Blog.HaulingGear.com Archive (8-2008 to 3-2014)

Hindustan Times New Delhi, October 31, 201   .................  Devas is a public private partnership (PPP) supported by satellites from the Indian Space Research Organisation, and has raised $250 million in venture funding from Deutsche Telekom and others. It plans to launch services by mid-2011.  The firm would use satellites with huge antennae that would be able to easily bounce off  S-band signals. They will be aided by “gap fillers” resembling cell sites put up in places where indoor environments or tall buildings block signals .............  http://www.hindustantimes.com/Get-set-for-a-new-satellite-phone-revolution/Article1-620492.aspx

Image via Wikipedia Sunday, October 31, 2010 Story last updated at 10/31/2010 - 11:52 am By Klas Stolpe | JUNEAU EMPIRE On Aug. 4, 2009, subsistence spear fisherman Trevor Richards' foot was caught in a rope strung from a raft to a rock set 20 feet below the surface of the cascading waterfall at Sweetheart Creek, 40 miles south of Juneau. Swift currents of 35-degree water pushed him down as he stretched his body toward the surface light. His lungs ached for oxygen. His lips sucked water mixed with air as his body, conditioned for the rigors of being a Capital City Fire and Rescue paramedic, began to fatigue. "I remember stretching my lips out to get just enough air and going under," Richards said. "I didn't think I could get another. I was thinking of my family. I was thinking that I didn't want them to grow up without a father and a husband. I was thinking my wife is going to be so mad at me for drowning." On Friday, United States Coast Guard Chie

Image via Wikipedia By John Pomfret Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, October 30, 2010; 9:27 PM  SANYA, CHINA - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told China on Saturday that she expects Beijing to press North Korea not to take "provocative steps" against South Korea . She also appealed to Chinese and Japanese officials Saturday to end their month-long spat. Chinese officials told Clinton, for their part, that China was committed to maintaining its exports of rare-earth minerals - crucial to the manufacture of many high-technology products - despite reports that it had halted its sales to gain diplomatic leverage over Japan and the United States. Clinton's demands for help dealing with North Korea underscored U.S. concern about reports indicating increased activity at nuclear sites in the reclusive state and worries about possible North Korean mischief in the run-up to the meeting of the Group of 20 major economies scheduled to begin Nov. 1

News Release Date: October 27, 2010 Contact: External Affairs Office (907) 463-2065 JUNEAU, Alaska - A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter aircrew from Air Station Sitka safely medevaced a 53-year-old American citizen reportedly suffering multiple leg injuries aboard the 831-foot tanker Sierra 284 miles southwest of Sitka Tuesday at approximately 7 p.m. John E. Harmon, 1st assistant engineer aboard the Sierra, residence unknown, was medevaced after the 17th Coast Guard District command center in Juneau received a call from the master aboard the Sierra requesting a medevac for Harmon who suffered injuries when a deck plate landed on his legs. After the Coast Guard duty flight surgeon recommended Harmon be medevaced, two Jayhawk crews were launched at approximately 4 p.m.  One aircrew safely hoisted Harmon at 7 p.m. and transported him to Air Station Sitka arriving at 8:30 p.m.  Harmon was transferred to awaiting emergency medical service personnel and taken to M

Deck Watch is a five to seven minute radio show featuring Coast Guard news from around Alaska. The feature for Oct. 29, 2010, is an interview with Lt. Josh Boyle, North Pacific Regional Fisheries Training Center executive officer, discussing different types of training NPRFTC Coast Guardsmen in Kodiak provide to Coast Guard cutter personnel. Please click on the below link to listen to Deck Watch.  http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1038016

Image via CrunchBase People buy online, and redeem offline. But this is just the beginning of a perfect storm brewing that will change the way we discover, shop, and pay for things. Let’s focus on the main function each of these different startups provide to understand how bringing them together will ultimately disrupt multiple trillion dollar industries: Facebook: provides the Social Graph, which is fast becoming a utility. Through its open platform, and APIs, we share more about our lives and our interactions online and on mobile every day. Foursquare and Gowalla: provide location services and check-ins, along with game mechanics that motivate users to unlock badges, earn mayorships, and get discounts at local stores in the process. Yelp: provides crowdsourced reviews of local businesses. Now also provides check-ins, and offers. Groupon: provides discounted offers against a promise to increase sales and bring in brand new customers to local businesses.......... http://tec

Image via Wikipedia For 130 years, the kilogram has weighed precisely one kilogram. Hasn't it? The U.S. government isn't so sure. The precise weight of the kilogram is based on a platinum-iridium cylinder manufactured 130 years ago; it's kept in a vault in France at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. Forty of the units were manufactured at the time, to standardize the measure of weight.  But due to material degradation and the effects of quantum physics, the weight of those blocks has changed over time. That's right, the kilogram no longer weighs 1 kilogram, according to  the National Institute of Standards and Technology  (NIST). And it's time to move to a different standard anyway.  Once upon a time there were..........  http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/scitech/The-Kilogram-Is-No-Longer-Valid-US-Argues_62633639

Friday, October 29, 2010 Story last updated at 10/29/2010 - 10:28 am By Sarah Day | JUNEAU EMPIRE If you're new in town, don't fish, but would like to buy fresh caught Alaska salmon directly from fishermen, it's hard to figure out where to go. Juneau currently lacks a definitive direct-consumer purchase option for the wild foods found in the water. Gary Gillette, port engineer, applied for a grant from the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation and told the Docks and Harbors board Thursday they received unofficial notice that they will get a $25,000 grant to develop an approach to offer a....... http://juneauempire.com/stories/102910/loc_727786800.shtml

Jacob Resneck/KMXT This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it                    Alaska's three U.S. senate candidates share their views on fisheries management, a new film highlights the history and beauty of Bristol Bay; a......... Audio >> http://www.kmxt.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2203&Itemid=2#JOSC_TOP

October 28, 2010 Panoramio is now adding photos from the Ocean The folks at Panoramio have been busy! Just a few days ago they announced some nicely improved KML files, and now they've announced that photos from the ocean will be landing in Panoramio very soon. They're working with.......  http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2010/10/panoramio_is_adding_photos_from_the.html

Image via CrunchBase Iridium is a major provider of mobile satellite voice and data communications services.  Iridium NEXT will replace Iridium’s current constellation , ensuring continuity of the world’s only truly global mobile satellite service.  Iridium NEXT also will expand the capacity and capabilities of the company’s existing global service. The launch of the first satellites is scheduled for the first quarter of 2015.   http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=2096094895

[SatNews] Spot LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Globalstar Inc. (Nasdaq:GSAT) has said their  SPOT HUG , a new satellite-based security device for boats, will be showcased this week at the  2010 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show , booth number  3055 , located in the Broward County Convention Center , October 28th through November 1st.   SPOT HUG uses SPOT simplex technology so users can transmit location-based messages over the  Globalstar satellite network. This allows boat owners to message for help in a critical emergency or let others know where they are and that they are okay. Automated Track Progress message mode lets others view a virtual "breadcrumb" trail of their location on the water.  http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=1400542728

Thursday, October 28, 2010 Story last updated at 10/28/2010 - 11:13 am By Jonathan Grass |   JUNEAU EMPIRE He calls it his lifelong hobby. Now that hobby is finishing up and starting to garner some attention. Dwain Reddekopp has spent the last 30-odd years bringing a swamped troller boat, the Carol Ann, back to life. The Carol Ann has been..... http://juneauempire.com/stories/102810/loc_727291981.shtml

Image by jay galvin via Flickr Wednesday, October 27, 2010 Story last updated at 10/27/2010 - 1:28 pm A ferry from Kenai to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough or even to Anchorage ? With the Mat-Su Borough-owned M/V Susitna finally complete and wintering in Ketchikan , Mat-Su officials said the idea of the ferry transporting people across Cook Inlet is not so far fetched. "The ferry is here. It's going to happen," said Lewis Madden, owner's representative for the ship. The only hurdle now is where it's going to be docked. The high-tech vessel is a SWATH -- small waterplane area, twin hull ship -- that can convert into a landing craft. "Imagine yourself waterskiing on top of submarines," Madden explained about the design of the ship. It can handle seas five times its size, he said. "It's a very stable ship," Madden added. The M/V Susitna also has........... http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/102710/new_726771421.shtml

Image by gbaku via Flickr Web posted Thursday, October 21, 2010 By Andrew Jensen Alaska Journal of Commerce   An investment of about $1 million in collaborative research with state and federal scientists since 2005 has paid off for the crab industry this year with millions of additional pounds of snow crab quota for the 2010-11 season. Bering Sea crabbers have long contended that the snow crab stocks should not be classified as overfished and they put their money where their mouth is to prove it. The results of their research conducted by Natural Resources Consultants out of Seattle were incorporated into the crab plan team's model for the first time and the total allowable catch, or TAC, was boosted 13 percent over last year to 54.3 million pounds despite the stock's official status of not yet meeting the 10-year rebuilding plan target.  Based on the average price for snow crab of $1.62 per pound during the first nine years of the rebui

details >> http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2010/10/google-maps-tests-new-navigation-ui.html

Image via CrunchBase By Thomas Ricker posted Oct 27th 2010 1:38AM Details of the Garmin-ASUS breakup are slowly being revealed. We now know that ASUS has obtained exclusive rights to license Garmin navigation and location based services on its Android smartphones with a Garmin navigation trademark slapped on.......... http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/27/garmin-navigation-to-be-an-android-exclusive-for-asus-headed-to/

Oct. 26 2010 Alaska Department of Fish and Game is losing a top fisheries official. Commercial Fisheries Director John Hilsinger will soon be leaving along with Fish and Game Commissioner Denby Lloyd. The two announced their retirement simultaneously in an email to staff last month.             Hilsinger is a trained biologist who has.... http://www.kmxt.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2199&Itemid=2

Image by Scott Ableman via Flickr PETERSBURG, AK (10/26/2010) Residents in Coffman Cove are hoping to restart ferry service to their community on northern Prince of Wales and have traveled to Wrangell and Petersburg this fall seeking support for the idea. A new port authority formed by Coffman Cove residents could offer service between that community Wrangell, South Mitkof Island and Ketchikan. Another independent ferry authority has tried a similar service and could not keep it running. Audio > http://krbd.org/modules/local_news/index.php?op=sideBlock&syndicated=true&ID=1475

Image via Wikipedia PETERSBURG, AK (10/26/2010) The company hoping to build a hydro-electric power plant on the mainland north of Petersburg has updated its plans for the development. Officials with Cascade Creek LLC say they are reducing the potential impacts of the project by choosing an underwater power line in Thomas Bay. The company also says it plans to reduce the hydro plant’s impact on Swan Lake, the high mountain lake that will be used for generating power. Audio > http://krbd.org/modules/local_news/index.php?op=sideBlock&syndicated=true&ID=1476

Image via Wikipedia By kirstenadams on October 25, 2010 For Phil Steyer, Director of Government Relations for Chugach Electric Co., hydropower is the future. Joining representatives from other local electric companies, Steyer spoke at a weekly Anchorage Chamber of Commerce lunch forum today about declining Cook Inlet gas reserves and long-term options for providing energy to Southcentral Alaska. “The short term vision says, find a source of power other than natural gas,” Steyer told the audience. A recent study by a local geophysical consulting firm showed..........  http://alaska.watchdog.org/2010/10/25/hydropower-frankly-its-the-most-economical/

At first glance, Blue Water Satellite might strike you as a poor fit for a post on this website. Were so inundated with web-based startups that we forget there is a world out there full of technology startups that are just as new and just as interesting, but have nothing whatever to do with the web. But in addition to being an interesting business in its own right, Blue Water Satellite is an example of the deep data analysis industry which in a way has always been with us, but more recently has been flourishing due to the sheer volume of useful data. At Disrupt we saw an impressive toolset for social data provided by DataSift . Those guys surely have a rosy future if only because they’re getting in early to the web data-diving game. Similarly, Blue Water Satellite (BWS) has a very specific mission at the moment, but the way they’re branching out, they hope to be a leader in the growing business of satellite and environmental data analysis. Providing a unique and powerfu

Image via Wikipedia Oct. 25, 2010 (GlobeNewswire) --ADVISORY, Oct. 25, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- What:  Peter Dalton,   CEO of Globalstar, Inc. [GSAT], a leading provider of mobile satellite voice and data services to   businesses , government, and individuals will preside over the NASDAQ Opening Bell in celebration of the successful launch of six new second-generation Globalstar satellites ....... http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/4608687

Image via Wikipedia The Associated Press Wednesday, October 20, 2010; 5:04 PM  SAN DIEGO -- Federal investigators were mistaken when they claimed that a Coast Guard crew member sent text messages just before his boat collided with another vessel and killed an 8-year-old boy before a holiday boat parade in San Diego Bay. The National Transportation Safety Board reported in August that a crewman made and received nine texts only 10 to 15 minutes before the Dec. 20 crash. A revised memo issued in September says the texts were made hours earlier, attributing the error on a time zone difference in phone records......  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/20/AR2010102003672_pf.html

By LAINE WELCH   October 22, 2010 Friday PM A year ago the depressed economy made it slow going for brokers who buy, sell and trade fishing permits. But that’s no longer the case. Higher salmon prices have driven up both demand and prices for salmon permits in most regions of the state. “This year has been much busier for us,” said Doug Bowen at Alaska Boats and Permits in Homer.  “We’ve seen most of the benchmark permits up as high as they’ve been in the past 10-12 years, basically since the industry crashed when the farmed salmon came along.” “With a few exceptions in some areas people are pretty worked up about salmon these days, and the permit market has been responding accordingly,” agreed Jeff Osborn  at Dock Street Brokers in Seattle. Bristol Bay drift permits, for example, are selling for up to $132,000, compared to $74,000 a year ago. Another hot item is Prince William Sound seine permits. Seine permits “went insane

Article published on Friday, October 22nd, 2010 By SAM FRIEDMAN Mirror Writer Fishermen in the Gulf of Alaska have accidentally caught an estimated 58,336 king salmon this year, an unprecedented level of bycatch that could lead to new fishing restrictions. In recent years the Gulf of Alaska’s bycatch numbers have hovered around 20,000 fish. This year’s numbers surprised both the industry and regulators. “By far this is the largest (bycatch) we have ever seen,” said Josh Keaton, a fisheries manager with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). “Hopefully it means a lot of kings are out there to be caught and they ran into a big pack of them.” Most of the bycatch came from the trawl pollock fishery in the last month, especially in the western Gulf. About 20 boats from King Cove and Sand Point averaged........  http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=9256

17th District Public Affairs U.S. Coast Guard Multimedia Release Date: October 23, 2010 Contact: External Affairs Office (907) 463-2065   Editors note: All imagery by Petty Officer 3rd Class Walter Shinn. To download high resoultion copies of the photos or to watch the video please click on the corresponding image above. SITKA, Alaska - Coast Guard Air Station Sitka personnel welcomed Claire Wineland, a 13-year-old resident of Calabasas, Calif., aboard a training flight to Mt. Edgecumbe volcano and around the city of Sitka on an MH-60T Jayhawk rescue helicopter Friday. "It was amazing," said Wineland. "It is hard to explain in a couple of words but it was invigorating." Wineland, who is terminally ill, reportedly dreamt of visiting Alaska but was not permitted by her doctor due to her health condition. Wineland's condition reportedly improved and she has spent the last nine days in Alaska with her family. While at the Alaska Day Celebration in Sit

From The Associated Press --  WRANGELL — An Alaska seafood processor with Oregon ties has reached a settlement with environmental regulators over wastewater violations. The Alaska Department of.... http://community.adn.com/adn/node/153871

Image via CrunchBase from Engadget by Thomas Ricker It was hinted at back in September, now the Chinese-language Economic Daily is reporting that the Garmin-ASUS joint venture will end in January after the two-year deal expires. We've heard this from...........  http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/22/garmin-asus-collaboration-said-to-be-ending-in-january/

Oct. 21, 2010 Coming up this week: Chinook bycatch is not just a problem for the Bering Sea, the Bristol Bay crab season is underway, and where are you hauling out this winter? We had help this week from KMXT's Jacob Resneck in Kodiak, KUCB's Alexandra Gutierrez in Unalaska, Deckboss Blogger Wesley Loy in Anchorage, KFSK's Matt Lichtenstein in Petersburg and KDLG's Adam Kane in Dillingham.Audio > http://www.kmxt.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2192&Itemid=2#JOSC_TOP

Image via Wikipedia PETERSBURG, AK (10/21/2010) Alaska Congressman Don Young is hoping to block U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of genetically engineered salmon, or at least require industry to label the new farmed fish product. Young has introduced two separate pieces of legislation in response to a Massachusetts company’s application for FDA approval. Audio >> http://krbd.org/modules/local_news/index.php?op=sideBlock&syndicated=true&ID=1471

Administration claims 50,000 jobs created, but many projects were completed before funds were handed out Advertisement | ad info Robert F. Bukaty  /  AP file The blades of a windmill blur as they catch the wind on Stetson Mountain near Stetson, Maine. The project by First Wind was eligible for $40 million in the 2009 stimulus program, although federal records show that its wind towers were up by July 2008. Should jobs at Stetson Mountain be counted among those created by the Obama economic stimulus? By Russ Choma Investigative Reporting Workshop, American University Investigative Reporting Workshop, American University updated 37 minutes ago

Image via Wikipedia Villages around the Kodiak Island Borough will be getting new warning sirens by the end of the year. The borough assembly approved a contract to purchase and install them at a recent meeting. Borough Manager Rick Gifford says the funds for the project, which includes installation and maintenance training, come from state and federal grants.   He told the assembly that the borough only received one bid, but is............... Audio >>  http://www.kmxt.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2187&Itemid=2

Image via CrunchBase By TODD WOODY Published: October 19, 2010 SAN FRANCISCO IN a city passionate about the environment and technology, commuters are using their smartphones to check in at a popular social networking service to help keep a critter threatened by climate change from checking out. “What does it take to help save the endangered pika? About 20 seconds,” read ads from Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law firm, that line San Francisco transit stations and feature the cute rabbitlike American pika in its Sierra Nevada mountain redoubt. “Check in now at Foursquare at ‘Earthjustice ad.’ Every time you check in, an Earthjustice donor will donate $10 to protect endangered species.” Foursquare, a rapidly growing social network, lets people use........... http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/business/media/20adco.html  

Image via Wikipedia London, Oct 20 (ANI): A kilogram is officially defined as the mass of a 122-year-old cylinder of platinum and iridium, kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in Paris. However, the cylinder's mass seems to be changing as it ages, prompting several groups of scientists to seek a replacement. Now, scientists hope to define the kilogram by referring to a physical constant rather than an antique object. Peter Becker of the Federal Institute of Physical and Technical Affairs (PTB) in Braunschweig, Germany, and his team measured the number of atoms in a sphere of silicon -28 to calculate Avogadro's constant to nine significant figures, reports Nature. The constant refers to...... http://news.oneindia.in/2010/10/20/kilogramto-be-redefinedsoon.html

Image via Wikipedia Tue, 19 October, 2010 By  Peter B. de Selding BAIKONUR COSMODROME , Kazakhstan — Six Globalstar second-generation mobile communications satellites were successfully placed into orbit Oct. 20 aboard a four-stage Soyuz rocket , a launch that Globalstar hopes will gradually return its business to full operational status after more than three years of service and revenue declines. Globalstar officials confirmed that the 700-kilogram satellites were healthy in their planned parking orbit after the launch and had sent signals to a ground station in South Korea. Following a demand of its insurance underwriters, the Milpitas, Calif.-based company will spend the next four or five months testing the satellites to be sure the new design functions according to specification. One of the newly launched satellites will be integrated into Globalstar’s existing constellation by early December, with two more to be placed into operation by January. The three others will enter ser

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