clipped from www.engadget.com GPS baby Jesus stolen again, found across the street Maybe next year they can just spring for an RFID baby Jesus. The folks in Florida noticed that their GPS-equipped baby Jesus we mentioned the other day was missing from his nativity, and fired up the old GPS tracker. Turns out they didn’t have to look far: baby Jesus had been swiped Wednesday night and brought to a house across the street from the nativity. Deputies showed up at the door Thursday morning and hauled off the 18-year-old female culprit with a charge of grand theft. The statue is valued at $800, while the GPS system rings up at $400, and the girl is currently in jail with bail set at $3,500. Are we feeling a brand new sort of holiday tradition coming on? We think yes.

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clipped from www.engadget.com Jesus and fam outfitted with GPS in Florida nativity scene Tired of prankster kids making off with baby Jesus year after year, Dina Cellini of Bal Harbour, Florida is having GPS installed in the doll, as well as the Joseph and Mary statues. “We may need to rely on technology to save our savior,” said Cellini. Last year they tried bolting down the figures, to no avail, and this year they’ll be augmenting the GPS with a Plexiglass screen. We’re saving all our good wise man jokes for tomorrow’s festivities, but feel free to toss your own into the comments.

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clipped from www.engadget.com Although Netscape was once a mighty pioneer in the world of internet browsers, it didn’t take long for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer to overtake it and squash its dreams of market dominance. Granted, we highly (and we stress “highly”) doubt any viewers reading this now are relying on Netscape Navigator as their primary browser, but seeing it finally bow out is a bit surreal. According to a post on the Netscape Blog, support (and subsequent updates) for it will no longer be provided by AOL (disclosure: AOL is our parent company’s parent) after February 1, 2008. Sure, old versions will still be available for those who just hate to move on, but the team is suggesting that any remaining Netscape users (a show of hands, anyone?) make the leap to Firefox, and they even point you in the direction of a Netscape theme should you find yourself uncomfortable with change. Rest in peace, dear Netscape — it’s about time that last heap of dirt was finally flung.

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clipped from www.engadget.com We’ve definitely seen some outlandish attempts at improving or outright replacing the humble credit card, but South Koreans will soon be able pay for purchases using the most easy-to-lose system we’ve seen yet — by inserting a special USB flash drive into a slot. The system, which is being rolled out by Shinhan Card and VIsa, also lets users pay for online purchases by sticking the drive into their computers’ USB ports, and Shinhan is also rolling out new terminals that will enable contactless payments using the device as well. Of course, the drive itself is locked down tighter than a drum, but we still aren’t convinced a bulky flash drive is a better option than phone-based or biometric payment systems.

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Now that I’m taking a more serious look at ways to become “green” I am looking for websites that will help me figure out ways that I can become green. The only thing is, I don’t know where or what to look for. So as I usually do, I was bouncing around the web and I came across this website: Mashable which provides 80+ websites that can educate us all. Its got a listing of everything from choosing the right paper, to tv stations, and world hunger. It’s going to take me awhile to read all of these!

Enjoy!!

Technorati Tags: green, environmental, grease car, wvo, svo

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clipped from whos.amung.us Want to know who’s on your site and where they came from, in real time? Then give us 30 seconds and we can answer that question for you! Just take the code on the right and insert it into every page on your site. No setup or registration required. Not only do we tell you the number of people online, but we also show you the pages people are reading and where in the world they’re coming from. Need historical data too? We do that for you automatically.

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Everybody at one point in time has had the need to contact customer service. Sometimes you wind up talking to somebody that just refuses to help you out, or you dont get the outcome you wanted. Here are some tips that I’ve noticed I do that help me get the result I need.

1. If you’re an American, you typically want to talk to an American. No offense to those who arent, but we Americans appreciate our language and like to talk to those who can speak it very well. All too often we call customer service and talk to a foreigner who cant understand you. If this happens, just hang up. Call back. True, you may have waited an hour to talk to a rep but rather than be pissed off because you just spent the last hour waiting, and the next 30 minutes trying to get the rep to understand what you’re saying. You’ll be better off just spending the time calling them back. No offense to Dell, but they are terrible with overseas representatives. So it’s better to just call back and talk to somebody who can understand you.

2. If you call and you get somebody who you think speaks english correctly, but they sound like they were weened on a pickle hang up and try again. I really hate dealing with people who hate their job and dont give a darn if I get what I want. My tip here is call back until you get somebody nice. If you encounter a female, the best I’ve come across are those who are peppy and sound like they are kind. If you get a guy, you can tell by how he answers. If he’s like… Thanks for calling… how can I help you.. in a droning tone.. try again.. but if he’s all Hey, thanks for calling! My name’s Dave how can I help you today!? If they are all “peppy” and seems like they are full of energy, you typically have a better chance of getting your issue resolved.

3. If you call and you get this far, but they cant do what you want them to, keep insisting that they give you the service you need. If you’ve got documentation that says you are entitled to something quote it to them. Say something like, “In section 5, paragraph two it says here that I get a free replacement.” there is little they can say. If you continue to give you hassle, ask to speak to their supervisor. But the important thing is to remain calm. Try very hard to not raise your voice or start sounding like a jerk. Rudeness is only met with rudeness. You win more bees with honey than vinegar. When talking to the supervisor, be to the point. Dont tell your whole story all over again. Just say something to the effect of this “Hi Mark, my phone stopped working a week after I got it. I really need this phone for work and I need you to replace it as soon as you can.” Sometimes they will try to get you to pay for it, but if you’ve not done anything to break it (aka not your fault) tell them that the phone is dysfunctional and that you should be entitled to a free replacement. You should never have to pay for anything that wasnt broken by any fault of yours.

4. If all else fails, yell at them. Just kidding. I would just say “You know what, dont worry about it. Just forget I ever called.” and hang up. If you’re really pissed off, wait an hour or two and call them back. Just because you spoke to Mark the supervisor does not mean you will get him again. Often times if you call back there will be a new shift and you’ll get somebody else. You can tell them that you had a terrible experience with a representative earlier today and you need to talk to somebody who actually cares about what’s going on. Sometimes they will say “I’m sorry about that, what seems to be going on.” Play the sympathy card!! If you can get them to feel sorry for you because you’ve had a terrible time there is a chance they will waive any charges or credit your account.

I hope this helps get you better results. It works for me, and can take some patience but I think it’s worth it in the long run.

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This is something that I’ve been wanting to do for quite awhile now. I just recently came across a book discussing how to do this sort of thing. While solar energy is not yet as efficient as we would like it to be, we do have options for using wind power to power our homes. If you get the setup and gear, you *could* sell back your credits for actual money. If you’re looking for other options for generating power, head over to instructables.com and do a search for generator. You’ll be impressed.

clipped from www.businessweek.com Selling Power Back to the Grid CREDITS FOR SALE. Pioneering individuals and small businesses are using sun, wind—even cow manure—to produce clean electricity and turn a profit. At this point, most states only allow customers to generate enough energy to cover their own needs. Through a process called net metering, an individual or business produces energy during the day, feeds it back into the grid, then gets credited for the amount of energy produced. Though customers can’t yet sell electricity to other customers, since they’re constrained by having to send their electricity through the existing grid, there are ways to make a profit. The most common way is through selling renewable-energy credits, which are credits clean-energy producers receive and sell to utilities so that utilities can meet their quotas for deriving energy from renewable sources.

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Toyota’s
ultimate goal is to eliminate all traffic deaths, and while that might
be a bit of a pipe dream at the moment, the company seems to think its
latest driving simulator
should help it in that noble cause. It’s supposedly the world’s “most
true-to-life” driving simulator in the world, and is meant to help
develop new safety features. Housed in a warehouse in Japan, the system
features a 360-degree screen and some quite impressive tilting
mechanism, allowing Toyota engineers to assess how drivers perform
under certain conditions while avoiding all that nasty mangled metal.

Technorati Tags: driving, 3d, toyota, simulator, realistic, gaming, transportation

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