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Content Tagged with asides + shorts
Cleantech Investors Back Obama Over McCain
Presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s green energy platform has gained him fans among that industry’s most powerful players — its investors. According to a presidential campaign donation database, the investors backing cleantech companies are backing Obama as well, putting six times the amount of money into his coffers vs. those of John McCain. Read the full story on Earth2Tech.com
Travels With Louis
It’s awesome when technology invades real life to make it better, like the way email makes letter-writing and photo-sharing easier. Louis Vuitton has manged to do that with a walking tour MP3 download that travelers to Hong Kong, Beijing or Shanghai can purchase for $17. Before gasping at the price, realize that New York tourists pay from $12 to $50 for the pleasures of a tour. The MP3 tours don’t require you to show up on time, and your guides are sexy-sounding Chinese actresses, rather than a bored NYU student. It’s pricey, but well done.
RailsConf Is Almost Here: Get 15% Off Registration
RailsConf, the largest gathering of Rails developers, is fast approaching. The conference provides examples of business models, development paradigms, and design strategies; this year’s session, which will be held in Portland, Ore., from May 29-June 1, will also feature advanced-level topics and sessions, notably those centered around design or coding techniques, testing tools, and deployment techniques. As a media partner, GigaOM readers can get a 15 percent discount off registration; click here and enter discount code “rc08ggo.”
GSP East ticket discount
The East Coast version of Graphing Social Patterns, a conference for developers and marketers building and distributing apps for MySpace, Facebook and the myriad of other social networking platforms out there, will kick off next month in Washington, D.C. GSP East will tackle social networking from two angles — one, business and marketing; and two, app development and technical strategy. As GigaOM is a media partner for this event, which will run from June 9-11, our readers can save 15 percent off registration fees. To register, click here and use code “gspe08gig.”
E2T Video: PG&E CEO Paints the Future of Utilities
The CEO of California utility PG&E, Peter Darbee, recently said that he’d like to use the company’s deep pockets to buy solar thermal plants. Turns out that’s just the beginning of the things he’d like to change about how utilities operate. Check out Earth2Tech’s video clip of a roundtable discussion with Darbee as he weighs in on electricity pricing, regulations, smart meters, and working with Google on plug-in hybrids.
Pimp Your Gas Guzzler With Soy Seats
Not only do cars consume lots of petroleum, they are also made of it, especially the interior. The dash, the seats and the paneling are all often made of petroleum-based polymers. But Ford is taking a step to reduce the amount of oil needed to build its cars by making the seat cushions out of soy-based foam. Don’t worry, you can still get those soy-made seats covered in not-so-eco-friendly but oh-so-luxurious leather. Earth2Tech has the full story.
Cable Cut Culprits Caught?
Dubai port authorities have impounded two ships, MV Hounslow and MT Ann, believed to be responsible for damage to undersea cables that saw India lose half of its Internet capacity earlier this year, according to India’s Hindu News. Conspiracy theories have flourished about the source of the cuts, which affected the undersea cable network of a Reliance Globalcom unit. Reliance fingered the two based on satellite footage of ship movement in the Mediterranean around that time. And while it’s not clear whether the two ships are behind the service interruption yet, even if they are, it probably won’t stop the speculation that surrounded the original break.
What would you like on that $2.6M dollar pizza?
Being a registrar may not be fun, but domain auctions can still be. Pizza.com is up for grabs — that is, if you can come up with $2.6 million in the next 20 hours or so. Domain appraiser Zetetic says that 98 percent of names sell for under $10,000. But 15 percent of web traffic comes from people typing what they want right into the address bar, so college staples like pizza, vodka and sex fetch top dollar.
Free As In Beer?
Offering somethin’ for nothin’ isn’t as simple as it sounds, but it doesn’t have to involve advertising. Check out this list from Found/Read of ways to make money off your product or service by giving it away.
Amazon Patent Engine Rumbles On
Say what you will about the state of the patent industry (and I know you will), Amazon.com has made some bold moves when it comes to protecting its intellectual property. Last year it applied for a patent related to online storage based on its S3 architecture, and Slashdot today points us to Amazon’s patent for displaying 404 errors. That’s right, this patent is no longer pending, it has been granted. Errors, indeed.
