Minggu, 06 Februari 2011

Houston's Southwest Drupal Summit is Coming

There are a lot of good conferences taking place this Spring and Summer, but what do you do for the Winter months? If you're smart, you start looking for a conference in warmer climate. If you're a Drupal enthusiast (we'll assume you're already smart) then you have to consider attending the two-day Southwest Drupal Summit in Houston, Texas. This January 27-28, 2011 conference brings Drupal experts, novices, and business leaders together to share successes, explore opportunities, and learn more about why and how Drupal is making headlines across the world as a superior enterprise-level web application platform.

Southwest Drupal Summit - January 27-28, 2011 - Houston, TXThis regional event will provide participants with insights and techniques for building solid websites and application. Attendees will hear from Drupal experts in the areas of Development, Design and Business Strategy in order to acquire new skills and hone best practices. Business leaders will share their success stories and implementation strategies, offering opportunities to learn from real-world examples. Featured speakers include Angela Byron (Lullabot, Drupal 7 core maintainer), Kyle Rankin (Linux Magazine), James Walker (StatusNet), Kieran Lal (Acquia), and many more.


If you decide to go to the conference, you can purchase your tickets at the Southwest Drupal Summit website. CMS Report is a media sponsor for this event. You do know what that means, don't you? Whisper the secret code, CMSREPORT, and the event organizers will knock $50 off the asking price, making the registration fee only $65 for this conference.

Report: Tesla Model X crossover coming to Frankfurt?


Filed under: , ,

Tesla Model S


Tesla Model S - Click above for high-res image gallery



Up to this point, the only actual vehicle Tesla Motors has offered for sale is the all-electric Roadster. But the Silicon Valley-based automaker has drummed up a ton of interest and money by showing off its next planned product, the Model S sedan. It looks as if that trend will continue, as a report from the fine folks at Car and Driver suggests that the automaker's new crossover, the Model X, will be shown off for the first time at the Frankfurt Motor Show this fall. This makes some sense, since Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that we'll get to see the Model X before the end of the year. The Los Angeles show later in the fall would be another possibility.



Assuming this report is accurate, it's worth noting that the CUV's appearance in Frankfurt will mark the first time Tesla has used a major auto show to introduce a new model - both the original Roadster and the Model S sedan were both unveiled in smaller, private events.



The CUV will be based on the same underpinnings as the Model S sedan, which was designed from the start to allow for future model expansion. C&D speculates the crossover will sport all-wheel drive, though it's not known exactly how such an arrangement will work. It's possible that Tesla will craft a second powertrain unit that will power the front wheels independently of the rears. We'd expect a similar lithium ion battery pack to be used in the CUV as is planned for the sedan.



Following the unveil of the crossover, development of both a coupe and a larger, likely three-row sport utility vehicle will move forward in full force. There's also been talk of a carbiolet and possibly a minivan or MPV. Of course, all of this assumes that the startup automaker, which has partnered up with both Daimler and Toyota, doesn't run out of money before any of these future vehicles come to market. Here's hoping.







[Source: Car and Driver]

Report: Tesla Model X crossover coming to Frankfurt? originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Chevy Volt Super Bowl ad puts emphasis on innovation, electricity [w/video]

Chevy Volt Super Bowl Ad


Chevy Volt Super Bowl Commercial - Click above to watch video after the jump



Mixed in with the full complement of Super Bowl commercials from General Motors is the latest promotional tool for the Chevy Volt. The gist of the ad is that innovation can come in a lot of places, from the end of a kite string (you're all familiar with Ben Franklin, no?) to the stage at Woodstock (here, the ad uses a really fake-feeling Jimi Hendrix shot) to, well, the end of an electric cord when it's plugged into a car.



You can see the ad for yourself after the jump, but one thing immedately jumps out: there is no 'More Car Than Electric' tagline. This is emblematic of the way the new ad is quite different than the first Volt TV commercials, which tried (a little too hard) to attack other electric cars by promoting the extended range benefits of the Volt. Instead of that message, the new spot pushes the dramatic change that plugging in your car can bring to the world. This is a good message. In fact, it's just super.



[Source: Chevy]

Continue reading Chevy Volt Super Bowl ad puts emphasis on innovation, electricity [w/video]

Chevy Volt Super Bowl ad puts emphasis on innovation, electricity [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 05 Feb 2011 18:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Monster 5 for Friday--Careers Edition--February 4


People are talking about the weather--and its effect on the current employment situation. In recent weeks, winter storms have hit large portions of the country, stalling many workers and job seekers. Predictably, hiring in construction and transportation is especially bleak right now. This is part of the reason that, although the unemployment rate has dropped to an encouraging 9.0 percent, many experts and analysts are calling today's BLS jobs report 'disappointing.'


Nonetheless, warmer weather and brighter days are ahead, say most employment-market watchers. So if you're snowed in this weekend (or even if you're not), take a moment to review some of our favorite career-advice articles from this week:


5. It's, unfortunately, an increasingly common problem--a resume with noticeable gaps in employment. Career expert Liz Ryan has some tips on dealing with gaps, in '5 Workarounds for a Spotty Work History.'


4. You're likely familiar with this catch-22: You need experience to get a job, but you need the job to gain experience. What to do? Get tips, in 'Gaining Needed Work Experience.'


3. Hate networking? Read this: 'How to Never Have to Network Again.'


2. Whether you're crafting your resume or working on an interoffice memo, writing skills can truly make or break a career. Get tips, in 'Improve Your Writing Skills.'


1. Eight experts offer advice on what actions to take when you're pink-slipped, in 'Laid Off or Fired? You're Not Alone.'


Have ideas for articles you'd like to see? Have a question about your job search? Let us know in the Comments section--and don't forget to nominate Monster.com as your favorite job site in the About.com Readers' Choice Awards.

Lab Coat Please…


Shaan Joining Autodesk Labs

As of February 1st I have moved to the Autodesk Labs group within Autodesk as a Technology Evangelist. It is a full circle for me as I developed the first Autodesk Labs site and posted several projects back in 2006, now I finally get to work in the group. I will be working with the teams supporting and evangelizing the Labs hosted technologies to current and future customers.

This blog will remain as it has for seven years, an active all things Autodesk blog with varied topic posts from A to Z, or AutoCAD to Zombies. I have always covered design, science, technology, and visualization on this blog in addition to covering Labs technologies since its founding, so there are no big changes expected to this blog’s secret sauce. I will still be covering AutoCAD topics as it has been an important part of my experience both as a customer and as an Autodesk employee. AutoCAD is an important part of Autodesk technology and a product that is used in combination with many of the Labs technologies.

Autodesk Labs Technology Previews

Autodesk Labs has excelled at providing emerging technology to people for feedback. Technology Previews are not really a beta for a product, but an early Technology Preview. The goal is that you and your feedback shape the direction, and if it might become a product or a new feature in a product.

Autodesk Labs longtime employee and blogger Scott Sheppard “It’s Alive in the Labhttp://labs.blogs.com/ and I will be covering Labs content from different angles, so now Labs has two voices and blogs instead of one, like stereo but better.

Autodesk Labs Scott & Shaan

While I have your attention give some new technology a look and perhaps take it for a test drive at the Autodesk Labs. There are many exciting projects posted as well as more coming.

Some examples of the most popular:

And much much more.

In addition to the larger Technology Previews, there is the Plugin of the Month from the Autodesk Developer Network where our developer consultants aka programming ninjas and our ADN partners post plugins for Autodesk products.

Cheers,
Shaan
@mrcadman on Twitter

Thinking about the importance of communications “revolutions.”





















The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon – Thurs 11p / 10c
The Rule of the Nile
www.thedailyshow.com








Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire Blog</a>The Daily Show on Facebook


There has been a lot of talk about the importance of social media in recent world events. See for instance, here, here, and here. Some of the more astute commentators have referred to earlier technological revolutions and their impact on television: usenet, fax machines, television, cameras, telegraph, and even the printing press. One technology, however, always seem to get left out, maybe because it seems too “obvious,” and that is literacy.


This is too bad because there is a great literature on the subject. A user named “dinalopez” has put together a wonderful bibliography on WorldCat – a list which contains many of my favorite articles on the subject, as well as many I haven’t read. I wanted to draw upon this critical literacy studies literature to make three points about technology and social change.


The first point comes from a paper F. Niyi Akinnaso (my Ph.D. advisor) wrote for the journal Comparative Studies in Society and History. “Schooling, Language, and Knowledge in Literate and Nonliterate Societies” draws on Akinnaso’s knowledge of Yoruba divination practices to challenge the “over-simplified view of education in nonliterate societies.” This is important because he shows that the social organization of schooling associated with literate societies is not dependent on literacy, and that similar practices can be found in some nonliterate societies. He does not deny that these institutional patterns are more typical of literate societies, but it would be a mistake to attribute too much explanatory force to literacy. The Yoruba case shows that literacy is not a necessary factor in the creation of such social institutions.


The second point comes from Brian Street’s important book Literacy in theory and Practice. In this book Street argues that there is not one universal form of literacy, but multiple “literacies.” In Iran in the 1970s (where he did fieldwork) many people learn to “read” the Koran by wrote memorization. They are literate in the sense that they can look at a page of the Koran and recite the appropriate passages, but not in the sense of being able to use their literacy to read other texts besides the Koran.


Finally, the third point I wanted to make about literacy comes from an article by Terence Turner about how the Kayapo in Brazil have appropriated the use of video cameras. I put this in the context of literacy precisely because one of the important aspects of video use by the Kayapo is to record the promises of politicians. Before video cameras they similarly made audio recordings – both useful methods for a society which (at the time) lacked literacy. It is also worth mentioning a second aspect of their use of video technology, which is their appearance, in native-dress, at political protests carrying video cameras. Here their use of video cameras became the story, one with broad international appeal, allowing them to reach a much larger audience.


So what do these three points teach us about “Twitter Revolutions”? First, the technology itself is not as important as the social conditions in which it is used. In many cases social media is more a means of communicating what is happening on the ground with the outside world, as diasporic populations keep in touch with their friends and family at home via Facebook and Twitter, than it is a means of organizing activity on the ground. If these social networks exist, families will communicate with them however they can, whether by usenet, fax machine, telegraph, or letter. The second point is that the mere existence of these technologies does not imply that people will necessarily make use of them in a particular way. Certainly there is a huge difference in how Twitter is used at the annual anthropology conferences and at an event like SXSW. And the third point is that it isn’t necessarily a bad thing for people to be fascinated by how this technology is being used in Egypt. Certainly it has allows us to voyeuristically participate in world events from afar. Whether this helps or not is hard to say, but I’ll leave you with this quote by Aaron Bady:


I am under no illusions that it will do the people of Egypt any particular good for me to retweet links to articles and images and expressions of the righteous human spirit so gloriously on display in Egypt right now — much as I would like it to — but that’s not really why I’ve been doing it. It’s selfish. It is for me, because it’s what I need to do as a person whose spiritual body has gotten very hungry. I want to be a part of something hopeful because I find that too much hopelessness has crept too deeply into the person I have no choice but to be.

Around the Webs of Significance

Around the Web is back and, with a nod to one of the most writerly of anthropological writers, this week’s column is dedicated to putting pen to paper. To the links!


The writing process




Teaching writing




Words of affirmation



  • A little coaching from the Chronicle’s Brainstorm blog lifted my spirits. It’s a quickly little ditty on what you really need to write. All the time I tell myself I need childcare to write or at least peace and quiet, but look I’m writing this while my third child lies next to me on the couch smashing her foot into my face, demanding “Can I ha’ more?”

  • Got writer’s block? You’re closer to creativty than you think! Read: How to have ideas.



Publishing




Writing for a broad audience




In memoriam



Got some tips on why a raven is like a writing desk? Send ‘em to me at mdthomps AT odu.edu.

Scrum Startup Founders Cash Out in One Year

Founders of TableNinja went to Scrum Inc. ScrumMaster Course in Los Angeles (see next course in LA) and one year later cashed out and retired. You can play 75 simultaneous online poker hands with this software.


Table Ninja Review

Table Ninja is a standalone program for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 that allows a user to implement a set of fully customizable hotkeys and tools to make playing on PokerStars a much more efficient process. Features such as automated betting amounts, highlighting tables requiring action, and hotkeys make multi-tabling easier.
We recommend TableNinja for all players who play multiple tables at a time and would like more gameplay options.

Documenting functions and named parameters

Sometime ago someone asked me how I’d pass custom paramaters to event listeners. I don’t remember the exact use case neither who asked me but basically he was asking for something like:

mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, myListener, "myCustomParam", 2);

functoin myListener(event: MouseEvent, custom :String, custom2 : int) : void;


While the exact syntax above would not be possible, closures are in any case the way to go. I explained him how I’d do it and I forgot about the topic until today.


Today while waiting for a long compilation process to complete I’ve came up with an idea on how to improve code readability on cases similar to this. Here’s the cleaneast syntax I’ve came up with (ideas are more than welcome to improve it):



mc.addEventListener( MouseEvent.CLICK, createListenerAdapterBasedOn(myListener, withParameters("myCustomParam", 2)));


Does it look too verbose? I guess it will highly depend on the exact use case where this is used. But under some circumstances I think the readability can be substantially improved.


createListenerAdapterBasedOn is a package level method. I could have used a utility static method like FunctionUtils.createListenerAdapter. But instead I’ve used a package function because I can reduce the length of the Class + method name (or use the same number of characters to add verbosity and clarity). On the other hand it’s unlikely that this utility class would have more methods.


Documenting functions


This is a concept I’ve never read about or used before, but I think I’ll start using in different places. withParameters method is a completely dummy method that simply returns the parameters it gets but giving them a semantic and contextual meaning. The solely purpose of this method is to improve the readability by converting the method invocation in a Fluent API that can be read as natural language. The method is simply documenting the usage of the call. Putting this together with the Builder pattern and named parameters I discussed a while ago it gives us an incredible weapon to create self-documented code that doesn’t need most-of-the-times useless, needless and confusing ASDoc or inline comments.


If necessary when you have a method accepting several parameters of the same type and that can be confusing to read you could used Documenting functions to create kind of named-parameters:



myMethod(name("John"), surname("Green"), age(33), weight(70))


Here are the details of the implementation in case you are interested in seeing the internal details and some of the tests.


createListenerAdapterBasedOn.as



package com.rialvalue.utils

{

public function createListenerAdapterBasedOn(callback:Function, args):Function

{

return function( rest):*

{

if (args.length == 1)

return callback.apply(null, rest.concat(args[0]));

else

return callback.apply(null, rest.concat(args));

}

}

}


withParameters.as



package com.rialvalue.utils

{

public function withParameters( args):Array

{

return args;

}

}


createListenerAdapterBasedOnTest.as



package com.rialvalue.utils

{

import flash.display.MovieClip;

import flash.events.Event;

import flash.events.IEventDispatcher;

import flash.events.MouseEvent;



import flashx.textLayout.debug.assert;



import org.flexunit.assertThat;

import org.hamcrest.object.equalTo;

public class ListenerUtilsTest

{


private static const ORIGINAL_PARAMETER:String = "originalParameter";


private static const FIRST_PARAM:String = "firstParam";


private static const SECOND_PARAM:String = "secondParam";



[Test]

public function createCallbackAdapterWithNoParameters():void

{

var callbackAdapter:Function = createListenerAdapterBasedOn(function(data:String):void

{

assertThat(ORIGINAL_PARAMETER, equalTo(data));

});


callbackAdapter(ORIGINAL_PARAMETER);

}


[Test]

public function createCallbackAdapterWithIndividualParameter():void

{

var callbackAdapter:Function = createListenerAdapterBasedOn(function(data:String, p1:String):void

{

assertThat(ORIGINAL_PARAMETER, equalTo(data));

assertThat(FIRST_PARAM, equalTo(p1));

}, withParameters(FIRST_PARAM));


callbackAdapter(ORIGINAL_PARAMETER);

}


[Test]

public function createCallbackAdapterWithIndividualParameterNoFluent():void

{

var callbackAdapter:Function = createListenerAdapterBasedOn(function(data:String, p1:String):void

{

assertThat(ORIGINAL_PARAMETER, equalTo(data));

assertThat(FIRST_PARAM, equalTo(p1));

}, FIRST_PARAM);


callbackAdapter(ORIGINAL_PARAMETER);

}


[Test]

public function createCallbackAdapterWithIndividualParameters():void

{

var callbackAdapter:Function = createListenerAdapterBasedOn(function(data:String, p1:String, p2:String):void

{

assertThat(ORIGINAL_PARAMETER, equalTo(data));

assertThat(FIRST_PARAM, equalTo(p1));

assertThat(SECOND_PARAM, equalTo(p2));

}, withParameters(FIRST_PARAM, SECOND_PARAM));


callbackAdapter(ORIGINAL_PARAMETER);

}


[Test]

public function createCallbackAdapterWithIndividualParametersNoFluent():void

{

var callbackAdapter:Function = createListenerAdapterBasedOn(function(data:String, p1:String, p2:String):void

{

assertThat(ORIGINAL_PARAMETER, equalTo(data));

assertThat(FIRST_PARAM, equalTo(p1));

assertThat(SECOND_PARAM, equalTo(p2));

}, FIRST_PARAM, SECOND_PARAM);


callbackAdapter(ORIGINAL_PARAMETER);

}

}

}

如果你的心裏裝得下另外一個女人,那我的床上就可以睡得下另外一個男人









 


1.有人把你放心上,有人把你放床上。
2.
如果你的心裏裝得下另外一個女人,那我的床上就可以睡得下另外一個男人。
3.
我愛你時,你說什麽就是什麽,我不愛你時,你說,你算什麽?
4.
他跟我演戲,我回報以演技。
5.
我要讓全世界都知道我很低調。
6.
你來我信你不會走,你走我當你沒來過。
7.
我是你轉身就忘的路人甲,憑什麽陪你蹉跎年華到天涯?
8.
對男人好,不如勾引男人來對自己好。
9.
好男人就是反覆睡一個女人,一睡就是一輩子。
10.
等待你的關心,等到我關上了心。
11.
馬不停蹄的錯過,輕而易舉的辜負,不知不覺的陌路。
12.
總有一天你的名字會出現在我家戶口簿上。
13.
不是故事的結局不夠好,而是我們對故事要求太多。
14.
我必須學會新的賣弄,這樣你們才會繼續的喜歡我。
15.
脫了衣服是禽獸,穿上衣服是衣冠禽獸。
16.
其實你我都一樣,人人都在裝,關鍵是裝像了,裝圓了,有一個門檻,裝成了就邁進去,成為傳說中的性情中人。沒裝好,就卡在那裏,那就是卡門。
17.
欺騙一個人的最好辦法,就是利用自己的真感情,也許不是我遺忘了,只是我不願意想起而已。
18.
敏感的人,都是很自尊與很自傲的,同時也有著自卑的情結。
19.
又到了這個學長勾引學妹,學妹勾搭學長,學姐垂涎學弟,學弟攀附學姐,學姐嫉妒學妹,學妹憎恨學姐,學長拋棄學姐,學姐報復學長,學長欺瞞學弟,學弟巴結學長,學弟追求學妹,學妹拒絕學弟的季節。
20.
悶騷就是自己對自己放蕩。
21.
愛,從我們開始那天,已經偷偷倒數計時,安安靜靜地走向結束。
22.
選擇最淡的心事,詮釋坎坷的人生。
23.
一個人要令另一個人討厭不是難事,能讓所有的人都討厭也是一種本事。
24.
請不要把我對你的容忍,當成你不要臉的資本。
25.
時間對了,地點對了,感情對了,卻發現人不對了。


26.我允許你走進我的世界,但不許你在我的世界裏走來走去。
27.
人哪有好的?只是壞的程度不一樣而已。
28.
一個錢幣最美麗的狀態,不是靜止,而是當它像陀螺一樣轉動的時候,沒人知道,即將轉出來的那一面,是快樂或痛苦,是愛還是恨。
29.
全部都很好,只是我不喜歡。
30.
過去的一頁,能不翻就不要翻,翻落了灰塵會迷了雙眼。
31.
有的人對你好,是因為你對他好,有的人對你好,是因為懂得你的好。
32.
談錢傷感情,談感情傷錢。
33.
那是你唯一一次放我鴿子,一放就是一輩子。
34.
一見鐘情,再而衰,三而竭。
35.
理想很豐滿,現實很骨感。
36.
一生至少該有一次,為了某個人而忘了自己,不求有結果,不求同行,不求曾經擁有,甚至不求你愛我。只求在我最美的年華裏,遇到你。




(圖文/網路 夢筠蒐輯整理分享)

What is carbon?

This question and answer is part of the Guardian's ultimate climate change FAQ

See all questions and answers
Read about the project

Carbon is a chemical element, like hydrogen, oxygen, lead or any of the others in the periodic table.

Carbon is a very abundant element. It exists in pure or nearly pure forms – such as diamonds and graphite – but can also combine with other elements to form molecules. These carbon-based molecules are the basic building blocks of humans, animals, plants, trees and soils. Some greenhouse gases, such as CO2 and methane, also consist of carbon-based molecules, as do fossil fuels, which are largely made up of hydrocarbons (molecules consisting of hydrogen and carbon).

In the context of climate change, 'carbon' is commonly used as a shorthand for carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas released by humans. Technically, however, this isn't accurate. Carbon only becomes carbon dioxide when each atom of carbon joins with two atoms of oxygen (hence the chemical formula of carbon dioxide, CO2).

This shorthand can sometimes cause confusion, because although 'a tonne of carbon' will often be used to mean 'a tonne of CO2', in a scientific context the same phrase could mean 'CO2 containing a tonne of carbon' (which is a much smaller amount, as oxygen accounts for most of the weight of each CO2 molecule).

The term carbon also crops up in the phrase carbon footprint, which describes the total amount of greenhouse gases released as the result of a given activity. In this context, 'a tonne of carbon' may mean something else still: 'a mix of greenhouse gases with a combined warming impact equivalent to that of a tonne of CO2'.

Carbon molecules move around the Earth system in the carbon cycle.

The ultimate climate change FAQ

• This answer last updated: 21.01.2010
Read about the project and suggest a question
Report an error in this answer

Related questions
Is the world really getting warmer?
Are humans definitely causing the warming?
What are climate change feedback loops?


guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

EU urged to overhaul fishing policy

Unprecedented alliance of retailers and conservationists urges drastic reform to prevent fish stocks from passing point of no return

Europe's fishing practices must be drastically reformed in order to prevent dwindling fish stocks passing the point of no return, a coalition of British supermarkets and conservationists warned today.

The unprecedented alliance, which includes Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer, members of the UK's Food and Drink Federation and WWF, is making the strongest statement from business to date on the failures of the European Union fishing policy.

It follows public anger at the practice of discarding fish that was highlighted in Channel 4's Fish Fight series, which has prompted hundreds of thousands of people to sign a petition calling for reform.

Fishermen should no longer be forced to discard large amounts of their catch, as they do under the current system of EU fishing quotas, the coalition said, and the quotas should be reviewed so that stocks can recover.

Discarding is a long-standing and wasteful practice, resulting in as much as two-thirds of the fish caught being thrown back in the water, usually dead. About 1m tonnes are estimated to be thrown back each year in the North Sea alone. Discarding is a consequence of the strict quotas on the amount of fish that boats may land – when fishermen exceed their quota, or catch species of fish for which they do not have a quota, they must discard the excess.

The coalition is putting forward their proposals for a reformed common fisheries policy in a meeting with Maria Damanaki, the EU commissioner for fisheries, in London today.

The commission is in the process of reviewing the CFP, with a view to introducing reforms in two years. The EU is the world's fourth biggest producer of fish, both wild and farmed.

The coalition criticised the practice of discarding as 'the result of poor management and fishing practices that are not attuned to market and consumer needs', and said the CFP was not working.

The group, led by the green campaigning organisation WWF, said that fishermen would be better served by a different system, as the wasteful practice of discarding was a cost to fishing fleets.

Alternatives to discarding include allowing fishermen to land all the fish they catch, but restricting the days on which they are allowed to fish. Better technology can also help to ensure that fishermen are able to target particular species more closely.

The group called on governments to introduce long-term fishery management plans that would include fishermen, giving fleets a bigger role in 'co-managing' stocks rather than simply being handed quotas, as under the current system.


guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Super Bowl Movie Trailers: 'Captain America,' 'Transformers,' 'Pirates' and More

Filed under: , , , , , ,




The Big Game is upon us, and with it will come what is perhaps the most anticipated slate of movie trailers we've seen in years. The 2011 Super Bowl featuring the Green Bay Packers taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers will play host to a number of brand new movie previews for some of the year's biggest films, like 'Captain America: The First Avenger,' 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon,' 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,' 'Cowboys and Aliens,' 'Super 8,' 'Thor,' 'Rango,' 'Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom' and much more.



This post will serve as your home base for all the movie trailers that premiere before and during this year's Super Bowl. Please bookmark this page and keep coming back as we'll be continually updating it with trailers as soon as they arrive online.



Head after the jump to see what Super Bowl trailers are available right now ...

Continue Reading

'The Matrix 4' and '5': Are the Rumors True?

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Even though this may well turn out to be just another cleverly orchestrated Keanu Reeves meme, the Internet is abuzz today with reports that the actor revealed to a group of London students that two more installments in 'The Matrix' franchise may be on the way -- in 3D, no less.



Now, before you start annoying all your friends by whipping out that lame 'There is no spoon' quote again, consider that the original source -- an anonymous Ain't It Cool News reader going by 'El-Nino' -- is questionable to the extreme and that Entertainment Weekly has already debunked the news. Still, we have to wonder if there isn't something to the rumors, given that the 'Matrix' franchise raked in more than $1.5 billion.



But after the debacles that were 2003's 'The Matrix Reloaded' and 'The Matrix Revolutions,' the two disjointed follow-ups to the truly groundbreaking 1999 original, the biggest question may be whether Reeves and the Wachowski brothers should expect anyone to care.



So, what do you think of this very intriguing and probably not true development? While you're contemplating, check our our pick for the best moment from 'The Matrix' trilogy below, and if you dare, click here to feast your eyes on the worst.

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Sundance 2011 Full Roundup: All Our Reviews, Interviews and More

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You might not have been able to tell because we're really good at what we do (wink, wink), but a big film festival like Sundance takes a lot of effort to cover. Thanks to all the team members who contributed, and thanks to YOU for making us one of your favorite film-festival-coverage destinations!



But now we're done (until next January, anyway). So here's all of our 2011 Sundance output in one handy-dandy location.



Interviews



... and gathered together here are Josh Leonard, Jess Weixler and Mark Webber of 'The Lie.'



Read on for all our reviews, features, and cinematical miscellania!

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Renewable Energy and Cleantech Mutual Funds and ETFs: Does Tax Efficiency Matter?

Alternative Energy and Climate Change Mutual Funds, Part VI



Tom Konrad CFA



My recent article, In
Clean
Energy,
Active
Management
Pays
, started a bit of a
controversy. Rafael Coven, the Index Manager for The Cleantech
Index (^CTIUS), which is the index behind the Powershares
Cleantech Portfolio (PZD)
, left
a
comment
on
Barrons
and sent me an email saying, 'Your
comparison of funds and ETFs ignores the tax efficiency differences
which are very significant
.'



Rafael is right that it's important for many investors to consider
taxes before making an investment decision, and that ETFs
are
often
more
tax
efficient
than
mutual funds
. But are the
differences in the particular case of clean energy funds really "very
significant"? I had my doubts, so I decided to look at the
numbers and find out.



Why ETFs are Usually More Tax Efficient



ETFs are generally considered more tax efficient because they make
fewer capital gains distributions. A mutual fund or ETF that
sells a position at a profit is required by law to return a prorata
share of any net capital gains to the fund's investors every
year. Positions held less than a year produce short term capital
gains, while positions held more than a year produce long term capital
gains. When these gains are returned to investors, they are
taxable as short or long term capital gains, regardless of whether the
funds are reinvested.



In general, actively managed mutual funds trade much more often than
ETFs, which passively track an index. While many mutual funds
trade much of their portfolio once or more a year, most ETFs only
trade a tiny fraction of their portfolio in order to keep up with
changes in the underlying index.



Hence a mutual fund with a Turnover Ratio of 100% (meaning that, on
average, 100% of the funds holdings are traded each year) will, on
average, only hold a position for a year, and will distribute the
majority of capital gains to shareholders every year, much of which
will be in the form of short term capital gains, which are typically
taxed at a higher rate than long term capital gains. In
contrast, an ETF with a Turnover Ratio of 10% will, on average, hold a
position for ten years. This allows time for significant
undistributed capital gains to build up, and when those capital gains
are distributed, they almost always come in the form of long term
capital gains, which are usually taxed at a lower rate.



Who Needs to Worry About Tax
Efficiency, and Who Doesn't




Not all investors need be concerned about the tax
efficiency. Most obviously, investors who are investing in
a non-taxable account, such as an IRA and a 401(k). Tax exempt
institutions, such as charities, also need not worry about tax
efficiency. Finally, people in lower tax brackets need be less
concerned than those with high incomes, since the taxes on capital
gains distributions will be lower for them.



Undistributed Gains



Most renewable energy stocks are down significantly over the last three
years (roughly the same period as the track record of most of the
ETFs.) This means that, at least in the short term, many mutual
funds and ETFs will not have any capital gains distributions no matter
how well they perform, because previous year's capital losses will be
available to offset future gains. (While funds are required to
distribute realized capital gains, they have no way of distributing
realized capital losses, except for offsetting future gains.)



The Numbers



Morningstar has data on most fund's tax efficiency, including
adjusted returns assuming distributions are taxable, and potential
capital gains exposure (undistributed capital gains as a percentage of
net assets.) The following two tables and charts compare the ETF
and mutual fund three year returns on both tax adjusted and unadjusted
basis, along with potential capital gains exposure and fund
turnovers. Where possible, I used no-load mutual fund shares
because I feel they are more comparable to ETFs than load shares,
despite the fact that long term mutual fund buyers should generally
prefer load shares because of their lower annual expense ratios.






















































ETF 3yr pretax

total return

3yr tax adj

total return

Potential Cap

Gains Exposure

Turnover

QCLN




-43.34% -43.34% -52% 40%
PZD




-28.31% -28.38% -40% 31%
PBD




-56.22% -56.28% -98% 62%
GEX




-64.96% -65.03% -198% 50%
PBW




-59.90% -59.90% -234% 42%
ICLN




insufficient track record

-64%








































































Mutual Fund

3yr pretax

total return
3yr tax adj

total return
Potential Cap


Gains Exposure
Turnover
WGGFX




-38.09% -38.76% -46% 93%
NALFX




-36.19% -39.81% -25.00% 34%
CGACX -61.73% -61.73% -110% 61%
AECOX




-48.72% -51.72% -68% 39%
GAAEX

-66.23%

-67.52%

-241%

47%

WRMSX




-42.70% -42.88% -260% 114%
SRICX




15.43% 12.65% 0.60% 190%
ALTEX




-33.01% -33.01% -22.18% 41%



etf tax chart.png


mutual fund tax chart.png



As you can see from the tables, the ETFs have indeed been more
tax-efficient than the mutual funds, but the differences are so
marginal that they are difficult to detect in the charts.



More striking are the extremely large negative
capital gains exposures of many mutual funds and ETFs. The DWS
Climate
Change
Fund
(WRMSX)
, Guinness
Atkinson Alternative Energy Fund (GAAEX),
Van
Eck
Global Alternative Energy Fund (GEX)
, and the PowerShares
Clean
Energy (PBW)
all have undistributed capital losses equal to
multiples of the funds' current values (260%, 241%, 234%, and
198%).
That means that all the holdings in each fund's portfolio could be sold
for three or more times their current value and the funds would still
not have
to distribute any capital gains. Tax efficiency will remain
a moot point for years to come, at least for these four funds, as well
as for the PowerShares
Global
Clean Energy Portfolio (PBD)
and the Calvert
Global Alternative Energy Fund (CGACX)
.



The only fund for which I can really call tax efficiency a concern is
the Gabelli
SRI
Green Fund (SRICX)
. Why does the Gabelli fund stand out
as having a "problem" with tax efficiency? Because the Gabelli
fund
actually managed to turn a decent profit over the last three
years, while their clean energy mutual fund and especially ETF rivals
lost money hand
over fist
. I recently interviewed
John
Segrich, CFA, the lead fund manager at the Gabelli SRI Green fund
,
and he explained in part how they did it.



When it's a sign you're making money, tax inefficiency seems like a
good "problem" to have.



Turnover



It's also worth noting the fairly high Turnover ratios of all of the
ETFs, ranging from 30% to over 60%. That means that, on average,
the
holdings of Clean energy ETFs trade once every 2-3 years, which is not
enough time to build up substantial unrealized capital gains, although
the majority of capital gains distributions are likely to be in the
form of long term capital gains. In fact, the New
Alternatives
FD Inc (NALFX)
has a lower turnover ratio than all but
one of the clean energy ETFs.



Even when we return to an environment where most of these funds are
habitually making gains, and the negative capital gains exposures of
many of the funds are exhausted, these ETFs will have less of an
advantage in tax efficiency over the clean energy mutual funds than
broad market ETFs have over their peers, unless the ETF turnover ratios
fall faster than those of the mutual funds.



Conclusion



While Clean
Energy
ETFs
are a little bit more tax efficient than Clean
Energy
Mutual Funds
, the difference is not currently significant.
Clean
Energy is a very young sector with high volatility and quickly changing
industry structure. The changeable nature of the clean energy
landscape means that a lot of the usual rules do not apply. Not
only do active
managers
have a significant advantage over passively managed funds like
ETFs
, but passive clean energy funds also have much less
significant
tax advantages than passive broad market funds.



DISCLOSURE: No Positions. GAAEX is an
advertiser on AltEnergyStocks.com.


DISCLAIMER: The information and
trades provided here are for informational purposes only and are not a
solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves
substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before
you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future
performance. Please take the time to read the
full disclaimer
here
.

Solar Tracer at the Penny Stock Arcade

Dana Blankenhorn



Look up Solar Tracer Corp. on Google and you'll be asked if you
really mean “solar tracker,” which sends you to a company called Opel Solar (OPL.V),
which makes solar concentrators.


Sometimes you should listen to your Google.


But I wanted to learn about Solar Tracer, which says it was bought this weekend by Sector 10 (SECI.OB), a
failing maker of emergency
response equipment
.


That last is not hyperbole – Sector 10 hasn't brought in any revenue
for over a year. It's a stock market trick old as
time, a shell buying an operating company so the latter can go public
at low cost.


But why? Why would Solar Tracer want to go public sub rosa? (Full
disclosure. I own no penny stocks. I did have some AIG once, before
that went into penny territory. I bought in at $60. If you are looking
for investment advice, move along.)


Turns out Solar Tracer is run by the Tedrow brothers of Florida. CEO
Christian is a writer, CFO Tyler a venture capitalist. The two have
been working on a thriller called the Judgement
Trilogy
– they write under the name Thomas
Tedrow
.


Tyler is managing partner
of HART Capital
Management
in Orlando, which describes itself as “a new kind of
venture capital firm.” Among its listed investments is ChinaPharmaHub,
for which Christian (left) sits on the business
advisory board
. ChinaPharma says it is interested in identifying
and bringing to market interesting drugs from China.


Now that you know something about the management, what would you be
buying, if you were interested in buying into this? Mainly Eugene
Augustin
, an expert on microwave
antennas
last seen in July selling his solar antenna expertise to Lady Bug Resource Group,
a Kirkland, Washington based outfit that apparently held the URL
Newsolartec as a subsidiary. Christian Tedrow was listed as the owner
of that URL until last week, when it expired.


After buying Augustin's expertise, in November, LadyBug named a
Thomas F. Krucker its new CEO. Krucker is a former Toyota executive.
Inside of a month Krucker bought MAG International, which said it was developing electric off-road vehicles (its Web site was
recently disabled.


So what's going on?


Near as I can determine the Tedrows needed a new vehicle after
LadyBug flew away. That's what Sector 10 is, a company that owns what
was NewSolarTec but is now called Solar Tracer.


Back when the LadyBug deal got done, Solar Thermal Magazine ran a piece on the Tedrows, and New Solar. In
that piece Christian Tedrow described the Solar Tracer as a solar concentrator that can heat water into
steam for generating electricity.


There's nothing new here. Solar concentrators are old tech. There
are breakthroughs going on here but little evidence Mr. Augustin has
one.


Still, shares in Sector 10 doubled in value, to 1.8 cents per share , on the day after the
Tedrow news broke. OTC Picks featured the company
without knowing they were out of the emergency response business. Their
story paints the company as an emergency preparedness play.


I'm guessing this is another ride on the penny stock arcade that's
going to end in tears.


But it would be so much fun to be proven wrong.


Disclosure: None


Dana
Blankenhorn
first
covered the energy industries in 1978 with the
Houston Business Journal. He returned last month after a short 29 year
hiatus because it's the best business story of our time. In between he
covered PCs, the Internet, e-commerce, open source, the Internet of
Things and Moore's Law. It's the application of the last to harvesting
the energy all around us he's most excited about. He lives in Atlanta.