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Doomsday Clock moves 1 minute closer to catastrophe

Tick, tock. The infamous Doomsday Clock, which represents how close mankind supposedly is to its annihilation, has been moved one minute closer to midnight.

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS), which created and maintains the symbolic clock, announced its decision yesterday.

"It is five minutes to midnight. Two years ago, it appeared that world leaders might address the truly global threats that we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed. For that reason, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is moving the clock hand one minute closer to midnight, back to its time in … Read more

CNET Roadside Assistance 038: How often should you really change your oil? (podcast)

The best GPS you can load on your phone, how often you should change your oil in the real world, don't trust that self-braking car with your life (or someone else's) and adding remote start and seat heaters the right way.

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EPISODE 38 SHOW NOTES

Global industry CO2 output rises even in weak economy

Global carbon dioxide emissions from industry rose about 3 percent in a weak global economy this year, a study released today showed, adding fresh urgency to efforts to control planet-warming gases at U.N. climate talks in South Africa.

The study by the Global Carbon Project, an annual report card on mankind's CO2 pollution, says a slowdown in emissions during the 2008-09 global financial crisis was a mere speed bump, and the gain in 2011 followed a 6 percent surge in 2010.

"The global financial crisis was an opportunity to move the global economy away from a high-emissions … Read more

Apple updates iPhone 4S AppleCare+ policies

AppleCare+ was introduced in conjunction with the iPhone 4S, offering buyers of Apple's latest mobile phone technology the ability to protect their purchase for two years, even if the incident is accidental (a feature not available with previous versions of AppleCare).

The original plan for AppleCare+ was to offer the ability to purchase it at the same time as your iPhone 4S purchase. For $99, users receive phone support and in-store technical support for two years from the purchase date of their phone as well as the ability to get the phone replaced at a discounted rate of $49 … Read more

Track changes to critical enterprise doc with Workshare Professional

Workshare Professional is an enterprise-class solution to the problem of tracking and managing changes to critical documents. Working with Microsoft Word, it can compare, convert, and verify content between documents. It converts PDFs to Word documents, compares PDFs with PDFs or Word docs, identifies confidential information in documents, and creates PDFs from any Office file format without requiring Acrobat or other PDF software. It maintains master copies of e-mailed documents, and its metadata search and removal feature removes entire sets of comments, revisions, and other changes.

During the installation process, Workshare automatically selected the appropriate modules to install and gave … Read more

Apple CEO Tim Cook: Early clues to his leadership

Tim Cook has been Apple's chief executive officer for little more than two months, but he's already made some distinct changes from his predecessor, a new report says.

The Wall Street Journal has posted a profile of Cook's experience since taking on the CEO role (subscription required). The paper took a close look at a number of changes made during his tenure so far, which began in August when late company co-founder Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO.

Among the big things mentioned:

Cook restructured the company's education division to better fit it into Apple's … Read more

Mapping climate change in California (video)

At UC Berkeley's Geospatial Innovation Facility software developers are building a Web-based mapping tool to help scientists prepare for the changing climate conditions in California.

The team has culled data from various climate research organizations to project what different climates might look like over a 150-year period. SmartPlanet visited the lab to see a demo of how the tool works.

This video first appeared at SmartPlanet under the headline "Mapping tool models climate change in California."

Can a desert tree fight global warming?

Scientists at Tel Aviv University say they have a novel idea for combating the negative effects rainforest deforestation is having on the planet.

The group, led by Amram Eshel and Aviah Zilberstein, professors at TAU's Department of Molecular Biology and Ecology of Plants, have successfully grown a forest of salt cedars in the Aravah Desert using only a small amount of recycled sewage water and salt water left over from desalination plants.

The scientists used different varieties of the botanical genus of salt cedar trees called Tamarix, which is indigenous to old-world deserts. They're known for thriving in … Read more

Google confirms Gmail's pending makeover

Google is about to give your Gmail inbox a makeover.

A YouTube video leaked on to the Web (subsequently deleted but since reposted) shows off the new interface for the Web giant's e-mail service. Jason Cornwell, a user experience designer for Gmail, walks viewers through the major changes ahead.

A Google representative confirmed the video's authenticity but declined to provide further details.

"Oops, you weren't supposed to see that," Google representative Andrea Freund told CNET. "Stay tuned, we'll be sharing more info on Gmail's new look soon."

The new look is … Read more