Bloom and its customers received $218.5 million in subsidies in 2010 under California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program, dominating the program.

You can’t fault a company for using government subsidies, politics, and politicians to their advantage. Corporations are in the business of maximizing shareholder value and whatever they do, within the bounds of the law, is fair play. Oil and gas companies have done it for a century. Now greentech companies are doing it and they are becoming adept at the game.

Bloom Energy (although debatably greentech) is a high-profile fuel cell manufacturer,...

It hasn’t taken long for iTunes and iPods to worm their way into our car and living room stereos, but it’s been a bumpy ride along the way. Mixing and matching traditional stereo components with newfangled computer software and devices is too often a prescription for a troubleshooting headache and frazzled nerves.

Pioneer aims to make this analog-digital marriage a smoother ride with the VSX-1021-K, a 7.1-channel AV receiver with a booming 90 watts per channel. It’s an affordable, network-savvy receiver that plays nice with Apple’s iTunes and iGadgets, and it doesn’t require an IT admin...