With the world going greener every day, Microsoft has joined the blossoming of verdurous growth by preparing a new website, Hohm. The website, slated to be launched next week during an energy conference, essentially monitors a home’s energy consumption. According to the website, “with Microsoft Hohm you can better understand your home energy usage, get recommendations to conserve energy and start saving.” By teaming with four of the major energy suppliers on the West coast, Hohm will calibrate a home’s total consumption of energy. Hohm can also accurately estimate a home’s energy usage even for those who are not on the grid of the four energy providers listed above. A sophisticated series of esoteric mathematical formulas is the engine that powers Hohm’s calculations, determining how much energy your refrigerator is using and how much it costs to keep your home at 69 degrees all day long.

Beyond the mere monitoring of energy usage, which alone is an eye-opening energy-saver, Hohm will also make recommendations on how to cut back on energy costs. As energy costs rise, environmental concerns heighten, and legislation on conservation are discussed, consumers would do well to curb their energy appetites where they can. Hohm will show them how to do it. Beyond merelty turning off unnecessary lights, Hohm can suggest the cost-saving alternative of buying an energy-efficient washing machine or changing out an old central air unit. Perhaps some consumers may go even greener by purchasing a solar water heating system or an electricity-generating windmill.

How much money will it save? Troy Batterberry who is managing the development and launch of the new program, estimates that consumers will save as much as 10%. A 10% nationwide energy reduction is an impressive statistic, all things considered. But, as Batterberry explains, the website is about more than just consumers saving pennies. In a Reuters interview, Batterberry spoke of Hohm being a tool that will prevent the building of new power plants, saving money for individuals, industries, and the government.

Although it already sounds very impressive, Hohm is only in its infantile stages, claim Microsoft representatives. They have big plans for the future. Soon water consumption will be monitored, along with natural gas, propane, and heating oil. Microsoft’s Hohm may also begin to roll out its own line of smart thermostats, energy-efficient plugs, and other energy-saving hardware devices. Hohm may be home to a whole new industry niche for Microsoft as they develop advanced information, real-time statistics, and a host of other services.

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Remember Wolfenstein? Doom? Quake? The brains behind those award-winning, ground-breaking games, id Software, is now part of ZeniMax Media, Inc., and more specifically belongs to ZeniMax’s gaming-focused division, Bethesda Softworks. The acquisition was announced today, with the hope that the marriage “brings together two of world’s best game studios.”

The Texas-based id Software has carved out an impressive niche in the gaming market for pioneering efforts the first-person shooter field. For nearly twenty years, id has been building an empire of classic game series like Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein, and the not-yet-released Rage. The success and longevity of id Software is highly respected among gaming companies.

Few companies in the gaming industry remain independent, especially for as long as id Software has. And for financial backing, continued security, and long-term success, id Software is now part of the much-larger ZeniMax Media. In spite of the acquisition, id Software will function as it has all along—developing high-quality games. In fact, id is in the process of developing Rage, a futuristic car-racing game. Although Electronic Arts will still publish Rage, ZeniMax Media is entitled to all future publications.

In addition to being an all-systems go for game development, id hopes to grow, according to one of the founding fathers of id Software, John Carmack. “Now, id can expand,” he told reporters. “It is going to mean a lot for us.” What was the problem before? Carmack explains, “the sense of competing with your publishers…that definitely has an impact on a lot of the areas of our business.” The scene had become too complicated. Working with, or rather “competing with,” their own publishers became cumbersome and unprofitable. In the new arrangement, id Software will do what it’s truly good at—make awesome games.

The mind muscle behind those awesome games remains, since senior software developers are still working for id. Long-term contracts, signed by the principals, means that management, creative ideas, and a passion for high-quality gaming remain id’s core activity.

id is in good hands. After all, Bethesda Game Studios, the division of ZeniMax under which id falls, is a premier game developer in its own right. Just last year, they rallied dozens and dozens of Game of the Year Awards for games such as Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. With the merger finally complete, we can probably expect id studios, now under new ownership, to feed the appetites of hungry gamers who are more interested in cool games than they are in who owns who.

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With Satellite Navigation technology, we have managed to find so many ways to drive to our destination easily. Its great having our routes planned for us and avoiding becoming lost. GPS and wireless technologies are not stopping there due to a phone application that will warn you of any approaching speed traps with a phone application called Trapster.

The real-time data does rely on users being able to update the central database by calling in any traps. It’s a free service after all. From the Trapster web site at http://trapster.com, it takes just a few minutes to sign up and download the software for your phone. It’s like having a companion that watches out for you to ensure that you keep within speed limits.

What can Trapster regularly track for you?

· Speed cameras
· Police station locations
· Red light cameras

The advantage of allowing users to be responsible for the data updates is that so many people are willing to participate. So many people are easily caught by the cameras due to having no idea of their locations. Though, there are those whom deserve to be caught due to speeding to work, or rushing to get somewhere else so knowingly speeding to their destinations.

The service is great as it alerts you via your phone of any hot areas such as a waiting officer with a speed gun or a hidden roadside gun. The idea embraces social communities further by allowing people to help each other by sending data to the Trapster database. Once you know of police radar spots via your current speed gun detector or by simply spotting one, send the data to Trapster in seconds from your phone.

The database is growing every day. People are supporting the application by submitting new speed trap locations on a regular basis. Apparently, the number of people using Trapster has grown to over 100,000 users. It’s suggested if you are considering signing up to ensure you own a phone capable of GPS or WiFi so you can fully participate in reporting fresh speed trap spots.

Is there a bad side? It could be construed that the application can encourage further speeding. Maybe people may think they can now speed very easily on roads. Driving fast on a consistent basis will still result in you getting caught at some point. Trapster relies on responsible awareness on the driver’s part. If you are zooming down the highway, chances are you will still hit the speed trap before slowing down.

Remember, this is a warning device. Like all warnings, there needs to be some duration during which time you become proactive. You heed the warning signs and give yourself time to slow down responsibly.

Recently, Trapster released an update for the iphone (users with the 2.1 update). The iphone is probably a great choice for use with this application with its intuitive interface.

What does the market see here? Confirmation of speed traps is yet another move towards multi-tasking mobile devices.

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In the wee hours of Friday morning, Apple posted a press release stating that the new version of their trademarked browser, Safari, was downloaded eleven million times in just three days. According to the glowing report, Safari 4 is better than you and you and you—Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Chrome to be specific. Why? Speed. Plain and simple, Safari boasts more boost than any browser on the market, due to a juiced-up Java engine, and a few other tweaks.

Although Safari’s speed advantage over its browser-cousins is arguable, the download numbers are not. A demographic snapshot of the users who downloaded the new software reveals an astonishing fact. More than half (six million plus) of the downloads was the Windows version of the browser. Why Windows users are downloading Apple’s software is not entirely clear. However, three interesting points suggest the reason for Apple’s successful Safari 4 launch.

First and foremost, Apple did a pretty successful job of marketing the browser—marketing its speed that is. Anyone wants a faster browser, and so the promise of lighting-fast Java loads, better offline capabilities, swifter downloads, and some cool features—the urge to download is irresistible. Although some of their speed claims may be dubious, their marketing was successful—as usual. One way that they bumped up the publicity was using the World Wide Developer Conference as a launch platform. Apparently, the few well-placed comments were not lost amidst the iPhone 3G gawking, and drove additional traffic to the site for a quick Safari look-see.

Second, Safari is free. Of course, a free browser is no big deal. Free browser downloads can be had from Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome, too. However, Apple’s customary price tag is a bit higher than market median. Thus, getting a free piece of the Apple brand is kind of nice (or intriguing), primarily for Windows users.

The final and most fascinating factoid of Safari’s 11-million-download-free-for-all is that many of the downloads were ‘compulsory.’ In other words, even if the users don’t want it, won’t use it, and couldn’t care less, they downloaded it anyway. In the words of one cynical user, “Apple basically pushed it out to everyone it possibly could, whether they wanted it or not.” Thus, with a few groggy early-morning clicks, some users may have joined the eleven-million crowd without even realizing it, thanks to Apple’s easy updating. While no one knows exactly how many auto-updates were part of the eleven million, this probably contributes a significant portion to the large number of downloads.

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