clean

Those yellow Clean Air Vehicle stickers that gave tens of thousands of hybrids access to full-time use of California's carpool lanes are long gone, and the clock is ticking down on the time they're valid. But for a few near zero-emissions vehicles, the HOV lane remains wide open to the single-party driver for another four years.

A recent bill was signed in California extending the amount of time that vehicles meeting California's super ultra-low emission vehicle (SULEV) standard and the federal inherently low-emission vehicle (ILEV) standard can use the HOV lane with less than the minimum number … Read more

Virgin Group CEO and entrepreneurial icon Richard Branson promised "one hell of a party" for the kickoff flight for air carrier Virgin America's first international route from San Francisco to Toronto on Tuesday, and if the trays of mimosas and acai-cranberry cocktails that kept getting toted past his first-class seat were any indication, his promise would not be broken.

Branson, a British national who was knighted in 1999, has become one of Silicon Valley's icons of late for his enterprises in green energy and the fledgling Virgin Galactic space company, and Virgin America is headquartered in … Read more

In recent years, you may have seen a story or two about how toilet seats are cleaner than your cell phone. Well, there may not be an app for eliminating those teeming germs from your mobile, but Violight, a company that specializes in UV toothbrush sanitizers, has developed something called the Cell Phone Sanitizer to execute microbes.

Violight says it's the first UV sanitizing device designed to "eliminate up to 99.9% of germs and bacteria on your cell phone," as well other small electronic devices, including earbuds and Bluetooth headsets.

According to the company, the germicidal … Read more

There are many times when in our articles we will mention "General Maintenance" as part of a troubleshooting routine. If you are having software issues, either with third-party applications or the Mac OS itself, giving the computer a virtual scrub-down will many times help, or at least give you a cleaner slate upon which to do more in-depth troubleshooting.… Read more

The United States could fall behind China and other countries in clean-energy technology unless Congress passes energy legislation, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said on Saturday.

Many U.S. investors were reluctant to plough money into big solar, wind, and other clean-energy sectors until they knew what technologies the U.S. government policy was going to favor, he said.

"There's too much capital sitting on the sidelines for lack of an energy policy," Locke said during a stop at a U.S. and Chinese joint venture project to build batteries for electric vehicles.

"The longer we wait, … Read more

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke urged China on Sunday to remain open to U.S. and other foreign technology as it ramps up investment in clean energy to fight global warming and secure its economy.

"China, given the incredible challenges that is has, should in my view be taking the best technology from wherever--whether it's China, the United States, Europe, Japan, anywhere else," Locke said at the start of a trade mission to open doors for U.S. clean-energy firms.

The United States and a number of other countries have concerns about China's local innovation … Read more

Believe it or not, my favorite new gadget at home is not the iPad. Sure, Apple's tablet is cool and all, but it hasn't picked up a single Cheerio off the floor. Not one--there's not an app for that!

On the other hand, the iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaner I bought works tirelessly, vigorously, and automatically, scuttling around the house, sweeping floors and carpets as it goes, then returning to its dock for recharging. Frankly, it makes my children look like a couple of slackers.

J&R has the Roomba 530 for $269.88 with free shipping, … Read more

The publisher of PureRa claims that it "removes files from your computer that other mainstream cleaning programs tend to oversee," by which we suppose they mean "overlook." Though it's neither the most attractive nor the most grammatically accurate program we've encountered, we found that it works well as a quick, no-nonsense way to rid your computer of unwanted files.

The program has an extremely simple and intuitive user interface. It lists a variety of file types and locations that you can check off for removal, including temporary files, Recycle Bin files, software distribution logs, … Read more

There have been a number of reports in recent months claiming an easy way to clean your keyboard is to run it through the dishwasher. A few MacFixIt readers have asked questions about these reports, and have wondered if they should try it. Though we cannot recommend this method of cleaning for everyone, it may be a last resort for some keyboards. Even so, there are a few cautions you should be aware of in doing this, especially since without observing them you may end up with a clean but broken keyboard.… Read more