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Recently, an explosion on an offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico caused both loss of life and a sizable and ongoing oil spill. We are asking Solvers worldwide to respond quickly with ideas and approaches to react to this very serious environmental threat. Can you make a difference? Yes, InnoCentive's work with the Oil Spill Recovery Institute a few years ago is proof positive of this. We encourage you to get involved. Note: This is not a competition. This is an urgent call to action to help respond to a dangerous situation affecting the environment, wildlife, and human health of the world. There will be no award made for this Challenge. You can try our new Team Project functionality on this Challenge. Challenge Reward: See details

In addition to confusion over charging that we covered yesterday, a number of other issues have come to light to mar the iPad’s debut. The most common, according to Apple’s iPad support forums, are weak and intermittent Wi-Fi signals and overheating . The heat issue might make the beach bums ReadWriteWeb mentioned earlier as early adopters default to other devices – or make the long move to Peter’s Sink, Utah . Sponsor An additional issue is the apparent inability of the iPad to handle IMAP push email from Yahoo and others. Some of these and other problems may be the normal shaking out process of a hardware launch. Some may be genuine design issues. But some, like the “not charging” messages people were getting yesterday, may turn out to be a result of a multitude of expectations. Some expect it to behave like a phone, others like a laptop computer- and in some ways it does neither. It could be some time before expectations, and limitations, are established. These issues, again, are rooted in the responsibility of manufacturers in setting those expectations. Were these limitations noted prior to launch? If so, were they not communicated out of a fear of limiting sales? ReadWriteWeb has been evaluating the iPad extensively. How has your iPad experience been? Discuss

Vizun, a sprouting innovation company based in Toronto, Canada has launched Mug Hug to cafés, eco, gift, and retail shops nationwide. Mug Hug is a reusable, flexible lid for coffee mugs that easily presses on for a seal. It’s the first of its kind, and has international patents pending. Mug Hug especially attracts those who prefer their home or office brew and personal mug. They can now be mobile with Mug Hug without spilling.

In our poll last week, we asked: “Does it Really Matter How Cloud Computing Is Defined? ” This week, we want to know: “Is Oracle a cloud company?” The questions have some relationship as how we defien cloud computing has some impact on the way we view a company and its overall vision. As for the overall debate, most of our respondents to last week’s question agreed with the RedMonk team on this one. The number one response : “It’s simple. Just think of cloud computing as servers, middleware and apps.” The interest in this topic is shifting. About 100 or so people responded to the poll, compared to past polls that have had more than 1,000 votes. Maybe the more legitimate question should be: ” Does it NOT matter at all how cloud computing is defined?” Sponsor

The last thing you want when trying to evaluate the way you stand financially is a complicated application that takes two hours to be configured, and three more in order to make sense of its results. The people who have devised the In Out Cash site certainly believe in that, and they have come up with a simple (yet representative) way for you to assess your financial health. This is provided at a glance once you have entered some basic information, and you can also evaluate your cash flow and net worth. Read more Learn more about InOutCash.com in Dataopedia.com Find out how much InOutCash.com is worth with Stimator.com