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<title>Haaze.com / escoriana / Published News</title>
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<pubDate>Wed, 15 Jun 2011 07:10:58 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title><![CDATA[DOE sets aside $2 billion for concentrated solar]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=doe-sets-aside-2-billion-for-concentrated-solar</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=doe-sets-aside-2-billion-for-concentrated-solar</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 15 Jun 2011 07:10:58 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>escoriana</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=doe-sets-aside-2-billion-for-concentrated-solar</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Mirrored parabolic troughs concentrate solar energy onto pipes containing synthetic oil.(Credit:NextEra Energy Resources)The Department of Energy has offered conditional loan guarantees totaling $2 billion to two concentrated solar projects in California, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced yesterday.Both projects employ mirrored parabolic solar thermal troughs that reflect and concentrate solar energy to heat pipes containing heat transfer liquid, usually synthetic oil. That hot liquid is then used to generate steam and power a turbine generator that produces electricity. Specifically, a $1.2 billion loan guarantee has been offered to the 250-megawatt Mojave Solar Project in San Bernardino County. Once fully operational, the farm is expected to generate enough electricity to power 53,000 homes annually.Due to increased thermal efficiency of the system compared to older concentrated solar plants, the Mojave Solar Project will be able to operate without a fossil fuel backup system, such as natural gas, during periods when sun power wanes, according to project sponsor Abengoa Solar.The Mojave Solar Project is expected to create 830 construction jobs and 70 operational jobs. About 80 percent of all equipment and labor to build the project will be sourced from within the U.S., with the plant's receiver tubes being made in New Mexico, and its parabolic trough mirrors coming from Arizona, according to Abengoa.The DOE has also offered $681.6 million in the form of a loan guarantee to the Genesis Solar Project, which, when complete, will consist of two 125-megawatt concentrated solar farms in the Sonoran Desert roughly 25 miles from Blythe, Calif. The Genesis Solar Project had already been granted use of those public lands by the Bureau of Land Management shortly after October 2010 when Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approved a program to facilitate land-use grants for renewable energy projects.The Genesis Solar Project is expected to create 800 construction jobs and 47 operating jobs. Once complete, it should generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 48,000 homes annually, according to project sponsor NextEra Energy Resources.NextEra already operates seven solar projects in the Mojave Desert region, according to the company.The electricity generated by both the Mojave Solar Project and the Genesis Solar Project will be sold to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, according to the DOE.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[FaceTime for Mac out of beta]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facetime-for-mac-out-of-beta</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facetime-for-mac-out-of-beta</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:10:34 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>escoriana</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facetime-for-mac-out-of-beta</guid>
<description><![CDATA[FaceTime for Mac is out.(Credit:Apple)Mac owners can now download FaceTime for video chats with friends.Apple said today that FaceTime for Mac is available in its Mac App Store for 99 cents. With the help of the app, those usingMac OS X Snow Leopard can engage in video chats with people using the FaceTime app on theiPhone 4, the latestiPod Touch, and other Macs. Apple first announced FaceTime for Mac back in October. At the time, the software was in beta. As of today, it is officially out of beta. FaceTime for Mac lets people see video in standard definition or in HD up to 720p resolution. If someone calls a person on the Mac, the computer rings, regardless of whether FaceTime is running or not. In addition, if an Apple account is linked to multiple installations of FaceTime, calls ring on all the computers running the software. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Informed consumers conserve for cash, study says]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=informed-consumers-conserve-for-cash-study-says</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=informed-consumers-conserve-for-cash-study-says</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:10:49 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>escoriana</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=informed-consumers-conserve-for-cash-study-says</guid>
<description><![CDATA[People will significantly conserve electricity during peak demand if given price incentives and tools to modify usage, according to a new study.Oklahoma Gas &amp; Electric (OG&amp;E), a utility company and a subsidiary of OGE Energy, announced this week the interim results of a study that was required as part of a $130 million grant from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. The utility used the grant to create a smart grid with 42,000 smart meters.The study, conducted in conjunction with the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, consists of 3,000 OG&amp;E consumers in Norman, Okla., who volunteered to participate.(Credit:OGE Energy)OG&amp;E randomly chose participants to receive a peak-hour pricing structure, in which consumers were charged more for using electricity during peak usage times than at other times. Other participants were offered peak pricing and tools to monitor and modify their habits. OG&amp;E partnered with Silver Spring Networks, a company that makes consumer smart grid-monitoring software, to track the usage patterns of customers, which included small businesses and residences. The hypothesis, based on responses in other markets and previous consumer smart grid studies, was that peak pricing and more control over usage would lower peak-electricity demand. So far, that has proven correct.The first collection of data, taken from June through September, found that on average customers who were offered peak pricing, but no smart tools, reduced electricity use during peak periods by 33 percent. Customers using smart thermostats and offered peak pricing, reduced electricity use during peak times by as much as 57 percent.On days that included peak pricing time periods, the average energy reduction overall for the entire day was 11 percent to 33 percent, depending on the smart tools used, according to the study.OG&amp;E also interviewed consumers to determine their attitudes and how they chose to use the tools they were given.&quot;Some pre-programmed their thermostats to respond to higher peak prices. Some simply put a note on the refrigerator as a reminder, and others wanted to graph their energy use along with summer temperatures to identify ways to better manage their electricity,&quot; Ken Grant, managing director of OG&amp;E's smart grid program, said in a statement.The ongoing study is expanding to 6,000 customers in 2011 with OG&amp;E asking volunteers to enroll by April 18.The OG&amp;E results concur with the PowerCentsDC smart meter program study in Washington, D.C., which found that regardless of income level, consumers will conserve energy when offered pricing incentives. That study also found that consumers are more likely to turn down air conditioning during hot weather for the sake of saving energy, but less likely to turn down heat during cold weather.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Ahhha wants to turn your great idea into money]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ahhha-wants-to-turn-your-great-idea-into-money</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ahhha-wants-to-turn-your-great-idea-into-money</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>escoriana</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ahhha-wants-to-turn-your-great-idea-into-money</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Therea4a4s a good chance that youa4a4ve had some random product ideas throughout your life. Like, a4ABoy, it would be great if there was a tortilla chip that didna4a4t get soggy when you put salsa on ita4 But unless youa4a4re a startup CEO (and hey, maybe even if you are), you probably haven&amp;'t done anything with those ideas.A new company called Ahhha wants to change that. The goal is to take all those random idea and crowdsource the process of turning them into designs and products that you can actually make money from. People enter their ideas into the website, then other users can weigh in, voting ideas up or down and also contributing their own thoughts. In the tortilla example, someone could say, a4AMan, I would totally buy that!a4 and endorse the idea, or a food chemist might offer some ideas about the possible ingredients.At a certain point, the most popular ideas will be refined to the the point that theya4a4re monetizable. Or they might need a final push, so Ahhha might hold a contest where users could join up in teams to create the final product. Then Ahhha will try to actually sell it, either by licensing it to another company (which seems more plausible, at least at first) or even starting a new business.The money made from the product or licensing deal is then split among Ahhha users based on a set terms. The idea originator gets 1 percent, then the remaining 99 percent is divided among Ahhha and the other contributors, depending on how much the users actually did.Of course, 1 percent of a licensing deal might seem like an awfully small payment for your idea, but founder and chief executive Matthew Crowe likes to repeat the common Silicon Valley wisdom that ideas are cheap, while execution is what counts. Or, as Thomas Edison put it, genius is a4A1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.a4 After all, 1 percent of a real product is better than 100 percent of a daydream that doesna4a4t go anywhere.After talking to Crowe, it also seems like the best way to use Ahhha is to have a stake in a number of ideas, some that you came up with and some that you contributed to, so that youa4a4re not too invested in any one product.a4AIf this is your one great idea that youa4a4re convinced you&amp;'re going to make your fortune from, then go do that, I dona4a4t want it,a4 Crowe said.Ahhha can make money in three ways, he added. First by licensing or selling the products developed through the site. Second by selling a customizable version to companies who want to crowdsource product development with their customers. (This sounds similar to products like Spigit, but Crowe said most of those idea voting products are focused on employees, not customers. Plus, Ahhha has developed a technology for weighting different votes and contributions, and also for determining when a product is ready to monetize.) Finally, Ahhha can also sell services to entrepreneurs who want to turn their ideas into products.For some readers, the concept may sound like a patent troll in disguise, as former Microsoft chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold&amp;'s Intellectual Ventures has been accused of. But Crowe was emphatic that he has no interest in pursuing that kind of litigious model, even though he does want Ahhha to develop and patent intellectual property.Crowe said that he has raised funding for the Palo Alto, Calif. company, but that ita4a4s too early to disclose how much or from whom.Personally, I think ita4a4s a compelling idea and with a lot of potential, but one with a lot of question marks. Its success will depend on the companya4a4s ability to convince users to share their ideas, and on its ability to separate the good ideas from the random ones (current ideas in the system include a4Awarp drivea4 and a4Atime machinea4).Ahhha is slowly letting users onto the site. VentureBeat readers can get in by visiting this page and entering the code a4Aedisona4.Next Story: In Man vs. Machine challenge, IBM&amp;'s Watson supercomputer ties for first on Jeopardy Previous Story: Google asks users to help fight content farmsPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Companies: AhhhaPeople: Matthew Crowe          Companies: AhhhaPeople: Matthew CroweAnthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site 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. 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>
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