interior

Blackie Pagano's skills as a repair technician and designer of one-of-a-kind electronics and speakers have ensured a steady stream of happy customers. He started in New York City, relocated to LA and lived there for seven years, but now he's back in NYC. He's played guitar and bass since he was 11, been a roadie, then a live sound engineer, a recording engineer, and a studio tech; through it all, he's been just a guy who loves building stunning works of not just art, but art that also sounds great.

Pagano mostly makes his living repairing … Read more

In this shot we get a peek at Chevy's new MyLink infotainment interface, the aesthetic of the dashboard, and--if you look closely at the blurry background--the bi-gauge instrument cluster that seems to mimic the instrumentation of the Chevrolet Camaro. Button labels appear to feature a very Buick-like cool blue glow, and an odd, large physical switch below the touch screen has us scratching our heads.

A second shot, revealed last week, shows that the instruments aren't the only part of the next Malibu that will be capitalizing on the Camaro's design language. The tail lamps feature a … Read more

A judge has granted Google's request for a temporary court order that puts a freeze on a contract the U.S. Interior Department planned to award to Microsoft for an e-mail system.

U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Susan Braden cited deficiencies in the procurement process for the $49.3 million contract, according to the 27-page court decision unsealed yesterday and reported on by Bloomberg today.

"Without a preliminary injunction, the award will put into motion the final migration of Interior's e-mail system, achieve 'organizational lock-in' for Microsoft, and cost Google the opportunity to compete," … Read more

Google has won a major contract to provide Google Apps for an entire federal government agency.

Teaming up with Unisys and two other companies, Google will deploy Google Apps for Government to all 17,000 employees and contractors at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The GSA handles business for the entire federal government by providing real estate and building management services along with buying assistance to other agencies, according to a Google blog post.

Awarding the $6.7 million contract to Google and its partners, the GSA becomes the first federal agency to migrate all its e-mail to the cloud, … Read more

Google and the U.S. government are headed for a legal showdown, but on different sides of the courtroom than one might expect.

Eric Goldman, a law professor with Santa Clara University who closely follows the tech industry, spotted a lawsuit filed by Google against the federal government claiming that the U.S. Department of the Interior did not properly evaluate Google Apps when choosing a new Web-based document system. Google alleges that because the Interior Department specified that the system needed to be part of Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite, Google Apps never had a chance despite repeated … Read more

While news of the White House solar installation captured the world's attention yesterday, another historic change that could have greater impact on solar energy in the U.S. was taking place.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, announced it had approved the first large-scale solar-energy projects to ever be built on public land.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed final versions of the Records of Decision for two solar installations, both of which happen to be on public lands in California. They will have a large impact on the amount of electricity generated from solar as a result.

"There are 11 million acres of public lands in the California Desert, and a large majority of those lands are managed for conservation purposes. These projects, while a significant commitment of public land, actually represent less than one-hundredth of one percent of that total area. Given the many benefits, the extensive mitigation measures, and the fair market value economic return, approval of these projects is clearly in the public interest," Salazar said in a statement.

One of the alternative-energy projects approved was proposed by a subsidiary of the oil giant Chevron.

The Chevron Lucerne Valley Solar Project, which will be overseen by the Chevron subsidiary Chevron Energy Solutions of California, was granted use of 422 acres of public land in San Bernardino County, Calif., for the purpose of building a 45-megawatt solar plant consisting of 40,500 solar panels. The land is located near California State Route 247 north of San Bernardino National Forest and abuts an existing transmission line. When complete it's expected to generate enough electricity to power between 13,500 and 33,750 homes at any given time. (The range takes into consideration the natural fluctuation in available solar power.)

Another project, the Imperial Valley Solar Project, which will be overseen by Tessera Solar of Texas, was granted use of 6,360 acres of public lands in Imperial County, Calif. It's desert land located along Interstate 8 near Plaster City, Calif., just north of the California-Mexico border. That plant will consist of 28,360 parabolic solar dishes estimated to produce about 709 megawatts worth of energy annually. Once up and running, that plant is expected to provide enough energy to power between 212,700 and 531,750 homes at any given time.… Read more

Ford has been working with a tactile robot arm to evaluate the feel and appearance of surfaces and controls in its vehicles in a bid to make the testing process less subjective and more scientific.

The Robotized Unit for Tactility and Haptics, or RUTH, has been used for several years at the automaker's European Research Center in Aachen, Germany, to check the interiors of the European versions of the new Focus and Fiesta, versions of which are coming to the United States in 2010.

Ford says it's the first carmaker to use a robot like RUTH, which is … Read more

MB Vastu Shastra provides users with a tool to align their home using this ancient Indian architectural principle. While learning the program can be difficult, its results are worth the added effort.

The program's interface will take some experimenting. This is because the program's online Help file does little more than explain what Vastu Shastra is supposed to do. Luckily, there are several drop-down menus and intuitive fields that eventually will feel natural and help to organize your home. Users must first enter the dimensions of their living space in feet. This is represented in a square diagram … Read more

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, in conjunction with the Department of Energy, this week released six maps that could help determine the location of the next big push in solar energy.

The BLM maps cover areas within the six U.S. states most suitable for solar energy generation and transmission as judged by the U.S. government: Arizona (PDF and below), California (PDF), Colorado (PDF), Nevada (PDF), New Mexico (PDF) and Utah (PDF).

"Only lands with excellent solar resources, suitable slope, proximity to roads and transmission lines or designated corridors, and containing at least 2,000 acres … Read more