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Apple iTunes Concert Ticket+ PatentGetting promotional items from QR barcodes or SMS messages isnt a new concept, but Apple is looking to take it one step further with its iTunes Concert Ticket+ patent. Ubergizmo reports. In this patent,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Apr 2010 | 4:25 am Apple Invites Pulitzer Winner to Resubmit His Rejected iPhone AppApples chief executive apparently believes that his company made a mistake when it rejected an iPhone app from Mark FIore, a cartoonist who is now a Pulitzer prize winner. Steve Jobs, the Apple chief...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Apr 2010 | 4:03 am Indi. Cops net man who sent threat SMSThe man who allegedly sent text messages threatening a dozen parliamentarians including Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on April 13, was arrested on Friday, according to Indian...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Apr 2010 | 4:00 am Microsoft pulls Kin "sexting" video after Consumer Reports blog postFollowing the Consumer Reports blog post questioning Microsoft's Kin new ad as an advocate for sexting, Microsoft told told Consumer Reports on Friday that they were taking the ad down. In the words...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Apr 2010 | 3:47 am AMD tries to boost weak laptop offerings - BusinessWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 17 Apr 2010 | 3:24 am Wajeha Al Huwaider, a woman, driving in Saudi ArabiaThis incredible video from 2008 shows Saudi activist Wajeha Al Huwaider driving a car in Saudi Arabia on International Women's Day. Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive; by shooting footage of herself driving and then posting it on YouTube, she was able to send a message out to the world while also protecting herself from punishment through international exposure.
This video was part of a presentation on how Muslim women are using the web for human rights by Mona Eltahawy at the Skoll World Forum. More than half of bloggers in Saudi Arabia are women, and many are using the medium as a way to speak out. Wajeha Al Huwaider, a woman, driving in Saudi ArabiaThis incredible video from 2008 shows Saudi activist Wajeha Al Huwaider driving a car in Saudi Arabia on International Women's Day. Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive; by shooting footage of...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Apr 2010 | 2:38 am 77 Disease Fighting Innovations - From Robotic Health Aids to Tracking Diseases Virtually (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) Through the years, disease fighting innovations have become more and more dependent on technology. Over the past year, medicine and disease treatment have become more hi-tech than ever...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Apr 2010 | 2:30 am Meteorites in Them Thar Fields - New York Times
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 17 Apr 2010 | 2:09 am The Palm Anti-Brain-Drain Filings: Collect the Entire Set! [BoomTown]
As short as the following filings are from Palm yesterday, it says a lot about the current forecast for the troubled handset maker that is reportedly seeking a buyer: Cloudy with a definite chance of talent exodus. In an 8-K regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that already happened–Palm (PALM) software head Michael Abbott will be gone by the end of next week. This is a big move, as Abbott was in charge of development for software and services and the chief cheerleader for its WebOS. To stop other top execs from racing for the exits, Palm finds that it needs to slather on two-year retention packages, including large cash bonuses and restricted stock units. The company filed on plans to do that for six of its top managers: CFO Douglas Jeffries; SVP of Global Operations Jeffrey Devine; SVP of Product Development Michael Bell; SVP Worldwide Sales Dave Whalen; SVP of Brand Design Jeffrey Zwerner; and SVP of Product Marketing Kate Mitic. Apparently, other execs were also loaded up, without the need for filings. In any case, you can see it all below in black and white: 8-K Jeffries Devine Bell Whalen Zwerner Mitic Source: All Things Digital | 17 Apr 2010 | 1:31 am 62 Odd Edible Items - From Candy Headdresses to Chocolate Churches (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) These odd edible items range from meat to desserts and from churches to laptops. When is the last time you consumed a gun? If you haven't yet, it's time to get a chocolate one and try...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Apr 2010 | 1:30 am Mark Zuckerberg’s Coding Skills, Circa 2001
TechCrunch reader and former Mark Zuckerberg Exeter classmate Nate Chastain noticed our post the other day about Zuckerberg continuing to code at Facebook. He pointed out a web page that Mark created in 2001 when he was 16 or so, and we found a couple of other pages with his name on it, too. See here (click on the Kirtland Society link on the left), here and here for examples. Even by 2001 standards, this was pretty terrible stuff. But he turned out ok in the end.
     
Source: TechCrunch | 17 Apr 2010 | 1:17 am Customized Heavenly Hogs - The Black Beauty Custom Cycle Will Make You Crave the Open Road (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Back in my younger days, I always thought that I would get one of those street bikes like a Kawasaki or a Yamaha if ever I was to get a motorcycle. However, now that my tastes have...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Daily Crunch: Decent Edition
Video: Japanese company shows Super Mario Bros. on Kindle emulator
Source: CrunchGear | 17 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Love the Whole WorldBoth Discovery Channel "I Love the Whole World" commercials back-to-back. Two minutes of such indelible awesomeness.Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Apr 2010 | 12:38 am Goldman Sachs Flipbook for AbacusAs referenced in the SEC complaint about Goldman Sachs' alleged CDO machinations, here is the Abacus CDO flipbook. Fun (financially technical) reading. [via Barry]Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Apr 2010 | 12:34 am Venture Capital Rises In First Quarter, Software Sector Stalls
Venture capital funding picked up in the first quarter to $4.7 billion, from the year ago period, according to both Dow Jones VentureSource and the MoneyTree Report (PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association). Dow Jones says venture funding rose 12% from $4.2 billion in Q1 2009 (the number of deals jumped to 597 from 522), while MoneyTree noted a 38% increase to $3.4 billion (the number of deals rose to 681 from 635). Although deals were up versus the first quarter of 2009, they were down from the fourth quarter– Dow Jones logged $6.9 billion for Q4 2009 and MoneyTree recorded $5.2 billion. In terms of number of deals, the software industry boasted the most with 144 rounds of funding, according to MoneyTree. However, that represents a relatively low number for the industry— in fact, it’s the lowest number of deals since the fourth quarter of 1995. Meanwhile, VentureSource also noted stagnation in the general Information Technology sector: “IT is losing ground in the venture landscape overall. IT accounted for 32% of the deal flow in the most recent quarter, continuing the downward trend that started in 2005.”
Looking at our Crunchbase data, we have a more bullish take on venture capital funding. According to our data, the total value of venture funding more than doubled to $12.8 billion, from $6 billion for the year ago period. However, as concluded in the other reports, that is a drop from the prior quarter ($15.3 billion for Q4 2009). In total, we recorded 1,201 deals. (Image Source: flickr/Tao_Zhyn)      
Source: TechCrunch | 16 Apr 2010 | 11:36 pm Fast Forward: For now, there's little to do about a bad Internet provider - Washington Post
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 11:10 pm Want In Apple's App Store? Just Win a Pulitzer Prize - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 10:43 pm Want In Apple's App Store? Just Win a Pulitzer Prize (PC World)PC World - If you want to get past Apple's unpredictable App Store censors, it's simple: Just go win a Pulitzer Prize, and/or inspire an online revolution.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Apr 2010 | 10:39 pm UPDATE 1-Malaysia PM says Iran fuel cut reports inaccurateKUALA LUMPUR, April 17 (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has denied reports quoting him as saying the country has halted gasoline sales to Iran, saying there had been no requests since a...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Apr 2010 | 10:38 pm Investors in iPhone game startups unfazed by new OS - NetworkWorld.com
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 10:12 pm Malaysia PM says Iran fuel cut reports inaccurateKUALA LUMPUR, April 17 (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has denied reports quoting him as saying the country has halted gasoline sales to Iran, saying there had been no requests since a...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Apr 2010 | 10:11 pm U.S. Venture Investment in First Quarter of 2010 Tracks Ahead of Last YearSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Apr 2010 | 10:01 pm Almost Famous: David Maher Roberts of The Filter [Voices]By Drake Martinet, Intern, All Things Digital This week: We did an interview with David Maher Roberts, CEO of The Filter. The Filter has been around for awhile, but has been reinvented as a service for content companies. It takes what David describes as some pretty high caliber math and marries it to user data to spit out things users want to see and hear. Who: David Maher Roberts
What: CEO Why: David came to The Filter from the publishing world. The Filter used to be a music selection engine (pre-Apple Genius). Today, after major overhaul, David says it’s trying to be a recommendation engine that brings “the world of entertainment, filtered for me.” Now, The Filter offers that service to businesses who want a recommendation engine on top of their own content services. NBC is its latest major client. Where: thefilter.com (Web site); @davidpmr (Twitter); Bath, United Kingdom (analog place) Who Else: Apple’s (AAPL) Genius is trying to supply the service on top of its own content engine in iTunes. Pandora is in the mix too. Five Stats You Won’t Find in His Facebook Profile:Man of the World: I don’t know where my accent is from. I’m half French and half English and was raised in international schools in Brussels. I’m a true European. Started Life: I went into journalism as a photographer. When I was 24, I started a couple of magazines, which didn’t go well, but I got picked up by a UK-based publisher (Future Publishing) and moved up their ranks. Biggest Influence: Chris Anderson, founder of Future Media (David’s former employer) and now of TED. Real Passion: I was trained as a jazz drummer from the age of 10 and always played in bands and things. On His Playlist: All based around French Electro Pop. Right now I’ve fallen in love with Owl City. It represents exactly the sort of music I grew up with in France. It just makes me smile. My staple diet is much more British. Stuff like the Twang. My favorite band of all time is Belle and Sebastian. Bio in 140 CharactersLives in Bath, UK, but began life a citizen of Europe. David commutes globally so his family doesn’t have to. The Five QuestionsBreak this down for me. What does The Filter do now, and why is Peter Gabriel involved?
Yeah, so Peter Gabriel was one of our founders and is an investor now. He and our CTO Mark Hopkins had the idea about ten years ago that we would need some kind of tool to help us navigate the world of content when we had too much choice. Our model has changed since then, but we still do basically the same thing. Today, we are basically in the SAS, software-as-a-service, business. Our technology gets laid on top of other businesses content to deliver more relevant recommendations. A good example is Nokia (NOK). They use us to combine information about your content preferences and your geo-location to give you recommendations about events nearby. Let’s say I’m listening to music online. How much information about me does my music service need to give you in order for this to work? Well, what we offer to most of our customers is an anonymous service. We do a lot of personalized services too, though. We can do a good job not knowing anything about the person and just about the session they are in right now. We take input like the piece of music, how many times you’ve listened, whether or not you’ve shared it, or saved it to a play list, and then recommend statistically similar content. At its core, our product is a Bayesian inference engine, so it assigns mathematical probabilities to whether or not you will like something and then computes the best fit. We blend the metadata connections with the behavioral connections, and then we filter the output. I’m a little hazy on how you connect consumers to their data and then make recommendations. You said you do use individual level data sometimes. Do you guys use data collected from company to inform the algorithm that recommends content at another? Well, there’s two things we are being careful about, as you’d imagine. Generally, we use data from within an organization to inform the decisions made there. We do anonymize and aggregate all of the data and use that for all of our customers. The individual level data we try to keep anonymous. What does a paper publishing guy have to offer a digital recommendation engine? I came in originally as a consultant to help them with their “come to market” strategy. I was running all of Future Publishing’s Web operations for Europe and stumbled upon Eden Ventures, who are the VCs behind The Filter. I came in, and there was already a CEO. I didn’t realize they were trying to replace him, but we worked on what they should be doing and at the end of it they offered me the job. I would say that I come in from the content and publishing world, and I know how media companies make the kinds of decisions like using a service like The Filter. What is the eventuality you guys hope for here? Is success in ubiquity or is being bought up? I think my goal with The Filter is to grow it to be so large that it is the glue that connects people to their content. Once that happens, I think we’d hope for a large business to be so connected to our technology that they want to own it. The In Living Color Interview[ See post to watch video ] Source: All Things Digital | 16 Apr 2010 | 9:56 pm Motion: Schools shot thousands of webcam images of students - CNN
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 9:44 pm Zeiss bringing cinema quality lenses to Nikon, Canon
The new lenses are full frame, use F2.1, and promise to have no vignetting. Zeiss is considered to be one of the top of the line lens makers in the world, so it’s great that they are getting into this field. Part of the problem with video from an HDSLR has been the lenses that most people use. All is not perfect however, because Zeiss charges (and receives) a premium for their products. While no official prices have been announced yet, previously you could expect to pay about $21,000,000 for a complete set of lenses. Individually they sold for roughly $3000 each. [via Gizmag]
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Apr 2010 | 9:30 pm ACTA Draft To Be Made Public Next WeekSpitfirem1 writes with this snippet from ZDNet: "Negotiators will on Wednesday publish the first officially released draft of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a new treaty designed to harmonize copyright enforcement around the world. The decision to release the consolidated draft on 21 April was made at the eighth round of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations, which took place this week in Wellington, New Zealand. So far, the only publicly available information on the negotiating countries' proposals and amendments have been leaked documents purporting to be drafts of the agreement."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2010 | 9:21 pm Can You Live A Year On Virtual Currency? Dibspace’s Founder Will Find Out
Can you live on virtual currency? The founder of Dibspace, Dominic Canterbury, says yes. Canterbury is trying to prove that he can live his life (from rent, to food, to the clothes on his back) with just virtual currency for an entire year. This is of course a huge publicity ploy for his online marketplace but it got my attention. “It’s a way for me to push the site to a new level and to dramatize how this economy all fits together,” says Canterbury.
Dibspace.com calls itself an “Overstock.com” for local services that trades in (yes, you guessed it) “Dibits.” One Dibit is worth one dollar but you can never cash out for real dollars. Businesses, like a local inn or a yoga studio, who have excess availability/products can post their wares/services on Dibspace. Interested consumers call “Dibs,” and then the vendor selects a consumer and invoices when the service/product has been rendered. There are multiple advantages from the small business perspective: vendors can use their credit for services from other businesses (like catering, web design) and it’s another way to bring in new clients. “With cash and clients in short supply, many are finding this new barter currency just might save them and their businesses from becoming another casualty of the economy,” says Canterbury. Meanwhile, private consumers can also post goods and services and receive Dibits for those transactions. You get 10 Dibits when you open an account, 10 Dibits for referring friends (30 if you refer a business), and 10 Dibits for posting an offer (up to 5), there is also an option to buy credits at different points throughout the year. The site is still relatively small, with just 4,000 users, but there should be enough on Dibspace for Canterbury’s venture. There are 1,500 offers on the site and roughly half-a-million dollars in goods and services have been traded (currently, the site is focused in the Puget Sound/Seattle area). Canterbury will embark on his virtual currency journey in 42 days. In the meantime, he’s preparing for the campaign by recruiting new businesses that will make it all possible. For example, he says he’s very close to getting developers on board that will let users pay for rent with Dibits. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 16 Apr 2010 | 8:56 pm Thank You TechCrunch Sponsors!
We are also still considering sponsors for our exciting New York City event, TechCrunch Disrupt that is taking place May 24th-26th. Contact us to find out about our packages. Web 2.0 Expo | Quinn Emanuel | SugarCon | SourceBits | Nexx |Firehost | Crucial |Terremark |MediaTemple | Ooyala | StrataScale | Loopt | Cotendo | OpSource Web 2.0 Expo Features stories, ideas, demos, and networking to help you create new business opportunities and make the most of the Web. Quinn Emanuel Presenting “Winning Strategies in German and European Patent Litigation” on Thursday, April 22, 2010 in Palo Alto, CA. SugarCon The 2010 SugarCRM Customer and Developer Conference dealing with the cloud, open source, and social CRM. SourceBits Provides beautiful software design and development services for the iPhone, iPad, Mobile, Mac, and Web. Nexx the premier provider of web hosting and domain registration services since 1996. Take advantage of our limited time offer now: Get a full year of UNLIMITED hosting for just $10. Firehost Web hosting. Secured. Fully managed, scalable, and compliance ready with Enterprise-level security. Crucial The memory experts; offering over 280,000 memory upgrades for more than 40,000 systems. Terremark flexible, high-performance cloud computing the way you need it, when you need it by giving you the power and control to configure resources exactly the way you need them MediaTemple Ooyala StrataScale The world’s first physical cloud. Providing hosting services without the limitations. Loopt Find and stay connected with friends while you’re mobile. Join the TechCrunch community on Loopt. Cotendo Offering website performance acceleration, real time content control, and integrated CDN services. OpSource Cloud focused on providing complete Cloud operations infrastructure and service solution for every business.      
Source: TechCrunch | 16 Apr 2010 | 8:28 pm These iPhone apps are perfect for multi-tasking (Appolicious)Appolicious - Between the launch of the iPad and last week’s announcement of the forthcoming OS 4 for iPhone and iPod Touch, Apple has had a busy April. Although we still have to wait for the official summer debut of OS 4 (autumn for iPad users), there’s no harm in thinking about the increased functionality multitasking will bring. Sure, users will run the usual suspects such as Facebook, a Twitter app, and, of course, Appolicious, but here are some other apps that are likely to do it right.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Apr 2010 | 8:07 pm Israel iPad Ban Puzzles Many - Wall Street Journal
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 8:04 pm Google Puts Its $50 Million To Work, Starts Using Aardvark For Help Support
Visit the YouTube Help page and you’ll notice a prominent link prompting users to “give Aardvark a try!”. Click that link, and you’re taken to the Aardvark homepage. Google has put an identical message on the Help page for Google Toolbar. No, it isn’t exactly deep integration, but it’s still an interesting move by Google, which has never been known for its customer support. Most Google services offer Help guides, but there’s almost never a phone number or email address to contact an actual human (which isn’t surprising given that most of these services are free). Aardvark could serve as a good compromise for Google, adding a human touch without the need to set up phone banks of support personnel. Aardvark isn’t yet featured on all Google Help pages, but I suspect we’ll see more of these links if it performs well. I decided to put Aardvark to the test with a basic (but probably common) YouTube support question: “What file formats does YouTube support, and will WMV work?”. I had my answer, complete with a link to the appropriate help article on YouTube, within around five minutes.      
Source: TechCrunch | 16 Apr 2010 | 7:49 pm Ubiquity Broadcasting Corporation Announces 'WEAV' - The Next Generation of Audio and Video CompressionSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Apr 2010 | 7:17 pm Palm's Software Chief Quits (PC World)PC World - Michael Abbott, the head of Palm's software and services team, will leave the company at the end of next week, according to a regulatory filing Palm made on Friday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Apr 2010 | 7:10 pm DIY: Radio controlled camera remoteDIY sometimes requires a certain level of intestinal fortitude. This is one of those projects. This showed up on Make: Weekend Projects, and the gist of it is you’re going to be making a radio controlled camera remote. Now theoretically, this has an approximate range of two miles. Sounds great right? Well I hope you’ve got some serious mod-fu because in order to do this little DIY project, you’re going to need to take apart your camera and reprogram the micro-controller. Good luck!
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Apr 2010 | 7:00 pm Google Chrome OS to route print jobs around planet - Register
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:51 pm KantCon: a home-made con for gamersTracy sez, "A while ago, I started listening to the podcasts from The Gamer's Haven. The man who heads up the group, Ethan Parker, had made it a yearly habit to attend GenCon, but last year was unable to attend due to financial reasons. So, he decided to not waste the time that would have been spent at GenCon, and he created his own convention: KantCon. It was mainly a large group of friends that got together for three days and played games together. They recorded their gaming sessions and put them up in their podcast feed, and it sounded awesome. When I was listening to the sessions, I found myself wishing that I could play with the people I heard; it sounded like they were having a great time. Well this year, I get my wish. Ethan has decided to expand KantCon and make it possible for people who enjoy games to get together and spend some time together and play. No salespeople, no booths, just gamers playing games, and all put together by a group of people who are passionate about their hobby.Source: Boing Boing | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:48 pm Sign for the US Border: unprovoked beatings ahead Kai was outraged by the conviction of Dr Peter Watts, the Canadian science fiction writer who got out of his vehicle while crossing back into Canada to ask a US border guard why his car was being searched, and was clubbed, gassed, charged with a felony, and left in wet clothes in an unheated cell overnight during a snow-storm. So Kai made this sign warning unwary travellers of what they might expect the next time they cross into Canada at Port Huron. I've checked with Peter (who is awaiting sentencing) and he's OK with this being posted. Unprovoked Beatings Ahead (Thanks, Kai!)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:46 pm Microsoft semi-apologizes for highly offensive man-boob in Kin ad
They deleted the offending portion of the video, but if you’ll be so kind as to click the following YouTube thing you can still see the uncut version put up by CR. As shocking as it was a few days ago. Which is to say, not shocking at all. But yes, the children have been saved. [via TechFlash]
Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:40 pm Best bang for your buck in 2TB drives?
Hot Hardware tested several different brands and models, and put them through the paces. I also like that while they acknowledge that SSD is out there, that technology isn’t in the same niche as mechanical drives. Rather then reinvent the wheel here, I’m just going to send you over to their site to check it out.
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:30 pm UPDATE 2-TD Bank buys assets, liabilities of 3 banks from FDIC* Says assets and liabilities worth $3.8 bln (All figures in US dollars)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:30 pm UPDATE 1-Weinsteins, Burkle in exclusive Miramax talks-sources* Sale of Miramax was floated in January (Adds details on timeline of auction, byline)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:26 pm Bad PR Forces Apple To Reconsider Banning Mark Fiore's Appcmiller173 writes with word from Wired that "After bad press over banning Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Mark Fiore's app from the app store, Apple has asked him to re-submit the entry."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:17 pm Packing With Shrooms, Not StyrofoamRecycled cardboard is a decent replacement for styrofoam packaging, but what about heavy items that need stronger protection? A company called Ecovative Design is banking on mushroom roots. "We should make products that fit into nature's recycling system," Ecovative Design ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:03 pm This week in search 4/16/10This is one of a regular series of posts on search experience updates. Look for the label This week in search and subscribe to the series. - Ed.Rich Snippets for recipes Rich Snippets are the brief annotations you see beneath search results that summarize what's on a webpage. In addition to Rich Snippets for reviews, people, video and events, this week we unveiled a new Rich Snippets format for recipes. This means that when your search results include sites with recipe content, you might see quick facts pertaining to the recipe in your search results, like preparation or cooking times, right on the search results page. If you have a site with recipes and want to be sure Rich Snippets show up in search results for your page, check out our documentation on how to mark up recipe information as well as our general help articles on Rich Snippets. Bon appétit! Example search: [baked ziti] Enhancements to real-time search This week, we launched a new feature in real-time search that gives you the ability to search and replay the public archive of tweets on Twitter. While real-time search usually focuses on what's happening now, our new feature is helpful for viewing the history of what happened in the past and how people reacted to a particular topic on Twitter. You can zoom into any point in time — from a year, to a month, to a half-hour — and "replay" tweets from as far back as February 11, 2010 (and soon, as far back as the very first tweet on March 21, 2006). To try this feature out, click “Show options” on the search results page, and then select “Updates.” You'll notice a new chart at the top of the page, where you'll be able to adjust the time range of the tweets you'd like to see. We hope you enjoy your trip down the 140-character memory lane. Example search: [museum of modern art] Oftentimes, there's great new content published to the web that everyone is talking about at one particular time. So, to help you find those sites, we also recently launched the top links for a set of update results, showcasing some of the top URLs that Twitter users are talking about based on a particular query. To view these links, click “Show options” on the search results page, and then select “Updates.” You'll see a list of links on the right-hand side based on your query. Example search: [ipad] Google Suggest and spell correction enhancements We've recently made some enhancements that make it easier and faster for you to get the most relevant answer using Google search. We've begun to tailor Suggest to U.S. metro areas, so you'll find that the suggested queries are more locally relevant than they used to be. Try searching for [parks in], and you'll most likely see suggested search queries for parks that really are in your neck of the woods. In addition, we've improved our spelling correction feature. Sometimes, when you search for something that we're highly confident you've misspelled, we'll take you directly to the search results page for the correct spelling without asking "Did you mean...?" This week, we made this feature available in 31 languages across over 180 domains across the globe. We've also made some changes to how this feature deals with misspelled names. We realized that often when you search for a person's name, you include descriptive words (say, the person's profession or company) that can provide valuable context. We use these extra descriptors to offer you better suggestions, so you should soon find this feature for names more useful. Example search: [jordin farmer lakers] Stay tuned for more updates next week. Posted by Gabriel Stricker, Director, Global Communications & Public Affairs   
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:03 pm Descent coming to WiiWare – prepare barf bags
As of this moment, they’re just porting the first game, complete with new control scheme. According to Interplay CEO Hervé Caen:
I guarantee if this sells more than a few thousand copies, they’ll move on to Descent II and Descent 3, which is my favorite. I have it installed right now, in fact. There’s a revelatory feeling unique to Descent when you really get your bearings and think “wait, the objective should be up this hatch and behind me” and promptly do a loop-de-loop without losing your place or your lunch. Look for it later this year, around fall.
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm Diplo Talks Sample of the Millennium, Return of Fun, Musical SecretsAs half of DJ superduo Major Lazer, Wes Pentz -- aka Diplo -- knows a thing or two about cranking out crafty music. He discusses the essential elements of making powerful music in this in-depth interview.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm $3 hand-powered suction device quickly heals wounds
MIT Grad Student Danielle Zurovcik (above) designed this hand-powered suction device to speed up wound healing. It costs $3 and it works. Nobody knows precisely why it works, but doctors have known for decades that the healing process for open wounds can be greatly speeded up by applying negative pressure — that is, suction — under a bandage sealed tightly over the affected area. The speculation is that it helps by drawing bacteria and fluid away from the wound, keeping it cleaner.$3 hand-powered suction device quickly heals wounds (Thanks, Bob!) Source: Boing Boing | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:48 pm Benchmarks: 15-inch 2.4GHz Core i5 MacBook Pro (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - Earlier this week, Apple unveiled its updated line of MacBook Pros. We received our first of these new MacBook Pro models, the $1799 entry-level 15-inch model with a 2.4GHz Core i5 processor, and our test results show a dramatic improvement over the $1699 Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro it replaces.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:35 pm Shrimp shells may be used to repair spinal injuries, glass can help rebuild bone
The issue with previous treatments has been the production of toxins which occurred as the material broke down. The researchers tested the new chitosan compound a guinea pig, and found that the membrane on the animal’s injured spinal cord actually healed after the treatment. Of course, chitosan is still in the testing phase, but it does sound promising. Along that same note, a completely different set of researchers discovered a way to use a glass matrix to help bone regenerate. The glass scaffolding is seeded into the injury area, which will then cause the bone tissue to grown. After a certain amount of time, the glass breaks down harmlessly in to the patients body, and is then absorbed or disposed of. This new technology shows great promise for the treatment of conditions like osteoporosis, and dental implants.
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:30 pm Zune Hackers Create Toolkit to Make Apps, GamesHackers have created a toolkit that can bypass Microsoft’s limitations on developing programs for the Zune and allow independent programmers to create applications for the digital music player.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:30 pm Zune Hackers Create Toolkit to Make Apps, GamesHackers have created a toolkit that can bypass Microsoft’s limitations on developing programs for the Zune and allow independent programmers to create applications for the digital music player.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:30 pm Time traveler caught in 1940 photo?
The above photo was taken in 1940. Some people say the hipster-looking fellow with the sunglasses on the right side of the photo is a time traveler because his hair, shades, clothing, and camera didn't exist at the time. But Forgetomori does a fine job of busting this rumor, complete with photos. Curses! The outfit could also be found 70 years ago. Being used as we are to our contemporary fashion, we look at the man and assume he’s wearing a stamped T-shirt, something that would be indeed out of place (or time). But if you look carefully, you can see that he’s actually wearing (or could as well be wearing) a sweatshirt. And sweatshirts with bordered emblems were not uncommon in the 1940s – in fact you can find those in other photos from the same exhibit.Time traveler caught in 1940 photo? Source: Boing Boing | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:29 pm Sculptures from digested mouse parts and pulped hornet nests
Alastair Mackie sometimes uses most unusual materials for his sculptures and installations. For example, the doll house above, titled "House," was constructed from 300 pulped wasp and hornet nests. And from Hi-Fructose, a description of the piece below, "Untitled (+/-)": The Works of Alastair Mackie Source: Boing Boing | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:26 pm Satellites Keep Aircraft Away From Volcanic Cloudcoondoggie writes "A range of satellites from a host of different nations are pumping out images and data on the Icelandic volcano currently wreaking havoc on commercial airline traffic and aviation in general. The European Space Agency today noted four major satellites that are monitoring the volcano that erupted this week under Iceland's Eyjafjallajoekull glacier. They include NASA's Aqua and Aura as well as the European Space Agency's Envisat and MetOp spacecraft. Other satellites such as NASA's Terra and NOAA's GOES satellite also provide images." Updated 20100416 01:17 GMT by timothy: Apropos that, 2Y9D57 writes with this "Image of the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull, after it began erupting on 15 April. Acquired by the German TerraSAR-X synthetic aperture radar satellite from a height of about 500 kilometers / 300 miles."
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Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:18 pm The Top 10 DIY iPad Projects So you have yourself a fancy new iPad, eh? Good for you. Now it's time to deck it out with all sorts of cool but expensive add-ons. You could either drop some good coin on official iPad accessories or take the more frugal route and make some of your own.
Source: TechCrunch | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:17 pm Process shots of famous Grace Jones album cover
Mister Jalopy says of Jean-Paul Goude's website: "Dazzling work held captive by the worst website interface." Zune Hackers Create Toolkit to Make Apps, Games
A team of three developers has created a toolkit that can bypass Microsoft’s limitations on developing programs for the Zune. The kit allows independent programmers to create applications for the digital music player. “This is the first Zune hack that works,” Glenn Anderson, one of the creators of the toolkit told Wired.com. “People can now bypass all of Microsoft’s limitations and develop for the platform.” The toolkit called OpenZDK will allow developers to make new games, port old ones, create emulators and even have a rogue app store on the device. It will work on the original Zune and Zune HD. OpenZDK could let people make applications on par with Microsoft-published games such as PGR: Ferrari Edition and Audiosurf Tilt. It could also spark a healthy homebrew community that would offer programs that are much better than what is available on the Zune now. Microsoft launched the Zune music player in 2006 and a HD version of the device last year. Zune, though, has barely made a dent in the market that Apple iPod consistently dominates. Zune reportedly has a market share of about 2 percent. Earlier efforts to make Zune apps relied on a Microsoft kit called XNA development tools. In 2008, Microsoft released XNA Game Studio 3.0, which supports Zune development. But some developers say that XNA’s sluggish performance and lack of 3-D or internet access make it difficult to produce quality apps. The OpenZDK toolkit could allow programmers to get around the limitations Microsoft has placed. The OpenZDK crew met on ZuneBoards, a popular online Zune development community, where they go by usernames Netrix (aka Anderson), Nurta and itsnotabigtruck. It took them a few months to work around Microsoft’s protections, Anderson said, and they have been testing it for the last two weeks. But since OpenZDK has just launched, there are no apps or games based on it available yet. Getting started is easy enough, though, by following the steps on the OpenZDK wiki. Microsoft’s newly announced Kin phones will also be running some of Zune’s software, but the OpenZDK team says it won’t be possible to simply port the hack onto the phones, because Microsoft has “locked the phone down.” Which isn’t to say Kin is unhackable. “That remains to be seen,” Anderson said, hinting it could be possible in the future. Photo: Zune 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:12 pm Weinsteins, Burkle in exclusive Miramax talks: sourcesLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein and their financial backer, billionaire Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Co.s, have gained an exclusive negotiating window to negotiate buying Disney's...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:10 pm UPDATE 2-KKR, Bain's NXP files for $1.15 bln IPO* Will use proceeds to repay debt (Adds details on ownership, PE pipeline, adds datelines)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:06 pm Celebrate Earth Day Lorax-style, with Dr. Seuss-themed apps (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - This Earth Day, Oceanhouse Media wants more than just your ham and eggs to go green. The app publisher is marking the 40th anniversary of the April 22 event with a spate of new iPhone and iPad apps based on Dr. Seussâs environmentally-themed classic, The Lorax.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:05 pm Hughes heirs object to General Growth planNEW YORK, April 16 (Reuters) - A group representing heirs of Howard Hughes filed an objection on Friday to a plan for General Growth Properties Inc to emerge from bankruptcy as a stand-alone company,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:01 pm Astro Gaming named official headset of MLG
In addition the standard features found in a high end headset, the A40 as has a amplifier that allows the user to blend voice communication and game sounds. This helps to prevent distraction when you an in the middle of a frag fest. Retail on the A40 headset system is $249.95 From the press release:
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:00 pm Why It's Hard to Tell Which Tooth AchesLocating your toothache is notoriously hard, and now scientists have discovered this is because the brain doesn't distinguish uppers from lowers when it comes to teeth.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:00 pm RIM says video is big challenge to networksTORONTO (Reuters) - Research in Motion Ltd says it is far from certain that video will become the "killer app" that defines smartphones, but even so the BlackBerry maker says developing...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Apr 2010 | 4:54 pm Bush's Illegal Wiretapping Tab: $612,000The two lawyers who a federal judge said were victims of unlawful wiretapping by the George W. Bush administration are asking a federal judge to award them $204,000 in damages each, plus $204,000 for the charity they represented.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 4:45 pm We’ve got a truckload of these Walkmans: Back when CE advertising was real, manRemember back when consumer electronics weren’t sexy? It’s hard to imagine a world where the Sony Walkman was state-of-the-art and, at best, was popular with a small subset of the world’s population. Back in the old days electronics were expensive, even in a relative sense, and this video harkens back to those dark days when men with long hair and creepy voices hawked cheap electronics on TV. And think about it: as Retrothing points out, this guy services what he sells. Try dropping off your HTC Hero at Best Buy. They’ll probably detain you and search your wallet. While I don’t miss scamsters like Crazy Eddie, I do miss the days when every CE release didn’t have to be overhyped like a blockbuster movie.
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Apr 2010 | 4:39 pm Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission Approves Frontier's Acquisition of Verizon's Local Wireline OperationsOLYMPIA, Wash., April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission on Friday (April 16) announced its conditional approval of the transaction under which Frontier Communications Corporation would acquire the local landline operations of Verizon Communications in Washington.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Apr 2010 | 4:38 pm How Big Is Twitter Really?
It’s always been difficult to get a handle on the size of Twitter because as we learned earlier this week, 75 percent of its activity occurs outside Twitter.com via third-party desktop and mobile clients. But at least we could look at Twitter.com traffic as a proxy for the overall ecosystem and get a sense of growth trend by looking at data from outside traffic measurement services. According to the latest numbers from comScore, for instance, Twitter.com attracted 79.4 million unique visitors worldwide in March, 2010, a 316 percent increase from a year ago. ComScore lists Twitter as the 30th largest site in the world now, bigger than Craigslist, Sony Online, and Expedia. But wait a second. Twitter also disclosed for the first time earlier this week that it currently has 105 million registered users and 180 million unique visitors to Twitter.com. I double-checked with Twitter, and a spokesperson confirmed the numbers are just for Twitter.com from Google Analytics. So that means comScore’s estimate is a little more than half what it should be. Talk about being way off. At 180 million unique visitors per month, Twitter would rank No. 11 in comscore’s list of largest sites, right in between Tencent (172.8 million) and CBS Interactive (190.5 million). That is assuming, of course, that comScore’s estimates for everyone else is also correct. To be fair, no other measurement service got close to the 180 million either. And 75 percent of those users came from other clients, which makes it difficult to measure because they are clicking on links in desktop and mobile clients which then open up Web pages. No matter how you slice it, Twitter is even bigger than anyone previously thought. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 16 Apr 2010 | 4:36 pm Devs Discuss Android's Possible Readmission To Linux KernelMonsterTrimble writes "At the Linux Collaboration Summit, Google and Linux Kernel Developers are meeting to discuss the issues surrounding the Android fork and how it can be re-admitted to the mainline kernel. From the article: 'James Bottomley, Linux SCSI subsystem maintainer and Novell distinguished engineer, said during the kernel panel that forks are prevalent in embedded systems where companies use the fork once, then "throw it away. Google is not the first to have done something like this by far, just the one that's made the most publicity. Hopefully the function of this collaboration summit is that there is some collaboration over the next two days and we might actually solve it."'"
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Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2010 | 4:30 pm Stargate Universe episode 113 Faith Trailer [update]Tonight’s Stargate Universe episode – Faith – seems like it might be a classic Stargate episode. The team finds a random Earth-like planet that’s seemingly normal. But there has to be something wrong with it. Either it’s all a dream some sort of simulation controlled by an aliening being. Either way, a redshirt crew member will probably die. All I know is hopefully it will be better than last weeks episode. Click through for a short clip from tonight’s episode. [Update] No no no no no! I had to pause my TiVo while watching the episode to update this post. I was seriously starting to dig SGU. In fact, I that to myself just a few minutes ago. Then T.J. revealed she was pregnant. NO! Babies ruin everything — especially sci-fi shows.
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Apr 2010 | 4:20 pm Twitter Developers In Denial: A Teaser Video
We had Loic Le Meur of Seesmic, and Nick Halsted of Tweetmeme at TechCrunch today to talk about the ongoing Twitter developer ecosystem story. It was a fairly contentious discussion as we tried to wade through all the b.s. and get to the meat of the story.
This is such a fascinating discussion, because most developers are publicly playing along, but privately trashing Twitter as having misled them into thinking that they wouldn’t compete with their third party developers. Loic finally answers the question directly at around 2 minutes into the clip, and that’s when the discussion gets interesting.      
Source: TechCrunch | 16 Apr 2010 | 4:10 pm Apple In Talks With AMD? Set Relationship Status To “It’s Complicated”
So what’s going on here? Is Apple jumping ship, or just teasing in order to get a rise out of Intel and NVIDIA? Maybe a little of both.      
Source: TechCrunch | 16 Apr 2010 | 4:00 pm So Hot Right Now: Top 10 Gadgetell posts for the week of April 11, 2010Section: Haven’t caught all of the Gadgetell news this week? Here’s your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles!
Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 16 Apr 2010 | 4:00 pm Apple in talks with AMD? Set relationship status to “it’s complicated”
So what’s going on here? Is Apple jumping ship, or just teasing in order to get a rise out of Intel and NVIDIA? Maybe a little of both. Apple’s decision at the time was prescient; they liked what they saw on Intel’s roadmap, not what was available at that moment. It’s just possible that AMD is pitching Apple in a similar way, although sneak peeks of their 2010 technologies aren’t really that impressive. Their major innovations are being pushed back to 2011, it seems, and they’re relying on graphics integration and “total package” strategies to sell their way through 2010. But for a good friend like Apple, maybe they have something special. It’s not out of the question. Bobcat-based iPad? I’m thinking no, but it’s fun to play pretend.
Furthermore, while Intel clearly has the lead in performance, the latest update by Apple suggests that raw power really isn’t the focus for its notebook line. After all, what use is a high-end processor if you don’t have graphics and RAM to match? Instead, they’ve opted for a full-system solution, something they laid the groundwork for in Snow Leopard. OpenCL and Grand Central Dispatch are in prime position to be deployed as serious OS tools, but we don’t see that happening with the latest MBPs. Could they be a smokescreen? To be honest, I doubt it: that’s far too conspiracy-theory to really put any thought into, but there is a grain of truth to it. If Apple doesn’t have at least a little secret plan, why aren’t they leveraging the OS tech they’ve worked so hard to create? Some are floating the idea of actually splitting the lineup: having AMD on the low end notebooks to save cost, and putting Intel in the high end, to capitalize on performance claims and big budgets. That’s a good strategy… for someone like Dell or HP. They’re all about choice, personalization, and budget. Like Lancelot (Percival?), Apple’s strength is in its purity, and although that’s been under attack recently with the fragmentation of the iPhone platform, I feel sure that Apple wants to keep its lineup as limited as possible. Claims of merit ring hollow when you extol both sides at once. Apple wants its judgment to be categorical: we use these processors, this screen, this material, and here is why.
What’s left? Well, I think everyone’s first impression was right: Apple is flirting with AMD to make Intel and NVIDIA jealous. And when it meets with them next time, Apple will cite all the sweet nothings and sexy promises AMD made. After all, AMD does have a compelling platform and it suits Apple’s apparent new strategy quite well; even if AMD knows Apple is using them as a tool to inflame someone across the room, it’s a good chance to get a word in. And why, exactly, have I written 700 words about mere rumored meetings between a supplier and a buyer? Well, I think we all know that Apple is the Brangelina of the tech world (the Edward? I don’t know), but more importantly Apple is such a huge mover in the notebook sector that intrigues like this really do matter. It’s not just a question of gigahertz. This is the kind of industry gossip that can alter (however invisibly to the end user) the landscape of personal computing hardware.
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:55 pm Spansion Receives U.S. Bankruptcy Court Confirmation on Plan of ReorganizationSUNNYVALE, Calif., April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Spansion Inc. announced today that it has received approval and confirmation of its plan of reorganization from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which clears the way for Spansion's emergence from Chapter 11.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:50 pm Crytek Thinks Free Game Demos Will Soon Be ExtinctAn anonymous reader writes with this quote from Develop: "The CEO of indie studio Crytek has defended EA's divisive 'premium downloadable content' strategy, while also predicting the extinction of free game demos. ... Crytek's co-founder Cevat Yerli said he wasn't sure that a demo of Crysis 2 was going to be released. He said: 'A free demo is a luxury we have in the game industry that we don't have in other industries such as film. Because we've had this free luxury for so long, now there are plans to change this people are complaining about it. The reality is that we might not see any free game demos in the long term. ... Yes it is quite unpopular, but this is a messaging issue. The problem with any new strategy like this is it initially may appear as a blood-hungry, money-grabbing strategy. But I think there is a genuine interest here to give gamers something more than a small demo released for free. Really, what this is, is an attempt to salvage a problem. The industry is still losing a lot of money to piracy as the market becomes more online-based. So it’s encouraging to see strategies outlined to combat this.'"
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Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:48 pm Many Puzzled by Israel's iPad Ban [Voices]By Charles Levinson, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal Israel this week has been blocking travelers from bringing Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) new iPad into the country saying the device’s wireless technology threatens to create interference with other products, a move that has puzzled people both in Israel and Silicon Valley. The Ministry of Communications said the ban was instituted earlier this week because the iPad’s Wi-Fi wireless technology was built to the U.S. standard, which allows stronger signals than those allowed in Europe and Israel. “This device’s wireless strengths violate Israeli law and will overpower other wireless devices in Israel,” ministry spokesman Yechiel Shavi said. Mr. Shavi said once Apple releases a version of the device built according to European wireless specifications, the ban will be reversed. An Apple spokeswoman said the “iPad complies with international industry standards for Wi-Fi specifications.” Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:45 pm Tynt Gets $8 Million For Ctrl-C Action
The company allows publishers to monitor copying of text on their websites. 2% of page views involve a user ctrl-c copying of text (for news sites, it’s 7%), Albinson told me today. None of that is tracked, and when that copied text is shared in emails or on social sites, there’s no link back. Tynt automatically adds a unique, trackable link back to the page in the copied text. It looks like this:
Publishers get the benefit of analytics on how much copying is being done, and they get the benefit of the link back when that content is shared. You can try it here on TechCrunch, we just added Tynt. This also gives publishers a way to see what interesting content is being copied. Albinson gave me an example of an article on the failing Detroit economy that got tons of Tynt action. But the sentence that was being copied was about how Ford was actually doing very well. That lets the publisher know what content is working at a deeper level than the article/post itself. Publishers can also add a widget to their site which shows readers what content is being copied. Some users complain about the feature because it adds content they didn’t intend to the copy. Most complaints, however, see to be around users who copy and paste into search engines. Tynt offers publishers the option of showing search results for copies of less than seven words. Try it here by selecting a couple of words and hitting ctrl-c. The service is getting big – more than 10 billion page views a month have Tynt installed, says Albinson. And some big partners are coming on this month that will jump that to 50 billion. Tynt is also doing about 100 million monthly searches from the less-than-seven-words copy feature I mentioned above. For now everything is free, but Tynt is rolling out new versions of the service this year that will bring in revenue, says Albinson. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:40 pm Family: Pa. school snared 1,000s of webcam images (AP)AP - A suburban Philadelphia school district snapped secret webcam pictures of a high school student when he was partially undressed or sleeping in his bed, and captured instant messages he exchanged with friends, the student charged in court papers this week.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:22 pm Spam King Uses Google Docs, FBI HappyFBI agents targeting alleged criminal spammers obtained a trove of incriminating documents from a suspect's Google Docs account, in what appears to be the first publicly acknowledged search warrant benefiting from a suspect's reliance on cloud storage.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:18 pm Ning Fails at Free Social NetworkingNing, a brainchild of Netscape bazillionaire Marc Andreessen that was designed to let anyone make a social network about anything for free, will do so no longer. Each of the service’s 2.3 million networks will disappear unless its creator either pays Ning or migrates the network to another platform.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:17 pm Photos Surface of the Day Einstein DiedForgotten for 55 years, new photos have been published of Albert Einstein's funeral.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:17 pm MobiTV app offers live, on-demand TV for iPhone (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - MobiTV has lent its video streaming capabilities to a number of apps, letting you watching everything from CBSâs college sports coverage to last monthâs NCAA basketball tournament on your iPhone or iPod touch. The company also built a few apps of its own for things like the now-completed NBA regular season and Ultimate Fighting Championship events, delivering video-on-demand to mobile users.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:15 pm Is the Tide Turning On Patents?Glyn Moody writes "The FSF has funded a new video, 'Patent Absurdity: how software patents broke the system,' freely available (of course) in Ogg Theora format (what else?). It comes at a time when a lot is happening in the world of patents. Recent work from leading academics has called into question their basis: 'The work in this paper, and that of many others, suggests that this traditionally-struck "devil's bargain" may not be beneficial.' We recently discussed how a judge struck down Myriad Genetics's patents on two genes because they involved a law of Nature, and were thus 'improperly granted.' Meanwhile, the imminent Supreme Court ruling In re Bilski is widely expected to have negative knock-on effects for business method and software patents. Is the tide beginning to turn?"
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Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:05 pm New virus extorts cash from porn fans (Christopher Null)Christopher Null - A new virus is making the rounds, and this one employs a startling new tactic for making a mess out of the lives of those unfortunate enough to get infected.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:02 pm eWayDirect Senior Director of Account Management Bob Cloutier in Upcoming Chatter Marketing Thought Leadership SeriesSOUTHPORT, Conn., April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- eWayDirect's Chatter Marketing: Tuesdays at Two thought leadership series continues at 2pm on April 20th with eWayDirect's Senior Director of Account Management Bob Cloutier discussing email marketing with series host Jeannette Cezanne in an episode titled Using Activity to Optimize Your Email Strategy.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:02 pm Shenandoah Telecommunications Company Expands Cable HoldingsEDINBURG, Va., April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (Shentel) (Nasdaq: SHEN) today announced that the Company has signed an Asset Purchase Agreement to purchase the cable operations of JetBroadband Holdings, LLC which are located in southern Virginia and southern West Virginia for $148,000,000.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:55 pm 5 Questions For MapleStory Publisher Nexon (PC World)PC World - Maybe you've never heard of Nexon or MapleStory, but you've surely heard of Blizzard Entertainment and World of Warcraft, so what if I told you the former has roughly 10 times as many players?Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:49 pm Supermassive Black Holes Can Abort Star Formationcremeglace writes "Astrophysicists have found that when a supermassive black hole quickly devours gas and dust, it can generate enough radiation to abort all the embryonic stars in the surrounding galaxy. It's not clear what this means for life's ability to take hold in such a bleak environment, but the research shows that the process might have determined the fates of many of the large galaxies in the universe."
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Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:46 pm National Semiconductor Elects William Amelio and William Mitchell to Its Board of Directors; Names Donald Macleod Chairman of the BoardSANTA CLARA, Calif., April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: NSM) today announced the appointment of William J. Amelio and William E. Mitchell to National's board of directors.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:45 pm Savvis Announces Time for First Quarter 2010 Earnings CallST. LOUIS, April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Savvis, Inc. (Nasdaq: SVVS), a global leader in cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions for enterprises, today announced that it plans to release its first quarter 2010 financial results before the market opens on Monday, May 3, 2010.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:39 pm How-to: 2-Mile Camera RemoteMake: Online's Kipkay built a 2-mile camera remote, following the instructions in MAKE Vol. 15. Make Weekend Project: 2-Mile Camera Remote
StratoComm Corporation Engages Chief Financial OfficerALBANY, N.Y.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:35 pm Purdy junkbots from Andrea Petrachi Junkbot artist Andrea Petrachi has the true gift for conjuring the inner friendly robot from random piles of techno-detritus. A rare and increasingly valuable skill. Andrea Petrachi (via Make)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:34 pm Court Dismisses Case Filed By ConsCallHome Parent Company Millicorp Against Securus Technologies, Inc.DALLAS, April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Securus Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of inmate communication services and offender and case management software design, announced that the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida has ruled to dismiss the case brought against the company by Millicorp, the parent company of the call diversion operator ConsCallHome.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:32 pm Every comic is funnier with "Christ, what an asshole" for a punchline Robert sez, "As a followup to Cory's post on the fact that New Yorker cartoons can be captioned with 'Christ, what an asshole' without compromising their comedic value: I discovered that it works on virtually every comic, old and new." Christ, It Works for Everything Source: Boing Boing | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:31 pm PT Schedules First Quarter 2010 Earnings Release and Conference CallROCHESTER, N.Y., April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PT (Nasdaq: PTIX), the recently rebranded Performance Technologies, a leading global provider of advanced network communications solutions, will announce its financial results for the first quarter 2010 after the market closes on Thursday, April 22, 2010. A conference call will be held on Friday, April 23, at 10:00 a.m., New York time, to discuss the results.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:30 pm Pocket Legends for iPhone/iPad: Like World of Warcraft, but in your pocket (Ben Patterson)Ben Patterson - Sure, the graphics are a little cartoony, there are only three classes to choose from, and you have to pony up for extra weapons, potions, and dungeons. But Pocket Legends marks the first real-time 3-D "massively multiplayer online" game I've seen for the iPhone and iPad. And best of all, the app itself is free.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:26 pm Inspired by Einstein: The Triplets of LeovilleThe 2003 film festival favorite movie "The Triplets of Belleville" has more in common with astrophysics you think. The filmmaker was inspired by Einstein.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:26 pm Google Drafts Cloud Printing Plan For Chrome OSsnydeq writes "Google is unveiling early-stage designs, software code, and documentation for a project whose goal is to let users of the company's Chrome OS print documents to any printer from any application. Called Google Cloud Print, the technology would dispense with the need to install printer drivers by routing print jobs from Web, desktop, and mobile applications via a Chrome OS Web-hosted broker. 'Rather than rely on the local operating system — or drivers — to print, apps can use Google Cloud Print to submit and manage print jobs. Google Cloud Print will then be responsible for sending the print job to the appropriate printer with the particular options the user selected, and returning the job status to the app.'"
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Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:24 pm Bureaucracy Linked To A Nation’s GrowthA state's collective organizational structure, procedures and protocols develop hand-in-hand with "predatory" expansion"Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work," said Albert Einstein, sharing a popular view about bureaucracy grinding progress to a halt.But it now appears that the organizing functions of bureaucracy were essential to the progressive growth of the world's first states, and may have helped them conquer surrounding areas much earlier than originally thought. New research conducted in the Valley of Oaxaca near Monte Albán, a large pre-Columbian archaeological site in southern Mexico, also implies that the first bureaucratic systems may have a lasting influence on today's modern states.The research by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through its Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences directorate, is published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)."The earliest evidence of state organization is contemporaneous with the earliest evidence of long-distance territorial expansion," said lead researcher Charles Spencer, curator of Mexican and Central American Archaeology at the AMNH. "This pattern was consistent with the territorial-expansion model of primary state formation, which I have proposed in a number of publications over the years."Spencer's territorial-expansion model argues that states arise through a mutual-causal process involving simultaneous territorial expansion and bureaucratization. Spencer's model breaks with previous ideas that suggest states rise through a protracted, step-by-step process--first the state forms, then an organizing bureaucracy takes hold, and sometime later, the state begins to expand into other regions in an "imperialistic" fashion, thus giving birth to an empire.Archaeological research conducted by Spencer in an Oaxaca canyon some 50 miles north of Monte Albán suggests that the old distinction between state and empire probably is not useful.In the Oaxaca Valley, Spencer found evidence of a royal palace and a multi-room temple dating to 300-100 B.C. Most Oaxaca archaeologists consider the royal palace to be evidence of a specialized ruling class and the multi-room temple to be evidence of a specialized priestly class.Spencer notes that around 300 B.C., the first signs of state organization start to appear in the Oaxaca Valley where Monte Albán is situated. It also is the same time that the ancient Monte Albán state started conquering the surrounding regions.Spencer suspects that all bureaucratic states--even modern ones--may be inherently predisposed, or "hard-wired," to engage in predatory expansion as a legacy of the original process of primary state formation.The PNAS paper compares Spencer's work in Mesoamerica with archaeological data from five other states most anthropologists recognize as the only other locations of true primary state formation in history: Peru, Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and China. Primary states are first-generation states that evolved without contact with other pre-existing states. In each case, Spencer's territorial-expansion theory holds. But he says more research needs to be done at the other locales."This result may provide a cautionary lesson as we think about international relations in our contemporary world," said Spencer. "Since the bureaucratic state as a political form originally evolved through a process of predatory expansion, we should not be surprised if states continue to have predatory tendencies, regardless of their particular ideologies."Spencer said his research results could be seen as reason to support development of international organizations such as the United Nations to serve as a check on the expansionistic tendencies of individual states. "But, the administration of those organizations is also likely to be bureaucratic, so we should be watchful for predatory behavior from them as well," he said.---Image 1: Two of the conquest inscriptions on Building J (ca. 100 BC). Each inscription shows an upside down head with closed eyes signifying conquest on the bottom, a "hill" glyph signifying generalized place in the middle, and a third element on top that varies among inscriptions signifying specific place name. Credit: Charles S. Spencer, AMNHImage 2: The main plaza of Monte Albán. Building J in the foreground features some 40 stone slabs inscribed with conquest inscriptions. Credit: Charles S. Spencer, AMNHImage 3: The residential portion of a royal palace dating to 300-100 B.C. excavated at the El Palenque site near San Martín Tilcajete, Oaxaca. Oaxaca specialists argue the presence of royal palaces is one archaeological indicator of state organization. It is likely that a similar, though probably larger, palace existed at Monte Albán itself during this time period. For the time being, this is the earliest palace thus far excavated in Oaxaca. The excavation is directed by Charles Spencer and Elsa Redmond of the American Museum of Natural History with funding from the National Science Foundation. Credit: Charles S. Spencer, AMNHSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:20 pm Major Cable Providers To Share Wi-Fi Networks
Internet customers in the tri-state region will be delighted to hear that three of the biggest providers - Cablevision, Comcast and Time Warner - just announced a deal to share Wi-Fi networks between each other. If you are, for example, a Time Warner user in New York, you will now be able to connect to any of the thousands of Wi-Fi access points all over the city. Simply use your existing login info, free of any additional costs, regardless of which cable provider operates it. “Cable providers interconnecting Wi-Fi services so customers can roam freely across networks is an extremely meaningful development,” John Bickham, president of cable operations at Cablevision, said in a statement. For now, this is limited to customers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. But there’s hope it may be extended to other areas. “This agreement is the first of its kind, and, we believe, the first of many,” said Bickham. The real significance of the deal is the possibility that such agreements could cover an entire area, thus allowing us to walk around and use Wi-Fi instead of 3G on our smartphones and tablets. It’s not the first time the Wi-Fi market in that region has undergone a certain amount of liberalization. Less than a month ago, Time Warner Cable announced that New York cable customers would be able to join any of its Wi-Fi hotspots for free, using their Road Runner login information. But the new Time Warner, Cablevision and Comcast deal dwarfs that and turns New York City into one giant hotspot. Unless you’re using AT&T and Verizon, that is. Hopefully, the trend will continue beyond these three states and providers. (Photo: nicolasnova / Flickr ) 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:15 pm Yahoo Beats Feds in E-Mail Privacy BattleFederal authorities blink in a legal standoff with Yahoo. They're no longer demanding the online e-mail provider hand over customer e-mails without a warrant.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:00 pm Oracle Wants Proof That Open Source Is ProfitableAn anonymous reader writes "Since Oracle's acquisition of Sun, all open source projects that now have Oracle as their primary sponsor are worried about their future, and FUD is spreading quickly. Very few public statements have been made by Oracle executives, particularly regarding OpenSolaris. The community is arguing about the difficulties of forking the code base when most (if not all) of the developers are employed by Oracle. Now Oracle wants the community to prove that open source can be made profitable. What arguments can the Slashdot crowd provide to convince Oracle about that?" Reader greg1104 tips related news about licenses for Solaris. According to an account manager, "Solaris support now comes through a contract on the hardware (Oracle SUN hardware)."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2010 | 1:41 pm Hotels.com Offers Luxury Deals and Summer StealsDALLAS, April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Back by popular demand, Hotels.com®, a leading provider of lodging worldwide, is bringing back for the third year in a row its Luxury for Less and Book Early for Summer Sale promotions.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Apr 2010 | 1:40 pm Databases In Caves? A Unique Google Fiber BidAn anonymous reader writes "Plenty of cities have submitted bids for the Google Fiber project, with most of their bids being centered around the attributes that could describe many communities. Yet one small midwestern town, with much less fanfare than the metropolitan bids, provided an unusual proposition for Google in their likely quixotic nomination. Quincy, IL, has an extensive series of underground caverns that could provide year-round temperature control, dedicated hydroelectric power, and security in the case of a terrorist attack."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2010 | 1:00 pm Google Apps highlights – 4/16/2010This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label "Google Apps highlights" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.Today’s update includes a big batch of new functionality in Google Docs and several new capabilities in Gmail. So the next time you’re in Google Apps, give these new features a spin. Google Docs reloaded On Monday we released a preview of the new Google Docs, which brings added features, higher fidelity for imported documents, more speed and faster collaboration to our browser-based productivity tools. Documents sport features that weren’t feasible with older browser technology, like a new ruler for margins and tab stops, better bullets and numbered lists, easier image placement and character-by-character real-time collaboration in the browser. Spreadsheets now have a formula editing bar, drag-and-drop columns and cell auto-fill. They support up to 50 simultaneous collaborators, and are much faster and more responsive overall. We added Google drawings to the mix as well, so you can work with others to create flow-charts, schematics and other kinds of diagrams together in real-time. Calendar integration in Gmail To make it easier to schedule time with people without leaving your inbox, now you can see people’s availability (if you have permission) and send event invitations from Gmail. As you’re composing a message, click the “Insert: Invitation” link to choose a time that works for the recipients on your email and add details about your event. When you’re done, the email message will display details about your event.  Drag-and-drop attachments in Gmail Yesterday we introduced a simpler way to add attachments in Gmail: just drag files onto Gmail from your desktop or from a folder as you compose a message. You can drag multiple files at once, and on a Mac, you can even drag files from folders in the Dock. This feature works in Chrome or Firefox 3.6+ right now, and other browsers may support this feature in the future.  Nested Labels and Message Sneak Peek in Gmail Labs Last week we launched two new Labs features in Gmail. Nested Labels lets you create hierarchies of labels, giving you more flexibility how you organize your saved email. Message Sneak Peek lets you preview messages without having to open them. Just right-click a message in your inbox to sneak a quick peek.  Gmail on the Apple iPad We released a new version of the Gmail web interface specially designed for the larger screen of the iPad. Gmail on the iPad has a convenient two-pane display with a list of your conversations on the left, and full messages on the right.  Who’s gone Google? More and more colleges and universities are moving to the cloud with Google Apps. This week we’re pleased to welcome the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, UNLV, Meredith College and Belmont Abbey College. The State Library of Kansas, the Mind Research Network and more than 50,000 other businesses and organizations have also gone Google in the last few weeks. I hope you're making the most of these new features, whether you're using Google Apps with friends, family, coworkers or classmates. For more details and updates from the Apps team, head on over to the Google Apps Blog. Posted by Jeremy Milo, Google Apps Marketing Manager  
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:58 pm Red-Faced Apple Invites Pulitzer-Winner to Try AgainApple asks Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mark Fiore to resubmit his rejected app, after the net ridiculed the company for banning satire. But will Apple actually change its policies?
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:57 pm MediaMemo Is Off Today for a Very Good Reason: Welcome to Jonah Alexander Kafka [BoomTown]
While this is an entirely analog story, All Things Digital sends all its joyful congratulations to our ace MediaMemo columnist, Peter Kafka, and his wife, Cindy Lobel, on the birth of a new start-up–their second child–today. Jonah, who looks like a mini-Kafka, minus the dubious look, joins his older brother, Ben, who is 19.5 months, in their Brooklyn, New York, abode. Although newborn, Jonah is already hard at work on ferreting out memos from Time Inc. and trying to make heads or tails of Twitter’s advertising plans. Source: All Things Digital | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:51 pm Barefoot Running Without Freaky FootwearBarefoot-style running shoes that don't make you look like a complete freak? Strap on a pair of Nike's Free Runners.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:45 pm Barefoot Running Without Freaky FootwearBarefoot-style running shoes that don't make you look like a complete freak? Strap on a pair of Nike's Free Runners.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:45 pm Common PGR Help Creeping Bentgrass Weather DroughtTrinexapac-ethyl proves effective during prolonged periods of drought stressIrrigation water for turfgrass has become increasingly restricted due to environmental factors such as insufficient precipitation; increased domestic, agricultural, and industrial consumption; and contamination of potable water supplies.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:41 pm America's Great Divide. [Voices]By Nitrozac and Snaggy
Source: All Things Digital | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:40 pm Gallery: 8 Tablets That Aren’t Made by Apple<< previous image | next image >>
Few product categories get a second chance to make it big. Wristwatch calculators, 8-track tapes, mopeds, unicycles and Polaroid film are never going to be wildly popular again. But tablets are poised to make the kind of comeback that would make Robert Downey Jr. proud. PC makers have offered slates and convertible notebooks for nearly a decade, and they’ve never caught on. But now, a new generation of attractively designed and low-priced screens are looking to lure in consumers. Most of these sleek slabs of glass rely on simplified touch interfaces and will probably work best as content consumption devices: Something you’d use for reading, web browsing and watching movies. The new generation of tablets might just pull it off. So far, Apple has sold more than 500,000 iPads and it says it can’t keep up with the demand, suggesting that computer makers are right to jump on this trend now. As they do, they’re exploiting the iPad’s weaknesses. Typing on the iPad isn’t easy and it is an underpowered device for its price tag — the same money could buy you a nice laptop. Its browser doesn’t support Adobe Flash, and you can’t run software on it unless that software comes from Apple’s App Store. So if you don’t want to buy into the Apple hype machine, there are plenty of alternatives. From Dell to HP, almost every major PC manufacturer is working on a tablet. And there’s no dearth of upstarts. Asian brands and European startups are vying to get their tablets out, too. Wired looks at some of the most interesting screens that will get into consumers’ hands this year. Above: JooJooJooJoo (nee CrunchPad), the tablet from the Singapore company Fusion Garage, is an ostensible competitor to the iPad. It launched on the same weekend as the iPad and is very Apple-esque in its hardware design. But the JooJoo is far from being a device that could change the future of computing. With its 12.1-inch display, JooJoo is a plus-sized monster that is almost a pound heavier than the iPad and offers half the battery life. It runs a custom operating system based on Linux and supports HD videos and Flash. But in the days after its release, JooJoo has been buggy with surprising user interface glitches and at times difficult-to-navigate screen. And without access to apps or the ability to install your own software, JooJoo is a dumb terminal. It’s good enough to check Facebook, Twitter and read websites, but not much more. A few hours with the JooJoo and it raises the question: Do you really need a tablet? That’s not the kind of question a tablet maker wants to raise. Price: $500
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:38 pm Gallery: 8 Tablets That Aren't Made by AppleIf the iPad isn't for you, don't despair. A number of companies from HP to Dell are waiting to debut tablets. We round up some of the most interesting tablets that we are likely to see this year.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:38 pm Ocean Salinities Show Intensified Water CycleEvidence that the world's water cycle has already intensified is contained in new research to be published in the American Journal of Climate.The stronger water cycle means arid regions have become drier and high rainfall regions wetter as atmospheric temperature increases.The study, co-authored by CSIRO scientists Paul Durack and Dr Susan Wijffels, shows the surface ocean beneath rainfall-dominated regions has freshened, whereas ocean regions dominated by evaporation are saltier.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:23 pm New CSIRO Soybean A Hit In JapanA new soybean variety from CSIRO is gaining popularity in Japan due to its enhanced suitability as an ingredient in traditional Japanese dishes.Bred by CSIRO from an old Japanese variety, the Bunya® soybean produces a suite of proteins that gel quickly and firmly – important characteristics for making a range of soy-based foods like tofu and custard.“Thanks to its great flavor and gelling properties the Bunya soybean is highly sought after in Japan where soy-based foods are hugely popular,” says CSIRO Plant Industry scientist, Dr Andrew James.“Bunya is particularly popular because it can be used to make edamame (a preparation of baby soybeans in the pod) and some types of miso (a traditional Japanese seasoning), as well as being great for making tofu.”Bunya has become the preferred Australian soybean variety sold in Japan – and the preferred variety used by Australian tofu manufacturers – because it has a traditional Asian flavor and its large seeds produce higher yields of soy milk and custard.Farmers that grow the Bunya soybean can also see benefits, such as its increased yields of better quality beans when grown in favorable conditions.“Bunya plants are small which means they can be planted more densely than other soybean varieties,” Dr Andrews says.“This, combined with the very large seeds they produce, increases Bunya yields compared to other soybeans.”Bunya also has a trait from tropical soybean varieties which enables it to extend its juvenile phase making it more suited to a wider range of growing environments than other soybean varieties.Bunya was selected and released via the National Soybean Breeding Program funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation---Image Caption: Bunya soybeans are larger than other varieties.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:07 pm iPad: Minor gripes after a first week of useFROM APPLETELL - Although the iPad certainly does offer a new way of computing, it’s not trouble-free. Here are some of the more prominent issues I’ve had with mine over the past week. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:04 pm Android 2.1 update for the Sprint Hero bumped back to early May?
Ugh. Internal memos. Even if they’re real, it seems like they’re never right. Take the Sprint Hero, for example: if this memo from March had rang true, we’d have seen the Hero bumped up to Android 2.1 last week. It didn’t. If the next memo that came out was on key, the update would be out today. So far, it’s a no show. And now.. now we have another memo, this time saying to keep an eye out in early May.
The word comes from two separate sources. First up: The titular guys over at Android Guys got a customer service rep on the line about the update, who said:
Right around the same time, Phandroid got their hands on a camera snap (seemingly taken in a shower, or a steam room of some sort) of a memo indicating the same thing, though it says “early May” rather than “the first week”.
So what’s the hold up? From what I’ve been told by industry amigos, Sprint is notorious for their update certification process. If they get even a whiff of a bug, they delay the roll out until it can be fixed and re-tested. Some last minute bug probably popped up and threw a stick in the gears. Waiting for the latest and greatest can be torture, but at least you know your handset won’t mysteriously blow up post-update, right?
Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Apr 2010 | 11:53 am Icelandic Volcanoes Can Be Unpredictable And DangerousIf history is any indication, the erupting volcano in Iceland and its immense ash plume could intensify, says a Texas A&M University researcher who has explored Icelandic volcanoes for the past 25 years.Jay Miller, a research scientist in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program who has made numerous trips to the region and studied there under a Fulbright grant, says the ash produced from Icelandic volcanoes can be a real killer, which is why hundreds of flights from Europe have been cancelled for fear of engine trouble.“What happens is that the magma from the volcano is around 1,200 degrees and it hits the water there, which is near freezing,” he explains.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Apr 2010 | 11:49 am Portable Scanner Doxie Adds some Zing to Scanning
Scanner-printer combos are one of those gadgets that gather dust in most houses. But Doxie, a lightweight portable, paper scanner that started shipping this week, could just make scanners cool again. “Document scanners are frustrating and poorly designed,” says Travis J. Hicks, chief operating officer of Doxie in a statement. “Doxie is portable, USB powered, and comes with elegant software that scans paper directly to web apps like Google Docs, Evernote, Acrobat, and Flickr.” Apparent, the company which makes Doxie, had announced the device at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The $129 device works with both PCs and Mac. To scan, plug Doxie in, insert the document and the device draws up a PDF copy. At just about half a pound (10.9 ounces) Doxie is easy to carry around and can scan documents in full color at up to 600 dpi. The software bundled with the device has photo editing features and an easy way to connect with online photo sites such as Picasa and Flickr. And it can save files in PDF, JPEG or PNG format. The ability to upload files to sites such as Evernote and Scribd is neat and Doxie also offers users a short URL that they can use for sharing files. There’s no wireless connectivity so you will have to plug the scanner into a USB port to upload files or photos. Still, the Doxie seems like a handy device to have and could probably make itself much more useful than conventional scanners at home. There’s one weird thing about it. It has Pepto-Bismol pink hearts over it and a button with a large heart etched on it that starts the scanning. We understand Doxie wants to be cute but really pink hearts? It’s difficult to understand why anyone who doesn’t watch Hannah Montana might want that on their gadget. Photo: Doxie 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Apr 2010 | 11:48 am Iceland Volcanic Eruption Unlikely To Have Global EffectsThe eruption of an Icelandic volcano that sent a huge plume of ash into the atmosphere and caused sweeping disruptions of air traffic over Great Britain and Scandinavia today will likely dissipate in the next several days, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder atmospheric scientist.Professor Brian Toon, chair of CU-Boulder's atmospheric and oceanic sciences department, said the plume created by the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano contains tiny rock particles made up of silicate and basaltic glass that can be extremely damaging to aircraft engines.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Apr 2010 | 11:47 am Solid-state Illuminator Reduces Nitrates In Leafy Green VegetablesTreatment results in decreased nitrates, increased antioxidantsSearching for ways to improve the nutritional quality of leafy green vegetables, Lithuanian researchers have found success with new technology that features high-density photosynthetic photon flux generated by a solid-state illuminator. The technology, which can be applied in greenhouses for preharvest treatment of leafy vegetables, was found to decrease concentrations of harmful nitrates while allowing some beneficial nutrient levels to increase. The research results were published in a recent issue of HortScience.The researchers experimented with a solid-state illuminator to provide short-term preharvest light treatment of lettuce, marjoram, and green onions. The vegetable plants were grown to harvest time in a greenhouse under daylight with supplementary lighting provided by standard high-pressure sodium lamps. A subsequent 3-day treatment within a phytotron under light-emitting diodes resulted in the reduction of nitrate concentration by 44% to 65%.According to Giedre Samuoliene, lead author of the report, the technology is different from the usual practice of using high-pressure sodium lamps; solid-state illuminators limit the amount of radiant heat, allowing a high intensity of photosynthesis. Additionally, the technique allows for short-term treatment of plants rather than for full-cycle growth.In vegetable leaves exposed to light generated by the solid-state illuminator, nitrate concentration was reduced by two to three times in comparison with those kept under high-pressure sodium lamps. The highest nitrate reduction rate was observed in hydroponically grown lettuce; after a 3-day treatment under red LEDs, tests showed a 65% relative decrease of nitrate concentration. The relative decrease of nitrates was similar in all species tested. "The results of our study indicate that nitrate content in lettuce, marjoram, and green onions can be considerably reduced by several times using short-term preharvest treatment under purely red light with high PPFD", stated Samuoliene.A significant outcome of the research is the finding that leafy vegetables can be produced under normal lighting conditions, while the health quality can be improved with a relatively short treatment using an advanced solid-state illuminator. The new technology may be expensive, but can prove economically viable in terms of production costs and the benefits of vegetables with added nutritional value. Since the treatment is conducted only over 10% of the overall growth cycle, the capital cost limitations for the application of solid-state lighting in horticulture are mitigated.The researchers noted that the technology may be particularly practical for leafy vegetable production in northern countries where greenhouse plants are often grown under poor lighting conditions.---Image Caption: Green onions subjected to red LED treatment during the experiment showed a decrease in nitrates. Credit: Photo by Akvile UrbonaviciuteSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Apr 2010 | 11:41 am AT&T blacks out employee vacation dates in June, presumably for the iPhone launch
Another year, another iPhone. Everything’s falling right into place. The rumor mill is churning at full forcing, and Apple has purportedly locked down their regular theater in San Francisco on June 22nd. Now, like they do each time an iPhone rolls around, AT&T is telling their employees not to make vacation plans in the month of June. The word comes from the Boy Genius, who claims to have multiple sources verifying that June vacations are a no-go. The first iPhone was announced in January, and then shipped in June, the iPhone 3G was announcing in June and then shipped in July, and the 3GS was announced in June and shipped in the same month about 11 days later. Assuming that Apple’s announcing the 4th-gen iPhone on June 22nd, any bets on the date it’ll hit the shelves?
Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Apr 2010 | 11:34 am Can Yahoo Still Nab Foursquare for $125 Million or Will VCs Prevail? The Race for the Hot Mobile Start-Up Nears Its End. [BoomTown]
You have to give Yahoo an A for effort, if perhaps the ultimate grade in its ongoing quest to buy hot mobile social network Foursquare is an F. While Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley–who controls a large chunk of the shares of the start-up–has so far turned down several $100 million-plus offers from Yahoo, sources said the company’s newish head of mergers and acquisitions, Andrew Siegel, is back in New York today still trying to convince him to sell. So far, especially because the effort has dragged on for a while and Yahoo (YHOO) has not made an overwhelmingly massive show of financial might, Crowley appears to have develop a case of cold feet about marrying the Internet giant. Sources said Foursquare has so far turned down Yahoo flat. Meanwhile, two powerful venture firms–Andreessen Horowitz and Khosla Ventures–are putting lucrative new funding deals on the table, trying to entice Foursquare to remain independent and turbocharge its fast-growing status-update service. Other big firms have dropped out of the race, although sources said more are now sniffing around, including free-spending Russian moneybags, Digital Sky Technologies, which has already sunk copious funds into social networking giant Facebook and games powerhouse Zynga. Their selling point is freedom, the ability to sell for more later and perhaps a more modest payout for talent, including Crowley, by buying some of their common shares. Their valuation is hovering around $100 million. “Why sell now, when they are on a roll no one is going to catch them for a year at least,” said one person involved in talks with Foursquare. “There is a lot of benefit in waiting to cash in totally.” Foursquare has grown dramatically, from 50,000 users less than a year ago to closing in on one million today. Despite negligible revenue, Foursquare raised $1.35 million last August, valuing it at $6 million. Foursquare’s VCs include O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures and Union Square Ventures, as well as a spate of well-known angel investors. The choice for Crowley: Take the big pile of money from Yahoo–which is offering all cash, giving Crowley a huge windfall–and run, or double down with VCs. “Yahoo should just pay a huge premium and scare away the VCs to become relevant among the cool kids again,” said one person close to the situation. “”In my mind, it’s a litmus test for Yahoo.” Yahoo is well known in the tech space for hemming and hawing over acquisitions. Dithering over price and copyright issues, it famously lost a nearly completed purchase of YouTube to Google (GOOG), which swooped in with a bigger and cleaner offer almost overnight. A similar scenario played out when Yahoo tried to buy Facebook when it was very small. Facebook not only remained independent but is considered to have surpassed the once mighty company in innovation and consumer appeal. In addition, as many big companies have, Yahoo has bungled purchases of hot start-ups before, such as Flickr, the pioneering online photo service. But CEO Carol Bartz has recently made some significant noise about Yahoo starting to engage in some aggressive M&A to attract talent and inject innovation into the company. Internally, sources said she has told staff that Yahoo has to start engaging externally and with force. She has mentioned mobile start-ups specifically, and Foursquare is indeed among the hottest in the space, offering its growing base of users an ability to “check in” from a variety of places. The location-based services arena is heating up, with multiple competitors to Foursquare, such as Gowalla, as well as recent efforts by Facebook and Twitter to enter the space in a big way. Still, Foursquare is the start-up of the moment among the digerati, striking deals with a wide range of partners, as well as tech giants like Microsoft (MSFT). Thus, it has attracted a lot of look-sees, from AOL (AOL), Twitter and Google, although none have made a serious effort to buy Foursquare. Even Facebook has contemplated the start-up, although it is more likely to try replicating its own version of Foursquare, which is could announce at its F8 developers event next week. Twitter also indicated at its own conference this past week that it will continue to offer similar location features. The challenge for Foursquare’s Crowley is in the timing, and deciding if he can look such a large gift horse in the mouth. He sold a similar location service called Dodgeball to Google in 2005, but left the search giant on bad terms two years later. Dodgeball was closed down by Google in early 2009. At the time, Crowley called the experience of being at a large company “incredibly frustrating,” while Google sources said Crowley was a bit of a frustration to them. Translation: No tears were shed on either side by his leaving. In any case, he rebounded with Foursquare and is now being pursued again in the throw-caution-to-the-wind manner some entrepreneurs enjoy. “It’s an insane offer, in a lot ways, but big enough that we all have to take it seriously,” said one person close to Foursquare. Insane is what some think Yahoo has to be. “Yahoo needs to kneecap everyone near Foursquare,” said one with knowledge of the situation. “This is a strategic purchase, not one based on any metric of revenue or users, so it’s just as crazy at $100 million as at $150 million.” Well, a little crazier, but you get the point. Yahoo declined to comment, and I have an email into Foursquare, which has yet to respond. Silicon Alley Insider first wrote about Yahoo’s interest in Foursquare about two weeks ago. Source: All Things Digital | 16 Apr 2010 | 10:54 am Lucky 13: Fewer Space Station Crewmembers from Now OnThere are 13 crew aboard the space station, but this is the last time so many astronauts will call the orbiting outpost "home".Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 10:17 am Game Stocks Up on Sales Data; GameStop Upgraded [Voices]By Alexander Eule, Reporter, Barron’s Online Things are looking a little brighter for the video game industry this morning. Last night market research firm NPD Group reported a rebound in March game sales. It was the first time since last September that software sales rose year over year, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. And today, GameStop (GME), the industry’s dominant pure-play retailer, got an upgrade from BB&T Capital Markets. BB&T analyst Anthony Chukumba upped his rating to Buy from Hold, with a $32 price target. “After a brutal 2009 and early 2010, we believe GameStop’s fortunes have taken a turn for the better,” he writes. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 16 Apr 2010 | 10:13 am Stranded leader runs country by iPad - CNN
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 10:06 am Search with fewer keystrokes and better spellingWe spend a lot of time thinking about search results, but we also spend a lot of time thinking about search queries. Today we’re announcing three enhancements to help you input your searches more quickly and easily: more localized Google Suggest, improved spell correction for names and auto-correction for 31 languages.Feel at home with Google Suggest Last year we launched localized Google Suggest by country, offering relevant popular search queries tailored for different regions. However, just as people in the U.K. often look for different things than people in U.S., we’ve found that people in Seattle tend to look for different things than people in Dallas. So last week, we rolled out a version of Google Suggest that is tailored to specific metro areas in the U.S. You may notice that the list of queries beneath the search box will seem more locally relevant than it used to:
 Spelling enhancements for names While Suggest can help you find good queries, sometimes you can get stuck because of misspellings. That’s why for years we’ve offered corrected spellings for mistyped searches (with the “Did you mean” link). We’ve steadily improved this spelling technology over time, but recently we made some big strides in correcting misspelled names. People often search for people’s names — and not just celebrities and old friends. They look for doctors, horse trainers, hang-gliding instructors... the searches are just as diverse as the personalities in your hometown. We’ve noticed that people sometimes struggle to correctly spell names, and it’s not surprising. Names can be complicated and often there are multiple common spellings. Our new technology is based on the concept that people often know something else about the person besides the approximate spelling of his name. People often include other terms such as "composer" or "lawyer sparta wisconsin" in their search query, which provides valuable context to help us narrow the range of possibilities for the spelling correction. We use these additional descriptive words to offer you better suggestions. Some examples: [matthew devin oracle], [yuri lehner stanford], [simon tung machine learning]. With these improvements you’ll start seeing more useful spell corrections for names. For now this enhancement is available in our English spelling system in the U.S. We'll be rolling out the change to other parts of the world and other languages in the coming months. Spelling auto-correction in 31 languages Another improvement we made recently to the spelling system is auto-correction. If you search for [aiprt], rather than showing you a link on your results page that says “Did you mean: airport” we’ll take you straight to the results for the corrected search. We auto-correct when we’re highly confident in our correction in order to get you the information you’re looking for that much faster. In the past week we’ve expanded auto-correction to 31 languages across over 180 domains, with more to come. Did you make a typo while looking for [chocolate strawberries and cream] in Italian? The right word is so close you can taste it:  While saving you that unnecessary click, we make search that much faster. Posted by Pandu Nayak, Member of Technical Staff  
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 16 Apr 2010 | 10:00 am Those iPhone 4 case shots? Fake!
Yesterday evening, we posted a handful of images that were going around the Internets, purportedly showing the back of the next-gen iPhone (iPhone 4, iPhone HD, whatever you want to call it.) We spent more than half of the post decrying them as fakes — and it looks like we were right. To prove that it was his work, he provided a snapshot of his workspace showing the quick render sans lighting effects. Seems like a lot of work to make a bit of fuss on some blogs — but hey, it got his work out there. Lets just not make a habit of crying wolf, kay Jpog? [Thanks Andrew!]
Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Apr 2010 | 9:54 am Sony Ericsson Q1 Results Are In, Back In The Black
This time last year they posted a €370m loss, and have posted losses for the last 7 quarters. Needless to say, this is a great turn-around for the company. Staff cutbacks and a shift of focus to higher-margin smartphones are to thank, with this profit coming despite selling about 28% less handsets than they did in Q1 2009. Their new strategy has meant their average price of handset has now increased from €120 to €134, and their margins have shot up from 8% to 30%. With this strategy proving a success, expect Sony Ericsson to continue to release high-end handsets like the Xperia X10 and Vivaz/Pro in the future. [via The Register]
Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Apr 2010 | 9:54 am Mass Of Plastic Garbage Found In Atlantic OceanResearchers have discovered a mass of floating plastic garbage, not unlike the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch discovered between Hawaii and California last decade, over a remote location in the Atlantic Ocean."We found the great Atlantic garbage patch," Anna Cummins, one of those individuals who collected plastic samples from a location between Bermuda and the Azores Islands in February, told Associated Press (AP) reporter Mike Melia.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Apr 2010 | 9:50 am The direct result of me reviewing a Palm Pre PlusSection: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile, Features  A while back Verizon was kind enough to send me a few phones to review, but right now I am referring to the Palm Pre Plus. So here is the result of that review, which can be summed up nicely in the above image. Yup, that is the review unit that I am getting ready to send back, which is sitting next to mine—the one that I purchased. In short, I liked the Palm Pre Plus so much that I had to have one of my own. Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 16 Apr 2010 | 9:46 am Iceland Volcano Ash Threatens Animal HealthAn Iceland volcano eruption that snarled air traffic and darkened much Northern Europe's skies this week also poses threats to animal health, according to the British Veterinary Association, which has issued guidelines to pet owners. Note the guy standing right ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 9:46 am Switchgrass Proves Viable As Nursery Container SubstrateNative grass fares well as alternative growing mediumLoblolly pine bark is the primary component of nursery container substrates in the eastern United States, but a shortage of the widely used organic material is prompting researchers to investigate new materials as potential alternatives. A recent study by James E. Altland and Charles Krause of the USDA Agricultural Research Service at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center was designed to determine if ground switchgrass can be used as an alternative substrate for short production-cycle woody crops.Altland and Krause conducted two experiments with 'Paprika' rose (Rosa L. 'ChewMayTime') potted in 15-centimeter containers. The experiments revealed that switchgrass processed to an appropriate particle size and amended with typical nursery materials can provide a suitable substrate for short-production-cycle woody crops.Containerized nursery and greenhouse crops are grown almost exclusively in soilless substrates. Substrates for outdoor nursery crops are primarily composed of softwood bark amended with peatmoss, sand, pumice, perlite, compost, and/or other materials. Softwood barks used by the nursery industry are regional and highly dependent on local inventories; most nurseries on the East Coast, Midwest, and in the southern United States use loblolly pine bark, while nurseries on the West Coast use douglas fir bark. A decrease in forest products output, coupled with increased use of bark as a fuel at paper and lumber mills, has caused a decline in the amount of pine bark available for horticultural use. Increasing demand for wood-based ethanol over the next 20 years will cause even greater competition for pine bark and other woody biomasses."Research on the use of pine wood materials as alternatives to pine bark is proving successful in the southeastern United States, where pine plantations, paper mills, and lumber mills are abundant", stated Altland. He explained that widespread use of these materials would be difficult to adopt in the northeastern and midwestern United States where there are fewer forestry operations and softwood forest plantations. A potential answer to the pine bark shortage is switchgrass, a native grass grown throughout the U.S. for its biofuel potential. Grown in the upper Midwest where farmland is abundant, switchgrass offers high yields and shows potential as a replacement for pine bark for use in the nursery industry.The researchers' objective was to document the suitability of locally grown switchgrass as the primary component in container nursery substrates with a short production-cycle woody crop. In the first experiment, substrates were composed of coarse-milled switchgrass amended with 0%, 30%, or 50% peatmoss and fertilized with 100, 250, or 400 mg/liter nitrogen from ammonium nitrate. In the second experiment, substrates were composed of coarse-milled or fine-milled switchgrass amended with 0% or 30% peatmoss and fertilized with the same nitrogen rates as in the first experiment. According to the research team, coarse switchgrass alone had high air space and low container capacity, while fine switchgrass had "physical properties more consistent with what is considered normal for nursery container substrates."Tissue analysis of crops used in the experiments revealed that roses grown in switchgrass substrate for 7 to 9 weeks had low to moderate levels of calcium and iron, but all other nutrients were within acceptable ranges. Despite varying substrate physical properties and pH levels, all roses at the conclusion of the experiment were of high quality. The researchers observed that roses have been reported to grow over a wide range of pH and are considered better suited to well-drained substrates. "Thus," they noted, "it is not surprising that roses in this study grew well."Future experiments are planned to evaluate amendments to lower and stabilize pH, moderate physical properties, supplement additional calcium and iron, and document substrate conduciveness to root pathogens. A wider range of plant materials with more specific requirements for pH and substrate water content will also be used in future research.---Image Caption: Switchgrass is a biofuel crop that can be harvested and processed into a nursery substrate. Credit: Photo by James E. AltlandSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Apr 2010 | 9:45 am Preserving Table GrapesHot water, rachis removal, modified atmosphere packaging combination preserves table grapesPackaged fresh-cut grapes are becoming increasingly popular with consumers who like the convenience and health benefits of these ready-to-eat fruits. To keep table grapes fresh and increase shelf life, scientists are seeking advanced techniques that provide healthy, safe alternatives to conventional packing methods. Researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS) have developed and tested an effective new technique that combines hot water treatment, rachis removal, and modified atmosphere packaging (MA) to extend the shelf life of table grapes.Commercially packaged table grapes stored in clusters in perforated packaging have a short shelf life—typically 8 to 10 weeks—as a result of their exposure to the environment. Grape shelf life is often shortened by factors including fruit weight loss, stem browning, softening, shattering, and decay. Because of its effectiveness in delaying stem browning and decay, sulfur dioxide gas (SO2) is currently the treatment of choice in many countries for prolonging shelf life of grapes. There are disadvantages to sulfur dioxide use, however. The concentration of SO2 necessary to inhibit fungal growth may induce injuries in grape fruits and stems, and sulfite residues pose a health risk for some individuals. Applications of SO2 have been restricted in many countries, making it essential to identify safe, alternative technologies that effectively control fungal growth and assure high-quality fruit.Yaguang Luo and William Conway from the USDS ARS, in collaboration with Liping Kou, Wu Ding, and Xinghua Liu from China's Northwest A&F University, recently published a report in HortScience that explored alternatives to sulfur dioxide for maintaining quality of table grapes, including various combinations of rachis removal, chlorinated wash, hot water treatment, and modified atmosphere packaging.Grapes were prepared by cutting off the rachis 1 to 2 mm from the fruit or by keeping the clusters intact. After initial preparation, short-stem and cluster grapes were subjected to chlorinated wash and/or hot water (45ºC for 8 minutes) treatment and packaged in plastic trays sealed with a gas-permeable film. The treated grapes, as well as the commercially packed grapes in their original packages, were stored at 5ºC for up to 4 weeks.According to the Kou, a visiting scientist from China and the study's lead researcher, the hot water treatment resulted in significantly higher oxygen retention and lower carbon dioxide accumulation in packages, firmer texture, higher overall visual quality, lower decay rate, and lower microbial populations than other treatments or commercially packed grapes. Grapes that were cut from the rachis and treated with hot water and chlorine maintained the highest quality for 4 weeks, with the least decay among all treatments. A chlorine prewash treatment significantly reduced microbial populations on cluster grapes and maintained better overall quality.Kou concluded that "the combination of these treatments maintained excellent visual quality throughout the entire storage duration, whereas the commercially packaged grapes became decayed and their quality declined to a level that was unacceptable. The combination treatment was successful in reducing spoilage microbes, preventing dehydration, and delaying softening and senescence of grapes."---Image Caption: These are commercially packed cluster grapes showing typical decay after four months. Credit: Photo by Liping KouSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Apr 2010 | 9:42 am Andreessen Horowitz's Ben Horowitz Talks About Fat Start-Ups, Being a New VC and What's Hot and Not! [BoomTown]
Yesterday, BoomTown motored down lovely I-280 to meet with (relatively) newly minted VC Ben Horowitz, the other half of the high-profile venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. Started last summer by the pair–who have worked together since they met not-so-cute at Netscape Communications, with co-founder Marc Andreessen flaming worker-bee Horowitz in an email–it’s a $300 million fund that has plunked itself in the middle of just about every hot thing in Silicon Valley and beyond of late. That includes being part of a recent huge round in online games rocket ship Zynga, a controversial consortium that grabbed Skype (Horowitz is on the Internet telephony giant’s board), as well as being a key investor in smoking stealths such as Kakai and RockMelt. Of course, the pair is also in the race to fund mobile geolocation phenom Foursquare against a possible Yahoo (YHOO) acquisition. Horowitz, who has long had a much lower profile than one-time digital golden boy Andreessen, is now emerging a little more publicly via a new blog, called simply Ben’s Blog. With the apt quote at the top of the homepage by legendary mathematician and computer pioneer John von Neumann, “There’s no sense in being precise when you don’t even know what you’re talking about,” it’s a pretty saucy effort, especially if Horowitz keeps it up. Recent posts included “Four Things Some VCs Do That I Don’t Like” and “The Case for the Fat Start-Up,” which he first published on All Things Digital. We talked about this and more in a breakfast interview at the Rosewood Hotel on Sand Hill Road near Andreessen Horowitz’s offices, so here’s the video: [ See post to watch video ] Source: All Things Digital | 16 Apr 2010 | 9:08 am Cartoonist: Apple Backs Down After Denying iPhone App [Voices]By Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal The cartoonist who won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning this week says Apple (AAPL) has asked him to resubmit an iPhone app that it earlier rejected because it “ridicules public figures.” Mark Fiore, who won the prize for animations that ran on SFGate.com, submitted an iPhone app to Apple last year and received an email informing him that his application had been denied, according to a post by Laura McGann at Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab. In an email that Mr. Fiore said was from Apple, the company wrote that the app was being rejected because it “contains content that ridicules public figures.” According to the email, the app was in violation of a clause in the iPhone developer agreement that allows Apple to reject materials that it believes may be found “objectionable.” But a representative from Apple called the cartoonist Thursday and suggested that he resubmit the app, Mr. Fiore said in an interview. “I feel kind of guilty,” he said. “I’m getting preferential treatment because I got the Pulitzer.” Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 16 Apr 2010 | 9:04 am TV-Hat, the Dork-Tastic Head-Mounted Theater
This week’s dumbest gadget award goes to the TV Hat, a baseball cap with an elongated peak from which hangs a “personal private theater”. It is a head-mounted blackout tent into which you drop your portable media player, wherein you can watch movies in the glare of the midday sun, or in bed next to your smiling spouse. It costs $30, and includes a 2.5x magnification screen. Who would use this? First, you look like an idiot, or at the very best like some weird, creepy guy in night-vision goggles. Second, this is most likely to be used outside or in a public place, which means you will be rendered not only blind and deaf to the outside world, you will not be paying any attention to the goings-on around you. That would make me very nervous. But wait, there is another use. The head-mounted dork-theater is not only for watching distraction-free. It is also for keeping others out: “Privacy side shields prevent others from seeing what you are viewing.” Be careful, though. They might not be able to peek at the naughty movie you are watching, but they can sure as hell still see what your hands are doing. TV Hat [Things You Never Knew Existed via Book of Joe] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Apr 2010 | 8:53 am Print from iPad, Cellphones with ‘Google Cloud Print’
After the lack of Flash support and the “missing” camera, one of the biggest complaints about the iPad is that you can’t print from it, with or without a wire. Google is about to solve this problem with cloud-printing, which will send your documents from a mobile device to any web-connected printer. I tend to view printing as something like the floppy disk, a legacy technology that nobody really needs anymore. And before you light up the comments telling me you need to print receipts for your car repair shop customers, I say that’s not the job of an iPad or a cellphone. What you need (and already have) is a computer. For the odd boarding pass or document I might need on paper, I just email the file to the print shop down the road and pay them 10 cents. But if you still insist on dead tree copies, Google hears you. To enable printing from its driver-free Chrome OS and any other mobile device, Google is putting those drivers in the cloud. Apps send print jobs to Google Cloud Print, whereupon they are processed and sent to net-connected printers. And this isn’t just the printer in your upstairs office, either. It could be on the other side of the world. Google has today released the code and documentation to developers, so its just a matter of waiting for this to show up in the apps you use. In the meantime, iPad users might like this alternative solution:
A New Approach to Printing [The Chromium Blog] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Apr 2010 | 8:08 am Why Volcanic Ash Threatens Air TravelAs of Thursday, most of Europe's major hubs were closed. Here are questions and answers as to why it happened.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 7:39 am Dolphin Births Up Since Hurricane KatrinaA drop in boat traffic and fishing may have contributed to a boost in dolphin births in the Mississippi Sound.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 7:22 am Obama Mars Plan Too Far Out? - InformationWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 7:14 am Fujitsu reveals new color ebook reader prototypeSection: Gadgets / Other, ebooks
Read [Akihabara News] Via [CrunchGear] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 16 Apr 2010 | 7:13 am Olympus Collapsible Wide-Angle Zoom for Micro Four Thirds
One of many things the Micro Four Thirds manufacturers are getting right is the lenses. Panasonic’s optics clearly show the benefits of its long association with Leica, and Olympus’ Zuiko lenses have been great since pretty much forever. These lenses aren’t cheap — this latest wide-angle zoom from Olympus will cost around $700 when it ships next month, but according to the testers at DP Review, you get your money’s worth. The M Zuiko Digital 9-18mm (18-36mm equivalent) F4-5.6 is small. That’s it above, in the middle squeezed between a pair of already tiny wide zooms from Panasonic, one a Four Thirds lens on an adapter (left) and one a native M4/3 optic. Olympus manages this by making the lens collapsible like the 14-42mm kit zoom which comes with the Pen EP-1. When in use, it extends to around double the length. The takeaways from the DP Review test: the bokeh, or out-of-focus highlights are ugly, but the lens is sharp and not prone to flare (essential in such a wide lens). Autofocus is good and fast (the lens “reveals a significant advance in Olympus’s autofocus system”) and also silent for movie-shooting. As we’ve said, it is also tiny, which is kind of the point with M4/3 cameras. I’ll still skip it, though. The problem with all but the most expensive zooms is that they have variable and relatively slow maximum apertures. One of the great things about using a fast prime is both that shallow depth of field and the ability to shoot at night without worrying too much about getting the shakes. Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm 1:4-5.6 review [DP Review] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Apr 2010 | 7:08 am New Tech Sees Dead PeopleHyperspectral imaging is used to detect changes in light from plants and soil caused by a decomposing body.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:47 am Student-Designed $3 Pump Helps Wounded in Haiti, Rwanda
MIT doctoral student Danielle Zurovcik has invented a simple hand-powered pump that applies suction to an open wound to help it heal. Her device costs just $3 to make. By contrast, the cheapest portable (and electric-powered) pumps cost $100 just for a day’s rental. If the words “suction” and “open wound” in the same sentence make you cringe, don’t worry. It’s not quite what you think. This isn’t about pumping anything out of the body. Applying suction, or negative pressure, speeds healing, although apparently there is no tested theory as to why. The best guess is that a sealed wound with a partial vacuum heals faster as the bacteria and fluid are kept away from the wound. That sounds a little screwy, but it does work. Zurovcik’s pump is simple. A concertina bottle is squeezed closed, and as the plastic spring pushes it open again, it sucks air through a tube connected to a sealed dressing. The hardest part of the setup is getting a good seal, but as this method only requires changing the dressing every few days, instead of every few hours, it’s not a big problem. Zurovcik has already tested 50 of her pumps in Haiti, and they work. The next big test will come on a trip to Rwanda this fall. Dr. Robert Riviello, who led the Haiti trip, says that the device has “enormous potential” to help “50 million and 60 million people in low-income countries suffer from acute and chronic wounds.” Better wound treatment for all [MIT News. Thanks, Twitter!] Photo: Melanie Gonick 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:05 am Sprocket Pocket: iPad Turn-Signal for Cyclists
Given that almost every time I fall off my bike, I land on my back, I probably wouldn’t stick an iPad in a rear-mounted pocket. But that doesn’t stop me wanting to try out the Sprocket Pocket, a home-make, iron-on iPad pouch for cyclists. Slide the iPad into the see-through plastic pocket and load up the custom software. The iPad then uses its accelerometers to work out what you intend to do next and flashes a signal on its screen accordingly. Thus, by sitting up straight you’ll show drivers a stop-sign, and by leaning left or right you’ll display a turn-signal. Or, if you’re riding tandem, the rear passenger can relax and watch a movie or (with the 3G iPad at least) check your route or catch up on email. The Sprocket Pocket is a project by the Maya design consultancy, and will actually be sold after a “beta” testing phase. You can download a pattern to make your own pocket, but you’ll have to wait until the iPad app is officially launched. I’m pretty sure that using one of these right now would be more likely to distract car-drivers than help warn them (”Hey look, honey! An iPad!”), but what I really like is the potential of the iPad in hacking projects like this one. Sprocket [Maya] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:17 am Body Image Concerns Hardwired Into Women's BrainsEven women who are confident about their bodies have an internalized desire to be a certain size and shape.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:00 am Leica V-Lux 20 Leaked. Same As Lumix, Only More Expensive
If you want a capable 12 megapixel camera with a Leica lens and built-in GPS, we’d recommend the $400 Lumix DMC-ZS7 from Panasonic. If you want exactly the same camera, but are willing to spend an extra $300 or so for a red dot on the front, we instead suggest you take a look at the Leica V-Lux 20, leaked by Leica Rumors and expected in stores on May 9th. The Leica has very average, if capable, specs: A 3-inch LCD screen, HD movie recording (720p), shoots JPEG only and will reach a disappointing ISO 1600 in regular, non-boosted mode. These features sit well in Panasonic’s product line, but when you add the Leica tax the price puts you in range of Panasonic’s amazing GF1, the mirrorless Micro Four Thirds compact (which I own and totally dig). Our advice? Stick with the Panasonic and spend a couple of bucks on a pack of red dot stickers, or go for the GF1. First picture of Leica V-Lux 20 surfaces [Leica Rumors] See Also: 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Apr 2010 | 4:52 am Viral Video: Because It's Friday, Here Are All the Cat-iPad Videos [BoomTown]
Well, all the videos of cats interacting with the Apple (AAPL) iPad are better than all the videos of cats on skateboards. Barely. But like clockwork, the videos of feline encounters with the magic tablet are piling up at YouTube. This should come as no surprise, but try not to create the videos in Flash! In any case, it’s Friday, so here are the best BoomTown could find to display. Please enjoy: OMG CatPong CatPiano CatKeyboard CatButterfly CatSkateboarding Cat (I couldn’t resist!)Source: All Things Digital | 16 Apr 2010 | 4:30 am
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No surprsise here, giving how popular DSLR video has become. Someone had to make some lenses to take full advantage of these new cameras, and Zeiss appears to be the first to step up to the plate. The lenses were announced this week in Vegas, with Zeiss stating that these are the first set of cine (lenses) to be compatible with HDSLR cameras. 
We would like to take a minute to thank all of our amazing sponsors for keeping our lights on, our bellies full, and our fridge stocked with diet coke!
Two months ago, Google 
I’ve been thinking about picking up a couple of big drives for my home server lately, so I was really excited today when I saw that this roundup of the major 2TB drives out there. Sure, everyone is excited about SSDs 
A 
Alastair explained to me that he had spent a year collecting barn-owl pellets, after processing the pellets down to the mouse fur and bones within, Mackey used the loom to create fabric from the fur, the pile of bones correlating directly to the size of the sheet of the fur. Whether utilizing hornet nests, mouse skulls, toy airplanes, matchsticks or even plain old conventional bronze, Mackie tunes us in to the dialogue between his pieces and their composite material, a conversation that the viewer need not contribute to, only listen.
ASTRO Gaming announced today that for the third year in a row, they have been selected as the official licensed headset for Major League Gaming. 
We’ll post the full video tomorrow, but here’s a teaser where I debate Loic on 
Sony Ericsson today posted their Q1 results for 2010, and the results are… good!
If you like pictures that come along with no details, then this post is for you. What we have is a color ebook reader from Fujitsu. As of now this device is in the prototype stage and no other details were revealed. That said, it sure does look nice, at least based on what you can tell from the picture. As of now, Fujitsu expects to have it available in Japan sometime later this year. And similar to the lack of specs, there was nothing mentioned about when or if this color ebook reader will come available outside of the Japanese market.
