May, 2008

The 4 woman are finally back in town and after weeks of tantalizing trailers, HUGE billboards and spoiler alerts, I FINALLY saw Sex and The City. And even better, in the city itself.

Shrieking, running, stiletto heel-wearing girlfriends from all over the country stormed into the theater as though Louis Vuitton bags were being given away. At first, I thought it was rather inspiring that so many women, around the country are coming together to share the love and loss with these four women. But when the movie was over, I was a little less enthused.

Just like old times, Samantha says at one point when the four women go out together. Well, not really. I miss the slightly less fancy clothes, slightly smaller heals and the moments of their relationship that weren't about the men. Would it be too much to ask for some dialog about something happening in the world? Something that cant be cured by an exorbitant shopping spree?

Or perhaps shows who first find their home on a risk-taking, say anything network like HBO, shouldn't try to jump to the big screen. More

Just came across this gem of an observation on the, ahem, stimulating effects of charitable giving:

"A number of studies have concluded that giving affects our brain chemistry. People who give often report feelings of euphoria, which psychologists have referred to as the Helper's High. They believe that charitable activity induces endorphins that produce a very mild version of the sensations people get from drugs like morphine and heroin." -- Arthur C. Brooks "A Nation of Givers" The American March 31, 2008

Okay, we know you're dying for the next-generation iPhone in June. See the current iRumors here, but for those of us who can't hand-me-down the phone to our distant and far less technologically advanced relatives, here's the TakePart guide to recycling that first iPhone and feeling good about it while you get in line outside the Apple/AT&T stores for Version 2.0!:1. Greenpeace-Enforced Free Recycling: Sure, you'd like to get a credit towards your next-generation iPhone, but Greenpeace has been hassling Apple since early iPod days to go green with the toxic substances found in its products. Click here to ask Steve Jobs for a Greener Apple. Great iPhone dissection video here.Apple has been offering free recycling of its products through its stores for quite some time now, launched way back in 2006. However, the recycling was only free if you bought yourself a new gadget to replace the recycled one. Now, iPods and iPhones can be recycled for free without having to buy a new one, but if you want to recycle your old computer (regardless of its brand), you'll still need to upgrade or pay.No surprise, Apple has gone greener -- announced on February 24, 2008. Here's the official Apple recycle link (funny, no iPhones showing ); and one site that raised additional noise was GreenMyApple. Check out its historical archive.

2. How about AT&T?: A little on the corporate side, but AT&T is doing some needed CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) to help the effort. Now if only they'd do a promotion around buying our first-gen phone and giving us some credit for the next-gen purchase. Odds are they will, but it will be minor as iPhone 2.0 demand will be high p.m.n.m.w. (pretty much no matter what).

3. eBay's Rethink Program: What better way to encourage recycled trade than auctioning your semi-old iPhone on eBay. In eBay's words: The Rethink Initiative brings together industry, government and environmental organizations to offer a fresh perspective and new answers to the challenge of e-waste. Craigslist is another opportunity for a "meet me at a nearby Starbucks and we'll trade up" approach. There are 635 'adoptable' iPhones for sale on Craigslist in Los Angeles alone.Also check out: eBay's Giving Works. Better yet, use Giving Works to support a worthy cause via your iPhone donation. Powered by MissionFish, this site has raised nearly $80 Million for 13,278 non-profits since 2003. Good stuff, and makes you sleep better at night (unless you keep your phone under your pillow...). Other worthy non-profits include Recycle Wireless Phones.4. Borrow Recycling Ideas from the Third World: With India's mobile subscriber base passing the US's last month, we should take a fine look at other countries' methods for recycling. One Finnish Nokia cell phone modification guru is touring the world finding better solutions:

Chipchase is a member of a team at Finnish cell phone giant Nokia that's trying to lower the cost of phones for emerging markets, an effort that's part market development and part recycling. The group of 15 has scanned bazaars and street shops in places as diverse as Ghana, Brazil, Iran, India, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, China, and Mongolia to learn how end users relate to their products--and they discovered surprises that could impact consumer electronics makers within the next 15 years.

5. Get Cash Online for Your iPhones: Okay, there's multiple options out there, but I recommend you think this weekend about jettisoning. Here's one example ($84-134), another, and yet another Read this interesting Suite101 post on recycling via guaranteed buybacks -- these small companies need a GreenDimes approach where people get to sign up and be ready to matriculate their phones.

Related: Retiring Your Mobile Phone With Style More

Goldman Sachs, Google and Chevron are betting on solar power to become a cheaper energy source than coal by 2020. The three corporate giants are investing in a 1000 acre solar power facility in southern California's Mojave Desert that will provide enough energy to power 112,500 homes at full capacity. The facility will run off of the solar thermal power system with 550,000 carefully positioned mirrors boiling water into steam which will turn turbines to generate electricity. JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo invested in the facility, with Google and Chevron funding research and Goldman Sachs seeking land to lease for the fast growing project.

The costs for the technology will fall below those of coal by the year 2020 according to US Government estimates given the increasing demand for energy and rising natural prices and emissions limits. A US Department of Energy report says solar thermal electricity prices could fall below 3.5 cents per kilowatt hour within 12 years under the right conditions. However significant obstacles still remain including the development of better energy stoarge and transmission capability and continued government support of the technology through tax credit and research and development funding. More

Your chance at getting 4 Free iTunes benefiting Darfur begins today...

Help us change the world for the better! We're asking our users to help us define what our next phase is going to be. In addition to reading this blog, hopefully you've all checked out our alpha site over at TakePart.com, where users can take part (couldn't resist) in the social action campaigns for Participant's movies - everything from organizing your community around Darfur Now to learning the facts about immigrant detention from The Visitor.

Now we'd like your opinion on how to take this site to the next level - click here to take our survey and let us know how we can better serve our users and make change in the world. Just in case you need the URL, the survey is located at poll.takepart.com

Thanks for your help! Exciting things to come...

You've likely heard about the long-anticipated 3G iPhone being announced (and hopefully released) in a few days. You may already own an iPhone, or have been waiting for Apple to release "Version 2.0" of the device so you won't feel like a guinea pig. Either way, if you're in the queue lusting after the latest magical mobile wonder, you're probably not giving much thought to your existing phone. In fact, you probably can't wait to roll over it with your car on the way home. You know your phone; it has a couple lame games, a blurry camera, an annoying rap ringtone that your darn kid put on and you had to manually enter all your contacts using that dorky multi-press technique on the numbers. You got it for free when you signed up for your mobile plan. At the time you thought it was a good deal, but now you feel like a Luddite watching all the cool people with their iPhones swiping, pinching and tapping their screens. Before you chunk your old phone in the garbage, please consider the following:

1. Erase all your personal data. This should be common sense, but you'd be amazed at how few people actually do this. Would you hand pictures of your kid to a complete stranger? Many people do. Erase the contacts, text messages (created, drafts and sent), call lists, favorites, photos, music, games, and calendars. If you need help, check the manual that came with your phone, or look it up on the manufacturer's website in case you tossed that too. More

For the first time ever, a tribe indigenous to the forests on the border of Brazil and Peru has been photographed. The photos were taken by aircraft, and the native people are shown firing arrows at the plane. The expedition was led by José Carlos dos Reis Meirelles, Jr., an expert on native affairs in Brazil. Though the number of native people seems strong, Meirelles has a warning against those that would destroy the ecosystem the tribe resides in. From the UK's Daily Mail:

Logging is driving uncontacted tribes over the border and could lead to conflict with the estimated five hundred uncontacted Indians already living on the Brazilian side.

Today, Friday, at 7 pm EDT/ 4 pm PDT, you can takepart and join in on a live call with Darfur Now director, Ted Braun.

Ecorazzi wrote yesterday that The Huffington Post is taking a new eco approach to their reporting by introducing their new "HuffPost Green" site, which will be partnering up with Discovery´s Planet Green and Treehugger.com for much of their content. Here´s more from the official release:

"HuffPost Green will focus on eco news and trends–from style and eco-conscious celebrities to green lifestyle tips and the latest scientific findings and expert analysis," a release from the company explained, hinting that we will likely see photos of Leonardo DiCaprio with his shirt off in addition to the latest grim findings on climate change. "The section will also feature advice on sustainable investing and highlight eco-friendly businesses and sustainable business sectors such as renewable energy, green building, recycling and organics."