Dont forget to sign up for CES2013

http://www.cesweb.org/

Free registration thru August 31.
Last year I procrastinated and was forced to pay $100 to register. Not only that, I missed the cutoff by 15 minutes. Dont be stupid like me.
.

LA Times - Toyota has new pedal-entrapment issue, this time in Lexus SUVs

http://mobile.latimes.com/p.p?m=b&a=rp&id=2347485&postId=2347485

This is why I got rid of my RX400 last year - worry that this issue extended to the RX line. I never saw any symptoms myself. That plus the battery going out of warranty at 70k miles sealed the deal.

" The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday that it has told Toyota, which owns the Lexus luxury brand, to recall model year 2010 Lexus RX 350 and RX 450 H vehicles "for a serious safety issue involving potential pedal entrapment by the floor mat."

If the mat traps the gas pedal, the vehicle could speed out of control.

The recall, which Toyota launched today, includes 154,000 vehicles."
.

NYTimes: Google Tries Something Retro: Made in the U.S.A.

http://nyti.ms/MU7D4x

"It's a trickle, but some American companies are again making products in the United States. While many of those companies have been small, like ET Water Systems, there have also been some highly visible moves by America's largest consumer and industrial manufacturers. General Electric and Caterpillar, for example, have moved assembly operations back to the United States in the last year. (Airbus, a European company, is said to be near a deal to build jets in Alabama.)

There is no single reason for the change. Rising labor and energy costs have made manufacturing in China significantly more expensive; transportation costs have risen; companies have become increasingly aware of the risks of the theft of intellectual property when products are made in China; and in a business where time-to-market is a competitive advantage, it is easier for engineers to drive 10 minutes on the freeway to the factory than to fly for 16 hours."
.

Fascinating look at Britain from the air, almost 100 years ago

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18542080

Britain-lovers will enjoy the video

I love the part about Larry Ellison's boat being too big to dock at most marinas.

http://mobile.latimes.com/p.p?m=b&a=rp&id=2310964&postId=2310964

"Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle Corp., has agreed to buy 98% of the island of Lanai from David Murdock, a Los Angeles billionaire who controls Dole Food Co. and many other businesses under Castle & Cooke Inc.

Lanai, the sixth-largest Hawaiian island at 141 square miles, was once a pineapple plantation and is still sparsely inhabited. According to documents filed with Hawaii's Public Utilities Commission, the purchase will include two resort hotels and two golf courses with clubhouses.

The sale price has not been disclosed, but local observers value the deal at more than $500 million. That's a large real estate transaction by any standard, though not earth-shattering in the realm of trades among wealthy investors.

Ellison, the third-richest American with a net worth of $36 billion, according to Forbes, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on trophy properties in Malibu, Lake Tahoe, Rancho Mirage and other locations where real estate prices are consistently high.

His former yacht "Rising Sun" reportedly cost more than $200 million to build and at a length of 254 feet is too big to dock at most of the world's marinas.

Ellison plans to pay cash for the island. "

Samsung Series 7 Slate PC review - Engadget

http://m.engadget.com/2011/12/16/samsung-series-7-slate-pc-review/

Hmm, weighs 2 lb, 3.3hr battery life, uSD slot only, no pen garage, and you have to tote around keyboard, mouse, charger, dock. Few stylus-compatible apps. For $1100? Why not get a cheap laptop?

Wait for Win8 on arm if you really want windoze. But it won't support inductive stylus, only capacitive, which can't do palm rejection.

No dock is an island: Tons of sealife crosses ocean on tsunami-damaged dock

http://m.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jun/07/tons-sealife-crosses-ocean-tsunami-damaged-dock/

" Researchers at Oregon State University said Thursday that the dock is covered in about 13 pounds of organisms per square foot, or a total of about 100 tons total. They have identified barnacles, starfish, urchins, anemones, amphipods, worms, mussels, limpets, snails, solitary tunicates and algae – dozens of species in all.

"This float is an island unlike any transoceanic debris we have ever seen," John Chapman, an invasive species specialist for the university, said in a press release."

.

Four reasons why its 'game over' for foreign chip firms in China

http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4374709/Four-reasons-why-the-CE-chip-game-is-?pageNumber=1

An especially pithy comment on this article by "SR":

" Tai is right on the money and Junko is right. I've worked during the past 5 odd years in China, competing with the likes of RDA and I can tell you first hand I couldn't have picked more major reasons as Vincent articulated here. Let me share a few personal perspectives. Whenever I returned from my long stay in China to my bay area office it was like a day and night and I was entering into a strangely out-of-touch world here in bay area. Not generalizing, but I've seen this attitude of "China phone quality is bad, they can't sustain," from so many people in semi companies here in the bay area, that I confess feeling if I am siding with the losing team. Look, it's a hard lesson to hear when you are out here in the valley but hear me on this. We crow about the cheap quality of Chinese-made phones, but how many of us really think that it is really bad? How many actually used them? Have you used them in China Mobile network? The U.S. mobile service companies and phone companies have trained all of us into paying them exorbitant amounts of money for products and services and for that what do we get? Crappy service with dropped calls, and try switching phones from one network to another. In China, it is very common for the consumer to switch phones as often as they wish and China Mobile service is the best cell service ever I've experienced in all the world. How about that for better consumer experience? I guarantee you, you take one of these high quality iPhone/Android phones with a reasonable, 300Yuan phone from China and compare the consumer experience in AT&T network, you would be hard pressed to find many differences. Bells and whistles yes but basic functionality? No difference. So when we talk about China phone quality, we need to take into account the entire consumer experience and then evaluate. As a logical consequence, when we talk about China competitiveness, we need to look at how they service the markets and why they win."
.

Chinese String Beans

This was pretty easy to make. I wasn't sure string beans would get tender just by dry frying in a little oil, but they did. And the sauce is authentic tasting and NOT bland. Costco has a nice 2 lb bag of trimmed green beans right now. Half the bag fit nicely in my frying pan.

Ingredients • 1 lb green beans, haricots verts or Chinese longbeans • 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped • 1 tablespoon ginger, chopped • 2 scallions (spring onions, green onions), white parts only, finely chopped • 1/2 teaspoon chili paste • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce • 1/2 teaspoon sugar • 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste • Pepper to taste, optional • 2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil for stir-frying, or as needed

Dry fry green beans in oil til puckered (6-7 minutes). Saute garlic, ginger, scallions, chili paste. Add beans and rest of ingredients.