Peanut Butter News

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NEW YORK – Dozens of former federal officials are playing leading roles in helping carmakers handle federal investigations of auto defects, including those for Toyota’s runaway acceleration problems.

A Washington Post analysis shows as many as 33 former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration employees and Transportation Department appointees left those jobs in recent years and now work for automakers as lawyers, consultants, lobbyists and in other jobs that deal with government safety probes, recalls and regulations.

Full Story at ABC News.go.com

A suburban Philadelphia school district accused of secretly switching on laptop computer webcams inside students’ homes says it never used webcam images to monitor or discipline students and believes one of its administrators has been “unfairly portrayed and unjustly attacked.”

The Lower Merion School District, in response to a suit filed by a student, has acknowledged that webcams were remotely activated 42 times in the past 14 months, but only to find missing, lost or stolen laptops — which the district noted would include “a loaner computer that, against regulations, might be taken off campus.”

Full Story at CNN.com

Washington (CNN) — Drivers of commercial trucks and buses are prohibited from texting under federal guidelines that U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Tuesday.

“We want the drivers of big rigs and buses and those who share the roads with them to be safe,” LaHood said in a statement. “This is an important safety step, and we will be taking more to eliminate the threat of distracted driving.”

Full Story at CNN.com

Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) — Undeterred by darkness, a rescue crew patiently chipped away at concrete and debris early Sunday morning to try and reach a woman who sent a text message that she was buried beneath the ruins of a collapsed bank.

The team with the Los Angeles County Search and Rescue had been looking for the woman since Saturday afternoon when a text arrived: “I’m OK but help me, I can’t take it anymore.”

Hours ticked by with no sign that the woman may still be alive. Rescue crews hadn’t seen or heard anything with high-tech cameras and listening devices.

Full Story at msnbc.com

JEMEZ PUEBLO, N.M. – A poverty-stricken Indian tribe that holds the sun and nature’s other gifts sacred sees a brighter future for itself in solar power.

The 3,000 members of the Jemez Pueblo are on the verge of building the nation’s first utility-scale solar plant on tribal land, a project that could bring in millions of dollars.

Experts say tapping into the sun, wind and geothermal energy on Indian land could generate the kind of wealth many tribes have seen from slot machines and blackjack tables.

Full Story atmoney.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — General Electric said Thursday it has secured a $1.4 billion contract to supply wind turbines and provide services for what will be the world’s largest wind farm operation when completed in 2012.

The conglomerate will supply 338 of its 2.5-megawatt turbines to New York-based Caithness Energy to be installed in 2010 and 2011 at Shepherds Flat, the 845-megawatt farm that stretches across 30 square miles in north-central Oregon.

The Shepherds Flat Project will supply energy to Southern California Edison, providing enough to power approximately 235,000 California households, GE and Caithness said in a statement.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNET) — Major countries and nation-states are engaged in a “Cyber Cold War,” amassing cyberweapons, conducting espionage, and testing networks in preparation for using the Internet to conduct war, according to a new report to be released on Tuesday by McAfee.

In particular, countries gearing up for cyberoffensives are the U.S., Israel, Russia, China, and France, the says the report, compiled by former White House Homeland Security adviser Paul Kurtz and based on interviews with more than 20 experts in international relations, national security and Internet security.

Full Story at msnbc.com

WASHINGTON – Stung by an embarrassing electronic leak last month revealing ethics investigations into dozens of lawmakers, Congress moved Tuesday to prohibit federal employees from using the same type of Internet file-sharing software blamed for the disclosure.

The Secure Federal File Sharing Act, introduced in the House, would bar government employees and contractors from downloading, installing or using so-called peer-to-peer file sharing software such as Limewire without official approval. The bill also would require the White House to develop rules for employees and contractors working on home or personal computers.

Full Story at CNN.com

CNET) — Dell said Friday that it’s ready to enter the smartphone business with the Android-based Mini 3.

Long rumored to have such a device in the works, Dell said that the first two carriers to sell the Mini 3 will be China Mobile and Brazil’s Claro.

The Mini 3 will apparently use OPhone, China Mobile’s customized version of Google’s Android operating system. “We are excited for Dell to be among the first manufacturers to introduce new technology based on the OPhone platform,” an unnamed China Mobile representative said in Dell’s press release.

We’ve got a call out to Dell to seek clarification on the operating system software.

Full Story at CNN.com

(Wired) — Google is set to become your new phone company, perhaps reducing your phone bill to zilch in the process.Seriously.
Google has bought Gizmo5, an online phone company that is akin to Skype but based on open protocols and with a lot fewer users. TechCrunch, which broke the news on Monday, reported that Google spent $30 million on the company.
Google announced the Gizmo acquisition on Thursday afternoon Pacific Time. Gizmo5’s founder Michael Robertson, a brash serial entrepreneur, will become an Adviser to Google Voice.

It’s a potent recipe — take Gizmo5’s open standards-based online calling system. Add to it the new ability to route calls on Google’s massive network of cheap fiber. Toss in Google Voice’s free phone number, which will ring your mobile phone, your home phone and your Gizmo5 client on your laptop.

Full Story at msnbc.com

NASA has blended three views of our home galaxy’s turbulent core to produce a picture filled with scientifically significant snap, crackle and pop. And the deeper you go into the image, the more you learn.

The composite picture of the Milky Way’s center draws upon near-infrared data from the Hubble Space Telescope (shown in yellow), infrared readings from the Spitzer Space Telescope (shown in rich red) and the X-ray vision of the Chandra X-ray Observatory (shown in shades of blue and violet)

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNET) — It’s getting to be that time of year again: The leaves change, the temperature drops, and we redecorate our living rooms, desks, cars, and backpacks with shiny new electronics.

A recent survey by the Consumer Electronics Association found that respondents plan to spend, on average, $222 each on gadgets this holiday, an 8 percent increase over last year. And among teens and adults, computers and video games are the most wished-for items this year after clothing.

One of the grand traditions that goes along with buying electronics is being asked at the register, “Would you like to purchase the extended warranty?”