claims to be bemused by this spectacle. He claims that he has been looking at this footage for a year. His only explanation is that this is a time traveler who has wandered back in time, no doubt choosing &quot;The Circus&quot; because of a love for Chaplin or a scientific urge to see whether AT&amp;T might have had a better signal in 1928. (The first cell phone call is widely believed to have been made by Motorola executive Martin Cooper in 1973.)Of course, she might also have been testing some new Droid phone for Verizon and been mouthing &quot;Can you hear me now&quot;I am hoping that there is someone out there with a DVD of &quot;The Circus&quot; who can confirm that this slightly infirm-looking lady is, indeed, in all copies of the movie. I am hoping, too, that not everyone will be put off by the fact that Clarke's greatest directorial feat was a movie called &quot;Battle of the Bone.&quot; This opus, which passed me by, is, well, a &quot;martial-arts zombie extravaganza&quot;--at least according to Amazon.com, it is. Some might be prejudiced against the director of this movie. Some might think that this is just a desperate man playing a cruel, humorless joke. However, I must emphasize that &quot;Battle of the Bone&quot; did win the 2008 Audience Choice award at the Freak Show Film Festival held in the extremely freaky city of Orlando, Fla.I know that Technically Incorrect's astute and unforgiving readership will immediately pounce on this riddle and solve it.I believe that the supposedly cell phone-toting woman bears a considerable resemblance to former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. Meir would have been 30 in 1928 but lived to the age of 80. However, I would not wish to suggest that I might know how or why a future--or former--Israeli Prime Minster happened to appear in a Charlie Chaplin movie. Or how she might have obtained a cell phone.I will leave that to the scientists. And the chaps at MythBusters.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Nearly 3 percent of Germans opt out of Street View]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nearly-3-percent-of-germans-opt-out-of-street-view</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nearly-3-percent-of-germans-opt-out-of-street-view</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 21 Oct 2010 18:22:03 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>herman01</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nearly-3-percent-of-germans-opt-out-of-street-view</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google Street View is coming to Germany in the next few weeks, but nearly 3 percent of homes will be blurred, the company said today.Since April 2009, Germans have been able to petition the search company to have their homes blurred in Street View images, Google said in today's blog post. Initially, those folks were required to send a written letter to Google. But Google recently launched an online tool that allows Germans to ask to have their homes blurred.Street View, which is a feature of Google Maps, offers panoramic photographs from the street level.Out of the 8.4 million homes in German's 20 largest cities that are included in Street View, 2.89 percent of households, or about 244,240, opted out. However, Google said that removing images is a &quot;complex&quot; process, and when the service launches, some of those households will still be visible. In those cases, homeowners can request that Google blur the image of their home using the service's &quot;report a problem&quot; tool.Google is providing the blurring option at the behest of German privacy officials. The search company said that it &quot;worked closely with Data Protection Authorities to ensure all the right German privacy standards were met.&quot;Privacy has long been a concern for Germany. Earlier this year, the country squared off with Google when it was revealed that the search company inadvertently collected payload data andMac address data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks with its Street Viewcars.German privacy officials also targeted Facebook earlier this year over the social network's handling of member information.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[On the GreenBeat: EnerNOC expands offerings, Think announces pricing for electric cars]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-the-greenbeat-enernoc-expands-offerings-think-announces-pricing-for-electric-cars</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-the-greenbeat-enernoc-expands-offerings-think-announces-pricing-for-electric-cars</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>herman01</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-the-greenbeat-enernoc-expands-offerings-think-announces-pricing-for-electric-cars</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Here are the top stories we&amp;'re following today on the GreenBeat.Demand response company EnerNOC has announced it has expanded its business to add building controls and energy efficiency monitoring to its offerings.Norwegian electric car maker Think will start selling its Think City electric car in the U.S. mid-2011, GigaOm writes. The company plans to sell 2,000 to 3,000 cars at $34,000 (before federal and state incentives) to urban drivers in San Francisco, Southern California, New York, Washington, D.C., and Indianapolis. Coda has pushed back delivery date of its sedan to the third quarter of next year, back from the originally planned second quarter. Interim CEO Steven &amp;''Mac&amp;'' Heller told car-research site Edmunds the delays were not connected with the recent departures of the company&amp;'s CEO' instead, he ordered the delays to make sure the cars get top quality control.The White House is reviewing an EPA proposal to mandate 7.95 percent of gasoline sales next year to go to ethanol and biofuels, Reuters reports. The proposal is part of an overall congressional mandate that 13.95 billion gallons of renewable fuels be produced in 2011.Fulcrum Bioenergy has received Department of Energy backing for an $120 million loan for a biofuels plant near Reno, BusinessWeek writes.Next Story: Anobit raises $32M for flash memory that&amp;'s harder, better, faster, stronger Previous Story: 24 reasons not to miss Matt Marshall&amp;'s business-cloud webinarPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: biofuels, demand response, electric cars, Think CityCompanies: Coda, Enernoc, EPA, Fulcrum BioEnergy, Think          Tags: biofuels, demand response, electric cars, Think CityCompanies: Coda, Enernoc, EPA, Fulcrum BioEnergy, ThinkIris 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[EC Roundup: Crisis management and 5 unexpected challenges]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ec-roundup-crisis-management-and-5-unexpected-challenges</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ec-roundup-crisis-management-and-5-unexpected-challenges</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>herman01</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ec-roundup-crisis-management-and-5-unexpected-challenges</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Herea4a4s the latest from VentureBeata4a4s Entrepreneur Corner:Cash Equity How should a startup pay its attorneys a4&quot; Cash is king, but ita4a4s sometimes in short supply when youa4a4re a startup. Some firms swap out equity for legal representation. Others cut back in other areas to pay in cash. Attorney Scott Edward Walker examines the pros and cons of the methods.5 challenges entrepreneurs never expect a4&quot; You expect troubles like building brand recognition and finding a superlative staff when you launch a startup, but there are a number of unanticipated hurdles that always present themselves. Michael K. McKean, CEO of the Knowland Group, discusses five he faced a4&quot; and the lessons they taught him.17 words and phrases to avoid in your business plan a4&quot; Sometimes, words that make sense as you write them in your business plan quickly result in a rejection from the investment community. Megan Jones, director at Hadley Partners, lists 17 superlatives and phrases you might want to avoid.Crisis management by firing executives a4&quot; and why thata4a4s futile a4&quot; The shelf life of a VP of sales at a startup is about 18 months, says serial entrepreneur Steve Blank. But firing those people when the company doesna4a4t meet sales expectations isna4a4t always the right way to proceed. Often, it turns out, the problem is with the way youa4a4re approaching your business model.The hallmarks of a great boss a4&quot; Traditional schools of thought say if you monitor your employees and your startupa4a4s processes, you can be a great boss. But Stanford professor and author Bob Sutton, in this Entrepreneur Thought Leader Lecture, says that can sometimes be the worst action possible.Next Story: Week in review: Oracle wins huge verdict against SAP Previous Story: Google struggling to define Chrome OS as launch approachesPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: entrepreneur corner          Tags: entrepreneur cornerChris Morris is editor of the Entrepreneur Corner on VentureBeat, helping start-up business owners launch and grow their companies. He previously worked at Yahoo! Finance, where he was managing editor, and as director of content development at CNNMoney.com. He is also a widely respected journalist in the video game and technology fields, whose work has appeared in Variety, CNBC.com, AOL and Forbes.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MorrisatLargeVentureBeat 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[Finally, the official Google Voice iPhone app hits the App Store]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=finally-the-official-google-voice-iphone-app-hits-the-app-store</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=finally-the-official-google-voice-iphone-app-hits-the-app-store</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>herman01</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=finally-the-official-google-voice-iphone-app-hits-the-app-store</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Ita4a4s been a long haul for Google, but now iPhone owners can finally download an official Google Voice iPhone app &amp;8211' giving them access to even more Google Voice features than the current web app, although still not as many as Android users enjoy.We reported in late September that Google was possibly working on the app, spurred on by Applea4a4s relaxed app development rules announced earlier that month.Google had submitted a Google Voice app for inclusion in Apple&amp;'s App Store  last year, but Apple rejected it. Apple later told the FCC that it was studying the app because it was concerned that it was duplicating the iPhonea4a4s voice dialing functions. Google countered by telling the FCC that the app was rejected flat-out. Earlier this year, Google Voice finally found its way to the iPhone in the form of an HTML5 web application.The  HTML5 app was serviceable, but it couldna4a4t do things like send push  notifications, access your iPhone contacts, or take advantage of the  multitasking capabilities in the iPhone OS 4 update. The new app offers  push notifications for new voicemail or text messages, as well a a4Adirect access numbersa4 feature that lets users place calls faster than they could with the web app.Of  course, the app also offers standard features like the ability to send  calls and text using your Google Voice number, and it lets you listen to  voicemail and read voicemail transcription. In my brief testing, I  found the app to feel much more polished than the web app. It offers  some nice touches as well, like automatically highlighting transcribed  voicemail text as it plays the messagea4a4s audio.While  it&amp;'s a significant upgrade for iPhone owners, the app still lags behind  Google Voicea4a4s ability to integrate into the core functionality of  Android phones &amp;8212' like hooking directly into the phone&amp;'s dialer and  native texting app. That will likely never happen on the iPhone, but at  least we can be grateful to finally have a full-fledged Google Voice iPhone app.Next Story: Net:Work 2010 &amp;8211' The Future of Work Previous Story: Glass company invests $2.6 million in NLAB Solar&amp;'s cheap, transparent solar cellsPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Andriod, apps, Google Voice, iOS, iPhone, smartphones, voipCompanies: Apple, Google          Tags: Andriod, apps, Google Voice, iOS, iPhone, smartphones, voipCompanies: Apple, GoogleDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.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[Venture titan John Doerr: Cleantecha4a4s a4ANetscape momenta4 coming next year]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=venture-titan-john-doerr-cleantechâÂ€Â™s-âÂ€Âœnetscape-momentâÂ€Â-coming-next-year</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=venture-titan-john-doerr-cleantechâÂ€Â™s-âÂ€Âœnetscape-momentâÂ€Â-coming-next-year</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>herman01</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=venture-titan-john-doerr-cleantechâÂ€Â™s-âÂ€Âœnetscape-momentâÂ€Â-coming-next-year</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Cleantech investing may have fallen by 30 percent in the past few months, but legendary venture capitalist John Doerr said this morning that hea4a4s still optimistic about backing startups in this field.Doerr, whose investments include Internet giants like Google and Amazon, said that looking at the amount of money invested doesn&amp;'t indicate the quality of companies &amp;8212' after all, during periods of peak venture investment, many &amp;''inconsequential&amp;'' Web startups got funded. In cleantech, Doerr said the industry is waiting for its a4ANetscape momenta4. In other words, the industry needs a big, successful initial public offering that will a4Acapture the imaginations of investors and consumers alike.a4a4AI think wea4a4re very likely to see that next year,a4 Doerr said.(Some cleantech companies, namely Tesla and A123Systems, have already had successful IPOs, but their stock price subsequently dropped.)Doerr made the comments at VentureBeata4a4s GreenBeat conference on the Stanford campus. In the past few years, Kleiner Perkins Caufield &amp;amp' Byers (where Doerr is a partner) was largely seen as refocusing on cleantech, but it has made headlines over the past few months for its mobile and social investments. Still, Kleiner is definitely a4Aopen for businessa4 in cleantech, Doerr said, and it invested in six clean-energy companies during the past year.Doerr also took the opportunity to talk about the recent election. Most Democrats are feeling pretty glum about the results (Doerr is a big Democratic donor and also served on President Barack Obamaa4a4s economic advisory board), but Doerr focused on the defeat of Proposition 23 in California, which would have halted the statea4a4s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He called the proposition a a4Aduplicitous, sinister proposala4 funded by Texas oil companies.a4ACalifornians said, a4We want a clean energy future,a4a4a4 Doerr said.[photo by Dean Takahashi]Next Story: Why won&amp;'t utility companies innovate Smart Grid leaders explain Previous Story: GM exec: Chill, Volts won&amp;'t bring down the gridPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: GreenBeat, GreenBeat 2010People: John Doerr          Tags: GreenBeat, GreenBeat 2010People: John DoerrAnthony is VentureBeat's assistant editor, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining VentureBeat in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.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[Ask a VC: Jeremy Liew on Suits, Marijuana, and his most Underrated Investment&nbsp'(TCTV)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ask-a-vc-jeremy-liew-on-suits-marijuana-and-his-most-underrated-investmentnbsptctv</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ask-a-vc-jeremy-liew-on-suits-marijuana-and-his-most-underrated-investmentnbsptctv</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>herman01</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ask-a-vc-jeremy-liew-on-suits-marijuana-and-his-most-underrated-investmentnbsptctv</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I&amp;'m hearing rumors that Ask a VC is getting big in pockets of Harvard Business School, which explains an increasingly sophisticated caliber of email questions over the last few weeks. Appropriately, we had the only suited VC in Silicon Valley on this week to answer them. (Ok, not in that picture. That was taken before his &amp;''MadMen&amp;'' phase.)Jeremy Liew of Lightspeed Venture Partners joined me this week, and we talked about how important engineering is to a startup, what you should do after you get your MBA, and whether the social games game is over and Zynga is the default winner. At the end, we dive into Liew&amp;'s portfolio a bit: He talks up ShoeDazzle, and I grill him about the future of RockYou.Not enough Liew You can catch his annual list of tech predictions here today too.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[You Too Can Be Julian Assange In &8216'WikiLeaks: The&nbsp'Game&']]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=you-too-can-be-julian-assange-in-8216wikileaks-thenbspgamersquo</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=you-too-can-be-julian-assange-in-8216wikileaks-thenbspgamersquo</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>herman01</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=you-too-can-be-julian-assange-in-8216wikileaks-thenbspgamersquo</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Between the drama, intrigue and Interpol, the WikiLeaks saga has all the trimmings of a Hollywood movie. One friend of mine is debating quitting her job in order to write a movie script (She sees Lupin from Harry Potter as playing Assange). And she better hurry up &amp;8212' I&amp;'m betting at least two WikiLeaks-related scripts are getting pushed through Hollywood as I write this.Perpetually outpacing the movie industry, the story has already hit home with the gaming community. Indie game developers have created the WikiLeaks Stories collective in order to turn some of the actual stories revealed in the WikiLeaks cables into games. Dutch developer Sebastiaan Moeys has directly tapped into the zeitgeist and spent a week creating &amp;''WikiLeaks: The Game&amp;'' where, in a bit of creative fiction, you can play Assange stealing private documents himself. At least one other WikiLeaks inspired game (&amp;''Uncle Sam Vs. WikiLeaks&amp;'' also exists).In Moeys&amp;' &amp;''WikiLeaks: The Game,&amp;'' your objective is to wait until President Obama is asleep and then try to download 300K secret files from his laptop with a USB. Just like governmental attempts to quash WikiLeaks, the game is harder than it looks, I&amp;'ve played it five times and I still haven&amp;'t won.You can try your luck here.CrunchBase InformationWikiLeaksInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Back Of The Phone Apps: Instagram, Picplz, Path Vs. Front Of The Phone App:&nbsp'DailyBooth]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=back-of-the-phone-apps-instagram-picplz-path-vs--front-of-the-phone-appnbspdailybooth</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=back-of-the-phone-apps-instagram-picplz-path-vs--front-of-the-phone-appnbspdailybooth</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>herman01</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=back-of-the-phone-apps-instagram-picplz-path-vs--front-of-the-phone-appnbspdailybooth</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Today during the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, DailyBooth CEO Brian Pokorny took the stage to talk a bit about &amp;''picture talking&amp;'' &amp;8212' that is, social communication through photos. Obviously, Pokorny believes this is a key form of communication amongst the younger generation. But he&amp;'s not the only one. Mobile photo sharing apps are getting a lot of buzz and gaining a lot of users now.But Pokorny has an interesting insight as to why DailyBooth is different from the rest of the pack. In Pokorny&amp;'s view, the hot apps like Instagram, Picplz, and Plurk are &amp;''back of the phone apps&amp;''. What he means by that is that their users mainly use the back camera on their smartphones. But new smartphones are increasingly gaining a front-facing camera too. And that&amp;'s DailyBooth&amp;'s wheelhouse.Further, he said that back of the phone apps mainly appeal to users over 25. Front of the phone apps are appealing to those under 25. And back of the phone apps are mainly for shooting objects. But front of the phone apps are for faces.Pokorny says that these front of the phone apps like DailyBooth are opening up a whole new way to socialize in the modern world. It&amp;'s sort of like the older generations going into a bar or cafe a4&quot; it&amp;'s people watching, Pokorny says.And he says companies like Apple are quickly recognizing that, and that&amp;'s why they&amp;'ve added a front-facing camera to devices like the iPod touch.CrunchBase InformationDailyBoothBrian PokornyInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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