GOP state Senate scales back renewable energy standard
Michigan would need to get 7 percent of its energy from environmentally friendly sources by 2015 under a Senate energy reform package pushed out of the upper chamber 20-17 late Thursday night by a unified Republican caucus, according to Lansing's MIRS news service. The change not only knocks down the 10 percent renewable portfolio standard (RPS) passed by the House and supported by the Governor, but allows out-of-state alternative energy, "clean coal" and energy efficiencies to be counted in the goal to the protest of the minority Democrats. More.
Michigan Tech, MSU tapped as first energy 'center of excellence'
Michigan Technological University and Michigan State University will partner with Mascoma Corp. in Michigan’s first Center of Energy Excellence, Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced at a press conference in Lansing Friday morning. The Center will be eligible for a $15 million grant from Michigan’s 21st Century Jobs Fund. Michigan Tech, Michigan State and Mascoma will work with the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and J.M. Longyear -- a Marquette-based company that owns more than 65,000 acres of forest land in the Upper Peninsula -- to develop the state’s first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant. The plant will be located in Chippewa County, south of Sault Ste. Marie. Cellulosic ethanol offers a clean-burning and economical alternative to petroleum-based fuel and ethanol made from corn. More.
Time and attendance software saves user $40k a year
Farmington Hills-based InfoTronics Inc. said Friday that its Attendance on Demand software had saved $40,000 in labor costs for a health care industry client, Michigan Neurology Associates P.C. Attendance on Demand partner PeopleForce Solutions of Ann Arbor managed the project. More.
E-commerce veterans launch new venture, Grand River
E-commerce specialists Scott Robertson and Steve Thallman have combined forces to launch Grand River, a Web design and development company in Ann Arbor that will specialize in e-commerce systems for retailers and manufacturers. Grand River’s services include Web site evaluations and consultations, user experience and creative design, e-commerce platforms designs and builds, web and application development, social network implementations, Web site analysis and analytics and hosting and managed services. More.
New UM project probes American values online
As the fall elections draw near, an innovative new University of Michigan research project is probing the values behind Americans' political decisions. On Monday, the project Web site, www.ourvalues.com, will offer visitors a chance to weigh in on a changing array of hot-button issues from polygamy to patriotism to same-sex marriage. Public comments and responses to "flash poll" questions on the site will inform the content of a major survey on Americans' Evolving Values, to be fielded by the UM Institute for Social Research. More.
Vacations and outdoor activities have taken their toll on the Michigan IT Calendar, the state's most comprehensive technology event calendar, at this link.
This week, with Independence Day coming Friday, is bare -- literally, not one event. And the rest of the month is on the thin side event-wise as well.
So let's take a longer than usual look forward, shall we?
Ann Arbor's Pure Visibility is offering a very cool Google AdWords workshop on Friday, July 11, repeating Aug. 7. On July 17, the wonderful Entrepreneurial Initiative for Southeastern Michigan will meet at Automation Alley, and, hold on to your bagels, your humble narrator will be giving the breakfast keynote.
And since everybody's golfing this time of year anyway, why not break out the sticks for a good cause? The Michigan Council of Women in Technology offers a charity outing July 22, as does Lawrence Technological University Aug. 11.
But this week? Well, take advantage of the relative breather to get some serious thinking done. Maybe about how we can all help aid and abet the continuing economic transformation of Michigan. (It's happening whether we like it or not, so we might as well steer it in a cool direction.) Or, what the heck -- spend the whole time golfing or boating or reading or running, whatever blows your hair back. And Friday, don't forget to say a word of thanks to the founders of this ever-evolving experiment in self-government known as the United States of America. (I'm planning on taking in the fireworks on the beach in Frankfort, followed by, God help me, the first couple of days of the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City!)
As always -- see you out there!
Note: For information on how you can sponsor content in the Blue Box, contact Dan Keelan at (248) 455-7380 or dkeelan@cbs.com.
Mars polar probe using bearings from Muskegon company
NASA's so-far-wildly-successful Phoenix Mars Lander has a Muskegon connection. MLive.com reports that as the robot began scooping up soil samples on June 4, engineers at Kaydon Corp. Bearings Division of Muskegon gave themselves a pat on the back. It was the second time since 2004 the company's bearings had been used by NASA scientists for exploring the neighboring planet. More.
Buy Michigan Now Web site expands
Buy Michigan Now, a Livonia-based campaign designed to promote and restore Michigan’s economy, is expanding its Web site to provide new tools to help Michigan businesses and community groups throughout the state. The campaign’s Web site, www.BuyMichiganNow.com, has added several new features including a searchable, online directory of Michigan-based businesses called Michigan Blue Pages. Named for the beautiful waters that surround the state, the Michigan Blue Pages have been added to help residents and businesses find Michigan-based organizations to meet their purchasing needs, thereby keeping more money inside the state. More.
Ann Arbor-based precursor of Internet marks 20th anniversary
July 1 will mark the 20th anniversary of the T1 backbone of the NSFNET, the nation's first high-speed backbone network. This significant technological achievement signaled the start of a revolution in computer networking and spurred the development of the modern-day Internet. When it was originally launched in 1985, the NSFNET connected six supercomputer centers across the United States via a 56Kbps backbone network. In late 1987, NSF selected Ann Arbor-based Merit Network Inc. and partners MCI, IBM and the state of Michigan to re-engineer the backbone service and deploy a new high-speed T1 backbone network, which began service on July 1, 1988. More.
THE WORLD IN TECH
NBC offers wide online access of Beijing Olympics
NBC is making more than 2,200 hours of live competition from Beijing available online, giving Olympic junkies more action than they could ever devour in a day. After barely tipping its toe in the digital world during past Olympics, the network will dive into the deep end: live blogging, 3,000 hours of highlights on demand, daily recaps and analysis and even fantasy league gaming. That's in addition to the 1,400 hours of coverage planned on six television networks, more than the combined total of every previous Summer Olympics. NBC's digital plans, however, have angered media outlets that worry the company is being heavy-handed in enforcing its rights to exclusive Olympic access. More.
Former Intel chief now pushing electric cars
Former Intel Corp. Chairman Andy Grove has a knack for sensing when circumstances should force changes at a company or an industry -- and how to respond. He even has coined a term for it: the "strategic inflection point." Now the retired chairman of the world's largest computer chip maker thinks the term applies to energy and transportation, where record-high gasoline and oil prices have spurred interest in alternative energy sources and next-generation vehicles. During the past year and a half, Grove has created his own crash course in electric power, plug-in hybrid vehicles and finding ways of shifting the nation's fleet of vehicles from gasoline. His goal: To draw more attention to electric vehicles. More.
Ballmer, Gates bid farewell with tears On his final full day at Microsoft Corp., Bill Gates went on stage to reminisce with his longtime friend Steve Ballmer, and neither man could hold back tears as Ballmer handed Gates a large scrapbook as a farewell present. Gates, who is stepping back to focus on his philanthropy, sat with CEO Ballmer in a Microsoft conference room and meandered through moments in Microsoft's history. They stopped to get in a few good digs at IBM Corp., whose first personal computers were loaded with Microsoft's DOS operating system before IBM adopted its own operating software and their relations strained. More.
MetroPCS to allow other carriers' devices on its network
MetroPCS Communications Inc. has become the largest U.S. wireless carrier to say it will let customers bring cell phones from other carriers, which it will then reprogram for use on its own network. This week's announcement by the Dallas-based regional carrier is one of a series of moves in the industry that amount to a gradual opening of the U.S. wireless market, giving consumers more choice over what phones to use on what networks. Carriers generally sell phones that are locked to their own service. This protects their business model, which is based on subsidizing the cost of the phone by hundreds of dollars, then making that money back on monthly service fees. MetroPCS's move threatens these traditional rules. It allows customers with certain models of phones from Sprint Nextel Corp., Verizon Wireless, Alltel Corp. and a few other carriers to bring their phones to MetroPCS stores, where they will be reprogrammed. More.
Stocks: Tech sector retreats as broader market falls
Technology stocks retreated Friday as the broader market tumbled on concerns about rising oil and commodities prices. The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) fell 5.74 points or 0.3 percent to close at 2,315.63. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) fell 106.91 points, or 0.9 percent, to 11,346.51. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX) fell a scant 0.91 points or 0.2 percent to 369.09 and the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) fell 1.97 points or 0.3 percent to 559.63. Pharma was a rare market bright spot, with the Amex Pharmaceutical Index ($DRG) rising 0.14 points or less than 0.1 percent to 287.13, while the Amex Biotech Index (BTK) rose 1.35 points or 0.2 percent to 734.94. The S&P 500 ($SPX) fell 4.77 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,278.38. After sliding 4.2 percent this week, the Dow has now lost nearly 20 percent since its Oct. 9, 2007, record high of 14,165. The blue-chip index is also on track for its worst month of June since 1930. The S&P 500 index, which most market experts use as a gauge to determine the direction of the broader market, is now off 18.1 percent from its high of 1,562 points hit on Oct. 10, 2007.
Matt's Favorites
A tiny smidge of local leftovers: two companies team up for a new imaging controller that boosts plastic molding yield; Royal Oak's Bonal International declares an annual dividend; and Ann Arbor's ProQuest extends a deal with Dow Jones. Elsewhere locally: The Detroit News gets the scoop on the demise, for now at least, of the Wireless Oakland project, and a nice profile in the Free Press on Google's Birmingham-based auto boss; Virgin Mobile is buying Helio, a struggling cell phone carrier; a serious hacker out West takes a plea deal; what's left of Ward's didn't bother to tell its customers about a credit card hack; AT&T is moving its headquarters from San Antonio to Dallas; Facebook is cleaning up its grammatical act; MySpace releases new tools for data sharing; Apple's Complete My Album emerges as a music marketing tool; Activision launches an all-Aerosmith version of Guitar Hero; a federal appeals court upholds the FCC's new video franchising rules; a quarter of homes in the European Union now use cell phones only; a court filing says Oracle may demand upwards of $1 billion from SAP in its intellectual property lawsuit; a new cancer resistance treatment is going into human trials; NASA's next-generation Ares moon rocket gets beefed up; also, NASA will experiment again with solar sail technology; now that Bill Gates is gone, will Microsoft get more open-source friendly?; and the trend of video gaming for your health is growing.
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On his final full day at Microsoft Corp., Bill Gates went on stage to reminisce with his longtime friend Steve Ballmer, and neither man could hold back tears as Ballmer handed Gates a large scrapbook as a farewell present. Gates, who is stepping back to focus on his philanthropy, sat with CEO Ballmer in a Microsoft conference room and meandered through moments in Microsoft's history. They stopped to get in a few good digs at IBM Corp., whose first personal computers were loaded with Microsoft's DOS operating system before IBM adopted its own operating software and their relations strained. 