PLANET example

Filed under: Britney Spears

Before Britney Spears is a famously bad driver. Turns out, it may be an inherited trait.According to the Enquirer, Lynne hit and killed a 12-year-old boy back in 1975 who was riding his bike in Kentwood. The article says Lynne was driving her brother...

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We haven't seen all that many OLED lighting options, but a group of researchers from the University of Michigan and Princeton University say they could be on the verge of changing that situation, with them now boasting of a new breakthrough that could greatly increase the efficiency of OLEDs. The key to that, it seems, is a combination of an organic grid and some tiny dome-shaped micro lenses that guide the trapped light out of the devices. As the researchers point out, with current OLEDs, only 20% of the light generated is actually released, but they say this new method could boost the efficiency by a full 60%, or about 70 lumens per watt of power. Of course, they're also quick to point out that all of this is still quite a ways away from becoming practical for commercial purposes, although they seem to be optimistic that the eventual production cost for these new and improved OLEDs will be competitive with existing ones.

It just got more expensive on paper.

photo by Max Jackson We’ve reported before on how much food gets wasted: Most recently on the $20 billion wasted every year in the UK. In Japan, 20 million tonnes of food gets thrown away each year, a figure that is five times the amount of world food aid for the poor. Though it won’t help feed any people, Japan is turning to processing a portion of that food waste into something useful: Feed for animals. ENN tells us that the food waste turned animal feed is up ...

Boston Globe's 'What If' election calendar.

Filed under: Portable Audio

We basically knew the FCC was going to approve the XM / Sirius merger after the DoJ approved it earlier this year, and it looks like the communications agency is just about ready to sign off -- the Wall Street Journal is reporting that a majority of FCC commissioners are close to approving the deal. Word is that XM and Sirius will have to fork over an additional $20M to make it happen and agree to several enforcement terms, but it's all up in the air until this goes official. Let's hope that's soon -- after a historically long delay, it looks like there's finally some light at the end of the tunnel.

Yesterday, Representative Anthony Weiner made headlines for his anti-big box stance and his praise of Mayor Bloomberg, which was a little odd, since Weiner often criticizes him, or just timed to coincide with Weiner accelerating his mayoral aspirations. Today, the NY Times looks at how he has the highest staff turnover for anyone in the NY House delegation in recent years. For instance, "Roughly half of Mr. Weiner’s current staff has been on board for less than a year," raising questions about whether his hard-charging, micro-managing style will work at City Hall. Weiner believes he'll be a fair boss and some former staffers still support and praise him, but one said, “People joke that two years of Chuck [Schumer] equals one year of Anthony."

HOUSTON — A "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas-Louisiana coast this year is likely to be the biggest ever and last longer than ever before, with marine life affected for hundreds of miles, a scientist warned.

"It's definitely the worst we've seen in the last five years," said Steve DiMarco, a Texas A&M; University professor of oceanography who for 16 years has studied the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, so named because the oxygen-depleted water can kill marine life.

The phenomenon is caused when salt water loses large amounts of oxygen, a condition known as hypoxia that is typically associated with an area off the Louisiana coast at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The fresh water and salt water don't mix well, keeping oxygen from filtering through to the sea bottom, which causes problems for fish, shrimp, crabs and clams.

Last year, one of the first times I told my story was here on Huffington Post and I was overwhelmed by the positive and supportive response.

I've found the same is true as I've traveled around the country talking about the need to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Today, I was honored to testify today at a the first hearing to discuss the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. I'd like to share the story I told the House Armed Services Committee.

Too Weird for The Wire, a story of a number of Baltimore drug dealers and their unusual "flesh-and-blood" defense in federal court. It's a tactic used by white supremacists and other US isolationists groups in tax evasion cases and the like.

"I am not a defendant," Mitchell declared. "I do not have attorneys." The court "lacks territorial jurisdiction over me," he argued, to the amazement of his lawyers. To support these contentions, he cited decades-old acts of Congress involving the abandonment of the gold standard and the creation of the Federal Reserve. Judge Davis, a Baltimore-born African American in his late fifties, tried to interrupt. "I object," Mitchell repeated robotically. Shelly Martin and Shelton Harris followed Mitchell to the microphone, giving the same speech verbatim. Their attorneys tried to intervene, but when Harris's lawyer leaned over to speak to him, Harris shoved him away.

David Simon, I believe you've got enough here for a sixth season of The Wire. Hop to.

Google's RechargeIT Invests $2.75 Million Google's philanthropic arm, via its RechargeIT program, has just bet $2.75 million on two companies trying to make plug-in hybrids and electric cars a reality: Aptera Motors, maker of the three-wheeled two-seater Typ-1 (we wrote about their prototype here), and ActaCell, a spinoff from the University of Texas at Austin that is working on...

Earlier this month news of Brooklyn Bowl opening in Williamsburg started to spread. The bowling alley, located over by The Gutter and right next to the Brooklyn Brewery, is also a venue, and has promised to offer up some grub once they open in the fall. So far former Wetlands owner Peter Shapiro and manager Charley Ryan, who are opening the joint, have been hush hush about the dining options at the place, but now Eater reports that they'll have "a full Blue Ribbon menu." The downside? The menu might only be served in the VIP section, which (if true) would seriously harsh the vibe, Wetlands dudes.

In a few weeks, elite athletes from around the world will gather in Beijing. Press coverage of the Games is likely to highlight competition between America and China about which will win the most medals. Media coverage will also -- as it has already -- focus on air quality and environmental conditions in China.

As we compete on the playing fields, China and the U.S. should not lose sight of where our interests coincide -- climate change. And looking beyond the recently sooty skies of Beijing, China is clearly taking many positive steps to address its energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The Olympics offers an opportunity for the U.S. and China to better understand each other and move forward together on fighting climate change.

China and the U.S. are the world's two biggest producers of greenhouse gases. The U.S. can no longer use China as an excuse for inaction. Contrary to popular belief, China is already implementing a comprehensive energy policy that addresses climate change.

We last saw Kim and Kelley last splashing around at McCarren Pool, which is great because they hardly turn up at all in the split-screened clip for Mountain Battles' "Walk It Off." Instead it's the year's second vid focusing on a day in the life of a bike messenger. Unlike Nada Surf's "Whose Authority" it features no old Nickelodeon stars, but it too stars a determined package deliverer, staying with his addressee even when he turns out to be totally parcelphobic. So much for waiting for the message all night.

Following yesterday's monumental screw-up by John McCain, proving once again that he either doesn't understand or has forgotten key elements about this war, McCain's campaign has responded to questions about his claim that the surge made the "Anbar Awakening" possible:

Democrats can debate whether the awakening would have survived without the surge ... but that is nothing more than a transparent effort to minimize the role of our commanders and our troops in defeating the enemy, because to credit them would be to disparage the judgment of Barack Obama and praise the leadership of John McCain.

According to the latest data from Hitwise, Facebook, which is kicking off its developer conference today, grew 40% over the last year, while its biggest competitor, MySpace, saw a 6% drop in visits since June 2007. The numbers for average time spent on these two sites almost directly mirror the numbers for visits, with MySpace being down 4% and Facebook up 41%.

Even though Facebook is slowly catching up to MySpace, the gap between the two is still large, with Facebook having a 17% market share and MySpace 72%.

The final season of David E. Kelley's Emmy Award-winning series Boston Legal will begin its run with an episode titled “Smoke Signals.” “Smoke Signals” will take audiences to a different scene, when the firm of Crane, Poole and Schmidt tackles...

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

The hit comedy series Scrubs is getting out of Sacred Heart hospital for an episode on a Bahamian island next season.  The cast and crew filled up the population of the small town recently to film the episode. “We were...

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles shoppers soon won't hear the question, "Paper or plastic?" at the checkout line.

The City Council voted Tuesday to ban plastic shopping bags from stores, beginning July 1, 2010. Shoppers can either bring their own bags or pay 25 cents for a paper or biodegradable bag.

The council's unanimous vote also puts pressure on the state, which is considering an Assembly bill that would impose bag recycling requirements on stores. City officials said their ban would not be implemented if the state passes the bill and requires at least a 25-cent charge per bag.