Is the electric car dying again?




















A second administration of President Barack Obama will be forced to revisit the issue of subsidies for renewable energy and, with it, those for electric vehicles. Despite the millions of dollars spent on government incentives, marketing and promotion, sales of fully electric cars are well below projected targets. Investment in vehicle charging infrastructure also has fallen victim to budget cutbacks, limited usage and concern over the return on money spent.

Indeed, only last month, a leading automotive battery manufacturer, A123 Systems, was forced to declare bankruptcy. And the founder and CEO of Better Place, Shai Agassi, whose company (in which I was employed) promotes all-electric vehicles with batteries that can be both charged and replaced, was himself replaced due to low sales figures and high capital expenses arising from the deployment of battery-switching stations.

As a result, the question is now being raised: Are we again bearing witness to the death of the electric car?





Any such conclusion over the longer term may be premature. With declining costs and gradually improving technologies that can extend battery range beyond its current limitations, the electric car continues to hold promise. Rising gasoline prices and potential disruptions in oil supply favor alternative sources of energy.

To achieve mass market adoption, however, cars running on electricity — or any other alternative energy source — must satisfy the three “C’s”: cost, convenience and connectivity.

Few buyers are able or willing to pay more for a car running on clean energy unless the upfront cost of the car roughly equals or is below its carbon-powered alternative. Advertised savings over time in powering a car using alternative “fuels” so far have failed to persuade the average driver to buy. And while government subsidies play a role in reducing initial costs to consumers, such incentives so far have not been sufficient to attract large numbers of drivers to switch to electric vehicles.

Cars driven solely or partially by electricity or other alternative energies also must be at least as convenient as those powered exclusively by internal combustion engines. Drivers appear unwilling to sacrifice the expected hundreds of miles in driving range between refuelings. Likewise, drivers demand refueling times equal to what they are accustomed — about five minutes at the gasoline station.

Further, there must be adequate infrastructure in place to enable large numbers of drivers to connect to an alternative energy source before that source can be widely adopted. While a scattering of drivers simultaneously connecting to a power grid may not have much impact, large numbers of drivers doing so can cause major power outages that escalate absent the real-time balancing of energy loads across the network. Moreover, the environmental impact of the connected cycle between car and infrastructure, often referred to as the “well-to-wheel” balance, has to result in less pollution overall for alternative energy vehicles to achieve significant market traction.

Until the fully electric car can satisfy all three C’s, any assessment of projected vehicle sales must reflect a variety of energy sourcing options, both traditional and alternative, all competing for market share.

Gasoline and diesel likely will remain the predominant source of energy in the foreseeable future for new car buyers, with hybrid vehicles that run on both petroleum and alternative energy sources taking an increasingly larger share of the market. Although more costly than pure gasoline-driven cars, hybrids do offer a more environmentally friendly solution and provide the driving range demanded by car buyers.





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A decade after little girl vanished, Rilya Wilson’s foster mom faces trial




















For Rilya Wilson’s birthday on Sept. 29, 2005, members of the Joseph Caleb Center’s Head Start program shared a sheet cake with white frosting and pink flowers in an auditorium filled with pink balloons. They blew out nine candles — one for every year that had passed since the pigtailed girl’s birth.

A year later, the date passed with no celebration. The hostess of the unusual parties, then-Florida state Sen. Frederica S. Wilson, had reached the same conclusion as Miami prosecutors: Rilya, the chubby-cheeked foster child who vanished in late 2000 or early 2001, was almost certainly dead.

“That’s when I stopped having birthday parties,” Wilson, now a U.S. congresswoman, said. “I guess I had been hoping so hard.”





Beginning Monday, a Miami-Dade jury will be asked to write the final chapter in a saga that shocked South Florida and raised haunting questions: How did a small child, in the care of a court-appointed guardian, simply disappear? And how could the state’s long-troubled child welfare system not notice?

In a trial that Wilson vows to attend, at least in part, jurors will be asked to decide whether caretaker Geralyn Graham abused and murdered the child over a decade ago.

Uproar and firings

Rilya’s disappearance — her body has never been found — sparked massive upheaval and reform at the Department of Children & Families, leading to a series of unbridled public hearings, a scathing report, legislative changes and a Miami visit by then-Gov. Jeb Bush.

Several DCF employees were fired, the top Miami administrator resigned and Secretary Kathleen Kearney left the agency months later. Rilya’s disappearance prompted cries for agency “transparency” more than any tragedy before it — cries that echo today.

It led to a criminal probe that will culminate Monday with opening statements in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

Graham, 66, is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and multiple counts of child abuse with great bodily harm. She faces life in prison if convicted. Graham, confined in the Miami-Dade jail since October 2002, has long maintained her innocence.

The trial, in front of Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez, is expected to last longer than a month.

Without a body, forensic evidence, eyewitnesses or confessions, the state faces unusual challenges. The prosecution’s thrust will likely focus on Graham’s inconsistent accounts of Rilya’s whereabouts — and a jailhouse informant who claims the woman confessed to smothering the child.

Rilya was born to a crack-addicted mother, and by 2000, was living with Graham and her domestic partner, Pamela Graham, under DCF supervision.

Her name was an acronym: Remember I Love You Always.

The agency did not realize the girl had disappeared until April 2002, more than one year after she was last seen. The reason: Her case worker, whose job was to check on the girl regularly, had not bothered to do so — and instead falsified numerous reports.

Changing stories

During a Christmas 2000 get-together at the Graham home, friends wondered about Rilya’s whereabouts. Graham claimed a “Spanish” friend had taken the little girl on a road trip.

When DCF finally became aware that the child wasn’t in the home, Graham claimed that an unidentified worker with the agency — “a tall, heavy-set, light-skinned woman with an accent” — came to pick up Rilya. A second woman came later to retrieve toys and clothes, Graham said.





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15 Cheesy Christmas Music Videos on YouTube












1. “Last Christmas” – Wham!



What would a cheesy Christmas music video roundup be without George Michael — and his mullet, covered by a furry, snow-covered hood? If you like this video, just wait until you see the a cappella Norwegian version.












Click here to view this gallery.


[More from Mashable: 10 Adorable Animals Feeding Other Animals [VIDEOS]]


Now that the turkey has been picked apart and you’ve survived another Black Friday, it is now officially acceptable to listen to Christmas music. If you’ve been secretly listening to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” since early November, crank it up!


One of the best — or worst, depending on your perspective — parts about the holidays is how we embrace corniness. The lyrics are cheesy, the wardrobe is tacky and some traditions are silly.


[More from Mashable: Rebecca Black Shows Off Hidden Talent in New Music Video]


To kick off the season, here are the 15 cheesiest holiday music videos we could find on YouTube. Which is your favorite? Share your pick in the comments below.


Image courtesy of Flickr, ronnie44052


This story originally published on Mashable here.


Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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Larry Hagman Dies

Larry Hagman, best known for playing Dallas villain J.R. Ewing, died Friday morning from complications stemming from his recent battle with cancer.

He was 81 years old.

Video: Larry Hagman Talks 'Dallas', Cancer and Veganism

"Larry was back in his beloved Dallas, re-enacting the iconic role he loved most," his family said in a statement via The Dallas Morning News. "When he passed, he was surrounded by loved ones. It was a peaceful passing, just as he had wished for. The family requests privacy at this time."

Hagman's rep says the late actor will be cremated.

His Dallas co-stars Linda Gray (who played his wife Sue Ellen) and Patrick Duffy (who played his brother Bobby) were reportedly at his bedside when he died, The Sun is reporting.

"Larry Hagman was my best friend for 35 years. He was the Pied Piper of life and brought joy to everyone he knew," Gray told ET in a statement. "He was creative, generous, funny, loving and talented, and I will miss him enormously. He was an original and lived life to the fullest ... The world was a brighter place because of Larry Hagman."

"Friday I lost one of the greatest friends ever to grace my life. The loneliness is only what is difficult, as Larry's peace and comfort is always what is important to me, now as when he was here," Duffy said in a statement. "He was a fighter in the gentlest way, against his obstacles and for his friends. I wear his friendship with honor."

Victoria Principal, who played Pamela Barnes Ewing, added, "Larry was bigger than life ... on screen and off. He is unforgettable, and irreplaceable, to millions of fans around the world, and in the hearts of each of us, who was lucky enough to know and love him. Look out God ... Larry's leading the parade."

Video: J.R. Menaces in New 'Dallas'

Hagman, who also starred as Air Force Captain Anthony Nelson in I Dream of Jeannie, was last seen on television in TNT's Dallas reboot, where he returned to play his most well-known character.

"Larry Hagman was a giant, a larger-than-life personality whose iconic performance as J.R. Ewing will endure as one of the most indelible in entertainment history," Warner Bros., Dallas executive producers Cynthia Cidre and Michael M. Robin, and the show's cast and crew said in a statement. "He truly loved portraying this globally recognized character, and he leaves a legacy of entertainment, generosity and grace. Everyone at Warner Bros. and in the Dallas family is deeply saddened by Larry's passing, and our thoughts are with his family and dear friends during this difficult time."

"It was truly an honor to share the screen with Mr. Larry Hagman," Dallas reboot star Jesse Metcalfe, who plays Christopher Ewing, said in a statement. "With piercing wit and undeniable charm he brought to life one of the most legendary television characters of all time. But to know the man, however briefly, was to know a passion and dedication for life and acting that was profoundly inspirational."

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Oho ho ho! Web sales expected to grow 17%








Us online holiday sales are already on the rise, and are expected to grow 17 percent from last year to $43.4 billion, a new forecast said last week.

The report from the research firm comScore showed retail e-commerce spending for the first 18 days of November-December holiday season were up 16 percent to $10.1 billion.

“Recent five-year highs in consumer confidence and early retailer promotions appear to be serving as wind in the sails for the beginning portion of the holiday season, with consumers opening up their wallets early and often,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.



The comScore forecast of a 17 percent gain would outpace last season's 15 percent increase and would be well ahead of the retail industry’s expectation for a 4.1 percent increase in consumers’ overall spending this holiday season.










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‘App economy’ potential sizzles




















Raymond Gonzalez, a Florida International University senior, is developing an iPhone application called Pet Finder that will allow users to browse the dogs and cats at the local animal shelter or request an animal for adoption. He is also part of a team creating mobile apps that track bank failures, issue alerts about earthquakes and organize homework assignments.

It’s a well-calculated effort to learn as much as he can about mobile technology as quickly as possible. “My goal is to make all these apps free and open source while using the knowledge gained to build my startup company after graduation,” said Gonzalez, who is majoring in information technology.

Whether he starts his own company or works for someone else, Gonzalez is preparing to be a player in a high-paying, sizzling new industry, one that might provide the United States with a big opportunity to increase its exports in coming years.





While the overall economy still lags, the “app economy” has created nearly 500,000 jobs in the United States since 2007, when there were none.

Companies even worry that the nation isn’t moving fast enough to produce new talent for thousands of unfilled jobs as consumers demand more and more gizmos and gadgets for their smartphones.

As a result, salaries are rising quickly: Mobile apps developers can expect pay increases of 9 percent next year, among the highest of any jobs, putting them in the range of $92,750 to $133,500 a year, according to a survey that the staffing and consulting firm Robert Half International released last month.

If the United States can maintain its dominance in the industry, many say the app economy could make a big dent in the country’s federal trade deficit. Last year, for example, more than 20 percent of the apps downloaded in China were made by U.S. developers.

“There is unprecedented opportunity for America to capitalize on exploding international markets,” Peter Farago, the vice president of marketing for Flurry, a high-tech startup in San Francisco, testified in September before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade.

Farago said his company had more than 100 employees and 50 open positions and that “we literally cannot find the talent we need fast enough.” He told members of the subcommittee that the app economy would become increasingly international and that the United States should do more to improve education and retraining programs and to make it easier for companies to bring and keep more talent from foreign countries.

“We’re in a human capital crunch,” added Rey Ramsey, the president and chief executive officer of TechNet, a network of technology executives that promotes the industry.

According to a TechNet study released earlier this year, the 466,000 mobile-tech jobs created since the iPhone was introduced include programmers, designers, marketers, managers and support staff for Apple, Android, Facebook and other platforms. California is by far the most dominant player in the industry, accounting for nearly one of every four jobs. New York ranks second, followed by Washington state, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, Georgia, Virginia and Florida.

Among metropolitan regions, New York ranked first, followed by San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue. Miami-Fort Lauderdale ranked 19th.





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Ft. Lauderdale, Miami Beach flooding lingers




















Superstorm Sandy is gone. And the moon’s pull has diminished.

But the ocean keeps pouring over State Road A1A in Fort Lauderdale and onto Alton Road in Miami Beach, causing problems in coastal communities where flooding has now been an off-and-on phenomenon for weeks.

On Thursday and Friday, water from the Atlantic pounded parts of the Fort Lauderdale strip. The power of waves destroyed chunks of a barrier wall and forced authorities to shut down northbound traffic from Sunrise Boulevard to Northeast 20th Street. It’s the second time the road has been closed in about four weeks.





After high tide, tourists and residents straggled over to take a look at the damage. Beach shower heads lay in the sand along with palm trees, and pieces of tile from the wall littered the ground.

Art Seitz, a freelance photographer who lives in a nearby high-rise, said the beach is a “mega mess.”

“The wall was completely toppled,” he said. “I’ve lived here for 25 years and never have seen anything like these.”

The culprit: a low pressure system, high winds and, yes, the lasting impact of Sandy, the mega-storm that wrecked New York and New Jersey.

“It’s a combination of everything,” said Barry Baxter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami.

Baxter said the system has generated northeast swells. At the same time, he said winds blowing from 15 to 20 miles-per-hour have been pushing for days now against the gulf stream, which builds up the seas over time.

Those factors pushed sea levels to eight feet in Palm Beach County, and to six feet in Miami-Dade and Broward, he said.

Friday’s convergence of wind and swells comes after the moon reached its closest point to the earth in mid-October, causing a rise in the tides. Later that month, Superstorm Sandy blew by the coast, causing a surge. Then the full moon rose.

And now, streets are flooded by tides again.

“It seems like it’s been week after week” of flooding, Baxter said. “Everything comes together.”

Baxter said erosion caused by Sandy is also contributing to issues where the Atlantic is pushing over the beach and onto streets.

In Miami Beach, the tides push Biscayne Bay water up through stormwater drains during seasonal high tides. But the problem has seemingly lingered longer than usual this year.

Flooding surfaced again Friday on Alton Road, though not nearly as widespread as they have been during the last month, or even the past week.

Still, sandbags lie outside some retail shops and city officials wonder when the problem will go away.

“We’re trying to set up a meeting with NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration],” said city of Miami Beach spokeswoman Nannette Rodriguez, “just to see when this is going to go away.”

Miami Herald reporters Carli Teproff and Maria Bernal contributed to this story.





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Worn Out? Stars Step Out in Same Style


Kim Kardashian vs. Pink


Who knew Kim Kardashian and Pink had similar tastes in formal wear? Kardashian was spotted wearing a purple-blue, floor-length Catherine Deane gown in Miami this past month, while Pink chose the same style for her red-carpet appearance at the 2012 American Music Awards. Who rocked the chic style best?


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Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 13,000 for first time since Election Day

Stocks rallied in an abbreviated session on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 172 points to 13,009. That's the first close above 13,000 for the Dow since Election Day.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 18 points to 1,409. The S&P also racked up its biggest weekly point gain of the year. The Nasdaq composite index climbed 40 to 2,966.

Traders were encouraged by economic signals out of Germany and China. It's also the first day of the traditional holiday shopping season.

Trading on Wall Street was thin, about 1.4 billion shares, in a holiday-shortened session. Advancing stocks beat decliners 5-to-1.




REUTERS



A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange today as a little girl watches.



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Shoppers flood South Florida stores on Thanksgiving for Black Friday deals




















GeGe Williams joined 18 family members Thursday for a sprawling Thanksgiving feast of turkey, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, seafood rice, stuffing and banana pudding.

They had to eat quickly. It was 11 a.m., and they wanted to get in line to shop.

“Half of us went to Walmart and half of us came here,” Williams, a fast-food cashier from Miami, said shortly before 6 p.m. from a bench outside the Best Buy at the Dadeland Station Mall.





Williams joined tens of thousands of South Florida residents in condensing or abandoning their Thanksgiving routines Thursday to snag bargains reserved for the earliest of holiday shoppers.

At a Doral Toys R Us, more than 300 people waited in line for an 8 p.m. opening, the earliest yet for a store that four years ago kept closed through Thanksgiving. But with more retailers seeing midnight openings on Friday too long a wait for holiday sales, Toys R Us opted to move its "door buster" frenzy into Thanksgiving evening.

The earlier opening brought Rebecca Sucarino to Toys R Us at 10 a.m. to claim the first spot in line. The insurance specialist was joined by her husband and friends, while her three children ate Thanksgiving with Sucarino’s mother.

This is Sucarino’s third year at the front of the line on Thanksgiving at the same Toys R Us. She’s on the hunt for baby clothes and a $100 trampoline selling for $50.

She said she’s happy to be able to afford a big Christmas haul for her three kids (ages 11, 3 and six months) but does regret having to stake out a store on Thanksgiving.

“This is my son’s first Thanksgiving. It bothers me a lot,” she said. “But it feels good to get the kids a lot of toys and not spend as much.”

While the Toys R Us line grew throughout the evening, the second group of shoppers didn’t show up until around 5 p.m.

Such was the luck of Thanksgiving Day shopping, with some die-hards realizing they had arrived hours or even days earlier than they needed to.

At a Doral Best Buy, Valentina Sierra stood by a tent she and a fellow Starbucks worker pitched there on Monday. When did the people that snagged Spot No. 2 arrive? Wednesday, Sierra said, rolling her eyes.

She planned on buying a $499 40-inch Toshiba television on sale for $179 as a gift for her parents. About 40 spots down a line topping 200 around 7 pm, Florida International University student Jason Kalil wanted the same item. He wasn’t hopeful and blamed local police.

Kalil explained he arrived around midnight and placed his tent near Sierra’s. While charging a phone Thursday morning, Kalil saw someone had inserted their tent, claiming improper dibs on Kalil’s part. A scuffle ensued, the police summoned.

“They ordered me to the back of the line,” Kalil said.

Nationwide, a similar shopping story unfolded as shoppers put down the turkey to take advantage of Thanksgiving deals.

Stores typically open in the wee hours of the morning on the day after Thanksgiving that’s named Black Friday because that’s when stores traditionally turn a profit for the year. But Black Friday openings have crept earlier and earlier over the past few years. Now, stores are opening their doors on Thanksgiving evening, hoping Americans will be willing to shop soon after they finish their pumpkin pie.

Retailers are hoping that the Thanksgiving openings will draw shoppers who prefer to head to stores after their turkey dinner rather than braving the crowds early the next morning. Overall, about 17 percent of shoppers plan to take advantage of Thanksgiving hours, according to an International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs survey of 1,000 consumers.





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