Guest Post – Page 781 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

IBM Smarter Cities Technology Helps NYC Envision Solar Energy Leadership through CUNY Ventures

By Guest PostJune 7, 2012Environment, Technologycraig hayman, cuny ventures, data system, department of energy, doe, global leader, ibm, intelligent operations center, ioc, ioc software, key indicators, matthew goldstein, new york city, nyc, nyc solar map, procemx, roadmapping, rooftop solar challenge, smart ny, smarter cities, solar, solar america, solar capacity, solar energy market, solar market analytics, solar panel installation, solar power potential, tracking ny, urban

Innovative Model Aims to Export Solar Market Analysis Tools to the World

New York – 07 Jun 2012: IBM is helping New York City (NYC) become a global leader in urban solar energy market analysis and sustainability through an innovative agreement with CUNY Ventures, a City University of New York (CUNY) Economic Development Corporation entity.

The goal of this effort is to nourish solar adoption by developing the capability to analyze and understand key solar market indicators that can make solar system development more cost competitive. Using IBM’s Intelligent Operations Center (IOC) for Smarter Cities as the backbone, this analytics-based approach will help New York City monitor and analyze solar production and capacity through a virtual control room that will provide a dashboard view of key indicators.

The collaboration is part of ‘Solar Market Analytics, Roadmapping, and Tracking NY’ (SMART NY), a groundbreaking project supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) ‘Rooftop Solar Challenge’, part of the DOE SunShot Initiative which is striving to make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the decade. (more…)

Too Few Salmon is Far Worse Than Too Many Boats for Killer Whales

By Guest PostJune 7, 2012Naturefish eating orcas, food source, food stress, killer whales, transient orcas

Not having enough Chinook salmon to eat stresses out southern resident killer whales in the Pacific Northwest more than having boatloads of whale watchers nearby, according to hormone levels of whales summering in the Salish Sea. (more…)

Yahoo! Launches Shine Latina for Today’s Bicultural, Bilingual Woman

By Guest PostJune 7, 2012Technologybicultural, bicultural hispanics, bilingual woman, comscore media metrix, emarketer hispanics, espanol, Facebook, hispanic women, hispanics, javier garcia, latinas, minorities online, shine latina, spanish language, Yahoo, yahoo shine

The Leading Website for Women’s Lifestyle Content Adds Latina Spice

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Yahoo! Inc., the premier digital media company, today unveiled Shine Latina – a home for bicultural Latina lifestyle content, within Yahoo! Shine, a top site for women’s lifestyle content in the U.S. with more than 34 million unique visitors a month*.

Shine Latina takes a unique look at women’s interests and approaches them with content in English, with nods to Hispanic cultural identity. The site – created by and for bicultural Latinas – brings Hispanic women together to share insights, spark conversations and build a community. From news, lifestyle, food and beauty topics to parenting, career, and relationship advice, Latinas of various ages will be able to find quality original content, videos and recommendations they can relate to at a personal level and truly relevant to their tastes, cultural background and heritage.

“Shine reaches 3.57M U.S. Hispanics every month, more than any other Hispanic site,” said Javier Garcia, general manager of Yahoo!’s U.S. Hispanic business. “By offering culturally-relevant original content in Shine produced by our bicultural editorial team we aim to form deep emotional connections with bicultural Latinas at an unprecedented scale.” (more…)

A ‘B-12 Shot’ for Marine Algae?

By Guest PostJune 7, 2012Environmentalgal culture, cobalamin, cobalamin acquisition protein, marine algae, marine algae growth, marine food web

Scientists find key protein for algae growth in the ocean

Scientists have revealed a key cog in the biochemical machinery that allows marine algae at the base of the oceanic food chain to thrive. They have discovered a previously unknown protein in algae that grabs an essential but scarce nutrient out of seawater, vitamin B₁₂. (more…)

Pottermore, New Website Based on the Hugely Popular Harry Potter Books, Uses Windows Azure to Scale Up to 1 Billion Page Views in First Two Weeks

By Guest PostJune 6, 2012Technologyazure, brittany talbot, cloud environment, elastic solution, elasticity, Facebook, fran dougherty, harry potter, harry potter fan, j k rowling, julian thomas, Microsoft, paas, pottermore, pottermore website, priscilla, san francisco, Technology, website, windows azure

Windows Azure offered Pottermore the flexibility required to build a massively scalable website in just three months.

REDMOND, Wash. – June 6, 2012 – Eagerly awaiting the launch of Pottermore (www.pottermore.com), the website based on the popular Harry Potter stories, Brittany Talbot and her sister, Priscilla, raced to sign up when the site went live on April 14, 2012.

They weren’t alone. Within hours, thousands of Harry Potter fans were flooding the site and just two weeks after the Pottermore website went live, it received one billion page views, making it one of the most popular sites on the Web. To date, 10 million unique visitors have visited the site, with 25,000 new users signing up every day.

With Harry Potter one of the largest entertainment phenomena of all time, fans of all ages couldn’t wait to experience the world-famous stories, social, and interactive experiences the site offered. “I like being able to go up there and do potions and spells, and walk around where Harry was,” Brittany says. “I read the first book in the first week because I was so excited.” (more…)

How Ion Bombardment Reshapes Metal Surfaces

By Guest PostJune 6, 2012Scienceadatom island eruption, crowding of atoms, fcc metals, ion beam bombardment, ion bombardment, metal surface, nanomanufacturing technique, nanotechnology products

Ion bombardment of metal surfaces is an important, but poorly understood, nanomanufacturing technique. New research using sophisticated supercomputer simulations has shown what goes on in trillionths of a second. The advance could lead to better ways to predict the phenomenon and more uses of the technique to make new nanoscale products.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — To modify a metal surface at the scale of atoms and molecules — for instance to refine the wiring in computer chips or the reflective silver in optical components — manufacturers shower it with ions. While the process may seem high-tech and precise, the technique has been limited by the lack of understanding of the underlying physics. In a new study, Brown University engineers modeled noble gas ion bombardments with unprecedented richness, providing long-sought insights into how it works. (more…)

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted

By Guest PostJune 6, 2012Entertainmentkids choice awards, Madagascar, madagascar franchise, vocal talent

Who Will Dig It?

Kids under 13, kids over 13 who grew up with the “Madagascar” franchise, and frazzled parents who can drop off the kids at the theater on a hot summer afternoon. (more…)

We Need to Talk: Study Shows How Developing Cells Communicate to Activate Notch Signaling

By Guest PostJune 6, 2012Scienceimmature cells, multicellular organisms, notch cells, notch signaling, notch system, signaling system

During early development in humans and other multicellular organisms, immature cells need to talk to each other to make critical decisions about what types of cells they should become, as well as when and where to become those cell types. (more…)

Author Archives: Guest Post