In a bid to take the lead in the race to revive the nuclear power industry, an energy company will ask the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday for permission to build two reactors in Texas.

Approval Is Sought for Reactors - New York Times

Their stories are hardly unique or new; they represent part of the core of the city's most pressing problem: a lack of affordable housing.

What's being proposed here is totally messed up.

San Francisco Bay Guardian : Article : Our three-point plan to save San Francisco

VANU BOSE is the son of a fabled engineer, but he garnered no mercy when he presented his big idea at a technical conference in 1996. Mr. Bose’s graduate work at M.I.T. involved using software to handle the radio function in a cellular phone. He remembers that after he successfully demonstrated his technology, an audience member stood up and dismissed it with: “Congratulations! You’ve just invented the world’s most expensive cellphone.”

Software That Fills a Cellphone Gap - New York Times

Today, the President accepted the recommendation of the Department of Defense to end procurement of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites that have the capability to intentionally degrade the accuracy of civil signals. This decision reflects the United States strong commitment to users of GPS that this free global utility can be counted on to support peaceful civil activities around the world.

One more nail in the coffin for ESA's Galileo system.

White House Statement Regarding Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

IN the debate over global climate change, there is a yawning gap that needs to be bridged. The gap is not between environmentalists and industrialists, or between Democrats and Republicans. It is between policy wonks and political consultants.

Among policy wonks like me, there is a broad consensus. The scientists tell us that world temperatures are rising because humans are emitting carbon into the atmosphere. Basic economics tells us that when you tax something, you normally get less of it. So if we want to reduce global emissions of carbon, we need a global carbon tax. Q.E.D.

One Answer to Global Warming: A New Tax - New York Times

If you were asked to name the biggest global-warming villains of the past 30 years, here’s one name that probably wouldn’t spring to mind: Jane Fonda. But should it?

Jane Fonda - Nuclear Energy - The China Syndrome - Three Mile Island - Power and Energy - Global Warming - Fossil Fuels - New York Times

Home of the House Price Index (HPI).

Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight

Funny thing, though: based on the ratio of Windows and Macs actually in use, no gains can be seen for Apple.

The Mac’s share of personal computers has actually edged a bit lower since Vista’s release in January, and the various flavors of Windows a bit higher, according to Net Applications, a firm in Aliso Viejo, Calif., that monitors the operating systems among visitors to 40,000 customer Web sites.

A Window of Opportunity for Macs, Soon to Close - New York Times

It's common to see reports that stress the economic importance of copyright and the content owners who benefit from it; the Copyright Alliance says that "core copyright industries" generated $819 billion in the US in 2005, for instance. What's less common is to find studies that look at the economic impact of fair use. That was the goal behind a new report (PDF) from the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA). Their provocative finding? "In 2006, fair use-related industry value added was $2.2 trillion, 16.6 percent of total US current dollar GDP."

Report: fair use adds $2.2 trillion to US economy each year

Here's the title of the press release: "The SCO Group Files Chapter 11 to Protect Assets as It Addresses Potential Financial and Legal Challenges"

Groklaw - SCO Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy