
<?phpxml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" 
xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
>
<channel>
<title>Haaze.com / paultupppu / All</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 21 Jun 2011 07:10:49 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Drawings show big changes for iPhone 5]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=drawings-show-big-changes-for-iphone-5</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=drawings-show-big-changes-for-iphone-5</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 21 Jun 2011 07:10:49 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>paultupppu</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=drawings-show-big-changes-for-iphone-5</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The site &amp;quot'This is my next&amp;quot' had this rendering done, based on information the site claims to have obtained of the next iPhone.(Credit:This is my next)New renderings of what the nextiPhone iteration could look like have surfaced on the site This is my next, and they indicate a major overhaul. Multiple sites claim to have confirmed that the iPhone 5 will not be a simple update of the last generation, but a substantial redesign, complete with a new tapered shape to the case.Related link &amp;149' iPhone 5's 20 most-wanted featuresThe reports also say the home button will be enlarged, rather than scrapped--which had been another rumor--and that the front of the phone will be almost all screen, lending credence to previous rumors that Apple was working with special rounded glass for this generation. TIMN also speculates that the phone could be able to go global with both GSM and CDMA capability. The site had its renderings done based on information it claims to have obtained from multiple sources. This latest rumor contradicts earlier reports that the next iPhone would be little changed from the current model. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Aboard the world's largest model train collection]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=aboard-the-worlds-largest-model-train-collection</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=aboard-the-worlds-largest-model-train-collection</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jun 2011 07:10:44 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>paultupppu</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=aboard-the-worlds-largest-model-train-collection</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A scene from Miniatur Wunderland, the largest model train collection in the world--and so much more. The attraction, in Hamburg, Germany, features eight miles of tracks, 900 trains, 5,000 vehicles, 250,000 miniature people, and eight themed geographic regions. CNET&amp;39's Daniel Terdiman explored it as part of Road Trip 2011(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET)HAMBURG, Germany--Sure, Miniatur Wunderland is the world's largest collection of model trains, but to describe it that way would do it a serious injustice. What it really is is a beyond-belief collection of fantastic dioramas depicting scenes from the Swiss and Austrian Alps, Germany, the United States, and Scandinavia throughout which run 900 trains on the more than eight miles of tracks.The world's largest model train collection (photos) I had planned to come here as part of Road Trip 2011, because I'd read that Miniatur Wunderland had recently added a giant scale model of a working airport. And when I looked into that, I discovered the bit about it being the world's-largest model train collection. That seemed like a no-brainer. But as I approached the building in Hamburg where it's located, I had a feeling that I would be disappointed.I was deeply wrong. The minute I walked inside and saw the collection (see video below), I was blown away. If there was an entry in the dictionary for &quot;detail-oriented,&quot; this would be the perfect example: this collection is built around incredibly well thought-out depictions of hundreds upon hundreds of little scenes, and meanwhile, all throughout the trains work their magic, weaving in and out of alpine mountains, into and out of myriad train stations, and through countless tunnels and over endless numbers of bridges.Miniatur Wunderland was the brainchild of two German brothers who decided in the late 1990s to ditch their successful nightclub and record label business in order to build the world's largest model train collection, explained their younger brother, Sebastian Drechsler, who does communications for the collection. The two older brothers got the reaction you might expect, Drechsler said, which was a lot of skepticism. But they did manage to convince a local bank to lend them 2 million German marks--this was before the advent of the Euro--and in 2000, they opened their doors. Initially, they had 20 employees and were hoping to get 100,000 visitors in their first year. Instead, 300,000 people showed up, and they were off and running. In 2010, he said, more than 1 million people showed up, making Miniatur Wunderland the second-most popular attraction in Hamburg--after the city's zoo--but the one that lures in by far the highest percentage of people from out of town. Today, there are 210 employees who manage the 14,000-square-foot collection, which in addition to the 900 trains also includes 5,000 modelcars, trucks, and other vehicles, and an astounding 250,000 miniature people, all of whom have been added to scenes by hand, and all in such a way as to further one story or another.That, in fact, is one of the reasons the collection doesn't just attract men, who might seem the natural audience for a giant model train collection, Drechsler said. Women seem to enjoy the little stories that are depicted throughout the collection. But members of both gender frequently come and spend hours wandering around, trying to discover as many of the stories as they can, he said. Some are easy to spot--like a giant concert with 21,000 &quot;people,&quot; and others are extremely subtle, often hidden below the main surface of the collection, or even in the floorboards or rafters.For example, in the American section, there is a scene that is clearly supposed to be Roswell, N.M., where aliens supposedly landed. In the scene, a group of aliens are taking over a military plane. But it's below the surface where the truly delightful detail emerges: a hidden UFO and several levels of a secret military station geared around the aliens.Still, despite countless numbers of these little scenes, it's the trains that are the true champions: and they do dominate. There's a single track climbing through the Swiss Alps. There's a giant representation of the Hamburg Central Train Station, complete with 14 platforms, and trains rushing in and out at all times. There are rail bridges, tunnels, cargo trains, express trains, and much, much more.AirportThe biggest new attraction at Miniatur Wunderland is its airport. And for good reason. This 1:87 scale model of Hamburg's airport took the oldest brother six years to build, and cost 3.5 million euros and 150,000 working hours. According to Drechsler, it is an extremely realistic representation of the airport, as well it should be since it was built using the airport's actual construction plans.Giant-scale model airport amazes (photos) The airport features 32 planes, each of which move around automatically, and autonomously. And here's where some of the true magic of the airport kicks in: The planes, as well as the many cars and trucks, buses, and support vehicles that move around on the tarmac, all do so independent of each other, yet almost never collide. That's because the oldest brother designed a system--using 80,000 lines of code--in which a tracking system automatically monitors the planes and vehicles and keeps track of their whereabouts at all times. Occasionally, there's a collision, but it's very infrequent.These little vehicles are even smart enough to know when they need to have their batteries recharged, and when that happens, they drive themselves into a little garage and then go behind the walls to a charging area where they dock themselves at a little station and proceed to recharge. When they're done, they back out and return to wherever the program tells them they should be.And being an airport, there should be takeoffs and landings, correct I had assumed that this would be a missing element, much as is the case with the airport at the Legoland in Billund, Denmark, which I visited a few days earlier. But at Miniatur Wunderland, there's no such thing as such an important element not being there. Here, the planes do indeed take off and land (see video below), all because of an ingenious system in which the planes automatically taxi onto a runway, and while they roll towards getting airborne, little metal sticks pop up through slits in the surface and raise the planes up in the air. They gradually ascend until they disappear behind a flap in the wall. Landings work the same way, except in reverse.Doubling in sizeAs if Miniatur Wunderland wasn't already big enough, Drechsler said the plan is to double the layout by the year 2020. To make that a reality, they've already rented another 10,700 square feet of space in which to expand. Among the geographies that will be added are an Italian section and more of the United States.I wondered how it could all work since they don't own the building: after all, with such an amazing collection, if they lost their lease, the whole thing would come crashing down.But he explained that Miniatur Wunderland has a 25-year lease. And anyway, he said, their landlord is the city of Hamburg. &quot;And the city likes us,&quot; he said. It's the world's-largest model train collection and a million people come to see it each year. How could Hamburg not love it <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[ComScore: Microsoft, Google hold their own in search]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=comscore-microsoft-google-hold-their-own-in-search</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=comscore-microsoft-google-hold-their-own-in-search</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 14 Apr 2011 07:10:06 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>paultupppu</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=comscore-microsoft-google-hold-their-own-in-search</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Microsoft and Google each grabbed a tiny sliver more of the U.S. search market last month, according to ComScore.Both companies gained three-tenths of a point of market share in March, compared with February.Overall, Google sites accounted for 65.7 percent of the 16.9 billion searches in the U.S. last month, ComScore said yesterday. Microsoft sites snagged 13.9 percent, while Yahoo sites held 15.7 percent. As always, ComScore's figures specifically track &quot;explicit core&quot; searches, which are search terms that people manually enter on a Web page.Beyond the core search numbers, Google's and Microsoft's &quot;powered-by&quot; figures show a bigger piece of the puzzle.Combining the searches done on Google sites with the Google-powered searches on AOL and the Ask Network, Google held 68.2 percent of the market in March, compared with 68 percent in February. For Microsoft, combining Bing searches on its own sites with its Bing-powered searches on Yahoo, Microsoft accounted for 26.4 percent of market share last month, versus 26.2 percent in February. (According to ComScore, Google doesn't account for all searches on AOL or Ask, and Microsoft doesn't run every search on Yahoo. Some searches are internal, such as those within e-mail.)Using that calculation, Google and Microsoft together accounted for 94.6 percent of all searches done in the U.S. last month.ComScore's powered-by numbers are slightly off from those released by Experian Hitwise this week, which pegged Microsoft's share at 30 percent and Google's at 64.4 percent.(Credit:ComScore)<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Netflix for Android leaks onto Net but won't stream]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=netflix-for-android-leaks-onto-net-but-wont-stream</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=netflix-for-android-leaks-onto-net-but-wont-stream</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Mar 2011 07:10:09 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>paultupppu</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=netflix-for-android-leaks-onto-net-but-wont-stream</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A leaked version of Netflix for Android has been uncovered on the Net, but so far it doesn't seem able to actually stream any content.Reportedly stripped off a prototype of LG's Revolution Android phone, according to Business Insider, the APK (Android package) for Netflix found its way onto the Internet this week for anyone to download.The Revolution was spotted running Netflix at CES in January. According to Engadget and other sources, people who've actually tried the app are able to launch it and browse the various titles easily enough. They just can't watch anything. Though Android Police said it heard of one user able to watch movies on a Samsung Fascinate Android Phone, that bit of information was based just on a single tweet.Netflix streaming has been available for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch crowd since last year. A version is also available forWindows Phone 7 users.But Android users are still waiting for the app to reach their devices. Greg Peters of Netflix product development said last November that a Netflix app for Android would be launched early this year but that it would not be available for all Android devices.The very fragmentation of the Android platform has created challenges for Netflix in creating a mobile app. According to Peters, there's no one common way to set up security and digital rights management for all Android devices in one shot. As a result, the company has been forced to work with each individual Android device maker to build in the necessary DRM technology. That means only certain Android users will be the first in line to get Netflix, though one recent development may also help speed things up a bit.Last month, Qualcomm announced that its new Snapdragon platform will include both the hardware and the DRM protection needed to stream content from Netflix. That won't help owners of older Android devices but should ensure that newer handsets, such as the Revolution, are capable of delivering Netflix to their users.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Capacitive and resistive touch to go head-to-head in next portable gaming showdown]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=capacitive-and-resistive-touch-to-go-head-to-head-in-next-portable-gaming-showdown</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=capacitive-and-resistive-touch-to-go-head-to-head-in-next-portable-gaming-showdown</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Jan 2011 08:10:41 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>paultupppu</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=capacitive-and-resistive-touch-to-go-head-to-head-in-next-portable-gaming-showdown</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Will the NGP's rear touch panel make for a more seamless experienceA major difference between the NGP and 3DS lies in the two devices' touch-sensitive technologies. The 3DS will reuse the original DS' resistive touch screen, whereas the NGP will have two capacitive touch areas (front and rear), of the type mosttablets and smartphones use today (including theiPhone andiPad). The 3DS' resistive touch screen requires some depression (hence the stylus), but can also respond to a finger press. The technology offers a nice level of precision (like when handwriting or pecking at small virtual keys), but certainly requires a bit of a learning curve when being used in tandem with a stylus. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Report: China-U.S. transport race hinges on resources]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-china-u-s--transport-race-hinges-on-resources</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-china-u-s--transport-race-hinges-on-resources</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jan 2011 08:10:52 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>paultupppu</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-china-u-s--transport-race-hinges-on-resources</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Accenture)The Chinese government has committed $15 billion over the next 10 years to the electric vehicle (EV) industry alone, while the U.S. Department of Energy spends $4 billion a year on research and development for a wide variety of energy-related tech.The figures paint a portrait of two countries with vastly different approaches to growing industries and jobs, according to an Accenture report released today, &quot;The US and China: The Race to Disruptive Transport Technologies,&quot; (PDF) which parses out the advantages and disadvantages each country has right now in the realm of alternative vehicles and fuels.China has been keen on taking proven innovative technology, then backing it financially and with government mandates to turn it into an industry. It's that money and governmental control which may give the country an advantage in building a global EV industry.China also has rich deposits of lithium, a key ingredient in many EV batteries. Because of this, the country is already a leading global manufacturer of lithium ion batteries for electric and hybrid-electriccars.Sixty percent of the United States' rechargeable battery imports already come from China, Japan, and Korea. The U.S., as its EV industry grows, will have to import almost all lithium ion batteries, or the lithium needed to make those batteries, from Asia and Latin America, according to Accenture.So what does the U.S. have to compete against China's lithium, money, and government control To put it succinctly: brainpower, strong intellectual property laws, and agricultural expertise.The Accenture report predicts that rather than one alternative fuel reigning supreme, the world will see an increase in transport fuel diversity.Unlike China, the U.S. has strong intellectual property laws and a record of upholding and protecting intellectual property rights, which encourages private investment in research and development, something the report says has a direct effect on innovation.Biofuels are a good illustration of that point. The U.S. currently has a strong biotechnology industry that is improving biomass and biofuels technology and is developing a proven track record of success. It's leading to lucrative licensing of the technology, expansion of U.S. biotech companies, and international investment from foreign companies, according to Accenture.The U.S. also happens to be the largest producer of corn in the world with an estimated 30 percent of its yield going into ethanol production. Yield improvements and domestic surpluses are even expected to rise in coming years due to recent agricultural innovations. And yet, for various reasons, the U.S. will likely not hang its hat on ethanol. Instead, it's leveraging that agricultural expertise and capability to invent and produce yet more alternative fuel options.Companies, for example, are experimenting with algae for biofuels and butanol or sugar for biodiesel. China, in contrast, seems to have focused solely on using cellulosic ethanol to replace gasoline, and has no real plan for an alternative to diesel, according to the report.Of course, the two countries also have vastly different situations when it comes to supply and demand.U.S. car ownership is at a plateau, so an increase in the purchase of EVs coupled with greater use of biofuels could lead to a 30 percent reduction in gasoline and diesel use in the U.S. by 2030, if the VMT (vehicle miles traveled) stays the same, according to the report. That change will be an adjustment for the U.S. economy as oil-related industries like oil refineries may find themselves displaced.China by contrast will not have to adjust to a large displacement, because it is in the infancy stage of personal car ownership, and, therefore, has no real legacy structure in terms of fuels. Accenture predicts that the amount of cars on China's roads will more than double to 200 million between now and 2020, causing growth in all areas of transport fuel. Because of this car boom, China's massive addition of alternative fuels and EVs will merely serve to compliment its growing domestic need for more oil, according to Accenture.&quot;This is a significant difference for the players in the markets--in the United States, there will be clear winners and losers' in China, in the context of high growth, there are only winners and bigger winners,&quot; said the report.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Privacy concerns dog location-based services]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=privacy-concerns-dog-location-based-services</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=privacy-concerns-dog-location-based-services</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 13 Nov 2010 08:10:05 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>paultupppu</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=privacy-concerns-dog-location-based-services</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It sounds like a sweet deal: report your location to a social network and get a coupon for discounts and prizes. The price The possibility that advertisers and other third parties will know where you are and where you've been. A recent survey by the Pew Center's Internet &amp; American Life Project found that only 4 percent of Internet users have adopted location-based services, as Cecilia Kang reports on The Washington Post's Post Tech blog. That survey was conducted in August and September, before Facebook and Yelp joined Foursquare and Gowalla in offering coupons to users who check in when they visit participating establishments, which may include Starbucks, McDonald's, and other popular chains. (Lisa Barone describes the companies' plans on the Small Business Trends blog.) The crux of the matter for privacy advocates is that when people check in to businesses participating in social networks' coupon programs, they're trading a little of their privacy for the chance to save money. As the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) reports, third parties may have access to users' location history without the users' explicit consent. For example, Facebook application developers are able to store their own check-in data in the Facebook Places database and retrieve information from the database. But Facebook is far from the only source of &quot;leakage&quot; for this location data. EPIC cites an AT&amp;T research paper (PDF) that found some kind of private data leaked to third parties in all 20 of the mobile online social networks studied. The services examined include Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, Foursquare, Yelp, and Loopt. While these services may have robust privacy policies, the advertisers and developers they deal with may be less secure. As Frederic Lardinois reported last February on the ReadWriteWeb, a site named PleaseRobMe aggregated information from several location-based services to indicate houses whose residents were away, making them easy pickings for thieves.Keep the mobile-device trackers at bay Services such as Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook Places depend on location information volunteered by their users. But the trails left by mobile phones and other location-reporting devices can also be tracked by third parties without users' consent or knowledge. A white paper released by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in August 2009 listed transit swipe-cards, electronic tolling devices such as FastTrak and EZPass, free wireless access points, and even smart parking meters as potential tracking systems. The EFF points out that location-based services can be deployed anonymously, although doing so would make the services more expensive to develop and deploy. But the researchers point out that anonymizing technologies wouldn't entirely prevent leakage of identifiable location information. For example, it's relatively easy to deduce the identity of users in areas with low population densities from little more than their GPS coordinates and a time of day.Prevent Facebook friends from checking you in Opting out of Facebook Places requires changes to several of the service's default settings. Click Account &gt; Privacy Settings &gt; Customize settings. Next, choose Custom in the drop-down menu next to &quot;Places I check in to&quot; and select your preferred setting in the &quot;Make this visible to&quot; drop-down menu. Disable &quot;Include me in 'People Here Now' after I check in.&quot; In the &quot;Things I share&quot; section, click Edit Settings next to &quot;People can check me in to Places&quot; and choose Disable from the drop-down menu in the top-right corner.Disable the Facebook Places option that lets others check you in to locations, to prevent unknown third parties from tracking your whereabouts.(Credit:Screenshot by Dennis O&amp;39'Reilly/CNET) Location-based services promise to make it easier to connect with family, friends, and associates and to be rewarded for being a loyal customer. But in their current form, the services make it too easy for people and organizations to access your private information without your explicit consent. While many--perhaps most--of these third parties won't misuse this information, others won't be so trustworthy. The reality of today's Web is that the personal information we volunteer to online services will be shared for profit with unknown third parties, and the services' promises of anonymity simply cannot be guaranteed. Beware what you share!<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Facebook enlists in pro-green coalition]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facebook-enlists-in-pro-green-coalition</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facebook-enlists-in-pro-green-coalition</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 2010 07:10:21 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>paultupppu</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facebook-enlists-in-pro-green-coalition</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Facebook on Thursday unveiled &quot;Green on Facebook,&quot; a page dedicated to spreading environmental awareness and other &quot;green&quot; news, and in tandem announced its participation in the Digital Energy Solutions Campaign (DESC), a nonprofit coalition of large technology companies and trade groups designed to solving the problems of environmental degradation and energy consumption. It's organized by the Information Technology Industry Council.Existing members of DESC include co-chairs Intel and Verizon, Sony Electronics, Cisco, AMD, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard. This is Facebook's first major corporate &quot;green&quot; initiative: It's growing fast, and the energy consumption of its servers and data centers is escalating.&quot;Global leaders such as Facebook provide the ideal foundation for promoting environmentally-responsible business practices across all industries,&quot; an announcement from DESC explained. &quot;The organization is leading in a number of ways: by connecting millions of environmentally-minded consumers and enabling real-time collaboration, reducing the number of company servers through a special programming language, and driving environmental responsibility across every aspect of its operations.&quot;Facebook has long followed a mantra of minimalist resources, frequently pointing out how much it can accomplish with a relatively low headcount of engineers. It's begun to apply that same rhetoric to energy consumption. &quot;Earlier this year, Facebook engineers launched a programming language, HipHop for PHP, which allowed their servers to do the same amount of work with half the number of servers,&quot; a press release announcing the company's DESC participation explained. &quot;To spread the benefit, Facebook has open sourced the programming language so that other companies can get the same energy saving benefits.&quot;Additional information on the Green on Facebook page about the company's corporate initiatives explains that through recycling and composting, it's estimated that so far it has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 294 tons, &quot;comparable to taking 59 mid-sizedcars off the road,&quot; that water conservation strategies have cut back on water use at the company's headquarters by 60 percent, and that more than 40 percent of its employees commute by carpooling, bikes, shuttles, and public transportation.Sunny statistics like these may seem like corporate greenwashing, but in Facebook's case, CEO Mark Zuckerberg may actually walk the walk with a minimal carbon footprint: Hardly flashy, the young billionaire drives a modest sedan and rents a nondescript house that he found on Craigslist.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Electrical glitch delays final Discovery launch another day]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=electrical-glitch-delays-final-discovery-launch-another-day</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=electrical-glitch-delays-final-discovery-launch-another-day</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 02 Nov 2010 07:10:24 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>paultupppu</dc:creator>
<category>Social</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=electrical-glitch-delays-final-discovery-launch-another-day</guid>
<description><![CDATA[KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL--The shuttle Discovery's launch on a space station resupply mission tomorrow was delayed at least 24 hours, to no earlier than 3:29 p.m. EDT Thursday, to give engineers more time to troubleshoot an apparent electrical glitch in circuitry associated with a backup main engine computer.&quot;It's another day in paradise,&quot; joked Launch Director Michael Leinbach after the countdown was extended. &quot;This is part of the business, you fly when you're ready and you don't if you're not, and we're not ready to go.&quot;&quot;Discovery's not going out easy,&quot; he said, referring to the orbiter's 39th and final flight. &quot;She's giving us a little bit of trouble. But that's fine. She'll fly perfectly when she does.&quot;A space shuttle main engine during ground processing.(Credit:NASA)If no major repairs are needed and engineers can get comfortable launching Discovery as is, commander Steven Lindsey and his five crewmates could be cleared for launch Thursday, weather permitting. Forecasters are predicting a 70 percent chance of low clouds and rain from an approaching frontal system that could block a launch attempt. But the forecast improves to 70 percent &quot;go&quot; on Friday.Regardless of the dismal forecast, Mike Moses, chairman of NASA's Mission Management Team, said the engineering community needed the extra day to review historical data, flight rules, and performance specifications to determine if the system can be launched as is or whether more extensive repairs might be needed.If repairs are needed, engineers will be hard pressed to complete the work before the current launch window closes. As of this writing, the window closes Sunday, with a possible extension to Monday. If Discovery isn't off the ground by then, launch will slip to December 1, the opening of the year's final shuttle launch window.&quot;We don't fly with unknown risk and right now, this risk is still a little bit unknown to us,&quot; Moses said. &quot;We're going to take another day to get to know it better, for lack of a better word, and make this a known risk that we do understand and that we've quantified.&quot;I think we could have gotten there, I think the data is there, but it's really the better part of valor to let them have the time to go put that story together in a nice, crisp package that we can walk through tomorrow.&quot;He said engineers are developing repair scenarios, but the focus is on developing &quot;the rationale to fly in the condition that we're in.&quot;&quot;If that rationale tomorrow doesn't sound good enough, we'll see what more time we need to make it a story we are comfortable with,&quot; he said. &quot;And ultimately, if we find that we cannot get comfortable with the scenario we have, then we'll go down the path of R &amp; R (removal and replacement).&quot;Discovery's final countdown began yesterday after engineers worked through the weekend to replace and retest leaking quick-disconnect fittings in the shuttle's right-side orbital maneuvering system rocket pod. That work forced NASA to delay launch from Monday to today and, eventually, to tomorrow.Once under way, the countdown ticked smoothly through its initial hours. But during work to power up and check out Discovery's main engine electronics early today, engineers ran into problems with a circuit powering one of two channels in main engine No. 3's controller.Each of the shuttle's three hydrogen-fueled main engines is equipped with a two-channel controller that monitors engine operation 50 times per second during ascent, relaying the data to the shuttle's flight computers.If the controllers spot a problem, an engine can be safely shut down before a catastrophic failure can occur. Given the critical nature of the controllers, NASA flight rules require both redundant channels in each controller to be operating normally for a launch to proceed.During checkout earlier today, the backup channel of main engine No. 3's controller did not power on when a switch was thrown. A bit later, the controller powered up on its own, the sort of signature that can indicate contamination in a circuit breaker.After initial troubleshooting, engineers cycled the circuit breaker in a bid to clear any &quot;transient contamination.&quot; The controller then was powered back on and it appeared to be working normally.But the picture was complicated about 90 minutes later when telemetry indicated an unexpected, very brief voltage drop in the same circuit. Engineers now are trying to determine whether a transient issue with the circuit breaker could explain both signatures.Moses said he was optimistic the system is healthy. The voltage drop was well within design specifications and he said had it occurred during engine startup, launch would have proceeded normally.But he said the team needed to develop a thorough understanding of &quot;what if we're wrong, what's going to happen if this controller does flake out, either in the count Thursday or once we start going up hill after launch&quot;&quot;The other big piece of that is to make sure we're not, to put it bluntly, crafting a solution that matches what we think the problem is and that we're actually having a good physics based understanding of the phenomenon.&quot;Does it make sense that a circuit breaker with a little bit of a bad contact explain both of these signatures that we saw The community feels pretty confident that that is the case, but they do need time to polish that story.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[On the GreenBeat: Court delays Tessera solar plant, Chinese solar panel maker to grab 10% of global market]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-the-greenbeat-court-delays-tessera-solar-plant-chinese-solar-panel-maker-to-grab-10-of-global-market</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-the-greenbeat-court-delays-tessera-solar-plant-chinese-solar-panel-maker-to-grab-10-of-global-market</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>paultupppu</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-the-greenbeat-court-delays-tessera-solar-plant-chinese-solar-panel-maker-to-grab-10-of-global-market</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Here&amp;'s some of the latest action we&amp;'re following today on the GreenBeat:Trina Solar shoots for 10 percent market share &amp;8211' The Chinese company is the world&amp;'s No. 2 solar panel maker and plans to invest $400 million to ramp up production in an effort to take at least 10 percent of the global market, Reuters reports. Its current global market share is about 8 percent and plans to double shipments to the U.S. next year.Cost of home solar at an all-time low &amp;8212' The average cost of a system fell to an all-time low of $4.10 per watt in 2009, and costs fell again in 2010, according to a new report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Earth2Tech notes that the decrease in price coincided with a change in federal policy that allowed solar system owners to receive a tax credit for 30 percent of the system&amp;'s cost.Solar and wind Treasury grant program wins one-year reprieve &amp;8211' After a fierce, last-minute push in Congress, the Senate has cleared a one-year extension of a Treasury federal tax grant program that solar and wind associations credit with bringing many jobs and projects online, Greentech Media reports. Wind and solar executives were divided on how crucial the program is, while industry associations warned of a negative impact on jobs and projects.Another delay for a Tessera solar plant &amp;8211' On the heels of quickly re-winning approval for its Calico plant, Tessera Solar announced that a court has delayed the start of construction on its Imperial Valley Solar plant in California &amp;8212' the first utility-scale solar project approved for public lands. The delay was granted on behalf of the Quechan Tribe, which sued government entities over what it claimed was insufficient consultation during the permitting process. The project has been in development for over five years and has cost about $20 million so far. Greentech Media has reported before that Tessera is troubled, having lost executives and laid off staff. (Tessera&amp;'s Suncatcher technology is pictured above.)Next Story: Microsoft jams JavaScript from partners in its Hotmail messages Previous Story: Google Maps 5.0 for Android now available with 3D buildings, offline supportPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: China, concentrated solar, Solar, subsidies, windCompanies: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Tessera Solar, Trina Solar          Tags: China, concentrated solar, Solar, subsidies, windCompanies: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Tessera Solar, Trina SolarIris 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>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Hulu&'s owners at odds over future of television]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hulursquos-owners-at-odds-over-future-of-television</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hulursquos-owners-at-odds-over-future-of-television</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>paultupppu</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hulursquos-owners-at-odds-over-future-of-television</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Here&amp;'s a shock: the three main corporate owners of Hulu are at odds with each other and with Hulu management over the online TV service&amp;'s basic strategy. Who could have guessedThe Wall Street Journal reports that News Corp. (owner of Fox) and Disney (owner of ABC) want to pull some of the ad-supported shows they make available free via Hulu. They complain that the streamed shows are biting into their other, more lucrative (for now) modes of distribution a4&quot; traditional TV, video on demand, reruns, DVDs. They also want to make their shows available to other online distributors like Netflix and Apple.Meanwhile, Hulu&amp;'s management is considering turning the service into an online cable-TV network, offering live television channels, bundled channels, and video on demand.&amp;''Hulu&amp;'s managers say tumult is natural in such a fast-changing industry,&amp;'' the Wall Street Journal says. It&amp;'s even more natural when you have three different, competing networks as owners, each with different ideas about how to fit their businesses into the highly uncertain future of television.One thing is clear: no matter how stridently some TV executives might argue that there is little or no &amp;''cord cutting&amp;'' going on, people are starting to drop cable in favor of watching TV over the Internet. The question is, how do the networks make money online while still drawing revenue from their traditional venues The Journal&amp;'s painstakingly reported account shows that the answer is far from clear, but it most likely won&amp;'t involve a distribution system owned by several competing networks.[image via Flickr/justin]Next Story: Tesla to recycle electric car batteries in Belgium Previous Story: Eric Schmidt&amp;'s talk on age of &amp;''augmented humanity&amp;'' at DLD (video)PrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Streaming media, television, TVCompanies: Disney, Hulu, News Corp          Tags: Streaming media, television, TVCompanies: Disney, Hulu, News CorpDan Mitchell covers media and technology for VentureBeat,  Fortune.com, and anyone else who will pay him. He previously covered the rise of the Internet for Wired, Cnet News.com, Red Herring, the Industry Standard, Business 2.0 and other  publications and was a Web producer for National Public  Radio. For three years he wrote the column &quot;What's Online&quot; for The New  York Times' Business Day. His popular blog &quot;Daily Bread,&quot; about the  business and political economics of food, ran for two years on Slate's  business site, The Big Money. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Hydrogen refueling ramps up in Norway]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hydrogen-refueling-ramps-up-in-norway</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hydrogen-refueling-ramps-up-in-norway</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>paultupppu</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hydrogen-refueling-ramps-up-in-norway</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A new hydrogen refueling station supplied by the Danish company Hynor Lillestrm AS will be installed just outside Oslo, Norway in summer 2011. Together with another planned Oslo hydrogen station in 2011, this means Norway will have one of the worlda4a4s most dense hydrogen refueling networks.Hydrogen is produced bysplitting water into hydrogen and oxygen.The hydrogen is compressed and stored in the vehicle. Most hydrogen vehiclesreact hydrogen with oxygen in afuel cell to run electric motors. So effectively a fuel-cell vehicle is a form of electric vehicle.Pike Research predicts that 37 percent of the 2.8 million fuel-cell vehicles sold by 2020 will be in Western Europe, 36 percent will be in the Asia-Pacific region and just 25 percent will be in North America. Several major automakers have recently announced their intentions to get fuel-cell models into showrooms by 2015.Norway opened its first hydrogen station in Stavanger in 2003. Since then, an additional three stations have opened, and 20 hydrogen vehicles have been put into operation. Similar efforts are underway in Sweden and Denmark through a joint collaboration effort called Scandinavian Hydrogen Highway Partnership (SHHP).TheSHHPplans to haveat least 15 hydrogen stations in place by 2015. Presently seven stations are in operation and a further three stations are under construction.The public support for R&amp;amp'D and demonstration of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in Scandinavia is in the range of a4s40-50 million ($53-66 million) per year. In Norway and Denmark there is no car registration tax on hydrogen vehicles. Normally, car registration taxes can be up to 180% of the base vehicle price.The new station will feature on-site hydrogen production and 700-bar refueling in a few minutes.700 bar is the pressure under which the hydrogen is stored onboard the vehicle. The higher the pressure, the more hydrogen is stored onboard and the longer the range of the vehicle on one refueling. The station will include an alkaline electrolyzer enabling production of hydrogen using electricity from solar panels.Refueling time is 2.6 minutes, excluding handling time. The range of a hydrogen vehicle varies but can be up to 800 km (Toyota). So hydrogen enables an electric vehicle to have a similar range to a gasoline-powered vehicle and a similar refueling time. Hydrogen fuel cells can also be used to power anything from homes andmobile phones to entire mobile networks.Next Story: First Windows Phone 7 jailbreak tool released Previous Story: The hallmarks of a great bossPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: electric vehicles, fuel cell, Hydrogen, norwayCompanies: Hynor Lillestrm          Tags: electric vehicles, fuel cell, Hydrogen, norwayCompanies: Hynor LillestrmCiara Byrne is a full time techie and part-time writer. She has worked as a software developer, team lead, engineering manager and mobile standards expert. Ciara is based in Amsterdam and her interests include creative companies, useful technology, torture by piano and cycling in high heels. Follow her on Twitter at @deciara. VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[MindJolt releases money-making tools for third party social game developers]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mindjolt-releases-money-making-tools-for-third-party-social-game-developers</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mindjolt-releases-money-making-tools-for-third-party-social-game-developers</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>paultupppu</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mindjolt-releases-money-making-tools-for-third-party-social-game-developers</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Social game platform MindJolt said today it is releasing new tools for third-party game developers to make money with MindJolt&amp;'s new ad platform, AdJolt.The new monetization tools include a virtual currency product that developers can use for power ups, virtual goods and other things. AdJolt essentially maximizes revenues for game developers who put their games on MindJolt&amp;'s platform, which reaches 20 million users across the web and on Facebook.MindJolt will use the tools to attract more developers, who benefit because MindJolt can cross promote their games across all of its titles on Facebook. On Facebook, gamers can access a bunch of MindJolt games, as if they were visiting a portal.Chief executive Chris DeWolfe, co-founder of MySpace, told Techcrunch that the company remains profitable and has retained its user numbers despite Facebook&amp;'s policy changes in the spring that drastically cut back on game communications &amp;8212' an act that slowed growth at all Facebook game makers.Adam Jones Productions, a game company that is using AdJot, said that the tools have dramatically increased revenues, which are shared 50-50 with MindJolt. Adam Jones Productions was able to increase its revenues by 50 percent to 70 percent over its past ad solution. Techcrunch says that MindJolt&amp;'s revenues are around $20 million and the company will expand to the iPhone and iPad shortly.We also hear from the company that revenue has doubled in the last three month. MindJolt raised around $20 million or so from Austin Ventures in order to acquire a bunch of social game companies. Talks are ongoing with a number of possible acquisition targets.Previous Story: Google&amp;'s idea of the perfect ad (video)PrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: AdJoltCompanies: MindJoltPeople: Chris Dewolfe          Tags: AdJoltCompanies: MindJoltPeople: Chris DewolfeDean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, 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>
</item>

</channel>
</rss>
