Mobile internet usage on the rise

Mobile internet use is growing while the number of people going online via a PC is slowing, analyst firm Nielsen Online has found.
Some 7.3m people accessed the net via their mobile phones, during the second and third quarters of 2008.
This is an increase of 25% compared to a growth of just 3% for the PC-based net audience - now more than 35m.
It also found that the mobile net audience was younger and searched for different things.
Searching news
While Google remains the most popular site for those logging on via the desktop, on mobile internet BBC News is the most visited site, with nearly a quarter of mobile internet consumers using it.
Other popular sites include BBC Weather and Sky Sports.
"This highlights the advantage of mobile when it comes to immediacy: people often need fast, instant access to weather or sports news and mobile can obviously satisfy this," said Kent Ferguson, a senior analyst with Nielsen Online.
"The fact that weather, sports, news and e-mail sites make up the majority of leading mobile sites shows that mobile internet is mainly about functionality and need at the moment as opposed to the more entertainment and e-commerce-focused makeup of the leading PC-based sites," he added.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the mobile net audience is younger than its computer based counterpart.
A quarter of the mobile net audience is aged 15-24, compared to 16% for the PC.
While 23% of the desk-top based internet population is 55 or over, only 12% of mobile internet audience is.
Facebook phone

3 has launched a so-called 'Facebook phone'
There are several factors for the dramatic rise in mobile net use, thinks Mr Ferguson.
"The barriers are finally being lifted thanks to operators offering flat-rate tariffs for data and more user-friendly handsets and improved network technology," he said.
It is thought that mobile users spend about 10 minutes online per session with an average of around seven sessions per month.
Increasingly mobile firms are encouraging users to venture online via their handsets.
Increasingly buttons for Google and popular social networks are being incorporated on handsets.
Mobile phone firm 3 has recently launched a so-called Facebook phone, which integrates the networking site with the traditional functions of a mobile

Europe backs mobile roaming cap

European telecoms chiefs have backed plans to make it cheaper to access data while on a mobile phone abroad.
The measures will slash the cost of sending a text while abroad and reform the way phone operators charge for data calls made when customers roam.
The changes to charges are due to come in to force across the EU's 27 member nations from July 2009.
Some nations and industry groups said the changes could mean higher charges for other services.
Costly calls
"We want to avoid so-called bill shock, when someone gets back from a holiday and gets a nasty surprise," said Luc Chatel, French minister for industry and consumer affairs.
Operators have plenty of margin
Viviane Reding
Many people have incurred high data download charges for using their phone when abroad to get a photo or watch a video.
The initial proposals to cap data roaming charges were made by EU Telecommunications Commissioner Viviane Reding.
On 27 November the package of measures won the backing of EU telecoms ministers at a ministerial meeting.
The rules put a retail price cap of 11 euro cents (9p) on texts sent while roaming - a substantial cut on the European average of 29 euro cents (24p). The ministers backed a cap of 1 euro per megabyte (83p) on the price of downloading data - though this applies only to the charges operators levy on each other.
Also included in the rules is a mechanism that will allow for connections to be cut if a data bill hits 50 euros (£41).
Operators' fears
Not all ministers were equally happy with the EU proposals.
"If operators don't get their revenues from roaming then they will get it from somewhere else," the Czech Republic said.
The GSM Association, which represents operators, declared its "disappointment" that the measures were deemed necessary.
"In the current economic climate governments should be working to encourage investments," said a spokesman.
"The biggest concern is extending the use of retail price regulation which is a very extreme step and could deter investment in new services," he added.
"The real cost of transmitting an SMS on roaming is less than one cent," said Commissioner Reding. "I believe there is ample room between one cent and 11 cents which is the ceiling which will be fixed."
"Operators will be able to provide 25 to 50 cents per megabyte and we set one euro per megabyte," she said. "Operators have plenty of margin."
She added that traffic had jumped 30-35% on voice calls since EU tariffs cut the roaming charges by 50-60%.
Now the proposals have won the backing of EU telecoms ministers, the proposals pass to the European Parliament.
However, it is not expected to raise any significant objections and the measures are expected to come in to force in July 2009.

Actor robots take Japanese stage

First there were dancing robots, then house-sitting robots and now a new breed of acting robots is making its big debut on the Japanese stage.
The play, which had its premiere at Osaka University, is one of Japan's first robot-human theatre productions.
The machines were specially programmed to speak lines with human actors and move around the stage with them.
Playwright Oriza Hirata says the work raises questions about the relationship between humanity and technology.
The play, called Hataraku Watashi (I, Worker), is set in the near future.
It focuses on a young couple who own two housekeeping robots, one of which loses its motivation to work.
In the play, the robot complains that it has been forced into boring and demeaning jobs and enters into a discussion with the humans about its role in their lives.
So far, the play is only 20 minutes long but it is hoped to become a full-length production by 2010.
The Wakamaru robot is manufactured by Mitsubushi but the software to train it for the stage was developed over two months at the university.
The 1-m (3-ft) tall humanoid robot is best known as a mechanical house-sitter and secretary.
But soon they may be signing autographs or trying to roll away from paparazzi.
No word yet on whether they are pleased with the apparent job promotion.

India sends probe on to the Moon

India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft, Chandrayaan 1, has sent a probe on to the surface of the Moon.
The probe, painted with the Indian flag, crashed into the Moon's surface at 2034 (1504 GMT), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.
During its controlled plunge, it took readings including measurements of the composition of the Moon's atmosphere.
The mission is regarded as a major step for India as it seeks to keep pace with other space-faring nations in Asia.
The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says the success of the mission has been hailed in India where many see it as another sign of the country's emergence as a global power.
Video journey
Earlier this week Chandrayaan 1 began orbiting the Moon some three weeks after it was launched from a space centre in southern India.
CHANDRAYAAN 1

1 - Chandrayaan Energetic Neutral Analyzer (CENA)
2 - Moon Impact Probe (MIP)
3 - Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM)
4 - Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC)
5 - Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3)
6 - Chandrayaan 1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS)
7 - Solar Panel
India sets its sights on the Moon
In Pictures: India Moon mission
The dropping of the Moon Impact Probe (MIP), weighing about 30kg, concludes the first phase of the mission.
"During its descent from Chandrayaan 1, an onboard video camera transmitted lunar pictures to the ISRO command centre," spokesman S Satish said, AFP news agency reports.
For the next two years, Chandrayaan 1 will map a three-dimensional atlas of the Moon and also check for the presence of water-ice with the help of instruments built by India and other countries including the US, Britain and Germany.
The chairman of India's space programme, Madhavan Nair, has described the mission as 95% successful so far and has announced a second lunar mission to be launched by 2012.
"We have now successfully put our national flag on the lunar surface," he told a news conference.
Mr Nair has also said India is considering sending a satellite to Mars.

Astronomers capture first images of new planets

The first-ever pictures of planets outside the solar system have been released in two studies.

The box shows a planet orbiting the star Fomalhaut. The dot shows the star's location.

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Using the latest techniques in space technology, astronomers at NASA and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used direct-imaging techniques to capture pictures of four newly discovered planets orbiting stars outside our solar system.
"After all these years, it's amazing to have a picture showing not one but three planets," said physicist Bruce Macintosh of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California.
"The discovery of the HR8799 system is a crucial step on the road to the ultimate detection of another Earth," he said.
None of the planets is remotely habitable, scientists said.
Both sets of research findings were published Thursday in Science Express, a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
A team of American, British and Canadian astronomers and physicists, using the Gemini North and Keck telescopes on the Mauna Kea mountaintop in Hawaii, observed host star HR8799 to find three of the new planets.
Scientists estimate that HR8799, roughly 1.5 times the size of the sun, is 130 light years from Earth in the constellation of Pegasus. The individual planets in this planetary family are estimated to be seven to 10 times the mass of Jupiter.
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Astronomers say the star is too faint to detect with the human eye, but observers could probably see it through binoculars or small telescopes.
"This discovery is the first time we have directly imaged a family of planets around a normal star outside of our solar system," said Christian Marois, the lead astronomer in the Lawrence Livermore lab study.
About the same time, NASA astronomers using the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope surprised the space community by locating a fourth planet.
NASA's newly discovered planet, Fomalhaut b, is estimated to be roughly three times Jupiter's mass and 10.7 billion miles from its host star, Fomalhaut. NASA's images show Fomalhaut b orbiting the bright southern star Fomalhaut, which is said to be 16 times brighter than our sun and 25 light years away in the constellation Piscis Australis (Southern Fish).
"Our Hubble observations were incredibly demanding. Fomalhaut b is 1 billion times fainter than the star," Hubble astronomer Paul Kalas said. "We began this program in 2001, and our persistence finally paid off."
Previous planet-hunting efforts have relied on the traditional Doppler, or "wobble," technique, which works by measuring the gravitational influence a planet exerts on its host, or parent, star. By studying these gravitational "tug-of-wars," astronomers have been able to study a star's velocity or brightness to infer the presence of a planet. iReport.com: Are you an aspiring astronomer? Share your photos of space
To determine whether the faint objects orbiting HR8799 were indeed planets and not other stars, astronomers studying the three newly discovered planets (HR8799b, HR8799c and HR8799d) compared images from studies conducted in different years.
In all the documented pictures, the three objects were found to be orbiting in a counter-clockwise direction around HR8799, proving that they were planets and not just background objects coincidentally aligned in the image.
According to the the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia, there have been 322 planets found outside our solar system. The latest findings bring that total to 326.
The extrasolar planets found have mostly been gaseous in their composition. Both studies indicate that direct-imaging techniques can only aid our efforts in one day finding an Earth-like planet.

NASA keeps eye on two shuttle problems

NASA said Saturday that the day-old mission of space shuttle Endeavour, which is carrying seven astronauts to the international space station, is going smoothly despite problems with a lost thermal blanket and a malfunctioning antenna.

Space shuttle Endeavour lifted off at 7:55 p.m. ET on Friday, en route to the international space station.

Launch director Mike Leinbach said that, on Day 2, the mission is going "extremely well" after a flawless takeoff and ascent during a rare nighttime launch Friday.
A piece of thermal blanket came loose from the shuttle shortly after launch, mission managers say. The blanket was about 4 inches wide and 12 to 18 inches long, and managers say it came from an area that is "not of great concern" in terms of protecting the shuttle during the intense heat of takeoff and re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
Aboard Endeavour on Saturday, astronauts Eric Boe, Don Pettit and Shane Kimbrough were using the shuttle's robotic arm to look at its wings and nosecap to check for damage to the thermal-protection system. Those areas are the most vulnerable to heat damage.
It was a gash on the wing of space shuttle Columbia that caused its destruction and the deaths of seven astronauts during re-entry February 1, 2003.
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Endeavour on its way to space station
Shuttle mission to focus on comfort in space
The shuttle's other problem involves a balky antenna that could affect radar and communications. NASA's Leroy Cain said that the problem would affect the mission's ground crew more than the astronauts and that it most likely came from problems with a software upgrade.
If the radar is affected, the crew will have to use a different method of rendezvous with the space station.
While there, the astronauts will increase the station's living space with room for six instead of the current three. They'll install more places to sleep, another bathroom, a better water system, more exercise equipment and a bigger refrigerator.
The population on board the space station is to grow to six next spring.
Also on tap are four space walks focusing on the station's two Solar Alpha Rotary Joints, which allow the solar panels to track the sun.
The shuttle is also bringing Thanksgiving dinner, with irradiated turkey, candied yams, stuffing and dessert, because it won't be returning to earth until November 29.
Flight engineer Greg Chamitoff will return to earth from the station when Endeavour returns at the end of the month, leaving mission specialist Sandra Magnus to take his place

Previewing tomorrow's coolest tech designs

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Here's a sneak peek at some fascinating concepts and groundbreaking work being developed by 21st-century visionaries.

Designer Fatih Can Sarioz designed this table like a flower that can be opened and closed.
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Some of these designs are already working prototypes, while others could be introduced in the next five years.
They present an insight into the kind of products that will become must-haves in the future.
Beyond the Fold
They leave you with inky fingers and are not exactly eco-friendly -- two reasons why some people regard newspapers as objects of the past.
With his 'Beyond the Fold' design, Sebastien Bettencourt of the Art Center College of Design in California manipulates physical elements of the e-paper to move the reader through digital content that can be accessed wirelessly.
By simply moving or shaking the paper, live information can be accessed.
Planilum light
Hate changing light bulbs? What if you never had to change another lightbulb again?
French designer Tomas Erel of SAAZS has created beautiful lights that last almost a lifetime. The planilum lights last approximately 50,000 hours, or 20 years, and use non-toxic gases and recyclable materials.
Unlike other light technologies, the light in these designs does not come from bulbs or other distinct sources but from the design material itself, called planilum. See gallery of all the future designs »
Each planilum light panel, which can be incorporated into a shelf or table or can stand alone, is less than an inch thick and composed of four layers of glass, nontoxic gas, and phosphorescent compounds. Planilum emits a soft glow and can be touched without risk of burning. Also, unlike incandescent bulbs, it is energy efficient and 90 percent recyclable.
The lights are being produced by Saazs and come in various creative designs.
Dining table pod
'Kure' is a family dining table concept created by relatively unknown Turkish designer Fatih Can Sarioz. It is pure design at its best: practical, beautiful and innovative.
Can Sarioz says his inspiration for the table came from thinking about a budding flower that can be opened and closed at will. When open, Kure becomes a full-fledged dinning table; closed, it resembles a sphere-shaped futuristic pod.
A light source fitted at the center of the table emits a blue light from the base. The table accommodates six dining chairs.
Can Sarioz received widespread accolades for the design and is working on getting Kure onto the market.
Home for old batteries
We all know that throwing out old batteries is bad for the environment, but what to do when they conk out? Step in 'Energy Seed,' an aesthetically pleasing and innovative way of re-using trashed batteries via an LED lamp post that's powered with the left-over "juice" from old batteries.
The eco-friendly lamp post is the brainchild of Korean designers Sungwoo Park and Sunhee Kim from Kookmin University in Seoul. The 'Energy Seeds' look like flowers in a pot, with various sized holes for used batteries.
About 2 volts are needed to light up an LED. However, most discarded batteries have 0.8 volts to 1.3 volts, which means that two old batteries are enough to light a LED lamp.
Voicestick
Voicestick is a portable text-scanning device that was first created for the visually impaired, but could be used by anyone experiencing reading fatigue.
When it scans printed letters, the OCR function recognizes the words and converts the written text into a voice. The portable stick can be used to convert any words or letters found in books, newspapers, contracts, mail, etc., into voice information.
The designer, Sungwoo Park (who also created Energy Seed, above), realized that few books are translated into Braille because of the high costs involved.
He wanted to create an object that would be easy to carry around and would allow people with visual impairments to read anything. The Voicestick solves the problem and comes in would come in an elegant and convenient design.
The iBangle
I love my iPod, but I never listen to it because from one day to the next my little music friend finds its way to bags, pockets and shelves where I can never find it.
This is where iBangle comes in. It's a mixture of an MP3 player and a bracelet, making it mighty hard to misplace.
Created by Indian designer Gopinath Prasana, the iBangle is a thin piece of aluminum with a multi-touch track pad. To achieve the perfect fit, a cushion inside the bracelet inflates to keep it taut against your wrist.
As an added bonus, the iBangle eliminates the need for earphones that get impossibly intertwined because the music finds its way to your ears via wireless earbuds.
Bomb-proof Renew Bins
For obvious security reasons, few underground subway stations have bins. The consequence means having to carry your banana peel around with you for the whole of your journey, or worse, throw it on the floor.
Designers Kaveh Memari and Brian James from Media Metric think they have found a solution, and more. The duo have created a bin they claim would dismantle bombs through 'blast-intelligent technology,' help increase recycling and keep commuters up to date with breaking news, weather and transport information.
Brian James, chief operating officer of Media Metrica, said the technology "reduces the peak pressure of an explosion and extinguishes the fireball."
The bin itself is made from recycled materials and has an LCD screen on which information can be shown. In cases of emergency, such as a terrorist threat or drastic weather, Kaveh Memari told CNN that programs on the screen could be overridden and security measures communicated to the public.
Media Metric is in talks to introduce the bins in London and New York.
Lego-James
Most parents would like to know their children's whereabouts at all times for safety reasons. The challenge is to make something that also appeals to the children.
Say hello to Lego-James, a multi-faceted bracelet that allows parents to track the location of their children through 3G technology and the use of a GPS receiver, antenna and sim card.
Designer and student Rodrigo Torres from the Domus Academy in Italy told CNN that "the use of 3G technology is giving us more and more possibilities to develop different kinds of products, to communicate and transfer data through wireless networks at a very high speed, using small-size, and lightweight devices."
"At the same time, I also wanted the design to be appealing to children," adds the designer.
Lego-James also could be fitted with such accessories as an MP3 player, a LCD screen, a walkie-talkie and a digital pet.
Origami phone and DVD
The Origami Phone and DVD player is inspired by its namesake -- the Japanese art of paper folding. Inventables' Concept Studio applies the same folding concepts to physical objects using e-paper technology developed by Israeli company Mag-Ink.
The Origami DVD Player is a portable player concept that expands and collapses automatically as it is opened and closed. Mag Ink e-paper technology powers a full-color flexible display.

Microsoft CEO: No interest in buying Yahoo

SYDNEY, Australia) — Yahoo Inc. shares dived more than 14 percent after the chief executive of Microsoft Corp. said Friday the software giant is not interested in renewing its bid for the struggling Internet company. (See pictures of the global financial crisis.)
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Microsoft's Steve Ballmer told a business lunch in Sydney that he had moved on after Yahoo rejected its takeover bid in the spring. He did suggest a partnership in the search engine market is possible.
"We made an offer, we made another offer, and it was clear that Yahoo didn't want to sell the business to us and we moved on," Ballmer said. "We are not interested in going back and re-looking at an acquisition. I don't know why they would be either, frankly. They turned us down at $33 a share."
Yahoo shares fell $2.01 to $11.95 in morning trading Friday.
Yahoo's co-founder and chief executive, Jerry Yang, said Wednesday that Microsoft should make another bid for his company, which runs the world's No. 2 search engine. His appeal came after top search engine Google Inc. backed out of an Internet advertising partnership with Yahoo to avoid a challenge from the U.S. Justice Department, which said it would sue to block the deal on antitrust grounds.
Yahoo had been counting on the Google Inc. deal to boost its finances and placate shareholders still incensed by management's decision to reject the $47.5 billion takeover bid from Microsoft six months ago.
"I'm sure there are still some opportunities for some kind of partnership around search, but I think (an) acquisition is a thing of the past," Ballmer said.
He also told the Australian audience that Microsoft saw an opportunity to reinvent the online search process.
"If anybody thinks the future of search is going to look like the present search, that's crazy," Ballmer said. "The user interface on search hasn't changed for six years. You still get the same dull, boring 10 blue links, for God's sake. Can't we do any better than that?"

Stick, skateboard, Baby Doll enter Toy Hall of Fame

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) -- A magic wand, a fishing rod or a royal scepter?

Chris Bensch, curator of collections, shows off the newest inductees into the Toy Hall of Fame, a stick.

The lowly stick, a universal plaything powered by a child's imagination, landed in the National Toy Hall of Fame on Thursday along with the Baby Doll and the skateboard.
The three were chosen to join the Strong National Museum of Play's lineup of 38 classics ranging from the bicycle, the kite and Mr. Potato Head to Crayola crayons, marbles and the Atari 2600 video game system.
Curators said the stick was a special addition in the spirit of a 2005 inductee, the cardboard box. They praised its all-purpose, no-cost, recreational qualities, noting its ability to serve either as raw material or an appendage transformed in myriad ways by a child's creativity.
"It's very open-ended, all-natural, the perfect price -- there aren't any rules or instructions for its use," said Christopher Bensch, the museum's curator of collections. "It can be a Wild West horse, a medieval knight's sword, a boat on a stream or a slingshot with a rubber band. ... No snowman is complete without a couple of stick arms, and every campfire needs a stick for toasting marshmallows.
"This toy is so fantastic that it's not just for humans anymore. You can find otters, chimps and dogs -- especially dogs -- playing with it."
Longevity is a key criterion for getting into the hall, which the museum acquired in 2002 from A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village in Salem, Ore. Each toy must not only be widely recognized and foster learning, creativity or discovery through play, but also endure in popularity over generations.
While dolls have been around since ancient times, the Baby Doll with its realistic newborn features emerged in the late 18th century and has been through hundreds of incarnations. Today's models can crawl, drink and even talk via voice-activated commands.
"It is generally thought of as lovable and cuddly, even if it can doze off or cry during play," said Susan Asbury, an associate curator. "Toy designers have spent decades making it ever more lifelike and true to form. ... It promotes imaginative play and brings out the nurturing side in all of us."
The first skateboarders in the 1950s cruised walkways on California beaches trying to match the speed, turns and tricks performed by surfers they watched offshore.
Apart from being fun, practicing ollies, grinds and primos "promotes individualism ... artistic expression and it's also very athletic," skateboard icon Tony Hawk said in a video message played at the induction

Google, Yahoo revise deal

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. have reportedly submitted a list of concessions that would deflate their proposed Internet advertising partnership to appease antitrust regulators threatening to block the alliance.
The companies offered their revisions to the U.S. Justice Department during the weekend, according to a story posted Monday on The Wall Street Journal's Web site.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the Journal said Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) are now willing to limit the amount of revenue generated from the partnership and shorten the deal's duration. Google's advertising customers would also be given the option to not have their commercials appear on Yahoo's Web site.
Under the new plan, Yahoo would be limited to getting no more than 25% of its search advertising revenue from Google and their partnership would expire after two years. The original contract signed in June spanned 10 years and didn't have any restrictions on how frequently Yahoo could draw upon Google's technology for displaying ads alongside its search results.
Yahoo had estimated Google's system would enable it to boost its revenue by $800 million annually, but the restrictions would cut that amount in half.
Putting a 25% limit on its revenue from Google's system would mean limitingYahoo's take to about $400 million annually, based on Yahoo's search advertising sales during the past four quarters.
Representatives from Google and Yahoo declined to comment on the Journal's report, but confirmed the companies remain in talks with the Justice Department in hopes of winning clearance to join forces.
Antitrust regulators have been taking a hard look at Yahoo's proposed reliance on Google's technology because the two companies combined control more than 80% of the U.S. search advertising market.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, Fortune 500) and the Association of National Advertisers, among others, have argued the arrangement would enable Google to gradually increase advertising prices and exert more control over the flow of e-commerce.
The Justice Department signaled it was considering a legal challenge to the deal in September when it hired veteran antitrust lawyer Sanford Litvack to review the case.
Google had vowed to launch the Yahoo partnership by mid-October, but backed off to avoid a legal battle that would have focused on the market power that Google has been accumulating while running the Internet's most profitable advertising network.
Analysts have argued that it might not make much sense for Yahoo and Google to work together if they are forced to make too many concessions.
But Yahoo is under intense pressure to do anything possible to boost its sagging profits after inflaming its shareholders by rejecting a $47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft six months ago. Microsoft withdrew its $33-per-share offer after Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang held out for more money.

Big Solar project short-circuited

The risky nature of Big Solar projects was driven home Friday when California regulators effectively killed a controversial $1.3 billion transmission line that would have connected massive solar power stations in the desert to coastal cities.
“These projects are unlikely to proceed,” wrote Jean Vieth, an administrative law judge with the California Public Utilities Commission, in a ruling rejecting San Diego Gas & Electric’s Sunrise Powerlink transmission line.
Phoenix-based Stirling Energy Systems in 2005 scored a contract to provide SDG&E (SRE) with up to 900 megawatts of electricity to be generated by as many as 36,000 solar dishes. A few months later, the utility filed an application to build the Sunrise Powerlink, a new transmission line to connect the Stirling power plants and other renewable energy projects to the coast.
But the utility’s proposal to build 150-foot-high transmission towers right through wilderness areas of Anza-Borrego State Park, home to a host of protected species, triggered a long-running fight with green groups that generated an 11,000-page environmental impact report. On Halloween, Vieth issued a ruling that found that despite state mandates to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the environmental impact of the transmission project was frightening.
“The potentially high economic costs to ratepayers and the potential implications for our [greenhouse gas] policy objectives do not justify the severe environmental damage that any of the transmission proposals would cause,” concluded Vieth in a 265-page decision.
The battle isn’t over — the public utilities commission will vote in December whether to accept the judge’s ruling. They will also consider an alternative decision issued by a commissioner assigned to review the case. That decision would let SDG&E build a transmission line along a different route under certain conditions.
But the case highlights the conflicting environmental values that will dog solar power projects. In other words, just what trade-offs are we willing to make to secure a planet-friendly source of energy? In this case, the judge ruled that to avoid the environmental damage of a massive new transmission line, the preferred alternative is to build more fossil-fuel plants close to San Diego along with a smaller-scale solar power station and a huge increase in rooftop solar arrays. The judge acknowledged that such an alternative “would cause substantially more GHG emissions than the proposed project and other transmission proposals.”
The judge’s second preferred alternative was to build only renewable-energy projects near San Diego that would not require big new transmission lines. Some Sunrise Powerlink opponents argue that San Diego has enough roof space to generative massive amounts of electricity from photovoltaic solar panels. (The cost of such an undertaking was left unsaid.)
Public Utilities Commissioner Dian Grueneich’s alternative decision would allow San Diego Gas & Electric to build Sunrise Powerlink along a more environmentally-benign route if the utility could prove that most of the transmission line would carry renewable energy so as to offset the 100,000 tons of greenhouse gases emitted during its construction. “Reliance on a single 900-megawatt contract (the Stirling Energy Systems contract) is too risky,” she wrote.
So where does this leave Stirling? COO Bruce Osborn didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But earlier this year, he told Green Wombat that even if Sunrise Powerlink was killed, there’s enough existing transmission capacity to carry electricity from the power plant’s first 300-megawatt phase. Stirling also has a 20-year contract to supply up to 850 megawatts of electricity to utility Southern California Edison (EIX), a deal not contingent on Sunrise Powerlink.

9 top tech flops

Google's hotly anticipated push into operating systems for mobile phones was a media sensation, but HTC's version of its Android-powered device is falling short of the hype. Critics say the "Google phone," which went on sale Oct. 22, is a little clunky with design flaws like no earphone jack and an oddly jutting chin. Close, but no iPhone killer.
By Scott Moritz, writer

Mission to fix Hubble Telescope postponed

(CNN) -- NASA's plans to fly a fifth and final space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope have suffered another set-back.

Atlantis was prepared to launch in September before an onboard computer failed, delaying the mission.

Hubble managers say ground testing of a critical replacement computer that they hope to install on the orbiting telescope is taking longer than previously expected. And that means an additional flight delay.
"Delivery in April to support a May launch, I think is a fair thing to say," said Hubble program manager Preston Burch. "Right now I think we have a very good chance of meeting a readiness date in that time frame."
The additional delay is just the latest dip in an emotional rollercoaster ride for the Hubble team over the past few months.
In late September, astronauts were mere weeks away from launching to Hubble aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, with spacewalks planned to make the telescope more powerful than ever and extend its expected lifespan an additional five years.
That flight had to be postponed when the onboard computer that downlinks scientific data to the ground suddenly failed on September 27th. While that problem has been corrected using a back-up system, NASA managers have decided the computer needs to be completely replaced in order to keep a fully redundant back-up capability available.
A spare computer was built prior to Hubble's launch in 1990, and has been warehoused at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland ever since. Initially, engineers had hoped that spare could be quickly tested, certified "flight ready," and shipped to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to be packed aboard Atlantis in time for a February launch.
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Space Shuttle Endeavour set for November launch
But a closer evaluation of the spare shows more than six months of work will be needed to get it ready to fly.
Among other issues, it was partially disassembled other the years so that parts could be used for other systems. It has been largely put back together, but now programming anomalies are cropping up.
And once engineers get it in good working order, it will have to go a battery of environmental tests to make sure it is ready to hold up in the harsh conditions of space. But the engineers are confident that they will eventually overcome all the obstacles.
"We've gotten a lot smarter about the condition of this unit over the last four weeks, said Burch. "We don't want to take any chances in bringing a box up there that isn't going to be 100% working to the absolute best that it can. So we want to take some extra time and make sure that we subject this to a very rigorous test program and we don't want to leave any stones unturned on the way to the launch pad."

Blue skies, blue days in rural Australia

TARAGO, Australia (CNN) -- It sounds like the ultimate advertisement jingle for a holiday: Blue skies, nothing but blue skies, all day long.

Joan and Max Limon's property, which produces sheep and cattle, is situated in the state of New South Wales.

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But in Australia, the driest inhabited continent in the world, sheep and cattle farmers like Max and Joan Limon look skywards daily and wish for a lot more gray.
"You do get sick of blue skies day after day after day," Joan says. "Even now during the shearing season, I pray for rain, which is not what you want at this time. But rain is more important than dry sheep. Rain will bring some money; dust brings nothing."
The Limons' farm, christened Sunnybrook in more optimistic times, is situated in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales -- a state that is currently designated as 70 percent drought affected.
The reasons for drought in Australia are varied, depending on who you believe. Some say it's due to climate change; others that it's just a natural cycle of weather patterns.
But what's clear is that rural Australia is battling severe dry conditions in what has commonly been agreed as the worst drought in at least 100 years.
Max bought Sunnybrook in 1986 off his father -- a returned WWII soldier who started the farm in 1948. He and wife Joan now run the 1,600 acre (647 hectare) property, which mainly produces sheep and cattle.
Fact Box-- Causes of drought include factors such as the El Nino Southern Oscillation, variations in energy from the Sun, and changes in land-use -- But most of the global and Australian warming since the mid-20th century is likely due to increases in greenhouse gases-- Australian average annual mean temperatures have increased by 0.9 degrees C since 1910 -- Since 1950, eastern and south-west Australia has become drier -- Across Australia, a warmer and drier climate is expected -- Median estimates for 2030 indicate a warming of about 1 degree C, relative to 1990, and a 3 to 5 percent decrease in rainfall Source: Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
"I was born here, and I do love the country life," Max explains. "But I sometimes question why we stay."
Simply put, when the rain stops, debt grows.
After a drought in 1996, the Limons had to spend $17,000 to feed stock. The drought followed into 1997, it returned in 2000 and has remained since 2000. Consequently, they've had to borrow money to pay for expenses such as wages for sheep shearers and feed for animals.
At one stage they had to truck all of their cattle eight hours away, where they grazed for two years.
"I didn't think they'd ever come home," Joan says.
"It's been very hard. We've been able to get government assistance and drought support, which has kept food on our tables over the past few years. We usually grow our own feed for stock, but drought has made that hard and unless we get some good rain soon, our current crop will fail again."
Right now hired hands are busy on Sunnybrook shearing sheep, and the Limons are nervously awaiting final figures on wool production. Watch dogs herding sheep and workers shearing wool »
But early indications aren't positive.
"This season looks like we'll get around 40 bales of wool; in normal times it's a 100. Because of drought the sheep don't grow as much wool, and it's of lower quality, such as breaks and tenderness in the fibers. The lambing percentage is also low as ewes aren't in good condition to give birth," Joan says. Audio Slideshow: Max and Joan Limon talk about living with the drought »
Such on-going drought conditions and its consequences on rural areas have inevitably led to health issues, New South Wales Farmers' Association president Jock Laurie says.
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"We know that the industry is under enormous emotional pressure and we are getting a lot more cases of depression," Laurie says.
"An added problem is that the diagnosis of mental illness is difficult in farming communities, as family members often don't recognize it. And sometimes health services in rural areas are scarce ... all in all it's a major health problem in rural Australia."
Joan agrees with Laurie's summation, saying there have been a lot of suicides in rural areas.
"Max and I have been depressed before. Who wouldn't be," she asks. "Going out day after day and dealing with dying stock, the dust and the heat, with no rain to grow any grass ..."
Yet while the situation's grim, farmers aren't without hope, Laurie argues. He says many farmers are addressing water efficiency issues by reducing evaporation losses, limiting stock numbers, trying to protect health of ground soils, and improving the ability to save summer rainfalls to put into their winter crops.
And on Sunnybrook, the Limons are installing a wind farm to give them some respite -- ironic given that wind is one of the farmers' biggest enemies.
"During drought, winds contribute greatly to evaporation rates by taking the water out of the soil," Joan explains. "So if we can make some income out of it and make a positive out of a negative, that'd be great."

Companies recall 100,000 laptop battery packs

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- Computer makers are recalling 100,000 laptop battery packs made by Sony Corp. after 40 reports of overheating, according to a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission notice Thursday.

Sony also recalled nearly 10 million of a different model of battery in 2006 and 2007.

The voluntary recall applies to certain Sony 2.15Ah lithium-ion cell batteries made in Japan and sold around the world in laptops made by Hewlett-Packard Co., Dell Inc. and Toshiba Corp.
Some incidents involved smoke or flames, according to Sony. Twenty-one of the reports claimed minor property damage, and small burns were reported in four cases.
Sony blamed two factors for the defects: adjustments on its manufacturing line from October 2004 to June 2005, which may have affected the quality of cells in certain production lots; and a possible flaw in the metal foil for electrodes.
The company said no reports have been filed for batteries made after 2006, and noted that the recalled units are a small fraction of the more than 260 million it has shipped over six years.
This also pales in comparison to the recall of nearly 10 million of a different model of Sony batteries in 2006 and 2007, which affected almost every major PC manufacturer, including Dell Inc. and Apple Inc.
In this batch of problematic laptops, the bulk of the 35,000 affected computers in the U.S. were sold by HP between December 2004 and June 2006, according to the safety commission, including HP Pavilion, HP Compaq and Compaq Presario models.
Some Dell Latitude and Inspiron models shipped between November 2004 and November 2005 are also covered by the recall, as well as some Toshiba Satellite and Tecra laptops sold from April 2005 to October 2005.
An additional 65,000 of the flawed batteries were sold outside the U.S. The PCs and separate batteries were sold directly by the computer manufacturers, electronics stores and online retailers worldwide, not by Sony.
Sony said its own Vaio laptops don't use the battery in question. Last month, however, the company recalled 440,000 Vaio notebooks worldwide because of a wiring flaw that can cause overheating.
The safety commission said PC users should remove laptop batteries immediately and contact the manufacturer to request a replacement. Details, including laptop model numbers and contact information for Dell, HP and Toshiba, have been posted on the commission's Web site.
Shares of Sony rose $1.52, or 7.2 percent, to close at $22.65 Thursday amid broader market gains