Greg In The Desert

• Pledge of Allegiance Upheld in New Mexico – As a response to this disappointing outcome, here are some reasons to abolish the Pledge:
  1.) Partially designed as a marketing scheme to sell flags.
  2.) Before 1942 the accompanying salute, the Bellamy, was suspiciously similar to that of the Nazis.
  3.) I'm told that "God" isn't supposed to be involved with the American government.
  4.) There is no liberty in being forced by a republic to swear loyalty to that republic.
  5.) Cultish.
• Qwest ends "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" perk – The Denver Post – Qwest has eliminated a perk in which top executives were given tens of thousands of dollars each year to cover unreported expenses, the company disclosed in a filing today. A shareholder slammed the perk at the company's annual meeting in May, calling it "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" compensation.
• Can the cocaine on dollar bills be used to track drug use around the country? – By Kim Gittleson – Slate Magazine – More than 90 percent of U.S. currency is contaminated with cocaine, according to a study presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society. The study's lead author told reporters that the rate had been 67 percent two years ago and that the increase may be due to a rise in consumption of the drug spurred by the economic downturn. Can dirty money really be used to track cocaine use?
• The business of human smuggling in a Mexican border town. (1) – By Sacha Feinman – Slate Magazine – ALTAR, Mexico—I hadn't yet taken 10 steps off the bus when I made eye contact with someone for the first time. "Are you going north?" he hissed, walking quickly toward me. "Let's go. Let's go," he implored.
• Driving instructor charged with DWI – An Albuquerque driving instructor faces DWI charges after a Rio Rancho Police officer found him so intoxicated at a crash site that he couldn’t even stand without holding onto his car.
• www.KOB.com – Cops: Members of ‘Memphis Mob’ skipping town – In April, police arrested 45 members of the Memphis Mob—a criminal group that police say set up a drug pipeline that funneled crack cocaine from Albuquerque to Tennessee. Several members that were arrested on minor drug possession charges are now bonding out of jail, then leaving for Tennessee before more serious charges come their way, according to police.
• 92 markets caught in manufacturing slide – New Mexico Business Weekly: – According to the report, Albuquerque has lost 3,300 manufacturing jobs. Detroit is the market that has been hit hardest by the manufacturing slump, largely because of the difficulties currently besetting domestic automakers. The Detroit area has lost 118,600 manufacturing jobs during the half-decade, 39.4 percent of its June 2004 total of 301,200.
• www.KOB.com – Man indicted for simulated sex – with car – “Witnesses, including two children, told police that their attention was drawn to Brawner because his pants were around his ankles, he was swinging his arms in the air and shouting while he was ‘humping’ the trunk of his car,” Davis reports in a press release.
• Verizon adds cell site in Rio Rancho – New Mexico Business Weekly: – Verizon Wireless has added a new cell site to improve service to customers in Rio Rancho. The site expands 3G high-speed wireless coverage in northern Rio Rancho, including the city center, and in the Mariposa Ranch community.
• Mountain lion captured in eastern part of Denver metro area – The Denver Post – A Division of Wildlife officer tranquilized the animal, and it was relocated to the remote foothills on the west side of the metro region, where mountain lions more typically roam.

New Mexico Business Weekly has an article on Intel’s Fab 11X build out. This is the factory I work for.

When Intel Corp. finishes upgrading its chip-making factory in Rio Rancho next year, it will operate one of the world’s largest clean rooms.

The company started a $2.5 billion upgrade to its Fab 11X manufacturing complex early this year to produce Intel’s next generation, 32 nanometer chip technology. The new chips are smaller and faster and consume less energy than Intel’s current 45 nanometer chip technology.

When the upgrade is complete, Fab 11X will include 400,000-square-feet of clean room space, said Tim Hendry, vice president of the Intel Technology Manufacturing Group and the Fab 11X plant manager.

“It will be the largest clean room operated by Intel globally, and one of the largest in the world in general,” Hendry said. “The corridor that runs along the outside edge of the clean room is a quarter-mile long.”

Sometimes I have to walk the distance of that factory frequently. It’s a good way to get exercise. Read the whole article at New Mexico Business Weekly.

• Intel: Antitrust fine violated human rights – New Mexico Business Weekly: – Intel is appealing the record-setting antitrust fine that the European Union levied in May, saying that the fine violated the company's human rights, the Wall Street Journal reports. The exact arguments aren't known yet, but Intel and other companies who are arguing that the fines violate human rights, base their cases on the fact that a political bureaucrat, and not a judge, levy the fines. The bureaucrat is antitrust commissioner Neelie Kroes of the Netherlands.
• The Truth Behind Secret Recipes in Coke, KFC, Etc. | LiveScience – In his book "Big Secrets," William Poundstone revealed a laboratory analysis of Kentucky Fried Chicken: "The sample of coating mix was found to contain four and only four ingredients: flour, salt, monosodium glutamate, and black pepper. There were no eleven herbs and spices — no herbs at all in fact… Nothing was found in the sample that couldn't be identified." So much for the "secret." In fact, the chicken's ingredient statement is available on KFC's Web site.
• Annual New Mexico Photographers Art Show – Mission: The Annual New Mexico Photographic Art Show was created in order to provide an opportunity for the photographers of New Mexico to share, display and sell their images in a premier gallery setting that showcases local artists. The goal in this undertaking is to encourage statewide support of photographic artists and the activities and education of photography. ANMPAS will promote events that will feature the best photographic images from the best New Mexico photographers.

  Who is Eligible: The show is open to all photographers who are currently residents of the State of New Mexico.

• Experiments show ‘artificial gravity’ can prevent muscle loss in space | Science Blog – Now, researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have conducted the first human experiments using a device intended to counteract this effect ? a NASA centrifuge that spins a test subject with his or her feet outward 30 times a minute, creating an effect similar to standing against a force two and half times that of gravity. Working with volunteers kept in bed for three weeks to simulate zero-gravity conditions, they found that just one hour a day on the centrifuge was sufficient to restore muscle synthesis.
• Gilbert man stung by scorpion on plane – A Gilbert man was stung by a venomous scorpion stowed away in his carry-on luggage on an Indianapolis-bound Southwest Airline flight. The toxic Arizona bark scorpion and five babies were killed after Flight 2093 from Phoenix landed at Indianapolis International Airport at 12:10 a.m. Sunday, Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said.
• Company Denies its Robots Feed on the Dead | Danger Room | Wired.com – “We completely understand the public’s concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population, but that is not our mission,” stated Harry Schoell, Cyclone’s CEO. “We are focused on demonstrating that our engines can create usable, green power from plentiful, renewable plant matter. The commercial applications alone for this earth-friendly energy solution are enormous.”
• Teenager wings it with a fake airline – Times Online – A TEENAGE boy from Yorkshire succeeded in persuading British aviation executives that he was a tycoon about to launch his own airline. Using the pseudonym Adam Tait, the smooth-talking 17-year-old told airport and airline executives that he had a fleet of jets. Tait, who said he was in his twenties, even flew to Jersey to attend a 1½-hour long meeting with the director of its airport. Their talks were considered promising enough for a further meeting to be arranged, which was due to be held next week.
• Intel PAC showing no love for former employee, Barela? – It's nice to be incumbent when coming up to an election (Nevada governor Jim Gibbons and Senator John Ensign notwithstanding), and campaign finance reports tend to show that. For example, Congressman Martin Heinrich received $6,000 from Intel's political action committee — the same company that employed Barela. The Associated Press points out, "Intel Corp.'s PAC contributed $6,000. The company is a major employer in the Albuquerque area."
• New SunCatcher™ power system unveiled at National Solar Thermal Test Facility – July 7, 2009 – ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Stirling Energy Systems (SES) and Tessera Solar recently unveiled four newly designed solar power collection dishes at Sandia National Laboratories’ National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF). Called SunCatchers™, the new dishes have a refined design that will be used in commercial-scale deployments of the units beginning in 2010.
• www.KOB.com – APD says it’s swamped with robberies – Albuquerque police say they’re swamped with robbery cases, even though robbery cases overall are down.

• News : Bats provide alternative to spraying – Rio Rancho Observer – SSCAFCA sponsors a number of bat houses erected near water retention ponds in Corrales and neighboring areas of Rio Rancho. Each house can hold between 150 and 400 bats, depending on its size.
• Plant communication: Sagebrush engage in self-recognition and warn of danger | Science Blog – Plants engage in self-recognition and can communicate danger to their "clones" or genetically identical cuttings planted nearby, says professor Richard Karban of the Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, in groundbreaking research published in the current edition of Ecology Letters.
• Sci-fi comedy shooting in New Mexico – New Mexico Business Weekly: – “Paul,” a sci-fi inspired comedy starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost is shooting in New Mexico through mid-August. “Paul” is about two sci-fi geeks who make a pilgrimage to Area 51 and have a bizarre encounter with an alien named Paul, which leads to a life-changing road trip.
• Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog » Turtle Mountain Brewing – Rio Rancho, New Mexico – When Nico Ortiz, son of the famous anthropologist launched his inaugural restaurant and microbrewery in 1997, it just made sense that it should be called Turtle Mountain, a name which pays homage to his father and to the magnificent peaks under whose shadow his enterprise would reside.
• Is There a Milky-Way Galaxy/Earth Biodiversity Link? Experts Say "Yes" – 1n 1999, Astronomers focusing on a star at the center of the Milky Way, measured precisely how long it takes the sun to complete one orbit (a galactic year) of our home galaxy: 226 million years.

  The last time the sun was at that exact spot of its galactic orbit, dinosaurs ruled the world. The Solar System is thought to have completed about 20–25 orbits during its lifetime or 0.0008 orbit since the origin of humans.

• Watch this space | The Australian – AFTER you've spent more than 20 years hunting for an alien signal, you think you'd be celebrating if you noticed a mysterious pulse suddenly rising up on your computer readouts. A regular pulse, amid the random clatter of the cosmos, suggests that someone very smart at the other end is sending a message.

  But when Ragbir Bhathal, an astrophysicist at the University of Western Sydney, who teaches the only university-based course on SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) in Australia, detected the suspicious signal on a clear night last December, he knew better than to crack open the special bottle of champagne he has tucked away for the history-making occasion.

• Apartment Therapy ohdeedoh | How Mac N’ Cheese Is Like A Cigarette BusinessWeek.com – The article by Cathy Arnst is a review of a new book by Dr. David Kessler promisingly titled The End of Overeating. In it he describes "conditioned hypereating" – an almost uncontrollable drive to eat excessively beyond hunger. This breakdown in appetite regulation begins in childhood and only gets worse.
• Add enhanced audio track to iMovie | Music and Audio | Mac 911 | Macworld – Set about your dirty work in Soundtrack or whatever audio application you care to use and do anything you like except change the duration of the audio file. So, play with the EQ, filter noise, or add an unhealthy amount of reverb, just don’t cut or add anything to the file. (Because if you do, the file won’t be in sync when you add it to your iMovie project.)
• Wienermobile Crash: Oscar Mayer Wienermobile crashes into Racine home – WITI – The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile got itself into quite a pickle when it crashed into a Racine home Friday morning. Neighbors tell FOX 6 the Wienermobile took a wrong turn and ended up on the dead-end street, Kenilworth Avenue in Racine.
• Hoover Dam bypass bridge an epic marvel – A quarter-mile downstream from Hoover Dam, two fingers of concrete stretch toward each other from sheer cliffs, suspended nearly 900 feet above the Colorado River. In a month, the fingers will meet, an 80-foot gap will close and the longest concrete arch in the Western Hemisphere will be complete. The union will mark a major milestone in the nine-year construction of the Hoover Dam bypass bridge, scheduled to open in late 2010.

• Report on DIA jet: "massive gust of wind" – The Denver Post – The captain of a Continental Airlines jet that went off the side of a Denver International Airport runway last December during takeoff said the plane suddenly veered to the left "as if hit by a 'massive gust of wind,' or as if the tires had hit a patch of ice and lost traction," according to a report issued by air safety investigators today. Continental Flight 1404 traveled over fields, an airport taxiway and a raised service road before coming to rest near a DIA fire station.
• Pay-as-you-drive insurance, privacy, and government mandates – Ars Technica – The proposal centers on a simple idea: infrequent drivers are less of an insurance risk. By pricing policies according to the mileage driven, insurance companies can offer discounts to lower-risk infrequent drivers, and put an appropriate cost penalty on heavy drivers. The state estimates that 30% adoption of PAYD insurance nationwide would reduce miles driven by at least 10% among subscribers, and save 55 million tons of CO2 over the next ten years. The benefits of such a system could be quite dramatic, as California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is sure to emphasize.
• Tornado watch in far SW Colorado – The Denver Post – A tornado watch continues in effect until 9 p.m. for far southeastern Colorado, including Baca, Brent, Crowley, Kiowa, Las Animas and Otero counties. An earlier tornado watch for the metro Denver area expired at 7 p.m.
• EU fine gives Intel first loss in 22 years – New Mexico Business Weekly: – Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel posted a loss of $398 million, or 7 cents a share, compared with net income of $1.6 billion, or 28 cents a share in the same period last year.
• Consumerist – Unruly Teen Charges $23 Quadrillion At Drugstore – Visa buxx – Kids these days! Hawkins writes, "My lectures about financial responsibility appear to have failed: yesterday [my teenaged daughter] charged $23,148,855,308,184,500.00 at the drug store." You would think Visa would have caught the error and addressed it, if you were high. What Visa actually did was slap a $20 "negative balance" fee on it, of course.
• Scientists Discover Light Force with ‘Push’ Power | Science Blog – A team of Yale University researchers has discovered a “repulsive” light force that can be used to manipulate components on silicon microchips, meaning future nanodevices could be controlled by light rather than electricity.
• Apple rejects bird chirp, search query apps over Internet content | iLounge News – Apple has rejected updates to two more applications—FastFinder from Bananas Design and Chirp! Bird Songs from Spiny Software—due to what the company considers to be an inappropriate rating based on the apps’ ability to connect to the Internet
• ABQ will soon have a loan program for solar energy systems aimed as easing up-front costs – New Mexico’s largest city has made quick work of legislation passed earlier this year to boost consumption of renewable energy — such as the installation of solar energy systems on both residential and commercial rooftops. The key component allows municipalities to create special districts through which loans for installation of the systems are made to property owners who then pay off the loan through a property tax assessment rather than through making monthly loan payments.
• House cats know what they want and how to get it from you – Anyone who has ever had cats knows how difficult it can be to get them to do anything they don't already want to do. But it seems that the house cats themselves have had distinctly less trouble getting humans to do their bidding, according to a report published in the July 14th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The rather crafty felines motivate people to fill their food dishes by sending something of a mixed signal: an urgent cry or meowing sound embedded within an otherwise pleasant purr. The result is a call that humans generally find annoyingly difficult to ignore.
• This Young House Is No More, And Our Entire Blog Is Moving To Young House Love As Of Now! | Young House Love – On July 7th, as many of you know, we were busy celebrating our two year wedding anniversary. But on July 8th we got a nice little present in the form of a cease and desist letter from a prominent home improvement magazine/TV show which bears a few similarities to our old site’s name (you guys can figure it out, right?). Don’t they know the two year anniversary present is cotton, not paper? Anyway, they basically ordered that we immediately surrender the use of our old name and URL because they believed consumers were getting confused and may think that Young House Love was in some way related to their brand. Picture us scratching our heads. In almost two years of blogging under that moniker not one person has ever asked if we were related to that company.

• Crazy Croc’s, Rio Rancho, New Mexico – It's a long haul from the east side where I live, but tonight I made the journey to Crazy Croc's on Unser in Rio Rancho. From what I heard tonight, Crazy Croc's has come a long way from their historical reputation as a very dark biker bar. New owners have gutted the place and redone everything inside and out. With a dance floor, Techno programmable music, 3 pool tables, and a large outdoor patio, Croc's is set up for success.
• Deseret News | ‘Love advocates’ plan ‘kiss-in’ at Main Street Plaza – Former Salt Lake City Councilwoman Deeda Seed is organizing a "kiss-in" at Main Street Plaza on Sunday following an incident in which two gay men were cited for trespassing on the LDS Church-owned property.
• The Official Site of Rio Rancho, NM – Rio Rancho Isotopes Night – Special $6 tickets for the Tuesday, August 11, 2009, Albuquerque Isotopes game are on sale now for Rio Rancho residents and businesses. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. as the Isotopes face the Tacoma Rainiers.
• Dispute over flag protest erupts in Wisc. village – Yahoo! News – An American flag flown upside down as a protest in a northern Wisconsin village was seized by police before a Fourth of July parade and the businessman who flew it — an Iraq war veteran — claims the officers trespassed and stole his property.
• Southwest tops, US Airways near worst in passenger complaints in May – New Mexico Business Weekly: – Southwest Airlines Co. ranked best and US Airways Group Inc. ranked next to last for consumer complaints among the 19 top U.S. airlines, according to May data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
• May semiconductor sales show slight increase from April – New Mexico Business Weekly: – Sales of semiconductors in May showed a slight increase from April, but year-over-year sales fell as the industry remains in the grips of the recession. The Semiconductor Industry Association reported sales of $16.5 billion in May, up from $15.6 billion in April. Still, those numbers were down from $21.5 billion in what the SIA uses as a three-month rolling average.
• TomTom for iPhone en route | Software | iPhone Central | Macworld – Macworld recently had a chance to talk with with Tom Murray, Vice President of Market Development for TomTom, and while the company hasn’t yet announced a release date or final pricing information, Murray was able to expand on some of the information presented at WWDC.
• Why Intel’s Processors Aren’t Big on Cellphones | Gadget Lab | Wired.com – Intel is being held back in the mobile sphere by its inability to offer power consumption on par with ARM’s chips, say analysts. Add to that the notion that Atom is untested for mobile phones and the fact that many proprietary mobile-phone operating systems are not compatible with Intel’s x86 architecture, and it makes breaking into the cellphone market an uphill climb.
• Canon “G”MOS [CR2] – I received an email that Canon does indeed have an APS-C sized sensor “G” camera being tested/developed.
• www.KOB.com – Lightning strike kills one, hospitalizes several – Lightning in Rio Rancho turned deadly on Saturday after one man was killed and the rest of his family was injured after being hit by lightning while waiting to watch fireworks.

• Risk of mad cow disease from farmed fish? | Science | Reuters – Three U.S. scientists are concern about the potential of people contracting Creutzfeldt Jakob disease — the human form of "mad cow disease" — from eating farmed fish who are fed byproducts rendered from cows.
• Tucson rainwater harvesting law drawing interest – Under the nation's first municipal rainwater harvesting ordinance for commercial projects, Tucson developers building new business, corporate or commercial structures will have to supply half of the water needed for landscaping from harvested rainwater starting next year.
• N.M. teenager shot in head with Taserby town’s top cop – The Denver Post – TUCUMCARI, N.M. — Authorities say a teenage girl is recovering at an Albuquerque hospital after being shot in the head with a Taser dart by Tucumcari's police chief.
• Gizmodo – CatGenie Litter Box: The Clean Fresh Smell of Civilization’s Discontents – Catgenie review – We all know there are plenty of products that cause more problems than they solve. As a professional technologian, my job is to sift through innovations to see which ones make for an improved life, and which ones are too troublesome for their own good.

  CatGenie—pardon the pun—gives me pause.

• The Recession and the American Airline Industry – Here is a handy guide to each airline’s pricing for additional services to help you know for what you are going to have to pay, before you buy your ticket.
• One Confirmed Shot at Arlington Apple Store|ABC 7 News – ARLINGTON, Va. – Police in Arlington are on the scene of a shooting at an Apple Store on Clarendon Boulevard. It happened shortly after 10 a.m. at 2700 Clarendon Blvd. One person was shot and transported to a local hospital, police say.
• www.KOB.com – Scorpions out for ‘09-10 – The Central Hockey League announced the New Mexico Scorpions will not play in the 2009-2010 season.
• Evidence mounts that Mars was once habitable – Scientists with the University of Arizona-led Phoenix Mars Mission are publishing research today that advances the theory that water once flowed and the Red Planet was once habitable. Researchers found a lot of the basic ingredients that life needs to survive, including water in the form of ice, various minerals and a salt called perchlorate that microbes on Earth use as an energy source.
• Ford Ranger sales are up for June – New Mexico Business Weekly: – The Ford Motor Co. sold 8.8 percent more Ford Ranger pickup trucks in June than in the same month a year ago, according to data released by the automobile manufacturer Wednesday.
• Evidence mounts that Mars was once habitable – Scientists with the University of Arizona-led Phoenix Mars Mission are publishing research today that advances the theory that water once flowed and the Red Planet was once habitable. Researchers found a lot of the basic ingredients that life needs to survive, including water in the form of ice, various minerals and a salt called perchlorate that microbes on Earth use as an energy source.

• Ford Ranger sales are up for June – New Mexico Business Weekly: – The Ford Motor Co. sold 8.8 percent more Ford Ranger pickup trucks in June than in the same month a year ago, according to data released by the automobile manufacturer Wednesday.
• ‘Asteroids’ lands at Universal – Universal has won a four-studio bidding war to pick up the film rights to the classic Atari video game "Asteroids." Matthew Lopez will write the script for the feature adaptation, which will be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura.
• www.KOB.com – Naked man diverts flight to Sunport – ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A US Airways flight to Los Angeles was diverted to Albuquerque after a passenger removed all of his clothing mid-flight, forcing flight attendants to cover him with a blanket before he was arrested.
• Revenge of the Fallen is messy, unfunny, and way too long – Ars Technica – The story makes very little sense, and introduces so many strands and subplots that by the end it's nearly impossible to care about anything. The humans pepper everyone with machine gun rounds for very little reason, as it never seems to do anything to anyone. The human characters have very little to do, and no reason to be near each other; there isn't a single relationship that is used for dramatic purposes in a believable way. Megan Fox reprises her role so she can stand around and look hot, jiggling in the appropriate ways when she runs endlessly in slow motion. During one scene, her new pet Decepticon humps her leg as she smiles at him. I guess we know where those egg sacs come from now.
• Intel China fab to use 65nm process, produce notebook chips – Ars Technica – Now, Intel has announced that by a rule change, it will be allowed to produce 65nm silicon at Fab 68, and will abandon the 90nm process. This makes a qualitative difference in the meaning of the new fab, since 65nm will be only two nodes behind the cutting edge in 2010. Current chipsets are produced at the 65nm node, and 65nm processors included the first generation of Core 2 processors, Merom, Conroe, and Kentsfield. If Intel continues to be allowed to produce 2-nodes-behind silicon in China, Santa Clara may drastically expand fab activity in China. Earlier this month, the Taiwanese government announced it was considering allowing TSMC and UMC to operate more sophisticated fabs in mainland China.
• Meltdown 101: Where are the renewable energy jobs? – The Denver Post – Everywhere you turn there is talk of a shift to renewable energy, of building wind farms and solar plants, of making buildings more efficient, of developing biofuels. And of billions in federal funding to help make it all happen. This should mean a whole lot of new energy jobs. So where are they—and how do I get one?
• NM woman hoards 334 hopping bunnies – Rio Rancho Police Officer and Spokesperson John Francis said Monday the county's animal control division discovered 334 hopping bunnies in one woman's backyard.

  Nancy Haseman has been cited for violating a city ordinance that allows five pets per household, and for failing to restrain her animals.

• ABQNews: Some Bad Apples Have Impact on N.M. Film Industry – Film crews are jerks, and small towns are saying, "Enough already, go back to L.A. – we don't want you here anymore."First, it was a moratorium on filming in the village of Los Ranchos that's been going on for a year. Then later this week, the Las Vegas, N.M. City Council passed new restrictions on filming that could seriously impact movies there.
• The Official Site of Rio Rancho, NM – Stimulus Funding for Rio Rancho – Via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the city of Rio Rancho has received confirmation that it will receive the following either directly from the federal government or other government agencies that have received stimulus funding.
• News : Scorpions still looking for owner – Rio Rancho Observer – Will the New Mexico Scorpions play at Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho next season? That question still hasn’t been answered. The hockey club is still searching for a new owner, after claiming a $1 million loss in its first three seasons of playing in Rio Rancho. The Central Hockey League gave the New Mexico Scorpions until Friday to find a new owner, but as of press time the team hadn’t been sold.

• Bake Pizza From Scratch Without Special Equipment [Cooking] – Getting a good pizza from a decent pizzeria is pricey, and the El Cheapo Express frozen discs are often indistinguishable from their cardboard backing. Learn how to make your own without inheriting a wood-fired oven.
• Jewelry: The Consumerist Hive Mind Helps You Buy A Diamond – What are the things you should know when going diamond shopping?
• Why my Stock Portfolio is outperforming yours – Because you are buying S&P 500 index funds, and I am buying Emerging Markets index funds. I go on vacation, spend some money, come back, and have more than what I left with! Here's the magic which makes this happen
• Solar plant to open in Albuquerque – Schott Solar will officially open its plant in southeast Albuquerque on Monday. They will turn sunrays into dollars and hundreds of jobs for New Mexicans.
• Me So Holy | Apple rejects "Me so Holy", here are our thoughts.. – According to Apple, “Me So Holy” contains objectionable content and is in violation of Section 3.3.12 from the iPhone SDK Agreement which states:
• Of ATMs, iPhones… and 9/11? « I Am Shane Becker – The Loomis guys wanted me to give them my ID so they could write a report about me for their bosses because I took the picture of them and the open ATM. The REI security people that had been called in by now wanted the same thing. I told them plainly that I’m not in the habit of giving my ID to people just because they want it, especially fake cops who put money in box and get to play at being real cops.
• The real reason CEO compensation got out of hand. – By Ray Fisman – Slate Magazine – It is truly a statement of the times we live in that a self-imposed $10 million pay cap is a sign of modesty and virtue. Half a century ago, the median pay of top executives in U.S. companies was 30 times an average worker's salary; by 2005, the ratio was nearly 110. How did we get here?
• Nation’s largest powwow drew 150,000 attendees – New Mexico Business Weekly: – The event, held in Albuquerque, is the largest gathering in the U.S. of American Indian and indigenous people. It brought between $20 million and $30 million in revenue to the city, according to organizers.
• New Schott Solar plant shines at unveiling – New Mexico Business Weekly: – Schott Solar Inc. officially debuted its new 200,000-square-foot solar factory Monday at the Mesa del Sol development in south-central Albuquerque.
• New Schott Solar plant shines at unveiling – New Mexico Business Weekly: – Schott Solar Inc. officially debuted its new 200,000-square-foot solar factory Monday at the Mesa del Sol development in south-central Albuquerque.

• Slaying fuels debate over speed cameras in Arizona – Doug Georgianni, 51, was killed on April 19, as he operated a speed-enforcement van on a Phoenix freeway. Thomas Patrick Destories, a 68-year-old Phoenix man, is being held in Maricopa County jail on a first-degree murder charge in the death. He has declined to comment.

  Authorities haven't said what they believe the motive might be, but said the two men had never met. Many simply assume the killing was the latest and most extreme backlash against Arizona's photo-enforcement program.

• Chandler Motorola site has new buyer – The prime 153-acre Motorola site on Price Road once again has a buyer.

  A contract has been signed by an out-of-town investor, said Christine Mackay, Chandler's director of economic development.

• Demand for Intel Atom processors slowing – Demand for Intel's Atom netbook processors has begun to slow down as the netbook market faces price-cut competition from low-end notebooks as well as the launch of CULV-based notebooks, according to market sources.
• Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (Eng. /ˈmɒntəˌskju:/; 18 January 1689 in Bordeaux – 10 February 1755), was a French social commentator and political thinker who lived during the Era of the Enlightenment. He is famous for his articulation of the theory of separation of powers, taken for granted in modern discussions of government and implemented in many constitutions throughout the world. He was largely responsible for the popularization of the terms feudalism and Byzantine Empire.
• Southwest adds jobs as most airlines cut – New Mexico Business Weekly: – Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) was one of the few major carriers to add employees in the latest period. Southwest grew its work force by 1,473 workers in the year-to-year February period and has more than 35,543 workers total.
• English Russia » Russian Pilot Making Photos 9/11 Flying Above NYC – Here is a shocking story of Russian pilot, now living in the USA who was on the air 9th September 2001 and have made photos right from the air when planes crashed the WTC.
• Geosmin – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – Geosmin, which literally translates to "earth smell", is an organic compound with a distinct earthy flavour and aroma, and is responsible for the earthy taste of beets and a contributor to the strong scent that occurs in the air when rain falls after a dry spell of weather (petrichor). The human nose is extremely sensitive to geosmin and is able to detect it at concentrations as low as 5 parts per trillion.
• Apartment Therapy The Kitchn | Weeknight Recipe: Easy Homemade Macaroni and Cheese – This is the mac n' cheese that we grew up on – creamy sauce, chewy pasta, and don't spare the cheese! This was way before "fat" was a dirty word, but we still can't think of anything else we'd rather have at the end of a long day. Just call it an occasional indulgence and grab yourself a bowl!
• ReelzChannel premiers ABQ headquarters – New Mexico Business Weekly: – Maltin just taped the first episode of his show, “Secret’s Out,” in New Mexico, and there will be many more to follow. The network that created his show, ReelzChannel, opened its new headquarters Thursday at Albuquerque Studios. Maltin’s first show will feature an interview with Gov. Bill Richardson about the film industry and will discuss a film made in New Mexico in 2003, “Off the Map.”
• EDITORIAL: MADD about regulation – Washington Times – President Obama's pick to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration raises a few red flags. If confirmed by the Senate, Chuck Hurley, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, will drive motorists over the cliff with regulation.