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Tag: Al Gore

  • Al Gore-Backed Website Tracks Worst Climate Offenders

    Al Gore-Backed Website Tracks Worst Climate Offenders

    A new website is designed to shed light on the worst climate offenders and polluters throughout the world.

    The website, Climate TRACE, harnesses “satellite imagery and other forms of remote sensing, artificial intelligence, and collective data science expertise to track human-caused GHG emissions with unprecedented detail and speed.”

    The website works much like Google Maps, or other mapping software, allowing users to zoom in and see exactly what organizations are the top polluters in their area.

    Climate TRACE is backed by Al Gore, a long-time climate activist, as well as Google.org, Benificus Foundation, Generation Investment Management partners, Schmidt Futures, and Patrick J. McGovern Foundation.

    The website says its goal is to provide the information decision makers need:

    Climate TRACE’s emissions inventory is the world’s first comprehensive accounting of GHG emissions based primarily on direct, independent observation. Our innovative, open, and accessible approach relies on advances in technology to fill critical knowledge gaps for all decision makers that rely on the patchwork system of self-reporting that serves as the basis for most existing emissions inventories.

    Individuals can try the website here: https://climatetrace.org/

  • Sarah Gore–Al Gore’s Daughter–On Impromptu Wedding

    Sarah Gore, daughter of former Vice President Al Gore and Tipper Gore, had an impromptu wedding about a week ago, and spoke to PEOPLE magazine about the decision to marry under a Torrey pine tree. Gore married Patrick Maiani in Carpinteria, California.

    “It was such a happy day,” she explained. “My husband Patrick and I chose the spot in Carpinteria because there is an enormous Torrey pine tree there, in a beautiful field next to a coffee shop and a bike shop.”

    “We loved the energy of the tree and what it represents for our marriage, with strong roots and shade – and warm drinks just steps away!” she added.

    Patrick Maiani is a pianist from Montecito. Their chance meeting tells a fun story.

    “Patrick and I met at a real-estate open house on the street he grew up on, in June of last year. I was getting to know the neighborhood, walked into this little house, and he was there, sitting on the couch,” Sarah Gore says. “Once we started talking, we didn’t want to stop. We took a walk to get coffee, ended up having dinner and afterwards dancing at the Biltmore [Hotel], where he sat down at the piano and played – he’s an amazing pianist and songwriter.”

    The two became engaged at Christmas this past year, at Saddle Rock–on a local hiking path called Hot Springs Trail.

    “Just this past week,” Sarah shared, “we decided to opt for a small ceremony under the Torrey pine, and took just a few days to pull it together. Our friend Kathy Corcoran lent me her beautiful wedding dress, which had been made for her years ago. It’s gorgeous and happened to fit me just well enough.”

    Post by Leba Ortsac.

    Patrick’s profession meant he knew just who to call for a spur of the moment officiant, too.

    “Patrick has played piano at many ceremonies, so he asked his friend Sarah Farmer, whom he’d worked with, to officiate,” she said. “Only people who could come on short notice joined, so we hope to find a nice way to share the moment with more family and friends in the future.”

    “Patrick’s family, and my mom, dad and sister, were able to make it in town – and for us, the ceremony was just perfect. Once we decided to do it, it came together like magic,” she added.

    Congratulations are certainly in order for Sarah Gore and Patrick Maiani–as well as to Al and Tipper Gore, who have now married off their youngest daughter.

    It’s interesting how someone with the means of Al Gore’s daughter would choose to wed in such an unassuming, simple wedding ceremony in a place filled with meaning rather than with luxury and fanfare. It seems love really does trump all else when it’s the real thing. Kudos to them for their refreshing style.

    Image via Facebook

  • Fran Drescher Dating Inventor of EMAIL

    Fran Drescher Dating Inventor of EMAIL

    Actress Fran Drescher stepped out with new beau Shiva Ayyadurai, at the premiere of “Bridegroom” at the Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California, on Tuesday.

    Ayyadurai allegedly developed a full-scale emulation of a mail system he called “EMAIL” as a high school student in 1978, and copyrighted it in 1982.

    Drescher, 59, and Ayyadurai, 49, were “very affectionate” at the event, an Us Weekly insider revealed, adding that “He gave her a kiss – They were all smiles and seemed very into each other and very much in love.”

    Regarding Ayyadurai’s “invention” of email – There was a bit of controversy surrounding the man in the tech world, after a November 2011 Time Techland interview by Doug Aamoth entitled “The Man Who Invented Email” emerged. The article argued that Ayyadurai’s aforementioned mail system represented the birth of email “as we currently know it”. The article, along with the Smithsonian acknowledging that Ayyadurai had donated “a trove of documents and code” related to EMAIL, confused the facts a bit.

    After a few retractions and rewording of articles, along with some more research, it’s clear that Ayyadurai might indeed be the first person to ever have claimed to have invented email. Kind of like how Al Gore invented the internet. It’s been decided by computational historians that email was actually invented through the combined efforts of many innovators, and all email features existed a decade before Ayyadurai came up with EMAIL.

    On a lighter note, Drescher revealed that she loves to cook with the Indian-American Ayyadurai, and that they are presenty throwing around ideas for a couple-themed Halloween costume. The actress added, “I don’t think we’ve decided yet but we know what we’re doing. We’ve got some really good parties to go to and Iron & Wine, which is one of my favorite bands, is playing down at the Orpheum so we’re gonna be doing all that. I can’t do anything but sexy so we gotta work along those lines.”

    Drescher was once married to Peter Marc Jacobson, her high school sweetheart. They divorced in 1999, and as of 2010, both parties have confirmed that Jacobson is now an openly gay man, and that they’re friends.

    Image via YouTube.

  • Jelly, Biz Stone’s Mysterious Startup, Reveals Bono, Al Gore, and More as Investors

    Jelly, Biz Stone’s Mysterious Startup, Reveals Bono, Al Gore, and More as Investors

    On April 1st, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone confirmed that he was working on a new startup called Jelly. He was kind of forced into revealing his hand, after news of the project leaked in late March. When Stone announced the company, he said that he was going to wait to share much of the details, since “news of Jelly emerged unexpectedly.”

    Since then, we’ve received little else to go on. The project’s focus continues to be shrouded in secrecy, and we really only know that it will be primarily mobile-based, free, and won’t be ready for quite a while. In the meantime, Biz Stone has been revealing team members – including former Twitter employee Ben Finkel (co-founder and CTO), Twitter’s Kevin Thau (COO), and employee #1, designer Austin Sarner.

    Today, in a blog post, Stone has announced that Jelly has just closed its Series A funding, lead by Spark Capital with investment from SV Angel. With that, Spark General Partner Bijan Sabet in now on Jelly’s Board of Directors.

    Stone has also revealed some of Jelly’s early investors, and it’s an interesting list:

    • Jack Dorsey, Co-founder and CEO of Square
    • Bono, Musician and Activist
    • Reid Hoffman with the Greylock Discovery Fund
    • Steven Johnson, Author and Entrepreneur
    • Evan Williams and Jason Goldman via Obvious
    • Al Gore, Politician, Philanthropist, Nobel Laureate
    • Greg Yaitanes, Emmy Winning Director
    • Roya Mahboob, Afghan Entrepreneur and Businesswoman

    Dorsey and Evan Williams – duh. But Bono and Al Gore? Hmm.

    “We chose angels like Al Gore, a Partner at KPCB and Chairman and Co-founder of Generation Investment Management, Greg Yaitanes, a Hollywood director, and Roya Mahboob, an entrepreneur doing amazing work for women in Afghanistan partly because they work in divergent fields. Knowledge diversity is something we prize highly and is also something that will be represented in our product,” says Stone.

    When Jelly was first officially announced, Stone said this:

    People are basically good – when provided a tool that helps them do good in the world, they prove it. Jelly is a new company and product named after the jellyfish. We are inspired by this particular animal because neurologically, its brain is more “we” than “me.” Also, for the past 700 million years, this decentralized structure has been wildly successful.

    “Help them do good in the world.” Is that the key phrase here? Is Jelly some sort of mobile social good app? Who knows, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, as Stone is quite serious about keeping a tight lid on this thing. But the addition of Bono, Al Gore, and an Afghani activist hints that Jelly will be striving to do some sort of international good at the very least.

  • Gore ‘Romney rich’, According to Bloomberg

    Gore ‘Romney rich’, According to Bloomberg

    Al Gore is well-known for his close 2000 election loss to George W. Bush and for his evangelism on the issue of global warming. However, the former Vice President has been quietly amassing a fortune in the years since his political career ended.

    Bloomberg is reporting that Gore is now ‘Romney rich’, with a net worth that rivals the infamously wealthy 2012 Republican nominee for president, Mitt Romney. Using company filings and tax records, the publication estimates that Gore could be worth more than $200 million. Romney’s net worth is estimated to be close to $250 million.

    The 65-year-old Gore’s riches reportedly come from a variety of sources. Just this year, Gore has made around $100 million from selling investments. The Current TV network was sold in January and Gore nabbed around $70 million for his share of the network. He also sold 59,000 shares of Apple stock he has received for serving on the tech company’s board, netting Gore around $30 million.

    Sales of his global warming books and movie, An Inconvenient Truth, haven’t added to Gore’s wealth. Profit made by Gore on those products has been donated to the nonprofit Climate Reality Project, which Gore founded in 2010.

    Gore’s affluence last came up in 2007, when reports came out that his home in Nashville used significantly more energy than the average American household. Global warming deniers seized on this fact to paint Gore as a hypocrite. In 2010, Gore bought an $8.8 million villa in Montecito, California.

    Gore participated in a Reddit AMA late last year, but did not comment on his growing wealth.

  • Al Gore Just Finished an AMA; Here’s the Best of It

    Al Gore Just Finished an AMA; Here’s the Best of It

    Reddit, who previously snagged the President of the United States for one of its Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions, has just capped off another interesting Q&A. This time, the guest was former Vice President Al Gore.

    As would be expected, Gore fielded a variety of questions regarding climate change, energy sources, and his failed 2000 Presidential bid.

    Here are some of the best questions and his responses:

    Are you in favor of nuclear energy as a possible energy alternative for the future?

    It will play a role, but probably a limited role. I think the waste issue can probably be solved, and Fukushima notwithstanding, the safety of operation issue an pobably be solved. But the cost is absurdly high and still rising. Moreover, if we model it as the path forward, and encourage developing countries to head down that road, we would create a massive security challenge.

    During the eight years I worked in the White House, every single nuclear proliferation threat we had to deal with was connected to a reactor program. The technologies are different, but if you are the dictator of a country that has a reactor program and a fuel cycle, you can secretly orde the same people to enrich the fuel to weapons-grade over time and build bombs. Bad outcome. New reactor designs hold promise but they are all at least 15 years away. Meanwhile, solar pv is riding a “Moore’s Law Jr.” costdown curve. Wind and efficiency too, though not as steep. We need to get to scale on renewables quickly and make the transition.

    For people that may be skeptical about global warming, what is the one undeniable scientific fact that you feel backs it up the most effectively?

    There are at least 15 deeply researched separate lines of evidence that all confirm man-made global warming. They are all consistent, each with the others. Every National Academy of Science on the planet agrees with the consensus. The Academies describe the evidence as “indisputable”. Every professional scientific society in every field related to climate science and earth science also agree. And 97-98% of climate scientists worldwide most actively publishing also agree. Animals and plants also agree — in that they are moving their ranges by latitude and altitude to find climate niches similar to the ones in which they evolved.

    Even if you leave climate science completely out of it and just measure extreme temperatures, the statistical record of global temperatures shows that three-standard deviation events have increased from 0.25% of the time (from 1951-1980) to 10% of the time now. There is as strong a consensus as you will find in science, with the possible exception of the existence of gravity.

    On internet infrastructure…

    Our national information infrastructure is no longer competitive. We need to invest in more bandwidth, easier access, and the rapid transition of our democratic institutions to the internet. And we need to protect the freedom of the internet against corporate control by legacy businesses that see it as a threat, and against the obscene invasions of privacy and threats to security from government and corporations alike. Please think about this: almost everytime there has been a choice between privacy/security on the one hand and convenience on the other, the mass of folks have chosen convenience. I for one believe the “stalker economy” on the internet is undemocratic and anti- American. Are folks at the gag point on this yet? Thanks, btw, to the Reddit community for fighting off Sopa and PIPA. Keep your powder dry; more big struggles ahead.

    On advice to President Obama dealing with partisan roadblocks…

    Stand on principle. As Mark Twain said, “Do the right thing! You’ll ratify your friends and astonish your enemies.” Start with climate.

    I understand you and Tommy Lee Jones were roomates in college. What was he like?

    He is, first of all, a terrific friend. He really is an amazing guy. As good at directing as at acting, btw. Check out his performance in Spielberg’s Lincoln. Incredible! I hope he gets another Oscar for it. I’m biased, but I sure think he deserves it.

    Some years ago you were asked if you thought the 2000 election was stolen. You said: “There may come a time when I speak on that, but it’s not now; I need more time to frame it carefully if I do. In our system, there’s no intermediate step between a definitive Supreme Court decision and violent revolution.” Are you ready to address that question now?

    I haven’t ruled out addressing that at some point in my life, but no, I don’t believe now is the time to do it, if that time ever comes.

  • Joy Behar: Al Gore “Honored” To Have Her On Board

    Former co-host of the estrogen-injected talk show “The View” Joy Behar is lining up a new job after her own show didn’t pan out.

    Former Vice President Al Gore has tapped Behar to host a new show on his network, Current TV, which will focus on political issues and will have different guests on each episode. Gore has given Behar glowing reviews despite her unsuccessful foray into the world of solo hosting duties, saying she knows what the nation wants to hear about.

    “Joy Behar is a beloved veteran television personality with her finger on the pulse of what viewers care about,” he said. “Millions of Americans tune in daily to hear her take on the issues along with her inimitable style. We are honored that Current TV will be Joy’s new primetime home.”

    Behar will fill in for Eliot Spitzer on his show “Viewpoint” while he’s vacationing, so viewers will get a chance to see a bit of what’s in store for them with her new gig. “The Joy Behar Show”, as it will be called, will begin airing in September and will run Monday through Thursday.

    Current TV has had troubles with their hosts in the past, including a famous falling out with MSNBC’s Keith Olberman over his schedule and various other problems; the network is currently involved in a lawsuit with Olberman over his termination.

    Twitter is abuzz with the news this morning:

  • Al Gore Inducted Into Internet Hall of Fame

    In 1999, former Vice President Al Gore infamously claimed to have created the internet. Taken out of context, the assertion sounded outlandish, and was promptly lampooned to a level of overkill. Below is the former VP declaring his invention of the internet at about 55 seconds in:

    In actuality, Gore states that he “took the initiative in creating the internet.” That still is a pretty broad statement, but now The Internet Society has established the Internet Hall of Fame, and interestingly, Al Gore is one of the inductees. Perhaps he did invent the internet – well, not exactly.

    According to its website, “The Internet Hall of Fame is an annual awards program that has been established by the Internet Society to publicly recognize a distinguished and select group of visionaries, leaders and luminaries who have made significant contributions to the development and advancement of the global Internet.” Internet Society CEO Lynn St. Amour adds, “There are some extraordinary people who have helped make the Internet an unparalleled platform for innovation and communication, an engine for economic development and social progress that goes well beyond what we could have ever imagined. This program honors individuals who have pushed the boundaries to bring the Internet to life and made it an essential resource used by billions.”

    In selection of the inaugural inductees to the Hall of Fame, the Internet Society established the following criteria:

    Impact: The contribution has significantly impacted the development or growth of the Internet and continues to demonstrate relevance to the Internet’s ongoing advancement and evolution.

    Influence: The contribution, relative to the Internet, has significantly influenced: 1) the work of others in the field; 2) society at large; or 3) another more defined but critical audience/group.

    Innovation: The contribution has broken new ground with original thinking/creativity that has established new paradigms, eliminated obstacles or accelerated Internet advancements.

    Reach: The contribution has significantly impacted the Internet’s reach among society at large or key audiences in small, but equally important geographies.

    Internet Hall of Famers were then divided into a Pioneer’s Circle, an Innovators circle and a Global Connectors circle. Sure enough, Albert Arnold “Al” Gore, Jr. was on the list, under Global Connectors. According to the Internet Society-

    As a U.S. senator in the 1980s, Gore was the first politician to grasp the potential of the internet. Gore wrote the High Performance Computing and Communications Act that passed in 1991 which helped spread the net beyond computer science professionals by providing key funding to internet projects, including the groundbreaking Mosaic browser which led to the dot-com boom.

    Well, you learn something new every day. Gore – who has been in the news lately for his disdain for SOPA, as well as for hinting at a launch date for the Apple iPhone 5, while at the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit in South Africa – is widely assumed to have been merely a high-level proponent of the web under Bill Clinton. With this new recognition, a bit more credibility has been attributed to the former VP. He might not have solely created the internet, but it’s evident that he definitely helped to get things rolling, along with the 31 other honorees. The entire list can be seen here.

  • Curious How Much Money An Apple CEO Made Last Year? Here You Go

    Curious How Much Money An Apple CEO Made Last Year? Here You Go

    Apple, a company you have heard of around these parts, released its 2012 Proxy Report yesterday, revealing how much executives at Apple Inc. made in the past year. So in the post-Jobs era, how much more might the new CEO, Tim Cook, be taking in as the new boss? Approximately 377,000,000% more than Jobs.

    I know, that sounds like Monopoly money, but the reason Cook is making out like gangbusters at Apple is because Jobs collected all of $1 as his annual salary for the last three years he was at Apple. No stocks, no bonuses, no other compensations – one single greenback and… that’s it. Cook, on the other hand, is taking in a cool $377.9 million a year. Some may say this is justifiable given Apple’s continued success after Jobs left the company last year, especially after yesterday’s flusher-than-usual day at the stock market.

    What’s more interesting – to me, at least, because I didn’t know this – is that former Vice President and enviro-paladin Al Gore is on Apple’s bankroll. He’s actually been on the Board of Directors since 2003, which I guess is just a fun tidbit to drop in conversations at the watering hole on top of everything else he’s got on his resume. He’s also listed in the report as the Chairman of the Climate Reality Project. You go, Mr. Gore.

    Aside from the re-affirming fact that an Apple executive makes more money than you will ever see in your lifetime, the rest of the report appears to be pretty routine. Despite what any of you might think of Jobs and his humble $1-a-year compensation for being Apple’s Chief Executive Wizard, it’s somewhat amusing to wonder if Cook feels any self-applied pressure to mimic the magnanimous actions of Jobs and decline the beaucoup bucks that he’s making.

  • Al Gore Doesn’t Like SOPA, Either

    Did you really expect the “inventor” of the Internet to agree with a bill that’s so potentially damaging to the foundation on which the web resides, even if he himself doesn’t know anything about DNS? Truth be told, considering the fact that Al Gore is a Harvard graduate, he probably has a very good idea about the potential threats the oft-discussed protection acts pose to both the structure of the Internet and various freedoms of expression.

    In fact, from Gore’s perspective, “there is hardly anything as important as to save and protect the vibrancy and freedom of the Internet,” which should provide all the insight you need to grasp the former Vice President’s position. These words were offered by Gore at an event held by CareerBuilder, and, of course, there is video of his response:


    While Gore is often made fun of for the “creating the Internet” stuff — something he was actually quoted by CNN as saying — the fact is, Gore played a crucial role in bringing the Internet to the American masses during his tenure as Vice President. While APRANET represents the true beginning of the Internet as we know it, the adoption of the Information Superhighway came about under Gore’s tenure under Bill Clinton, thanks to the Vice President’s advocacy.

    With that in mind, it’s easy to see why Gore is so opposed to the idea of SOPA/PIPA. While he acknowledges content creators need protection as well, he doesn’t believe the current bills under review are the way to go about protecting them.

    Too bad Gore’s words, like most of the SOPA/PIPA opponents out there, will fall on deaf ears; at least as far as Lamar Smith is concerned.

  • iPhone 5 Rumor: Al Gore Discusses Upcoming Release

    Speaking at the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit in South Africa, former Vice President Al Gore let a little but of information slip regarding the upcoming release of the new iPhone 5.

    While speaking at the conference, Gore had this to say, specifically –

    Not to mention the new iPhones coming out next month. That was a plug.

    If you read the quote carefully, you’ll see that Gore said iPhones, as in plural – multiple phones. Of course, he could have been speaking generally, as in all of the iPhone 5s that will be coming out. Or, the added plural could be a hint regarding two different iPhones hitting the shelves in October.

    Recent rumors have suggested that the iPhone 5 might be launching with another model, possibly called the iPhone 4S. The secondary model would be a cheaper model that would look virtually identical to the iPhone 4 but might have a few hardware upgrades.

    The Next Web first reported this quote, which was apparently heard by Toby Shapshak, the editor of Stuff Magazine. He was attending the conference and heard Gore talk about the iPhone(s) first hand.

    @shapshak
    Toby Shapshak    @NedPotterABC Gore said “new iPhones” but nothing more. It was definitely plural. I recorded it and double checked. Twice. 16 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    Of course, you might ask why Al Gore would be talking about the iPhone 5 and why should we care what he has to say? If you remember, Gore joined Apple’s Board of Directors back in 2003. So although Gore isn’t one of the true higher-ups at Apple, this is the first time that we’ve heard anyone that’s actually associated with the company say something specifically about upcoming new iPhones.

    Yesterday we heard that Apple is planning their next major media event for October 4th. There, they are prepared to unveil the iPhone 5. The event will be hosted by new CEO Tim Cook.

    That information suggests the mid-October release date that most have speculated about for weeks now. And Gore said that the new iPhones will be coming out “next month.” Are things finally coming together for the big iPhone 5 release?