8:17 PM
Taiwanese farmer has shown that "potty-training" his 10,000 pigs sinc 2009 collected 95% of all pig waste in the toilets, making the farm and the nearby rivers and streams much cleaner. Not only is this great for the environment around the farm, it reduced illness among the pigs and increased pig fertility by 20%. Waste water pollution was reduced by up to *80%*, which could be a huge benefit in the US because every second 250,000 pounds of excrement from livestock is produced and cattle and livestock create TWICE the amount of pollutants than all US industrial sources combined:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/taiwan-wants-pigs-potty-trained-curb-pollution
Study found that inexpensive igloo-shaped, pollution-eating devices (actually named "Poo Gloos") can clean up sewage just as effectively as multimillion-dollar treatment facilities:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/igloo-shaped-poo-gloos-eat-sewage-clean-water
Flooding is devastating Australia's economy--it may cost them more than $5 billion to repair the damage in Queensland and the rain has destroyed cotton crops, stopped coal deliveries, shut mines, and prompted producers to declare force majeure, which allows them to miss contracted deliveries:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-06/queensland-towns-watch-rivers-rise-as-rain-continues-to-fall.html
Berkeley Labs and Cal Tech have developed a new type of glass that is stronger than steel:
http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2011/01/10/new-glass-tops-steel/
Article detailing the interesting technology coming soon to contact lenses--lenses that monitor eye health (it can even monitor glucose levels for people with diabetes) and provide in-eye 3D image displays are being developed by private companies, and DARPA is funding work on glasses that will give soldiers zoom vision, nightsight, serve as a heads-up display, and even allow the soldier to see what is in the back of his/her head:
http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/01/contact-lenses-for-health-monitoring.html
IBM announced that its inventors received a record 5,896 US patents in 2010, the 18th consecutive year that IBM has had the most patents in the world! IBM is the first company to ever get 5,000 US patents in a single year...it took IBM's inventors more than 50 years to get their first 5,000 patents:
http://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/ShowPR~PUBCODE~055~ACCT~0000100~ISSUE~1101~RELTYPE~IN~PRODCODE~00000~PRODLETT~BK.html
New iPhone App enables people to see what they would look like with a variety of plastic surgery procedures such as nose jobs and facelifts. People can just take a photo or use an existing photo and then the app lets them modify their nose, nick, eyes, etc., to see what they would look like after plastic surgery. The modified photos can be shared with friends and family and the user can set up a consult with Dr. Simoni (who released the app), the exclusive Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who will probably drum up a whole bunch of new business with this app:
http://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/ShowPR~PUBCODE~055~ACCT~0000100~ISSUE~1101~RELTYPE~IN~PRODCODE~00000~PRODLETT~BM.html
Taxsoftware.com announced an iPad app that allows users to do their federal taxes for just $9.99. This is the first federal tax return app for the iPad, so they may own this market for at least this year:
http://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/ShowPR.aspx?PUBCODE=055&ACCT=0000100&ISSUE=1101&RELTYPE=IN&PRODCODE=00000&PRODLETT=BN&CommonCount=0
Verizon has been upgrading its 3G network to prepare for the iPhone and will use their network's capability to distinguish their iPhone vs. AT&T's offering by offering an unlimited data plan for iPhone users while AT&T eliminated its unlimited data plan (except for grandfathered customers):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703667904576072110862862244.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
Verizon's CEO points out that if AT&T really believed that their HSPA+ network was 4G (like AT&T said last week at CES), they wouldn't be rushing to upgrade to LTE (which AT&T said last week that they were doing). He also points out that T-Mobile is calling their HSPA+ network 4G because they don't have the spectrum for LTE. He points out that the speed difference is 4x or more when a device is on the edge of the LTE network vs. on the edge of a HSPA+ network:
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-32254_1-20027890-283.html
Note for Lori: The proposed $12.5 billion in spending cuts for California will significantly change a wide range of state operations...but K-12 education was spared any cuts. The Cal State and UC systems were cut a total of $1 billion, which will be extremely painful for them on top of the significant cuts they had recently:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-10/brown-proposes-cutting-california-spending-by-12-5-billion-to-close-gap.html?t=TOP-OK&pos=4
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/taiwan-wants-pigs-potty-trained-curb-pollution
Study found that inexpensive igloo-shaped, pollution-eating devices (actually named "Poo Gloos") can clean up sewage just as effectively as multimillion-dollar treatment facilities:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/igloo-shaped-poo-gloos-eat-sewage-clean-water
Flooding is devastating Australia's economy--it may cost them more than $5 billion to repair the damage in Queensland and the rain has destroyed cotton crops, stopped coal deliveries, shut mines, and prompted producers to declare force majeure, which allows them to miss contracted deliveries:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-06/queensland-towns-watch-rivers-rise-as-rain-continues-to-fall.html
Berkeley Labs and Cal Tech have developed a new type of glass that is stronger than steel:
http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2011/01/10/new-glass-tops-steel/
Article detailing the interesting technology coming soon to contact lenses--lenses that monitor eye health (it can even monitor glucose levels for people with diabetes) and provide in-eye 3D image displays are being developed by private companies, and DARPA is funding work on glasses that will give soldiers zoom vision, nightsight, serve as a heads-up display, and even allow the soldier to see what is in the back of his/her head:
http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/01/contact-lenses-for-health-monitoring.html
IBM announced that its inventors received a record 5,896 US patents in 2010, the 18th consecutive year that IBM has had the most patents in the world! IBM is the first company to ever get 5,000 US patents in a single year...it took IBM's inventors more than 50 years to get their first 5,000 patents:
http://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/ShowPR~PUBCODE~055~ACCT~0000100~ISSUE~1101~RELTYPE~IN~PRODCODE~00000~PRODLETT~BK.html
New iPhone App enables people to see what they would look like with a variety of plastic surgery procedures such as nose jobs and facelifts. People can just take a photo or use an existing photo and then the app lets them modify their nose, nick, eyes, etc., to see what they would look like after plastic surgery. The modified photos can be shared with friends and family and the user can set up a consult with Dr. Simoni (who released the app), the exclusive Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who will probably drum up a whole bunch of new business with this app:
http://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/ShowPR~PUBCODE~055~ACCT~0000100~ISSUE~1101~RELTYPE~IN~PRODCODE~00000~PRODLETT~BM.html
Taxsoftware.com announced an iPad app that allows users to do their federal taxes for just $9.99. This is the first federal tax return app for the iPad, so they may own this market for at least this year:
http://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/ShowPR.aspx?PUBCODE=055&ACCT=0000100&ISSUE=1101&RELTYPE=IN&PRODCODE=00000&PRODLETT=BN&CommonCount=0
Verizon has been upgrading its 3G network to prepare for the iPhone and will use their network's capability to distinguish their iPhone vs. AT&T's offering by offering an unlimited data plan for iPhone users while AT&T eliminated its unlimited data plan (except for grandfathered customers):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703667904576072110862862244.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
Verizon's CEO points out that if AT&T really believed that their HSPA+ network was 4G (like AT&T said last week at CES), they wouldn't be rushing to upgrade to LTE (which AT&T said last week that they were doing). He also points out that T-Mobile is calling their HSPA+ network 4G because they don't have the spectrum for LTE. He points out that the speed difference is 4x or more when a device is on the edge of the LTE network vs. on the edge of a HSPA+ network:
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-32254_1-20027890-283.html
Note for Lori: The proposed $12.5 billion in spending cuts for California will significantly change a wide range of state operations...but K-12 education was spared any cuts. The Cal State and UC systems were cut a total of $1 billion, which will be extremely painful for them on top of the significant cuts they had recently:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-10/brown-proposes-cutting-california-spending-by-12-5-billion-to-close-gap.html?t=TOP-OK&pos=4