I'll believe in a green job if I have a paying job that delivers me green. Florida's unemployment rate is 10.7%. I bet everyone knows SOMEONE within their lives who are currently jobless at this point.

Are you planning to tune in at 10pm to catch his show? Or you prefer Letterman or Conan at 11pm?

I can see those who are physically disabled (the blind, legally blind, etc) or who have reading problems (dyslexia, etc) appreciate having an eReader like a Kindle. The Amazon Kindle can audibly read text books to students having dyslexia or other reading problems.

For handicapped adults and students, the Amazon Kindle or Sony Reader may have easier push-button navigation that makes reading easier for them.

Real hardcopies of books will never die. I won't ever give up my library of actual books in favor of virtual ones. In the future, expect eReaders to drop in price within 5 years, expect them to be offered in universities within that time and eventually in public schools in which I'm sure owning an eReader would be as commonplace as owning an iPod. 

I doubt schools will be likely to adopt a closed device like Amazon Kindle and its Amazon Marketplace. Kindle's use of proprietary software and DRM to remotely delete ebooks is questionable. Sony also has e-ink and doesn't have that issue. From the Washington Post - Sony, Google Team Up Against Amazon E-Reader With 500,000 Free E-Books

Knowing GM, I wouldn't put it past them to fudge the math there buddy. Same for how car companies play fuzzy math with the MPG ratings -- usually under supreme driving conditions (no A/C, driven at 55mph, etc). According to the Wash Post article you cited, "As for GM, its claim of 230 miles per gallon is based on a proposed federal methodology for measuring the efficiency of plug-ins. But what Volt drivers will actually get for mileage depends on how far and how hard they drive.

"So if, for example, a person drives a Volt only 30 miles a day on easy roads and recharges each night, almost no gasoline would be required, making its mileage almost infinite, company officials said."

I will give them credit for being the ones to launch the first all-electric vehicle. That's pretty impressive considering their major fiasco that was the EV-1.

Best car commercial? How about most stolen car in 2007? Civics and Accords. http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2008/07/09/91741.htm

1994 Honda Accord was the most commonly stolen car in South Carolina in 2008. I'd love for them to riff on that.

Real women do have curves -- they should cast Ugly Betty as a spokesperson. She looks like she'd fit into the Dove ad campaign.

Did you know the government is giving financial incentives to those who green their homes? If you're going to do it anyway, you might as well reap the benefits.

The Columbus Dispatch reports: "the American Clean Energy and Security Act contains an entire subsection devoted to creating incentives for consumers and federal agencies to build and finance more energy-efficient dwellings."

So what does that mean for us folks?

1. The FHA is directed to insure a minimum of 50,000 new energy-efficient mortgages during the coming three years. An energy-efficient house is defined as one in which energy consumption is reduced by 20 percent after renovations.

2.The stimulus package offers a $1500 tax credit for the average Joe who'd like to upgrade his house to be more environmentally friendly.

3.Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are directed to develop new mortgage products and more flexible underwriting guidelines to reward energy-conscious borrowers and builders.

4.Real-estate appraisers would be required to take energy improvements and the money they save into account as they value houses.

5.State governments would be required to ensure that homeowners whose energy technologies allowed them to get "off the grid" -- no longer fully dependent on utility companies to provide them power -- are not denied property hazard coverage by insurance companies.

Good point, Anonymous. I lived in New York for 5 years. In that time, I saw kids as young as 10 by themselves on the subway, riding to and from school or around Manhattan. Riding public transit builds a sense of community, makes you more independent, acts as a social mobilizer (not dependent on buying a car), and leads you to explore places you would not otherwise.

I remember the sh!tstorm this article had: Mom lets 9-year-old take subway home alone. Alot of New Yorkers let their teens and older kids roam freely in NYC. You can't say the same in Middle America.

Microsoft just keeps comig up with more surprise unveilings for Office 2010. Office 2010 app coming to Nokia phones. How secure will this be and how different would it be to use? Blackberry users are acquainted w/ working on Microsoft documents on their devices. Looks like there'll be more info on http://Wed.at the press conferences according to ZDNet. 

"It’s Office Mobile, not Web apps, being ported to the Symbian phones. The pair also are going to port Office Communicator to Symbian and make various Microsoft collaboration services available on Nokia E Series (and other unnamed Nokia phones) going forward"

You know how I said Google wouldn't let Microsoft Office 2010 stand in its way? Here's the first volley:

From PC World magazine: Google Billboard Ads Gun for Microsoft and Promote Google Apps. "Google will use billboard advertising to promote Google Apps, the company's enterprise productivity suite."

"Commuters in New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Boston will see a different message promoting Google Apps each weekday throughout August. Called "Going Google", the campaign targets IT managers stuck in traffic and informs on the benefits of switching to Google Apps."

Hmmm, the funny thing is that IT managers, of all people, know that Office 2010 has a web-cloud element also and also are probably wondering about how Google plans to address the Twitter hack that occured when an employee's Google Apps email account was hacked.

@ prepare_for_y2k

That's why municipal governments enforce recyling laws to ensure that compliance will be done. It wasn't until I was forced to recycle in California and Washington that the actions of recycling -- rinsing bottles, seperating glass from plastics -- became the norm. Now, I can't fathom NOT doing it.

Climate change is happening. Don't deny and obscure the issue. Oil and coal companies are throwing lots of lobbyist money to hide the fact. The US should look at alternate energy sources since we can't rely on foreign oil infinitely.

Climate Change Seen as Threat to U.S. Security by New York Times:The changing global climate will pose profound strategic challenges to the United States in coming decades, raising the prospect of military intervention to deal with the effects of violent storms, drought, mass migration and pandemics, military and intelligence analysts say.

@ that's_what_she in re: Seattle buses during that tremendous heat wave I posted this fun factoid: Only 30 percent of Metro buses have air conditioning. Did I fail to mention that Seattle posted it's hottest temp on record, 102 just last week? Subways are the bigger payoff investment wise -- just look at how the city development booms where they develop (Metro - NY, BART - SF) and light rail (Chicago's L Train). It was a pain to build but once they did it became a part of the civic pride.