cap

In many ways, 2009 seems to be the year download-only games hit their stride. Between the iPhone and iPod Touch dominating the portable market with the ever-growing App Store; the release of the completely disc-free PSP Go; and the Nintendo DSi--which also can download games from an online store--portable gaming has started to move beyond the cartridge and disc. Even in home consoles, there's been a continuing focus on lower-cost downloadable games and DLC sold on Sony's PSN, Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade, and the Nintendo Wii's WiiWare as alternatives to pricier disc-based titles.

While download-only … Read more

Despite point-and-shoot camera manufacturers' best efforts to reduce the effects of hand shake--digitally, optically, and mechanically--as long as you're holding the camera there's a very good chance you'll end up with blurry shots. Add in softening caused by noise reduction at higher ISO sensitivities, and getting a sharp shot of moving subjects or in low-light conditions can be tricky. The disappearance of viewfinders from compact cameras doesn't help things either as it encourages you to extend your arms to use the LCD.

Taking the camera out of your hands and putting it on a tripod or other support is one of the best ways to improve your odds. However, when I suggest this to point-and-shoot users I typically get in response that it's not practical to carry a tripod and it kills the point of having a very portable camera. But the solution is easy: get a very portable mini tripod.

Below are five favorites ranging in size, price, and flexibility, and though they aren't all technically tripods, they'll certainly help keep your pocket camera still whether you're behind or in front of it.

In lieu of buying a support, there are free options for helping control hand shake. Look for a lamp post, wall, tree, or any solid vertical structure you can lean against for support. Don't fully extend your arms, but instead pull them into your body as closely as possible with your elbows tucked into your sides or rest on a ledge or wall. Also, even if your camera has a lot of zoom range and optical image stabilization, it's always better to move yourself closer to a subject if possible than using your zoom. Lastly, if you use a tripod or anything else that's stable to support your camera, be sure to shut off any in-camera image stabilization--in this case, more stabilization is not better. … Read more

Comcast on Tuesday announced the launch of a pilot program for its Internet customers to keep track of how much bandwidth they're using. The company is finally introducing a Web-based metering program, which will let users check these numbers from any browser.

This comes a little more than a year after Comcast began enforcing a strict 250GB cap on download bandwidth, exiling those who went over twice for an entire year before being able to get Internet service again. In the interim the company had offered no official tool for customers to see how close they were getting to … Read more

California on Tuesday released draft rules for its landmark greenhouse gas cap-and-trade plan that will be the most ambitious U.S. effort to use the market to address global warming.

State law requires California to cut its carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Measures will range from clean vehicle and building rules to the cap-and-trade system that lets factories and power companies trade credits to emit gases that heat up the earth.

Federal rules under debate by Congress could eclipse and preempt regional plans, but California and other local governments see themselves as the … Read more

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--President Barack Obama on Friday called on the U.S. Congress to pass energy-and-climate legislation, a move he said would stimulate technology innovation and improve the economic competitiveness of the United States.

Obama delivered a speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology here after touring student laboratories and before attending a fund-raiser for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.

A "comprehensive" energy-and-climate bill will address both environmental and economic problems, Obama said. Countries around the world recognize that energy supplies are limited while demand is rising. That situation is giving rise to a "peaceful competition" among … Read more

The Obama administration is pushing for a "comprehensive" energy and climate bill because it will provide the economic foundation to spur investment in clean-energy technologies, said Carol Browner, the president's assistant on energy and climate.

Browner, the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, was interviewed on Friday along with other business and political leaders at the Atlantic's First Draft of History conference at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. The interview was streamed live online.

She argued that U.S. businesses will invest more in clean-energy technologies once Congress passes a law with incentives for … Read more

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--A change in national energy policies would help spur innovation around green technologies, but policymakers are motivated by power and pet projects rather than energy security or environmental protection, a panel of energy and business experts argued here Thursday.

The speakers--three academics with expertise in energy and economics and a venture capitalist from Khosla Ventures--delved into the question of what role government should play in energy at the EmTech emerging technology conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Thursday. On the whole, they were pessimistic about the prospects of effective legislation for promoting a cleaner energy industry. … Read more

Editors' note: Declan responds to critiques of this post in a subsequent piece he wrote in his Taking Liberties blog at CBSNews.com: "Cap And Trade Redux: $1,761 Annually Per Family? Or Not?"

The Obama administration has privately concluded that a cap and trade law would cost American taxpayers up to $200 billion a year, the equivalent of hiking personal income taxes by about 15 percent.

A previously unreleased analysis prepared by the U.S. Department of Treasury says the total in new taxes would be between $100 billion to $200 billion a year. At the upper … Read more

Comcast's Web-based broadband meter, which was rumored to be released back in January, is still not available to consumers. According to a Comcast representative whom I spoke with earlier Tuesday, it's still not ready for prime time, and is undergoing further employee trials before being released to the public.

Once released, the meter will let customers of Comcast's high-speed Internet service monitor how much of their 250GB monthly bandwidth quota has been used. This will help keep them from going over that limit--something that results in a termination of their service upon the second offense.

Comcast imposed … Read more