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<title>Haaze.com / kohlline142 / Published News</title>
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<pubDate>Fri, 11 Feb 2011 08:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Netflix not into ads]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=netflix-not-into-ads</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=netflix-not-into-ads</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 11 Feb 2011 08:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>kohlline142</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=netflix-not-into-ads</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Netflix may have thought about it, but the company won't be bringing ads to its streaming service.Speaking to Fast Company in an interview posted today, Netflix Vice President of Corporate Communications Steve Swasey said the topic of bringing advertising to the company's streaming service has been brought to the table from time to time over at Netflix headquarters in Los Gatos, Calif., but the arguments in favor of ads haven't been all that compelling.&quot;Every time, we shoot it down,&quot; Swasey said.Netflix's streaming service has relied on a subscription model since its launch. Previously, customers that had unlimited DVD rental plans were allowed to stream content from Netflix for as little as $9 per month. After launching a streaming-only service in Canada last year, Netflix then brought a streaming-only option to the United States as well. It costs $7.99 per month.The success of Netflix streaming has caused the company to shift its focus. In a statement to investors last year, CEO Reed Hastings said that &quot;by every measure,&quot; Netflix is &quot;a streaming company that also offers DVD-by-mail.&quot;Netflix's decision to nix the idea of bringing advertising to its service stands in stark contrast to the strategy of one of its top competitors, Hulu Plus, which offers a subscription fee--$7.99 per month--and places ads in the content it streams.Hulu's ad-supported model has been met with some complaints from users who would like to see the commercials go. However, Hulu claims on a Web page detailing its business model that advertising is necessary to keep the price of its service down.&quot;Hulu's goal for this subscription product has always been to offer the largest content selection to users for the lowest price,&quot; the company writes on its Web page. &quot;By making Hulu Plus an ad-supported subscription service, we were able to offer the low price of $7.99 to subscribers for the deepest library of current TV programming online.&quot;Netflix, on the other hand, isn't after &quot;current&quot; content. Swasey told Fast Company that Netflix prefers &quot;to have complete seasons of the series rather than day-after broadcast.&quot; Perhaps most importantly, Netflix can offer that content and push cash into the hands of content providers without relying on advertising to pull it off. And Swasey believes that model works best for all stakeholders.&quot;Netflix is a new money provider,&quot; Swasey told Fast Company. &quot;This is new money in the system, which is good for content owners.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Laptop ban at German transport ministry]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=laptop-ban-at-german-transport-ministry</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=laptop-ban-at-german-transport-ministry</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:10:20 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>kohlline142</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=laptop-ban-at-german-transport-ministry</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Germany is a remarkably underrated country. Not only has it largely avoided the financial arthritis brought on by the most greedy banks, it also offers a unique sense of playful optimism in a world gone sour.You might, therefore, wonder why Germany's transport minister, Peter Ramsauer, rammed through a rather difficult diktat against laptops.Oh, he didn't ban his no doubt assiduous employees from staring into screens and rectifying traffic problems. No, he banned the use of the word &quot;laptop&quot; as it is not German but Denglish--that difficult mixture of Deutsch and English.The Independent reports that the replacement of &quot;laptop&quot; with the far more elegant &quot;Klapprechner&quot; has been an uproarious triumph. It seems that other techneologisms have failed to escape the cross herrs (my pun) of the ministry. The wondrous (not really) German word &quot;downloaden&quot; is now verboten. How can this work of art possibly be a Klapprechner(Credit:Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)However, I must admit to a woe-filled tear duct at the thought that a common Denglish word for cell phone has also suffered the same cloaking as have so many German buildings on Google Street View.For many Germans refer to their cell phone as their &quot;handy&quot;.Yes, no more &quot;I have lost my handy.&quot; At least at the transport ministry. Out with &quot;Can I take a picture I'll use my handy.&quot; And begone &quot;I haven't had a handy since myiPhone caught fire at the circus.&quot;Somehow, this seems a great pity. It also seems symbolic of the year 2010. The more we have believed that technology enhances freedom (including freedom of speech), the more the truths of that supposed freedom have been tested, questioned and, in some cases, assaulted by greasy-haired lawyers. Technology has taken us to places where some (even those in government) feel more uncomfortable than in a tuk tuk from Moscow to Turkmenistan. As those whose incomes (and politics) depend on making technology's exigencies the only ones that matter, real human beings will, just occasionally, worry and resist. In 2011, that tension will only become more pointed.But one cannot leave 2010 on a miserable note. So might I wish everyone who has read, commented, written e-mails (using long words or short), liked, disliked or retweeted, an extremely enlightened New Year. Perhaps I will bump into some of you at CES. Should I have a glazed look in my eye, it will probably be the shock of the new. Or the effects of a random tempranillo. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[DOE finalizes Abengoa Solar's $1.45 billion loan guarantee]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=doe-finalizes-abengoa-solars-1-45-billion-loan-guarantee</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=doe-finalizes-abengoa-solars-1-45-billion-loan-guarantee</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 23 Dec 2010 08:10:38 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>kohlline142</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=doe-finalizes-abengoa-solars-1-45-billion-loan-guarantee</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A unit of Spanish conglomerate Abengoa has gotten the final sign-off on the U.S. Department of Energy's largest renewable-energy loan to date, a $1.45 billion loan guarantee for a 250-megawatt solar thermal power plant in Gila Bend, Ariz.The loan guarantee helps advance the nation's broad goals of building up renewable energy resources and lessening its dependence on fossil fuels.This year, regulators have approved several large-scale renewable energy plants in the Southwest, but many of them haven't yet lined up financing.An Abengoa Solartower in Europe.(Credit:Abengoa)With the loan guarantee, which was announced on a preliminary basis in July, Abengoa Solar will be able to start construction on its Gila Bend plant, which at 250 megawatts will be big enough to power at least 75,000 homes.The size of Abengoa's DOE loan guarantee tops one awarded to BrightSource Energy, which has a conditional loan guarantee for $1.37 billion to support its 370-megawatt Ivanpah plant in California.Abengoa's Solana plant will use parabolic trough technology, meaning arrays of mirrors will collect energy from the sun and use it to heat fluid. The fluid will power steam generators that produce electricity. The plant will store electricity using a molten-salt technology.The project should generate some 1,600 to 1,700 construction jobs, and about 80 operational jobs upon completion. Pinnacle West Capital's Arizona Public Service utility unit will purchase Solana's output.Abengoa also has a 250-megawatt parabolic-trough plant under development in California's Mojave Desert.Story Copyright (c) 2010 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Are video games art 2010 Edition]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=are-video-games-art-2010-edition</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=are-video-games-art-2010-edition</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 06 Dec 2010 08:10:32 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>kohlline142</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=are-video-games-art-2010-edition</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Playdead)While the role of the professional critic in the realm of books, film, music, or art is well-established, for interactive entertainment the lines are less clear. As a (relatively) young medium, questions about how to actually write about video games are still being hashed out, by consumers, fans, bloggers, established media critics, and others. Are video games art 2010 Edition The default to date has been to consider a work of interactive entertainment as a packaged consumer product -- hence game reviews that focus on the number of levels, hours of gameplay, and other technical details. I am more inclined to consider a game as a cultural or artistic effort -- which is hopefully how even a very mainstream entertainment-minded audience sees it, consciously or not (to not do so would be akin to judging a film such as &quot;Apocalypse Now&quot; by the number of explosions per minute). Over the course of this year, as part of CNET's revolving brain trust of gaming experts (typically alongside my colleagues Scott Stein and Jeff Bakalar) I've endeavored to take that broader view, looking at how these games fit into the larger cultural landscape, and hopefully providing some useful context and analysis along the way. Whether I have or not is up to you to decide, and to that end, I've collected some of the more interesting (and perhaps self-indulgent at times) excerpts of my year-long attempt to discern the artistic and cultural value, if any, of the games of 2010. Film critic Roger Ebert has approached the issue from the other end, at first famously declaring that &quot;video games can never be art,&quot; and later amending that to say, &quot;in principle, video games cannot be art.&quot; Despite the torrent of replies Ebert has received, ranging from calm and rational to angry and hyperbolic, he's actually more correct than his detractors. Just because we can provide some cultural or artistic context for some games, doesn't mean the medium has done more than scratch the surface (or as Ebert describes it, these are primitive cave paintings compared to Michelangelo's ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.)Click through the accompanying slideshow to see the worlds of Bioshock, God of War, and Fallout filtered through Ayn Rand, Joseph Campbell, and Cormac McCarthy, then add your voice to the debate by commenting below.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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