3:33 PM
http://email.jackinthebox.com/free-2-tacos/index.php
A Japanese deep-space probe collected asteroid dust during its 7-year voyage and brought it back to Earth. Their scientists have studied the minute particles to make sure it was from the asteroid and not just contaminants, and they have confirmed that 1,500 particles brought back to Earth are from the Itokawa asteroid:
http://www.asdnews.com/news/31852/Japan_confirms_space_probe_brought_home_asteroid_dust.htm
New kind of vacuum cleaner that blows bark or other absorbent materials onto oil spills and then sucks the material up again is 4x more efficient in cleaning up after oil spills than conventional techniques. This started as a simple class project for 4 master's students and has resulted in numerous awards and a product on the market that might change the way that oil spills are handled:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/sucking-oil-spills-cinch
The concept of metamaterials has been extended by researchers to go from just an invisibility cloak to a apace-time cloak that conceals events:
http://www.rdmag.com/News/2010/11/Physics-Metamaterials-Space-time-cloak-can-conceal-events/
Stores in all unincorporated areas of LA County are now banned from giving out plastic grocery bags. Not only are plastic bags banned, but the stores have to charge 10 cents for each paper bag a customer wants:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/la-county-passes-sweeping-ban-on-plastic-bags.html
Article about how Facebook's combined e-mail, IM, and text messaging service poses a threat to Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google in the battle for the future of communications on the Internet. E-mail is considered too boring for US teens, to the point that only 11% of teens use e-mail every day:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-facebook-20101116,0,5762366.story
Lightsquared's satellite for its 4G-LTE network has the biggest commercial antenna reflector ever put into space (72 feet across):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11756327
Huawei won 18 LTE contracts this year and said that they will win double that in 2011. They say that the LTE market is forecast to grow to $6 billion by 2014. Huawei also said that they are working hard to convince customers that they should be able to win contracts in the US. I know that Huawei is spending a lot of money in lobbying efforts for this. I also heard last week that Huawei was trying to increase their staff quickly then all of a sudden stopped hiring (which explains why a Huawei recruiter contacted me out of the blue and then all of a sudden disappeared), which probably happened after the DoD told US companies not to give contracts to Huawei:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE6AF06O20101116
Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile have formed a joint venture to create a nationwide mobile commerce network that will enable consumers to make purchases via mobile devices. They are building out a Near Field Communications-based network so consumers can wave their smartphone to pay for retail goods and services, and they are trying to build a mobile wallet solution that will make cash, credit cards, debit cards, loyalty cards (store cards), coupons, tickets and transit passes obsolete:
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/46464.php
The Commerce Department released a proposal that would free up 115 MHz of additional spectrum for wireless broadband use. 100 MHz would be shared with DoD radar systems and 15 MHz would be taken from NOAA satellites that provide weather information:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h3vHZOCoQiWbS9mQwggSB61VFZNQ?docId=b4e0c8d5ad0c43b78310acae2626c4c9
More than 100 crew members and labor officials are picketing where the show "The Biggest Loser" is filmed, protesting the decision by producers to bring in replacement workers to resume production on the NBC show:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-loser-20101116,0,3281183.story
Woman who was homeless for a period of time after being laid off now made about $100k in the past year by writing articles for Examiner:
http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=147099