Link Collection

Chinese manufacturers have been substituting cadmium for lead in children's jewelry, but cadmium is WORSE than lead for human health! Chinese manufacturers like cadmium because it is cheap and easy to work with, and in some cases are using extraordinarily high levels of cadmium in their products, but cadmium causes cancer and hinders in the brain development of kids! Cadmium is #7 out of the 275 most hazardous substances in the environment. Put it this way--if the jewelry with cadmium was industrial garbage, it would be considered hazardous waste...but since there are no cadmium restrictions on jewelry, it can be sold legally in the US...and many, many children in our country are poisoning themselves and hindering their brain development because they are playing with those products:
http://www.rdmag.com/News/2010/01/Policy-and-Industry-US-agency-goes-after-cadmium/?wnnvz=1737,01277142212

Study found that every hour per day spent watching TV brings a 11% greater risk of death, including an 18% greater risk of dying from cardiovascular disease:
http://americanheart.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=920

The Federal Reserve earned $45 billion in profit in 2009--that money will be given to the US Treasury. The Fed made much more than the profits of Bank of American, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase combined:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/11/AR2010011103892.html?wpisrc=nl_politics

The Detroit Auto show had so many hybrid and electric cars that they filled a whole section of their show floor, called "Electric Avenue". I think that it is great that the Prius will have a family of hybrids and that Toyota will have hybrid options for almost all of their cars soon. I never heard of the 39-inch-wide battery-powered Tango car before, but apparently they have been showing off prototypes since 2003 and will have them available for the public to purchase this year:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/automobiles/autoshow/12electric.html

Here is a review of the Tango at the 2005 LA Auto Show--with a top speed of 150 mph, miles per gallon equivalent of 195 mpg, and a full charge taking less than 3 hours, it sure has some interesting stats:
http://g4tv.com/articles/50912/first-look-tango-electric-car/

Delta just raised fees for checked bags--if you are paying at the airport, it will be $25 for the first bag and $35 for the second. It will be interesting to see if other airlines increase their fees
similarly:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/01/12/delta.baggage.fees/index.html

Verizon customers who get 3G multimedia phones after January 17 will be required to get a $9.99/month data/e-mail plan. The good news is that the $5 e-mail app that current customers have to pay for will be included for free and the data overage charges were reduced from $1.99 to $0.20:
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/01/11/verizon-wireless-mandating-data-plans-for-all-3g-devices/

Windows Mobile 7 was scheduled for release last year, but was delayed due to major modifications that were needed. That was bad for Microsoft because Android, BlackBerry, and Apple have severely cut into Microsoft's mobile market share. Published reports this month said that Windows Mobile 7 was going to be released next month, but now reports are stating that it might be delayed until 2011!
http://www.pcworld.com/article/186716/windows_mobile_7_delayed_until_2011.html

I thought that Microsoft announced that Windows 7 would follow a different type of model and they would no longer have to issue service packs...which is why I was surprised about this article about the upcoming Windows 7 Service Pack 1:
http://www.infoworld.com/d/windows/what-microsoft-has-in-store-windows-7-service-pack-1-234?source=IFWNLE_nlt_blogs_2010-01-12

Conan O'Brien said that he won't do the Tonight Show if it is pushed back to start after midnight...which will probably mean that he'll be on Fox soon and Leno will have the Tonight Show again:
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/conan-obrien-says-he-wont-do-tonight-show-following-leno/?hp

This is an interesting commentary on the Conan position that mentions the $60 million penalty fee that is in Conan's contract if NBC pulls him as the host of the Tonight Show:
http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/conan-obrien-resigning-tonight-show/

Channing Tatum had to swim in ice-cold water while filming a movie in Scotland, so they kept him warm by pouring warm water down his suit. However, one crew member forgot to dilute the hot water and poured the scalding water down his suit...and it burned the skin off his package!
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/01/12/2010-01-12_ouch_channing_tatum_reveals_he_severely_burned_his_genitals_while_trying_to_keep.html