Pooptooth Blog

A First Step: Re-launching Direct Negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians

Prem Kumar — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:18:22 +0000

The delegations have departed, the speeches have been delivered, and the talks have begun. Re-launching direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians was of course a first step, but the meetings this week at the White House and the State Department went quite well, and represent a good foundation for progress.

As Senator Mitchell said, the tone was constructive and serious, and the two leaders began to establish a positive relationship. Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas met for nearly two hours one-on-one at the State Department on September 2nd. They talked very frankly and openly with each other, and got a sense of each other’s seriousness of purpose.

A New Presidential Proclamation on Childhood Obesity

Erin Edgerton — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:50:53 +0000

Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled, affecting children across the nation and changing country’s overall health and wellness. Building on the momentum of the Let’s Move! campaign and highlighting the steps that individuals, families and communities can take to address this issue, President Obama recently issued a proclamation making September 2010 National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.

The new Presidential Proclamation encourages Americans to be more active in addressing this ongoing struggle and raising a healthier generation of children:

“One of the greatest responsibilities we have as a Nation is to safeguard the health and well-being of our children. We now face a national childhood obesity crisis, with nearly one in every three of America’s children being overweight or obese. There are concrete steps we can take right away as concerned parents, caregivers, educators, loved ones, and a Nation to ensure that our children are able to live full and active lives. During National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, I urge all Americans to take action to meet our national goal of solving the problem of childhood obesity within a generation.”

Next Week on the Economy…

Dan Pfeiffer — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:50:27 +0000

On Wednesday in Cleveland, Ohio, the President will update the American people on the state of the economy, talk about the progress we have made, and discuss some targeted proposals to keep the economy growing including extending tax cuts for the middle class, and investing in the areas of our economy where the potential for job growth is greatest.

As today’s jobs numbers demonstrate, we are headed in the right direction. We have gained private sector jobs for the last 8 months, but not nearly enough. As the President said today, there’s no quick fix to the worst recession since the Great Depression. It took years to create our economic problems, and it’ll take more time than any of us would like to fully repair the damage. There are no silver bullets and anyone who is promising them is not being straight with the American people. But there are some ideas that will help the economy and help American families that are hurting and those proposals will be a part of the President’s remarks.

Speaking in the city where Minority Leader Boehner recently detailed the Republican economic agenda, the President will lay out the choice between his ideas and the failed policies and failed philosophy that led us into this mess.

Dan Pfeiffer is White House Communications Director

Hey Palm: Take A Deep Breath. Leaks Happen. Be Proud. [Updated]

Greg Kumparak — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:03:17 +0000

Just days ago, Palm revealed a bunch of details surrounding webOS 2.0, which, as the name implies, is an upcoming major update to their webOS platform. Shortly thereafter, they released a big chunk of webOS 2.0 to a small section of their development community as part of a Beta program.

Almost immediately, someone unearthed one little bit that Palm didn’t intend anyone to find: a lingering mention of a virtual keyboard — something which webOS doesn’t have, and that Palm has yet to confirm as a feature.

So, what do you think Palm did? Did they pull the stone-face routine, and say they don’t comment on rumors and speculation? Did they send out an e-mail saying “Hey guys, we gotta be more careful!” and move on? Nope. They freaked the hell out.

That Beta program we mentioned before? It’s now closed until further notice.

Earlier, Palm’s webOS Developer Connection team tweeted out:

Because of the leak, we are freezing new admissions to early access for the time being. If you’re in queue, you’re going to stay in queue

followed by:

for now, if you didn’t get access, you can thank the leaker for causing this delay in us getting you access. sorry about this, folks.

Yep. Because one person had loose lips and decided to share something they were excited about, Palm is keeping a bunch of people who are eager to make crap for their platform from doing so. Palm, who has been having a hard time getting people to make stuff for their platform, is actively turning away (or at least cold-shouldering) people who are interested in making stuff, and pinning the whole thing on one guy. What. The. Hell.

To make things worse, this leak is about as trivial as they come. Palm has a webOS-powered tablet coming. Unless Palm’s expecting everyone to lug around a keyboard or their tablet is going to have some sort of monstrous keyboard built in, webOS will have to have a virtual keyboard.

Look, Palm. I love you. You’re the very bastion of breaking the mold, and I cheer for you to the point that MobileCrunch readers have often accused me of being crazy or on the payroll — but this.. is absolutely, jaw-droppingly stupid.

Leaks happen. Every single day, to every single company who is actively working on anything even remotely interesting. Even if you’ve got the nastiest NDA in the world, it dilutes pretty quickly as thousands upon thousands of people begin to carelessly sign it. If your goods aren’t leaking, it’s for one of three reasons: you’ve got insane security practices, your team is tiny, or because no one cares. The fact that someone was interested enough to tear through your SDK for hidden morsels and that media outlets started picking it up is a compliment. This is akin to that goofy kid in school shouting “NO, I HATE YOU!” and running away the first time they get invited to sit at the cool kid’s table.

Here’s what you do, Palm: Don’t want people knowing about something? Don’t put it in your SDK. If you forget to pull something, as seems to be the case here, just play it cool, remove it from the next build, and ride the hype-wave as people argue about whether such and such feature is actually coming. Don’t let employees comment on it, don’t go bonkers, and most importantly, don’t punish the people who actually seem to love your product.

While it’s confirmed that the @webOSDev account is run by someone at Palm, it’s hard to believe that this is Palm’s official response in the matter. We’ve reached out to Palm for something a bit more.. sane.

Update – What Happened:

We just got off the horn with Palm communications, whose official statement was… well, that they don’t talk about rumors or speculation, including stuff like this.

However, we also had the chance to speak with a source of ours who happened to have some inside knowledge of what all went down. Yes, the Twitter account in question is run by one of Palm’s Developer Relations guys. With that said, none of today’s events (from the finger-pointing tweets to the shutdown of the Beta program) were approved by the those who would generally make such decisions. One employee knee-jerked, choosing to punish the entire community for the actions of one.

Update #2 – Betas Back

Palm has just announced via the same Twitter account that the Beta has been reopened, saying that there is “No reason to make everyone pay the price here.” We obviously agree.

Labor Day 2010: “The State of the American Worker”

Secretary Hilda Solis — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:00:00 +0000

It has become somewhat of a tradition for Labor Secretaries to use Labor Day to give a “State of the American Worker” report, if you will. Some have made remarks from podiums. Others have testified on Capitol Hill. Some have chosen to address think tanks, corporations, or labor unions.

Those are all important forums. But as your Labor Secretary I have had the great opportunity to meet many of the working men and women who truly make America run, and this year I want to talk directly to you – the American worker.

Many of you have told me that you want an America that “produces things again.” You want a nation that is strong, that leads the international marketplace in innovation and a commitment to quality. And you want a government that is responsive, pragmatic and understands your needs.

But more than anything else, no matter where I go and who I talk to, you’ve told me “we need jobs.”

Come to the Dock Side, Luke: R2-D2 Edition Droid 2 gets its own matching dock

Greg Kumparak — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:32:53 +0000

Verizon’s got this crazy challenge going on over at the teaser page for the R2-D2 Edition Droid 2, wherein users are given clues that lead to special codes. Once one person finds and inputs one of these special codes, everyone gains access to a new section of the site, and the original finder scores themselves a free handset.

Fortunately for D2-devotees everywhere, the force was strong with a gent named David Holt.

Following the clues lead David to a Star Wars book on Amazon, and copying that book’s ISBN into the code input screen unlocked a handful of pictures of the R2-D2 Edition Droid 2′s thematically-matched dock. (Want to know how it all breaks down? You can follow the trail of clues here.) It’s essentially just a white dock with “Star Wars” scribed on the back — but you know what? Sometimes, including this time, simplicity just works.

Remaining Ready for Hurricane Earl

Craig Fugate — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:26:58 +0000

With Hurricane Earl moving up the East Coast and expected to arrive in New England by tonight, FEMA is taking aggressive actions to coordinate with Northeastern states as they prepare for possible severe weather. Initial reports from our teams in North Carolina and Virginia indicate that the storm passed close to them without causing the level of damage that it could have, but we still don’t know what Earl’s impact will be in the Northeast United States. Earl is still a potentially dangerous storm, and it’s important for residents in the region to continue to take this storm seriously and to get ready.

Yesterday, our Deputy Administrator Rich Serino, who has 35 years of emergency management experience in Massachusetts, deployed to Boston to oversee our preparation and response efforts. FEMA teams have been on the ground since earlier this week along the East Coast, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine to work directly with and support state and local officials. We also have teams on standby in New York and New Jersey, ready to help if needed. We have pre-positioned commodities for rapid delivery in Massachusetts, including water, meals, tarps, and generators, and at the direction of President Obama we are bringing together all of our federal partners to ensure a swift and effective response if needed. Our goal throughout all of these efforts is simple – we want to do everything we can to keep our residents and communities safe, and prevent the loss of life and property.

Motorola Pulls Out Another Full Page NYT Ad Aimed At Apple’s Head

Greg Kumparak — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:24:17 +0000

Oh my, how I love some good ol’ fashion mudslinging.

“Flash Websites? There’s A Phone For That.”

To any ne’er-do-blog-read layman, the full page ad that Motorola just put in the New York Times might just seem oddly worded. To anyone who has even considered considering themselves a gadget geek — or has, at least, turned on their TV anytime in the past year and a half and seen Apple’s “There’s An App For That” campaign — there’s no question who this one’s aimed at.

This isn’t the first time Moto has done this. Heck, it’s not even the second. Moto pulled out two separate full page ads (here’s one, and the other) during the iPhone 4 Antennagate madness, lambasting Apple with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

This one isn’t quite as clever as either of the first two; the whole matter of Flash on the iPhone is neither original nor fresh, by any means, and “There’s an App for that!” jokes are up there with “Yo Momma” jokes and Borat quotes on this list of “Jokes that one guy just won’t stop using”. But Flash is something that nearly all consumers would recognize (Thanks, Youtube and/or Farmville!), so juxtaposing your handset’s support for it against the competitions lack thereof probably isn’t a bad idea. Even if Flash on Android doesn’t really work that well.

Image credit: Ben Forta on Twitter

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Motorola

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President Obama on August Jobs Numbers: “Positive News” But “Not Nearly Good Enough”

Jesse Lee — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:00:30 +0000

Click here to see the video.

This morning Council of Economic Advisers Chair Christina Romer laid out the basics of the jobs numbers for August out this morning: the private sector added 67,000 jobs, Census workers continued to come to end of their work as planned, and people coming back into the job hunt bumped the unemployment rate up by .1%.

To discuss the news, the President spoke in the Rose Garden, flanked by his top economic advisors:

As we head into Labor Day weekend, I know many people across this country are concerned about what the future holds for themselves, for their families, and for the economy as a whole.

As I’ve said from the start, there’s no quick fix to the worst recession we’ve experienced since the Great Depression. The hard truth is that it took years to create our current economic problems, and it will take more time than any of us would like to repair the damage. Millions of our neighbors are living with that painfully every day.

But I want all Americans to remind themselves there are better days ahead.

The President then went through the numbers before explaining what they meant and pushing Republicans to stop blocking the help for small business that SBA Administrator Mills wrote about earlier:

Now, that’s positive news, and it reflects the steps we’ve already taken to break the back of this recession. But it’s not nearly good enough. That’s why we need to take further steps to create jobs and keep the economy growing, including extending tax cuts for the middle class and investing in the areas of our economy where the potential for job growth is greatest. In the weeks ahead, I’ll be discussing some of these ideas in more detail.

But one thing we also have to do right now –- one thing we have a responsibility to do right now –- is to lift up our small businesses, which accounted for over 60 percent of job losses in the final months of last year. That’s why once again, I’m calling on Congress to make passing a small business jobs bill its first order of business when it gets back into session later this month.

Now, here’s why this is so important. Up until this past May, we were not only waiving fees for entrepreneurs who took out Small Business Administration loans, we were also encouraging more community banks to make loans to responsible business owners. These steps are part of the reason about 70,000 new Small Business Administration loans have been approved since I took office. And I thank Karen Mills for the outstanding job she’s been doing as Administrator of the Small Business Administration.

We’ve also been extending — fighting to extend these loan enhancements with a small business jobs bill. It’s a bill that will more than double the amount some small business owners can borrow to grow their companies. It will completely eliminate capital gains taxes on key investments, so small business owners can buy new equipment and expand. And it will accelerate $55 billion in tax cuts for businesses, large and small, that make job-creating investments in the next 14 months.

And keep in mind, it is paid for. It will not add one dime to our deficit. So, put simply, this piece of legislation is good for workers; it’s good for small business people; it’s good for our economy. And yet, Republicans in the Senate have blocked this bill — a needless delay that has led small business owners across this country to put off hiring, put off expanding, and put off plans that will make our economy stronger.

I’ve repeated since I ran for office, there is no silver bullet that is going to solve all of our economic problems overnight. But there are certain steps that we know will make a meaningful difference for small businessmen and women, who are the primary drivers of job creation. There are certain measures that we know will advance our recovery. This small business jobs bill is one of them.

The U.S. and China - Advancing Clean Energy Research Through Cooperation

David Sandalow — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:55:39 +0000

What two countries lead the world in energy consumption, energy production and greenhouse gas emissions? The United States and China. Can our two countries work together to help lead the world in a transition to clean energy? A recent announcement by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu is an important step in that direction.

Yesterday, Secretary Chu announced that the University of Michigan and West Virginia University will each lead consortia under the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center. The two consortia will receive $25 million in total funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for this work. These amounts will be matched by the grantees, for a total of $50 million in U.S. funding. The Chinese side will contribute an additional $50 million, for a total of $100 million for this innovative project.