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Kamis, 19 September 2013 Ah yes, the classic debate over what a phone should or shouldn't be made out of. We all have our own opinions about it, there is no right answer. As of right now, every material is about as dependable as the next. No matter what material you go with, you're probably going to run into similar problems. Plastic and glass crack, aluminum dents and chips - nothing is indestructible. It's essentially a game of pick your poison right now, but it might not be that way for long.
Images via Core77 Wind energy advocates have long touted Montana's wind energy potential while wistfully eyeing markets outside the immediate region. Those markets are all but inaccessible, they say, because the state lacks the transmission capacity to reach them. A relatively simple upgrade of the Montana-to-Washington transmission line would greatly increase that capacity and allow the state to better live up to its wind energy potential - and just such an upgrade is currently under consideration by the Bonneville Power Administration. BPA, which is based in Portland, Ore., and is part of the U.S. Department of Energy, is a nonprofit federal agency that funds itself through sales of its power and transmission services. For years now, it has fielded requests for transmission service from throughout the Northwest region. However, it in order to fill those transmission requests it would first need to upgrade its existing transmission system from Garrison in western Montana to west of the Cascades in Washington, including adding a new substation. The estimated cost would be about $150 million. Unfortunately, this promising project appears to be grinding slowly through the bureaucratic gears. BPA has only just begun to prepare an environmental impact statement, and does not expect to have a final EIS ready until late 2014. There's no reason for the review to take so long. In fact, Montana's Sen. here Max Baucus called for the review to be completed by no later than the middle of 2014 in his letter to President Barack Obama on energy and climate change policy earlier this summer. Baucus described the Montana-to-Washington transmission line upgrade as a priority in his 15-point letter, right after Keystone XL pipeline approval and before carbon sequestration funding. In his letter, Baucus called the upgrade one "immediate source of relief" from the state's transmission problems. The upgrade would mean adding 600 megawatts of capacity to the existing 500-kilovolt transmission line that runs from Colstrip to Washington, which is now 30 years old. All of this would be accomplished within the current transmission line footprint. Of particular interest to Missoulians, a single substation would have to be added to the line, and three of eight possible locations are along Miller Creek. Four other options are near St. Regis and one is by Alberton. Many Missoulians expected a substation nearby when the original line went in 30 years ago; it would help a growing city meet growing demand for reliable power. Jeff Fox, Montana policy manager for the Renewable Northwest Project, says the upgrade itself presents "tremendous economic opportunity." The state's wind power industry has seen impressive growth in recent years, with more than $1.6 billion in capital investments resulting in 650 megawatts of wind power. The industry funds hundreds of temporary construction jobs and about 100 permanent jobs in Montana. But the majority of the wind energy produced is sold to markets outside the state. Fox says the Montana-to-Washington transmission line upgrade could carry enough wind power to satisfy the energy needs of 150,000-200,000 households. BPA is accepting public comments on the project until Oct. 31. Western Montanans, and Missoulians in particular, ought to seize this opportunity to weigh in and let BPA know that the transmission upgrade, including the new substation, is fully supported - and ought be expedited. Mail comments to the Bonneville Power Administration, P.O. Box 14428, Portland, OR 97293-4428, or email comment@bpa.gov. Be sure to refer to the "Montana-to-Washington Transmission System Upgrade Project." EDITORIAL BOARD: Publisher Jim McGowan, Editor Sherry Devlin, Opinion Editor Tyler ChristensenCREATED Sep. 18, 2013 Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- A crime trend in the southwest Valley was caught on camera: Thieves breaking into cars. A homeowner caught the crooks on his surveillance camera. They stole items from his car early Wednesday morning near Buffalo and Robindale. He said three men were seen breaking into his car and setting off alarms down the street. Police put out a warning late last month for similar break-ins at Mountain's Edge, Rhodes Ranch and Southern Highlands. Police said keep your doors locked and your valuables out of the car. That really brings down the number here of break-ins. Senin, 16 September 2013Ilvliat Ilvliot Ilvlii đã thêm bạn vào sổ địa chỉ trên Twoo và muốn kết nối với bạn
Sabtu, 07 September 2013Oh zing! | The PaepaeDaring Fireball‘s John Gruber cherry-picks a evaluation of Samsung’s ‘smart watch’ (for the complete evaluation, see: Samsung’s Galaxy Gear Watch) then sums up: About the greatest you could assume from Samsung without having obtaining anything at all to copy from Apple: overpriced, unsightly, laggy UI, horrible battery daily life, dubious utility. Oh. - P Program Oh zing! | The PaepaeDaring Fireball‘s John Gruber cherry-picks a evaluation of Samsung’s ‘smart watch’ (for the complete evaluation, see: Samsung’s Galaxy Gear Watch) then sums up: About the greatest you could assume from Samsung without having obtaining anything at all to copy from Apple: overpriced, unsightly, laggy UI, horrible battery daily life, dubious utility. Oh. - P Program JPMorgan to stop making student loans: company memo
(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) has decided to get out of the student loan business, after the biggest U.S. bank concluded that competition from federal government programs and increased scrutiny from regulators had limited its ability to expand the business.
JPMorgan, which already restricted student loans to existing Chase bank customers, will stop accepting applications for private student loans on October 12, at the end of the peak borrowing season for this school year, according to a memo from the company to colleges that was reviewed by Reuters on Thursday. Final loan disbursements are expected before March 15, 2014. "We just don't see this as a market that we can significantly grow," said Thasunda Duckett, chief executive for auto and student loans at Chase, in an interview. Not making more loans "puts us in a position to redeploy those resources, as well as focus on our No. 1 priority, which is getting the regulatory control environment strengthened," Duckett said. JPMorgan's decision comes after Congress acted in mid-2010 to bypass the banks and have the government lend directly to students. The federal government now issues 93 percent of student loans. Banks and other private lenders have also come under pressure from regulators and politicians to offer more flexible repayment terms on student loans. JPMorgan's portfolio has been shrinking by roughly $1 billion to $2 billion a year since then, and is a small fraction of its assets. The company's student loan portfolio at the end of June held $11 billion - less than 0.5 percent - of its $2.44 trillion of assets. Last year, Chase made education loans to 12,500 people for a total of about $200 million. Hundreds of thousands of students, however, still look to private lenders when they have exhausted their federal borrowing limit. Richard Hunt, president of the Consumer Bankers Association, said decisions like JPMorgan's show that the government's direct lending policies are leading to "less competition in the marketplace." He said the government programs encourage students to take on more debt than they can afford because the loans, unlike those made by banks, do not require assessments of the ability to repay. But many experts have said that the primary problem with student lending lies in how much college costs and in the sheer size of the debt taken on, not in who makes the loans and how they are structured and how much they cost in interest. Moreover, others may fill in the gap. Other major lenders that remain in the business include SLM Corp (SLM.O), known as Sallie Mae; Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N); and Discover Financial Services (DFS.N). Both Wells and Discover said on Thursday that they would continue to make student loans. Danny Ray, president of Discover Student Loans, said although competition from the government has taken business from lending for graduate studies, his bank found more demand from undergraduate students who have already reached their government borrowing limits and are still short of the money they need. Credit unions could also use exits by banks such as JPMorgan as an opportunity to do more business. Many entered the market in 2010 and have made about $2 billion of student loans since then, according to Paul Gentile, executive vice president of the Credit Union National Association. JPMorgan's decision follows a broader, ongoing review of businesses amid new regulations, heightened scrutiny and capital requirements. In July, the bank said it would exit physical commodities trading, as Wall Street's role in the trading of raw materials comes under political and regulatory pressure. In June, the bank said its private equity unit, One Equity Partners, would become independent, as it increased its focus on client businesses. At the time, a source said the move was also driven by the bank's decision to simplify its operating structure. (Reporting by David Henry in New York. Additional reporting by Elvina Nawaguna in Washington.; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Gunna Dickson, Douglas Royalty, Andrew Hay) 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