Transparency: How Much Does the United States Subsidize Energy

The government spends billions of dollars to support the energy industry, which allows it to make energy cheaper than it should cost on the open market. These subsidies—either in the form of tax breaks or direct funding—favor some types of energy over others, giving our country a skewed sense of what each gallon of gas or wind-powered electron costs. This is a look at where the government directed its subsidy dollars from 2002 to 2008. Read more at www.good.is

The Apple iPad was introduced last year, but 2011 is the year of the tablet: That statement was repeated often at last January’s Consumer Electronics Show, as company after company announced that it would be shipping iPad competitors this year. Many of these versatile new gadgets have already hit the market, and Consumer Reports has tested and rated ten of the most promising. We included the Apple iPad and iPad 2 (of course), the Motorola Xoom, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab, among others. We evaluated the tablets on 17 criteria, and found several models—and not only iPads—that outperformed the rest. To test, we assessed features such as touch responsiveness (playing Angry Birds helped quite a bit with this test), versatility, and portability. We also looked at the color, brightness, glare, and viewing angle of the display. And to assess the tablets’ Ease of Use, testers perused the New York Times‘ website and ConsumerReports.org, and read several included e-books, among other tasks. To measure battery life, we played the same video clip continually on each tablet and timed how long it played until the battery ran down. Here we saw quite a gap: Our top-rated tablet lasted 12.2 hours, but the lowest-rated lasted just 3.8. Read more at news.consumerreports.org

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Imagine that the app also automatically collects data on the sleeping and crying behavior of your child, and that you could analyze that data to see if he or she matches the behavior of children of the same age. And that you could just as easily get in touch with a network of baby health experts or sleep consultants if you have any questions or concerns.

Now imagine that an always-on application installed on the device would let you call in from anywhere in the world to hear how your baby is sleeping (or exactly how hard he or she is crying, or if you’re lucky, laughing or playing). Imagine that you could also opt to receive ‘quiet’ alerts by SMS or email whenever your kid cries for longer than, say, 5 minutes, so you can give the babysitter a quick call to see what’s up after e.g. a meeting or dinner. Read more at techcrunch.com

Harry Wesley Coover Jr., known as the inventor of Super Glue, has died. He was 94.

He worked his way up to vice president of the chemical division for development for Eastman Kodak. Coover and the team of chemists he worked with became prolific patent holders, achieving more than 460. The work included polymers, organophosphate chemistry, the gasification of coal and of course, cyanoacrylate. Read more at www.sfgate.com

In one of the more amazing stories of iPhone drop survival we’ve heard, iLounge reader and U.S. Air Force Combat Controller Ron Walker has shared the story of how his iPhone 4 improbably survived a 1,000 foot fall from an airplane. According to Mr. Walker, who works as a Jump Master, ensuring that the airplane is in the correct position when he sends parachute jumpers out of the aircraft, the plane was traveling at 130 knots (roughly 150 mph) when he stuck his body out of the plane door to look for landmarks. At that point, one of his pockets opened and his iPhone took flight before plunging to the ground. “Well, guess I’ll be buying a new phone,” he thought to himself, and continued on with his duties.

Once on the ground, Mr. Walker shared the story with his co-workers, and ended up downloading the Find My iPhone app onto a friend’s phone. Within roughly a minute, the app had found his phone, which was roughly two miles away in a wooded area between a two-lane highway and a lake. Plotting the phone’s position on maps, Mr. Walker and a friend headed out on ATVs to see if they could track the phone down, if only so Mr. Walker could attempt to back up his data for transfer to a replacement unit. Within an hour, the two had pinpointed the phone’s location near a tree, ultimately finding the phone in complete working order, apparently with nary a scratch or patch of dirt on it. Mr. Walker says that the phone only had a Griffin Motif TPU case and an aftermarket metal backing on it for protection; he believes that the phone’s fall may have been slowed by tree leaves and needles as it made its way towards land.

See more at www.ilounge.com