Best Mobile Websites

If you're like me, you need info on the go. A lot of mainstream websites now have mobile versions so people can access info on their phones without loading the full HTML pages. After getting my new HTC Hero running Android, I've been on the web a lot. Here are my favorite sites.

1. Google (m.google.com): This is an obvious one. Searching couldnt be easier, and the best part is that there are no graphics and stuff that takes long to load.
2. ESPN Mobile Web (m.espn.go.com): For all your sports needs, look no further than ESPN. The mobile web functions like an iPhone app with a scores section, headlines, and favorite teams. It's easy to use and looks good doing it.
   
3. Wikipedia (m.wikipedia.com): For any quick bits of info, Wiki mobile is your first stop. A simple home page with Article of the Day and a search bar makes this easy to use.
4. CNET mobile (m.cnet.com): For tech reviews, videos, and guides, I always use CNET. The mobile site is no different. Interface is great, and out of all mobile sites CNET had the best video and podcast streaming quality.
5. NYTimes (m.nytimes.com): Apart from Google, this mobile site was the fastest one I tested. It loads in a snap, making news easy to access. On top of this, all its articles in its main sections load at once so you can scroll and pick an article from sports, world, or business without navigating menus. It's like a live newspaper in your pocket, but better.
6. Weather Channel (m.weather.com): Anytime you need to check the weather in any location around the globe, your one stop is Weather Channel. The mobile website is no-nonsense, with a simple location search and then weather results. Everything you need from flu reports to pollen counts is there, but you'll have to dig through a plethora of menus and tabs, which can be an annoyance. Otherwise, this site is well done.
   
7. Moviefone (moviefone.com): This mobile site is awesome for getting movie info, showtimes, and theater locations on the go. I personally prefer hardware apps like Fandango and Flixster, but for phones without apps, Moviefone works. It has a clean interface that loads quickly and lists movies with ratings, which is simple and perfect.
   
8. CNN (m.cnn.com): CNN mobile has a great interface for accessing headlines. It also maximizes load times bby only putting preview pics on the first headline. The news can be tough to keep up with, but with CNN mobile, its no problem.
9. Raaga (m.raaga.com): A sleeper pick for best mobile sites. Raaga makes streaming Indian music really simple. The site, just like ESPN, works as an app, with good menus and lists. The music streaming can be faulty, but otherwise, this rocks!
   
10. Yahoo! mobile (m.yahoo.com): Yahoo is ofcourse a staple in everyday life. However, the downside with the mobile site is that it was one of the slowest here. It has tons of images and a somewhat unecessary graphic interface. It also reloads often, and the Ymail mobile site sucks. On the flipside, it has a good mix of news articles and a handy favorites section.

2010: a few predictions...

Here are my top predictions for 2010 in all different categories. What do you think? Comment!

1. Golf? What's that?: Golf viewership will go down exponentially, and the sport will cough and spurt its way through a year of epic failure. All because of one incontinent Tiger.
2. Cap and Trade fails: the world will realize that cap and trade is not the golden solution! Time for innovation...
3. Le Matadors!: Spain will be your World Cup champion. ¡Victorioso!
4. R.I.P. Palm: eh, the Pre was nice, but I haven't seen updates, new devices (Pixi doesn't count), and Apple and Android are just guns blazing. It'll be sad to see you go.
5. Green tech: We've seen cars, homes, schools, and businesses. Look for some serious green innovation in the technology field to be coming. We could see cheaper materials manufacturing or more recycled products in our tech. (Samsung Reclaim-the corn phone)
6. Hostage Situation: China will gain a monopoly on some world trade and everyone will be held hostage by the Chinese economy, all because of their foreign acquisitions. My only message to the world: good luck and god bless.
7. 12G: A new data network will emerge after 3G networks around the globe get over-trafficked...look for some kind of new, possibly free medium (CLEAR's 4G?)
8. Where?: I wasn't even aware that the Winter Olympics were in Vancouver this year. Look for low viewership. Maybe even lower than golf :P
9. Tweetlight: A famous book or other major publication will be written entirely on Twitter. Have fun reading it...
10. 2012? pa-shaw!: Finally. It will be publicly disproven. The record will be set straight.

MUN MUN MUN

Ahh, model UN. One of Eastern High School's most successful extracurricular activities. The place to be for all aspiring lawyers, politicians, and UNers. But what really goes on with these conferences? Here's a breakdown.

One Days

• SJMUN is always the best conference in the SJ consortium...yay Eastern
• Nobody really prepares much for these. I write my papers the night before...
• But...the organizers do a lot of work behind the scenes like getting guest speakers, making al the placards and folders, setting up rooms, typing, getting permissions...the whole lot. Make sure you give them respect!
• Easy to win awards (if your good enough :P)
• You can fool around and have a blast in committee...without getting yelled at.
• Do well, and teachers get impressed...good cred when overnight selection time comes.

Overnights

• Have a blast when your friends are going...rooming with crazy people is always fun :D
• Make sure you pack gum...bad breath is a turn-off in committee.
• Never room with smelly people. Never.
• Dress sharp, and wear really smooth cologne. Best dressed is always a plus for award contention.
• Never talk smack about your chair in committee. Its just plain stupid, and you lose all respectability.
• Do not, under any circumstances, pass seductive/perverted notes (This actually happened to some kids in my committee). If the chairs find out, ohhhh damn. I'd run.
• Keep your clothes organized. You want to be able to pack up quickly on the last day.
• Always scream MOORESTOWN! when you get in trouble or are being obnoxious. :P
• Go wild at the delegate dance. Just dance all night and partayyy! Its more fun that way.
• Use fancy language and terms in committee. It gets the other people to respect you.
• But....dont overdo it. Also, dont be an annoying, in-your-face delegate. It pisses me off.
• Win awards here (if you can), and you gain major cred with the GTers and the UN group.

So that's pretty much it. Have fun and remember.... Model UN is AWESOME!!!

Copenhagen: Failure Repeats Itself

You have probably heard of the Kyoto Protocol. The 1997 document from the environmental summit in Kyoto, Japan. Nations around the world pledged to lower carbon emissions, drafted a solution, and even ratified it. Seems like quite a....failure. Kyoto has not been implemented. Nations just don't seem to care about the environment in the face of more pressing issues. Summits are fine and all, but in the end, nations just disregard them. Which is why Copenhagen 2009, the new summit aiming at replacing Kyoto and finding new environmental solutions, will be a repeat of the failure that was Kyoto. Copenhagen is another example of these countless summits and conferences held to solve world issues and publicize it. When people want real work to get done, they meet secretly. Our founding fathers did and we got the Constitution. So why is Copenhagen a huge media buzz with cameras and notepads all over? It's a feel good scam, and nothing less. Nations who publicize their international "cooperation" feel as if they have accomplished some great feat of diplomacy when, in fact, they have accomplished nothing. Results is what we want to see, but unfortunately, we wont be seeing much during Copenhagen.

Here is a brief expectations/outcomes kind of PMI.

Goals

• How much are the industrialized countries willing to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases?
• How much are major developing countries such as China and India willing to do to limit the growth of their emissions?
• How is the help needed by developing countries to engage in reducing their emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change going to be financed?
• How is that money going to be managed?

Plus

• Promoting transparency-the conference will allow nations to review each others progress and learn from it
• Funds-one goal the conference will achieve is a plan for the propagation and the appropriation of funds to battle climate change
• Senate communication-Copenhagen's US delegation has a strong Senate presence, which will only help when the new treaty comes to the floor
• Climate progress report-allows for new, official information to be recorded to measure the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of Kyoto and past efforts

Minus

• Lack of feasibility-replacing a useless treaty with another one is a waste of time. Unlike past treaties, there is now way that the treaty can be improved due to lack of UN power.
• One can bring down the rest-Many nations can sign this treaty, but without the US, China and India on board, this treaty is useless.
• Other pressing issues-Nations dont have time to deal with the climate while their economy is failing (Money is green, too)
• Incentives?-lack of incentives will ensure that nations won't enforce Copenhagen policies.
• Time crunch-not enough time to draft a comprehensive treaty, let alone time to lobby and communicate with national legislatures to discuss feasibility

(Source: http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=876)

It's On My Tab

Money makes the world go round. Money is always #1. Environmental consciousness, human rights, even the law take the backseat behind profit everyday. We see this in industry. Major American industries such as the auto industry need profit, especially during an economic crisis. The Big Three (Ford, GM, Chrysler) automotive companies lost a market share of over 17% last year, so obviously, lowering carbon emission is not very high on their to-do lists at this point. However, based on Obama's recent carbon plans, market shares and carbon emissions are now hand in hand. It's all because of a little thing called a carbon cap.

When a nation wants its industries to lower their carbon emissions, the nation sets a cap. A cap is a simple number: the maximum amount of carbon that can be emitted by an industry according to government and EPA standards. Industries must abide by this. Nothing else can be done. Except...credits.

So let's say that a company is producing 300 tons of CO2 emissions per day (This is completely random and innacurate). Then Obama issues a cap of 250 tons per day (Again, hypothetical). Now what? Well, the simplistic one would say, "Just lower CO2 emissions!" However, minimum calculated production rates can be achieved by 300 tons per day, and 250 is impossible for the company, if they want to stay on the positive side of the revenuew spectrum. So to accomadate for this, there is a system of credits. Credits are basically passes allowing a company to emit a certain amount of CO2. For this example, lets say one credit is 50 tons, so this company now has 5 credits as issued by Obama's cap. But they need 6 credits, so they trade with company B down the road, who only emits 200 tons per day and therefore has a leftover credit. This system is called emissions trading, in which industries trade credits to allow them to emit more. Seems perfect, right? There are some holes though. This is not applicable internationally, because caps have to be mandated by central governments. Also, credits and expensive, so although this is a major incentive to just lower emissions instead of buying more, in the cases where credits are a necessity, it can really hurt a companies budget. For now though, caps and credits seem like a pretty feasible plan for the US.

HAVE you done something GREEN today? Start now.

Bigtime Green

In today's world, thinking small is thinking big. We hear the words nanotechnology and microchips tossed around every day. iPods are getting smaller and smaller, computers now fit in people's pockets, and millions of files can be stored on a drive the size of a thumb. Even in science, things keep getting smaller and smaller. Medical studies occur almost entirely under a microscope, the entire field of physics operates at the atomic level, and the future of materials production is in the hands of nanotechnology. However, this all makes me wonder...how much smaller can we go? Physics tells us that the smallest we can go is unstable subatomic particles. I, for one, can tell you that if those iPods get any smaller, my eyes will not be able to watch movies on those tiny screens. I always knew that people say "thinking big" for a reason. We need to divert away from minifying our world and focus on thinking about how things interact on a global scale.

Now, you may be thinking, how does this relate at all to climate change? People today are trying to solve all the different aspects of climate change on a small scale. "Use biofuels in America, where corn production is so prominent!" yell the desperate car manufacturers, looking to salvage a dying industry by appealing to the "green" consumer. Biofuels! That's the solution! We can all breathe a sigh of relief. Not for long though, because then the economists arrive. "Biofuel production is detrimental to the food industry because of the massive supply of ethanol required to produce these biofuels," they say. Now what? Time to start innovating.

We need people to connect all aspects of climate change, both ecological and economic, and develop feasible solutions that account for all of these aspects. For example, someone may suggest the use of biodegradable pens (Random, but bare with me). However, these cost much more to produce. In addition, production of these pens produces a significantly larger carbon footprint. So, in the end, you are not only paying more for these pens, but the whole point of making eco-friendly pens is lost as well. It should be understandable what the problem is now. But who can solve this? It starts with unison between engineers, policy makers, innovators, and consumers. A collaboration between specialized thinkers. An in-depth study of how global environments interact and impact each other, and how this factors into the global economy. But one person can't understand this alone. We need people who understand how industry impacts the environment. We need people who understand how environments impact each other. We also need people who understand how the environment impacts the economy. It's all about making connections. Thinking big.

HAVE you done something GREEN today? Start now.

Plastic Roots

Everyone is "going green" these days. The cloth shopping bags, turning off the A/C, hybrid cars, and organic foods. You name it, it's green these days. But to really tackle the problem, the world must focus on the roots. What does it matter if you buys reusable shopping bags if the manufacturing process for these bags emits more carbon than the process for plastic bags. Why save paper if more paper is just produced everyday? Why recycle if recycling bins are dumped into trash bins? It probably sounds like I'm just being pessimistic and ignorant. However, what starts as the negative questions I proposed evolves into constructive ways to think. The shopping bag criticism turns into "How can I revise textile production processes to reduce their carbon footprint?" These driving questions fuel the research and work of "green" engineers every day. These "green" engineers are trained as chemical, industrial, or mechanical engineers but just serve to revise processes rather than to create them. Some of these engineers are even part of a coalition fro EPA which work in strategic companies such as Coca Cola or Unilever that produce a lot of consumer products. This "control room" type of job makes it easier to reduce carbon footprints as opposed to spending long hours without heating in the winter (Are you crazy, people?!). Now, this is not to say that small efforts are negligible, because it is a joint effort. But I'm just proposing a new way to view combating climate change: attack the polymer roots, not the rubber branches.

For an interesting ppt on this: http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/aSGuest10663-138214-david-shonnard-green-engineering-business-finance-ppt-powerpoint/

HAVE you done something GREEN today? Start now.