By many measures, Webcor Builders is the greenest general contractor of any significant size on the planet. With $3.5 billion in 2009 revenues, Webcor derives 85% of its revenues from LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) projects — the highest percentage of revenue of any large builder. In 2010, Webcor expects to get 99% of its revenue from LEED projects, a stunning statistic for California’s largest builder of hotels, office parks, high rises and other large projects.

Continue reading The World’s Greenest General Contractor Talks About Our Efficient Future

The World’s Greenest General Contractor Talks About Our Efficient Future originally appeared on DailyFinance on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:00:00.

Filed Under: Energy, Technology, Green

You might think now that Porsche is firmly ensconced in the Volkswagen Group family, challenging Audi for overall victory at Le Mans isn’t on the to-do list. Apparently, you would wrong. With 16 overall victories, Porsche has more wins at Le Mans than any other manufacturer. However, while Porsches have continued to do well in GT, the marque’s last overall victory came in 1998. Plans to build a prototype early this decade were abandoned, although the V10 engine developed for it eventually found its way into the Carrera GT.

New Porsche CEO Michael Macht evidently wants more overall victories, and while Volkswagen will soon control Porsche, family member Ferdinand Piech is chairman of VW’s supervisory board. With the resources of the group available, Porsche could develop a new car to go for number one. No timetable has been given, but this actually wouldn’t be the first time that there has been an internal battle at Le Mans. Earlier in the decade, Bentley also ran a prototype coupe based on the Audi R8.

With the interest in promoting alternatives like diesel at Le Mans and Porsche soon to debut a hybrid, a prototype with a similar system is not beyond the realm of possibility.

[Source: AutoCar]

Report: Porsche could again challenge for overall Le Mans victory originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 20:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“I’m taking a job at Georgia Tech,” Meyer said on the day Nicki signed her scholarship offer.

We should have known then that he was beginning to miss his family, that the weight of coaching America’s most prominent college program was exacting a heavy toll. And this was when Meyer was on top of the world, when he had won two national championships over three years and was linked to the golden-child quarterback, Tim Tebow, who was considered the most important college athlete and leader of his or any other generation.

So when Florida’s 2009 season became a relentless blur of problems — Tebow’s concussion and the delicate decision on whether to play him, his too-brief suspension of linebacker Brandon Spikes for trying to gouge an opponent’s eyes, the DUI arrest of defensive end Carlos Dunlap, underachievement on the field all season, a $30,000 fine for criticizing SEC officials and, eventually, a stunning loss to Alabama in the conference title game — Meyer wore down in ways that belied his youthful face and trim body.

Last week, The New York Times joined a growing chorus of media outlets hailing the return of traditional office clothing. According to the Gray Lady, the new formality has a pretty strong generational breakdown: While baby boomers often saw office casual as a hard-won privilege, many of their children and grandchildren see the traditional work look as a rebellion of their own. For some retailers, on the other hand, it is one of the few bright spots in a brutal economic climate.

Continue reading ‘Office Formal’ Is a Perfect Fit for Low-Cost Clothiers

‘Office Formal’ Is a Perfect Fit for Low-Cost Clothiers originally appeared on DailyFinance on Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:00:00.

Filed Under: Economy, Wal-Mart Stores, Target Corp.

Thanks to some embargo breaking that’s already occurred, we’ve known for a week that the 2011 Ford Mustang GT would pack a brand new 5.0-liter V8 producing 412 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque. We thought those tidbits might hold over the internet ’till the official embargo date lifts early next week, but we were wrong and therefore are still awake at 1:30 AM on Christmas morning writing this post. Thanks to Jalopnik via MustangHeaven via BurlappCars, we have the first images of the 2011 Mustang GT and its new 5.0-liter V8.

You can read more about some of the engine’s details that have already leaked here, but let’s just take a look see at what we’ve got. Kudos to Ford for leaving the engine’s tippy top unadorned and we also dig those 5.0 badges on the engine and fenders. Nostalgia FTW – OMG! An old fat guy with a sack of stuff just crawled out of my fire place! I think he’s a burglar. Gotta go hide the silver, Merry Christmas!

[Source: BurlappCars via MustangHeaven via Jalopnik]

2011 Ford Mustang GT and 5.0-liter V8 unwrapped early originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 25 Dec 2009 01:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s clear why this is happening: More smartphones feature built-in Wi-Fi capabilities. More carriers are promoting these features. More places, such as bookseller Borders, have recently made Wi-Fi access available for free. All that is contributing to increased use of hotspots with all devices. Hotspot usage has increased by 47%, to 1.2 billion connects in 2009, In-Stat estimates.

The findings may also indicate that people increasingly use their smartphones to do many of the things they used to reserve for their netbooks and laptops. The handsets are now larger than they were only several years ago, with easier-to-use keyboards and screens. So consumers increasingly find they can use them for everything from surfing the Web to typing e-mails to gaming. When tablets debut some time next year, they could further accelerate this shift from laptops and netbooks to handheld devices.

The negotiations for the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao megabout slated for the MGM in Las Vegas, thought to be near death, may yet be revived, thanks to the potential involvement of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum told FanHouse on Thursday night.

Pacquaio’s refusal to allow the United States Anti-Doping Agency to draw blood within a 30-day period of the bout’s March 13 date was in direct disagreement with the demands of Mayweather’s camp, which wants both fighters to be randomly tested for performance enhancing drugs.

As a result, Arum told FanHouse earlier on Thursday that the fight was off.

But Arum, apparently, has changed his mind.

“Keith Kizer, the executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, has been authorized to offer the services of the Nevada Commission to step in and to do all of the prefight drug-testing if the two fighters agree,” said Arum.

“So that is a real development, because we would certainly be willing to sit down and work out a protocol with them. The Nevada Commission would be perfect to handle this,” said Arum. “The commission has suggested it, and we’re very much in favor of it. We would love it. It’s something that is a positive development.”