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Nintendo Product News Coming in Sept., 3DS Details Likely - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 29 Jul 2010 | 4:15 am Lost In Val Sinestra: A Mesmerizing Movie Trailer Featuring Your Facebook Friends
Double rainbow awesome. There’s no other modern way to describe this. I won’t spoil it too much, but whatever you do today, visit that website and select some of your closest friends from your Facebook graph when prompted. You won’t be disappointed. From the looks of it, this was put together by Swiss telecoms provider Swisscom to promote its TV offerings. Hat tip to Ouriel Ohayon. Awesomeness in a bottle.
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 29 Jul 2010 | 4:04 am Playstation, TVs boost Sony to $294 million profit (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 Jul 2010 | 4:02 am Facebook lets users question the world - TG Daily
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 29 Jul 2010 | 4:01 am Repeat After Me: "I Want a BlackBerry" [Digital Daily]
The 9800 will be the first RIM (RIMM) device to use the company’s BlackBerry OS 6, a new operating system that CEO Mike Lazaridis says will make “anyone that looks at it…say ‘I want a BlackBerry.’” That’s the hope, anyway. With a new WebKit-based Web browser, an overhauled media player and support for multitouch, BlackBerry 6 is the OS RIM should have released years ago, one that should give its devices a bit more appeal in a market increasingly enamored of super-smartphones. So if the 9800 is announced next week along with a rumored mid-August ship date, RIM will have taken its first big step in addressing the competitive issues that are tarnishing its growth prospects. Said Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu, “As we said before, we believe the new user interface with multitouch technology and WebKit-based browser closes the gap materially against Android and iPhone.” Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jul 2010 | 4:00 am In iPhone, adult industry sees pocket porn market (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 Jul 2010 | 3:54 am Hands On With Amazon's Zippy, Alluring Kindle - Washington Post
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 29 Jul 2010 | 3:47 am Nuclear Energy Now More Expensive Than Solarjs_sebastian writes "According to an article on the New York Times, a historical cross-over has occurred because of the declining costs of solar vs the increasing costs of nuclear energy: solar, hardly the cheapest of renewable technologies, is now cheaper than nuclear, at around 16 cents per kilowatt hour. Furthermore, the NY Times reports that financial markets will not finance the construction of nuclear power plants unless the risk of default (which is historically as high as 50 percent for the nuclear industry) is externalized to someone else through federal loan guarantees or ratepayer funding. The bottom line seems to be that nuclear is simply not competitive, and the push from the US government to subsidize it seems to be forcing the wrong choice on the market."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 29 Jul 2010 | 3:25 am In iPhone, adult industry sees pocket porn marketIt's a maxim of technology: Invent the newest gadget and the porn industry will find a way to cash in. So when Apple Inc. launched the iPhone 4 and its FaceTime videoconference feature,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 3:22 am BT aim to crack down on cable thieves with invisible paintBT is using an invisible coded paint to crack down on cable thefts throughout the North East and beyond, reports nebusiness. The company says that theft of the cable has become a growing problem nationwide,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 3:21 am Toshiba To Release Four 3D Blu-ray Recorders, Introduces “3D Upgrade Kit” Concept
As if the eight 3D LCD TVs Toshiba yesterday announced for the Japanese market weren’t enough (three CELL Regza and five conventional REGZA models), the company also showed [JP] a 3D powered and Blu-ray recorder and another three that can be upgraded to 3D via a “3D upgrade kit”. All devices have an additional HDD on board. First the RD-X10, which is the flagship model with a 2TB HDD and allows you to play 3D movies out of the box (pictured above). It will go on sale in Japan in September for $2,500. Then we have three models that can be upgraded to 3D via a “kit”, which Toshiba is still tight-lipped about at this point (for example, regarding the price). But the basic approach seems to be that consumers, when deciding to go for a Toshiba Blu-ray recorder, can decide to pay a higher price to get the 3D ability.
The kit will be available for these models when they hit Japanese stores:
No word yet from Toshiba Japan regarding overseas sales plans. Via AV Watch [JP]
Source: CrunchGear | 29 Jul 2010 | 3:20 am Vietnam restricts online games after murder casesVietnam has banned the advertisement of online games and restricted access after several cases in which young people committed murder or robbery to get money to pay to play, an official...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 3:18 am Vietnam restricts online games after murder cases (AP)AP - Vietnam has banned the advertisement of online games and restricted access after several cases in which young people committed murder or robbery to get money to pay to play, an official said Thursday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 Jul 2010 | 3:18 am The Kindle Just Got Smaller, CheaperBy Chris Scott Barr Still sitting on the fence about e-readers? It’s an understandable position to be in, as there are a number of pros and cons for the devices. However, if price has been stopping...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 3:17 am Mark Zuckerberg gets paparazzi treatmentFunny piece in Gawker who decided Mark Zuckerberg was fair game for paparazzi treatment, because: "this is the executive who pushed the private information of Facebook's hundreds of millions of users...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 3:08 am FBI backs record-keeping on prepaid cell phonesFBI Director Robert Mueller has endorsed anti-terrorism legislation that would require prepaid cell-phone sellers to keep records of buyers' identities. [via Cellular News]Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 3:00 am Panasonic to buy out Sanyo, Panasonic ElectricPanasonic is planning to take 100 percent ownership of its subsidiaries Sanyo Electric and Panasonic Electric Works in a move costing up to $9.4 billion to strengthen green businesses such...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 2:55 am How 100 million Facebook users ended up in a list on BitTorrent - The Guardian
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 29 Jul 2010 | 2:54 am UPDATE 1-Market Chatter -- Corporate finance press digestBANGALORE, Jul 29 (Reuters) - The following corporate finance-related stories were reported by media on Thursday:Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 2:43 am Panasonic returns to black as appliance sales boomPanasonic, Japan's biggest home appliance maker, returned to profit in its latest quarter and raised full year forecasts amid stronger sales of products from air conditioners to flat-panel...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 2:40 am Playstation, TVs boost Sony to $294 million profitSony bounced back to profit last quarter and raised its full-year earnings forecast, fueled by stronger demand for its PlayStation 3 gaming consoles, personal computers and televisions. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 2:35 am Qualcomm India unit to sell stake for $64 mln-srcsMUMBAI, July 29 (Reuters) - The Indian broadband unit of cellphone chip maker Qualcomm plans to sell a 26 percent stake to two Indian companies for about 3 billion rupees ($64 million), two sources with...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 2:22 am FTC Wants Browsers To Block Online Trackingstoragedude writes "The FTC wants a do-not-track mechanism that would allow Web users to opt out of online behavioral tracking, similar to the national do-not-call registry. The agency's preferred method for accomplishing this would be a browser-based tool that would give users the option of blocking data collection across the Web. The only problem is that the agency may not have the authority to require this, thanks to concerted lobbying efforts by the advertising industry. The first step may just be voluntary measures, to be released this fall."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 29 Jul 2010 | 2:19 am HTC Beefs Up Management Team But Loses A Top Executive
Mobile phone maker HTC this morning announced a series of executive promotions and newly created management positions. The Taiwanese company said it had poached two senior execs from rival Sony Ericsson and that it had promoted three others to its management team. Buried in the press release, however, is that a senior executive of its own has quit the company. In a statement, HTC announced that it appointed Ron Louks as chief strategy officer, a new position that will oversee HTC’s strategic planning and technology development. Louks was previously CTO at Sony Ericsson. HTC also appointed Kouji Kodera as chief product officer, putting him in charge of the company’s global product planning and management. Kodera was also previously a senior executive at Sony Ericsson, where he was head of products also. HTC added that it had promoted David Chen, previously vice president of product development and the second employee ever to have been hired by the company, to chief engineering officer. Previously VP of HTC North America, Jason Mackenzie has been promoted to president of HTC North America and Latin America, while Florian Seiche has been promoted from VP to president of HTC EMEA. As mentioned before, HTC has also lost a key senior executive. Jason Juang, formerly executive vice president at the company, has apparently quit to “pursue other opportunities”. We’ll be very curious to find out where he’s headed next. We’ve updated HTC’s CrunchBase profile to reflect the changes.      
Source: TechCrunch | 29 Jul 2010 | 2:18 am UPDATE 2-TSMC hikes capex after record profit; glut fears loom* Q2 net record T$40.3 bln vs consensus forecast T$35.2 blnSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 2:05 am Apple Updates Mac OS X - InformationWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 29 Jul 2010 | 2:00 am Panasonic buying out Sanyo, Panasonic ElectricPanasonic is planning to take 100 percent ownership of its subsidiaries Sanyo Electric and Panasonic Electric Works in a move costing up to $9.4 billion to strengthen green businesses such...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:46 am WRAPUP 1-Sony surprises with Q1 profit, raises outlook* Sony operating profit at Y67 bln vs mkt forecast for lossSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:43 am Music video created with Nintendo DSiThe video to "Brain Games," the third track from Arman Bohn's Atari 2600-inspired "Bits" album, was created using drawings made on a Nintendo DSi. These elements were combined with traditionally-shot footage...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:29 am Music video created with Nintendo DSiThe video to "Brain Games," the third track from Arman Bohn's Atari 2600-inspired "Bits " album, was created using drawings made on a Nintendo DSi. These elements were combined with traditionally-shot footage in After Effects, resulting in a monochrome 1080-line-high heap of pixels.
ReviewPro Announces the Launch of the World's First Free Online Reputation Tool for HoteliersBARCELONA, July 29 /PRNewswire/ -- ReviewPro, the leading provider of online reputation and social media management tools for the hotel sector, announced today the launch of a Free version of its acclaimed product. Targeted at 3, 4, and 5 star hotels with 50 or more rooms, the Free version is initially available for hotels in Spain, Andorra, the UK, Ireland and Germany and will be rolled out to cover hotels in more than 15 other countries in the coming months. ReviewPro offers a web based, analytical tool that enables hotels to more efficiently track, classify and manage their online reputation and presence in social networks. The paid versions of the company's products offer expanded functionalities that allow hoteliers to increase quality performance, revenue, profitability and turn user generated content into a competitive advantage. With more than 600 clients including Sol Melia, Eurostars Hotels and the Landmark Hotel in London, ReviewPro is the pan-European market leader in this space. According to R.J. Friedlander, CEO of ReviewPro, "The impact of user generated reviews/content is clearly one of the biggest trends to affect the hotel sector in recent years. While it is rare to find a hotel professional that is not concerned with his/her online reputation, not every hotel is ready to pay for advanced technology to help them manage their efforts in this area. From today, such hotels can take the first step in turning their online reputation into increased profitability and a competitive advantage at no cost." The Free version provides hoteliers with their Global Review Index(TM), a general quality score that is quickly becoming the standard in the industry for hotels to measure and benchmark their online reputation. In addition, the Free version allows hoteliers to view the latest consumer reviews, from more than 50 online travel agencies, as well as interesting competitive intelligence. About ReviewPro ReviewPro is the leading provider of online reputation and social media management solutions for the hotel sector. The company offers web based analytical tools that enable hotels to more effectively track, organize and manage their online reputation in leading review sites as well as presence in leading social media platforms. Aggregating and analyzes more than 22 million user-generated reviews in 7 languages, the company has the most complete solution for hoteliers available. Contact: -------- R.J. Friedlander www.reviewpro.com press@reviewpro.com +34 93 451 04 54 SOURCE Review Rank S.A.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:15 am 5 Critical Web Metrics To Keep a Close Eye OnYou probably have a good idea of how many page views and unique visitors your company's website gets, but how many people are truly interacting with your brand? How successful are your digital marketing...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:10 am Amazon introduces a thinner, lighter Wi-Fi Kindle for $139This evening, Amazon introduced us to their new Wi-Fi Kindle ebook reader, and we've gotta say, we think they've done it again. Hot on the heels of the release of the newly redesigned Kindle DX, the new...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:09 am BT says Q1 profit up 33 percent (AP)AP - Communications company BT Group PLC says that its first quarter profit rose by 33 percent as cost cuts helped offset a 4 percent drop in revenue.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:09 am Googlethink [Voices]By Nicholas Carr, Contributor, The Atlantic I type the letter p into Google’s search box, and a list of 10 suggested keywords, starting with pandora and concluding with people magazine, appears just beneath my cursor. I type an r after the p, and the list refreshes itself. Now it begins with priceline and ends with pregnancy calculator. I add an o. The list updates again, going from prom dresses to proxy sites. Google is reading my mind–or trying to. Drawing on the terabytes of data it collects on people’s search queries, it predicts, with each letter I type, what I’m most likely to be looking for. The company formally introduced the automatic recommendation of search terms in 2008, after a few years of testing. It’s been tweaking the service, which it calls Google Suggest, ever since. This past spring, it rolled out the latest enhancement, which tailors suggestions to a searcher’s particular city. Read the rest of this post on the original site » Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:05 am India does not plan to ban BlackBerry services - Reuters
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:05 am If the Earth Stood Still [Voices]By Witold Fraczek, Esri The following is not a futuristic scenario. It is not science fiction. It is a demonstration of the capabilities of GIS to model the results of an extremely unlikely, yet intellectually fascinating query: What would happen if the earth stopped spinning? ArcGIS lets us model the effects of this scenario, performing calculations and estimations and creating a series of maps showing the effects the absence of centrifugal force would have on sea level. If earth ceased rotating about its axis but continued revolving around the sun and its axis of rotation maintained the same inclination, the length of a year would remain the same, but a day would last as long as a year. In this fictitious scenario, the sequential disappearance of centrifugal force would cause a catastrophic change in climate and disastrous geologic adjustments (expressed as devastating earthquakes) to the transforming equipotential gravitational state. Read the rest of this post on the original site » Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:04 am Microsoft Should Build Its Own Phones [Voices]By Peter Bright, Contributor, Ars Technica Microsoft has a long and illustrious history of operating system sales. The model has served the company well on the PC, but if it wants to make money in the phone market, it needs to start thinking like a consumer electronics company. That means selling Microsoft phones. Microsoft revolutionized the operating system market back in the early 1980s. Indeed, Microsoft created the operating system market back in the early 1980s. Back then, when you bought a computer, it normally had its own special operating system that the vendor bundled (or even sold at extra cost). Microsoft is a firm believer in the model of commoditized hardware with a third party, hardware agnostic operating system (just as long as the operating system is bought from Microsoft, of course), and it’s true that the model has worked very well for the company over the years; 175 million Windows 7 licenses is nothing to be sniffed at. But this model hasn’t always worked out so well for Redmond’s other post-PC efforts. Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:03 am Why 3-D Is Already Dying [Voices]By Kit R. Roane, Contributor, Fortune Back in the day, the knock on Hollywood was that it produced too many two-dimensional characters. Now moviegoers are beginning to grumble about paying up to see them in the third dimension as well. While premium pricing for 3-D movie tickets has lined studio pockets over the last few years, it hasn’t translated into throngs of new moviegoers at the theater. Movie admissions have been in a tailspin for more than a decade, and despite a bump in 2009, new data shows the public is cooling to the offerings at their local theater yet again. Read the rest of this post on the original site » Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:02 am The Google Sewage Factory, In Action [Voices]By Danny Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief, Search Engine Land Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt has quite famously been on record many times talking about how the web is full of garbage. It’s a cesspool out there, he’s said. Today, a short fast look at how his own company pollutes the web. Right now, one of the “trending topics” on Google is the word “chocomize.”…A term like “chocomize” will “trend” on Google when there’s a sudden, out-of-the-ordinary spike in searches using it. That’s certainly the case with chocomize, which Google Trends reports as having “volcanic” activity…. Chocomize is a web site that lets you create custom chocolate bars. Cool! But why’s it suddenly a popular term today? Fortunately, Google Trends is set to give me the answer. Read the rest of this post on the original site » Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:01 am New BlackBerry Touch Screen Set to Debut [Voices]By Niraj Sheth, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal The wraps officially come off of the newest BlackBerry touch-screen phone next week. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIMM) sent out press invites yesterday for a launch party in New York next Tuesday. While the invite doesn’t specify what the launch is for, it does sport the logo for AT&T (T), the network that will be running the new BlackBerry phone. People familiar with the matter confirm that the event is for the new touch-screen device. It’s a trying moment for the BlackBerry line-up, which is struggling to hold its own against the onslaught of touch-screen devices like Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone and a slew of phones running Google Inc.’s (GOOG) Android software. The upcoming phone features a new operating system — dubbed BlackBerry OS 6.0 – that lets users do many of the same things they can on the iPhone, including swiping through several home screens and expanding pictures by stretching their fingers. Most notably, the phone will have a slide-out keyboard in addition to its touch screen for people more used to traditional BlackBerry keys. A universal search bar on the home screen scans the phone’s entire contents as well as information from online sources such as Facebook and Twitter. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:00 am Thailand's Late Adoption of 3G is to Its Advantage as Pitfalls are Tried and Tested by Counterparts - Frost & SullivanBANGKOK, July 29 /PRNewswire/ -- In its recent outlook on the Southeast Asia mobile markets, Frost & Sullivan noted that operators in Thailand are learning that data services growth is fast replacing declining voice revenues. This realization has spurred aggressive push from the operator side to encourage take up of 2.5G services. As a result, operators have been anticipating the licensing and spectrum allocation for 3G in Thailand. With trials on existing networks conducted in 2009, operators have been readying networks and services for anticipated but delayed 2010/11 launches. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081117/FSLOGO) (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081117/FSLOGO) Once 3G takes off completely, Frost & Sullivan expects to see postpaid numbers in mobile connections swell against the currently popular pre-paid mobile connections. Especially since operators will attempt to increase customer retention as the market hits saturation. Insights such as these and analysis of the Thailand telecoms market were presented at the inaugural Thailand Telecoms International Summit. Held in association with the Ministry Of Information and Communication Technology of Thailand (MICT) Frost & Sullivan launched the day-long summit that was attended by over 100 delegates predominately from home-market at the Sofitel Centara Grand Bangkok, this morning. Delivering the opening keynote the Guest-of-Honour(GOH) for the summit, Mr. Pol.Col. Suchart Wongananchai, General Inspector of Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) commented, "Telecommunications market here (in Thailand) is set to enter a new stage of development. With the recent launch of 3G services, Thailand's telecommunications operators are now preparing to enter the mobile broadband era, which will not only expand Thailand's online population but will make the Thai economy more competitive and open its door to a variety of next generation services which will create opportunities for Thai entrepreneurs in the e-commerce and mobile application areas." He added that the introduction of 3G in Thailand will also consequently facilitate the uptake of broadband in rural areas which will help drive the development of the country on the whole. The General Inspector's comment comes at a point where Thailand has made substantial progress towards reforming its telecoms regulatory regime. Though significant challenges over licensing persist, rising demand for mobile internet data, coupled with increasing focus by operators in creating new revenue streams, has been driving customers to shift from 2G to 2.5G. Reiterating this new phase and challenge that Thailand's telecommunications sector is facing, Jayesh Easwaramony, vice-president, ICT Practice at Frost & Sullivan, presented the 'International Analyst Assessment - Outlook for Thailand's telecom industry 2010 - 2015'. In his address Jayesh commented, "Thailand's telecommunications market is at a crossroad. Mobile SIM penetration has breached 100% of the population and many operators are now experiencing negative revenue growth. The obvious answer to carrier woes is mobile broadband growth, as the market's six operators are all in the midst of planning or deploying their 3G networks." Adding onto his thoughts was summit chairman and Partner at Frost & Sullivan, Nitin Bhat. Nitin said that though delayed, the late take-up of mobile broadband did pose certain benefits to the Thai telecoms market. "As one of the last markets to commercialize mobile broadband services in the Asia Pacific region, there are many case studies that Thai operators can refer and relay on to successfully expand broadband usage in Thailand and to educate themselves about the pitfalls encountered by their neighbouring operators which they could avoid." Further into the day, the summit featured speakers from Amdocs, AIS, CAT Telecom, Cisco, DTAC, Fujitsu Asia, Intec, Omniware Solutions, TOT Public Company Limited, True Corporation along with the Senator of Thailand - Anant Voratitipong. The speakers from both domestic and regional markets discussed the opportunities and challenges in building a broadband future for Thailand, mobile cloud computing - bringing unprecedented sophistication to mobile applications and key initiatives in driving sustainable growth in the Thai telecoms market. Following the lunch break, two tracks were in session concurrently - 'Adopting new business and service strategies to enhance the Thai customer experience and increase revenues' and 'Aligning technology strategy with business opportunities for sustainable broadband growth in Thailand'. For complete details of the summit or to obtain presentation slides please contact neethiya.sadagopal@frost.com or visit http://www.frost-thaitelecom.com/ Fujitsu and Intec were the gold sponsors, Amdocs was the partner sponsor, while Dialogic was the exhibitor sponsor for the summit. The official newspaper partner for the summit was the Wall Street Journal Asia, ZDNet Asia was the official online media partner, PRNewswire was the official newswire and Developing Telecoms was the supporting media for this summit. The American Chamber of Thailand was the supporting association for the summit. About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's TEAM Research, Growth Consulting and Growth Team Membership empower clients to create a growth-focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 40 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan's Growth Partnerships, visit http://www.frost.com MEDIA CONTACTS: Sasikarn Watthanachan Neethiya Sadagopal Corporate Communications - Asia Corporate Communications - Thailand Pacific E: sasikarn.watt@frost.com E: neethiya.sadagopal@frost.com P: +66.2.630.1734 P: +65.6890.0966 SOURCE Frost & SullivanSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:00 am Zynga Confirms Softbank Investment. They’ll Confirm Google Investment Later
Zynga didn’t talk about the other $150 million they took from Google in connection with a partnership over the new Google Games property. Although they soft-confirmed it to the New York Times in a recent article about the company. Zynga has raised a whopping $519 million in venture capital, including that chunk from Google. Here’s the press release: ZYNGA AND SOFTBANK CORP. LAUNCH JOINT VENTURE TO ACCELERATE SOCIAL GAME INDUSTRY IN ASIA SOFTBANK INVESTS $150 MILLION IN ZYNGA SAN FRANCISCO and TOKYO – July 29, 2010 – Zynga and Softbank today announced a joint venture that will develop and distribute social games across Japan. The new joint venture, Zynga Japan, brings together leaders in social games and consumer technology to offer millions of new users the ability to play social games anytime and anywhere. In conjunction with today’s announcement, Softbank has completed a $150 million investment in Zynga. With this agreement, Zynga and Softbank will tighten their relationship as business partners. The joint venture extends Zynga’s reach to a wider global audience and marks the company’s first foray into the rapidly growing internet and mobile market in Japan. Based in Tokyo, Zynga Japan will tap into Japan’s rich history of gaming and leverage Softbank’s cutting edge mobile and Web technology to produce the best social games in the market. “Zynga is a leader in social games and I am delighted to partner with them to introduce their social games to Japan,” said Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of Softbank. “We share the same vision as Zynga in social games and look forward to working together to create a social game powerhouse.” “We’re excited to partner with Softbank to bring Zynga’s social games to Japan and gain insights from the Japanese market,” said Mark Pincus, CEO and Founder of Zynga. “As one of the most innovative technology companies in the world, Softbank is bringing the mobile internet to consumers making the social web more accessible to people everywhere.” ### About Zynga About Softbank      
Source: TechCrunch | 29 Jul 2010 | 12:57 am India raises security concerns over BlackBerry services (Reuters)Reuters - India has raised security concerns with Research In Motion over the Canadian company's popular BlackBerry services, but is not planning a ban in the world's fastest growing mobile phone market.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 Jul 2010 | 12:54 am Fake Chinese iPads No Longer Hot SellersChina's vibrant "shanzhai" (also "shanzai") industry, which modifies or knocks off existing electronic products, quickly pounced on the iPad as it did many other phones and devices. Shanzai.com, a site...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 29 Jul 2010 | 12:38 am Valve Apologizes For 12,000 Erroneous Anti-Cheating BansEarlier this week, there were reports that large numbers of Modern Warfare 2 players on Steam were getting erroneously banned by Valve's Anti-Cheat software. While such claims are usually best taken with a grain of salt, the quantity and suddenness caused speculation that Valve's software wasn't operating correctly. A few days later, Valve president Gabe Newell sent out an email acknowledging that roughly 12,000 players had been inappropriately banned over the preceding two weeks. "The problem was that Steam would fail a signature check between the disk version of a DLL and a latent memory version. This was caused by a combination of conditions occurring while Steam was updating the disk image of a game." Valve reversed the bans and gave free copies of Left 4 Dead 2 to everyone who was affected.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 29 Jul 2010 | 12:36 am Zynga and SoftBank in an Online Games Joint Venture in Japan–and Officially Confirm $150 Million Investment [BoomTown]
Online games phenom Zynga and Japanese Internet and telecom giant SoftBank announced a joint venture to develop and distribute social games across Japan. The new Tokyo-based service will be called Zynga Japan and is Zynga’s first foray into that country. The companies also said SoftBank had completed a $150 million investment in Zynga, which has been previously reported. It’s Zynga’s second major move into Asia. In May, the start-up acquired China-based social gaming developer XPD Media. The San Francisco-based Zynga, of course, has been on a tear of late too, striking deals with Yahoo and Google, as it seeks to expand its distribution from Facebook, the social networking platform where is first took off. Zynga also recently signed a five-year agreement with Facebook. SoftBank made other digital news yesterday, when it announced that it would switch its algorithmic and paid search from Yahoo (YHOO) to Google (GOOG). Here’s the official press release:
Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jul 2010 | 12:28 am Apple iPod Nano may pose fire hazard, says Japan (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 Jul 2010 | 12:20 am Video: ItchyClips Will Sell Your Music To MusiciansMusic is like little parts of music put together, right? Now you can sell these little parts – Scratchpacks – on ItchyClips, a brand new site dedicated to sell music to musicians. I bet there are other services like this out there. This one however looks quite capable because you can sell your Ableton Live packs. Maybe one day there will be a website to sell snippets for bloggers. You know, little building blocks of posts. If you are more interested how ItchyClips works, check out their business model.
Source: CrunchGear | 29 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Opera Mini Serves One Billion Daily Page Views (Mashable)Mashable - Despite the fact that popular smartphones such as the iPhone and Android already have great web browsers, Opera's Java ME-based mobile browser Opera Mini is constantly growing. According to Opera, on July 25th it served one billion page views.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Jul 2010 | 11:31 pm Moshi MouseGuard Is Like A Screen Protector For Your Apple Magic MouseBy Andrew Liszewski I’m all for taking care of one’s toys, but even I have to wonder if these MouseGuards from Moshi are a bit overkill. They’re a form-fitting thin film that not only...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Jul 2010 | 11:27 pm Lightning Strike Timepieces - The Artya Tesla Squelette Quadri-Rotor Watch is Frenetic & Fab (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) If you're looking for a seriously luxurious one-of-a-kind watch, look no further than the Tesla Squelette Quadri-Rotor watch from Artya. The watch has actually been struck with lightning,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Jul 2010 | 11:22 pm Pizza Lovers Suffer Data Breach From Hellnetbuzz writes "Some 230,000 New Zealanders have been informed that their personal information has apparently fallen into the hands of hackers who compromised the network of a locally famous food chain, Hell Pizza. The company says it suspects 'a rogue employee,' but one security expert says Hell's ordering portal is 'about 50 steps of fail.' Several New Zealand celebrities are among the victims and at least one is taking the matter in stride, musing: 'My Twitter has been hacked, my Facebook has been hacked and I'm pretty sure half of New Zealand has my phone number already. I have nothing bad to say about Hell.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 28 Jul 2010 | 11:12 pm Researchers use Twitter tweets to measure moods (Reuters)Reuters - Twitter is for more than just tweeting.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Jul 2010 | 10:30 pm July 29, 1958: Ike Inks Space Law, NASA Born in Wake of Russ MoonPresident Eisenhower signs the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 10:00 pm Get Lamp now availableGet Lamp, a documentary about text adventures, is finally available to order after years in development. [Getlamp.com] Computerworld's Ken Gagne interviewed creator Jason Scott. Source: Boing Boing | 28 Jul 2010 | 9:11 pm Amazon CEO hopes new Kindles stoke sales (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Jul 2010 | 8:57 pm Bunker-busting ATM attacks show security holes (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Jul 2010 | 8:37 pm AT&T Won't Block Black Hat Eavesdropping Demosnydeq writes "AT&T says it won't interfere with a highly anticipated talk on intercepting cell phone calls at the Black Hat conference this week. Hacker Chris Paget last week said that he plans to demonstrate on Saturday how to set up what's essentially a fake cell tower that allows him listen in on nearby mobile calls. But Tuesday, he wrote on his blog that he had 'heard that AT&T may be considering suing me to stop my talk.' AT&T, however, has insisted it has no plans to interfere with the talk."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 28 Jul 2010 | 8:37 pm Postcards Go Virtual With SwingVine Gallery For The iPhone
Using your iPhone’s camera and GPS, the SwingVine Gallery app allows you to send a photo to a friend “secretly,” a photo that they are unable to see unless they also participate by sending a photo back, sort of like a mobile game of photo tag. While both the idea and the app interface are simple, SwingVine gallery does have its appeal, as it’s pretty hard to resist wanting to see whatever photo postcard is under wraps. I genuinely felt a level of excitement as I waited for my “secret” postcard to be revealed (It was, of course, a photo of the Eiffel Tower). The app, expected to arrive in the app store within the next 24 hours, also functions as a photo album, with all the secret photos you receive being saved alongside your own personal photos. “Our goal is capturing people’s lives visually” says co-founder Ling Bao. For those that can’t wait until it drops, you can try out the feature on the web here.
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 8:29 pm New KindleAmazon's newest version of the Kindle is just $139. [CrunchGear]Source: Boing Boing | 28 Jul 2010 | 8:20 pm NOAA: last decade was warmest, global warming "undeniable" - USA Today
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 28 Jul 2010 | 8:04 pm Bezos On iPad: “You are not going to improve Hemingway by adding video snippets.”
That said, I still didn’t see any real future for such a product. At $359, it was still absurdly expensive. And with all the rumors swirling about Apple’s impending tablet device, it seemed like it was a temporary niche product, at best. But on the eve of the unveiling of the third iteration of the device, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is making things more interesting. Specifically, Bezos seems to understand that he cannot compete with the iPad. And he doesn’t want to. “Mr. Bezos said he intentionally left off some potential whiz-bang features from the new Kindle, like color and touch-screen controls, that would have introduced compromises to the reading experience such as glare,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “There are going to be 100 companies making LCD [screen] tablets. Why would we want to be 101? I like building a purpose-built reading device. I think that is where we can make a real contribution,” he continues. Whether you believe that or not, it goes against reports from last year that Amazon was trying to figure out how best to compete against more advanced tablets by offering features such as color screens. Bezos even said that they had them in the laboratory to test out. But he also said that they weren’t ready for prime time, so color Kindles were at least a few years away. But his new statements seems to indicate that Amazon may never go in that direction with the Kindle. If their goal is just to focus on making the best reading device, why go with color and video, is his reasoning. Here’s his killer quote from the WSJ piece:
That’s a smart position to take — for now. From a consumer hardware perspective, Amazon was never going to be able to compete with Apple — they simple lack the experience. So instead, Amazon is going to forge ahead with this dedicated device in hopes that it will catch on with mainstream consumers before the more expensive tablets do. Naturally, the key to all of this is the price. The new Kindle will come in two flavors: a 3G one for $189 and a WiFi one for $139. The latter price is almost a full third less than the original Kindle was. It’s also a much, much cheaper than the entry-level iPad at $499. $99 still seems like the ultimate sweet-spot for the Kindle, but it’s hard to argue with $139. The problem here is that I’m not convinced Amazon really wanted to go that low. Remember that it was only hours after Barnes & Noble announced their Nook would be $199 (and $149 for the WiFi version) that Amazon dropped their price from $259 all the way down to $189 — exactly $10 cheaper. Undoubtedly, Amazon has lowered the costs associated with the making the Kindle over the past three years, but $399 to $189 is pretty dramatic. Everyone felt the Kindle was far too expensive at $399 or $359 but Amazon still resisted the pressure to lower the price quickly. The reason? They had complete control of the market — they didn’t have to. It was only when the Nook, Border’s Kobo, and the iPad came out that the prices truly started to fall fast. So the question now: is Amazon making any money on selling these devices? Some may think that doesn’t matter because they’re Amazon’s way to move their content (pretty much the anti-Apple approach). But as Bezos points out, the Kindle store and the Kindle hardware are completely separate entities within Amazon. “Internally, we view them as two stand-alone businesses that have to succeed on their own merits,” he tells WSJ. Can selling the Kindle hardware at such a low price fulfill that? The larger problem remains for Amazon as well. While the Kindle is undoubtedly easier on the eyes than reading with the backlit iPad, the wide range of things that the iPad and other tablets can do will eventually win the day. Amazon’s price cuts have extended that day quite a bit, but it’s still inevitable. So is Amazon content to rule the space for a couple of years while not making a lot of money on devices? Or is Bezos simply bluffing on Amazon’s future Kindle aspirations? Also, does anyone really think Hemingway would have been pleased with his work on a Kindle? [image via]      
Source: TechCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 8:01 pm HTC EVO pushes Sprint over 100,000 more customersSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile
Sprint has become the little engine that could. Thanks to the hype surrounding the HTC Evo, the companies first 4G offering, Sprint added 111,000 customers. Over the past year, Sprint has lost customers quarter after quarter. Recently, the company managed to slow the pace of loss and finally with Evo’s assistance, post a net gain. The Sprint Evo is Sprint’s latest shining star: the first phone running on the 4G high-speed network. Sprint’s the first to market with 4G technology and the Evo is the poster child. Our Robert Nelson described the phone as, “the EVO 4G include features goodies such as a 4.3 inch touchscreen display, 1GHz Snapdragon processor and 8 megapixel camera as well as the ability to create a Wi-Fi hotspot for tethering.” Fine specs indeed. And the public seems to have responded to Sprint’s marketing, snapping up the phone in droves. Read: [ZDNet] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 28 Jul 2010 | 7:54 pm Cooking with homeopathyWater as flavor enhancer? Yes, ma'am. At least, that is, with booze and coffee. NYT's The Curious Cook explains the science and the taste behind this trick. (Via Graham Farmelo)Source: Boing Boing | 28 Jul 2010 | 7:41 pm Distaste for Corona saves geologist from assassination
Buried in Wikileaks' Afghanistan documents is a largely ignored 2007 warning that Pakistani spies were planning to poison booze intended for American soldiers using sulfuric acid. It sounds a little far-fetched. Until you hear the story of James Yeager, an American geologist who claims to have narrowly avoided being poisoned in exactly this way in, yes, 2007. Yeager was in Afghanistan advising the government as they took bids on a massive mining contract ...
Insert your own Corona joke here. Christian Science Monitor: Wikileaks confirmed? A plan to kill American geologist with poisoned beer Image courtesy Flickr user Kyle May, via CC
Groupon Launches Deal Personalization, Opens Door To (More) Explosive Growth
Groupon’s simplicity has no doubt contributed to its success, but this is one case where it has some very good reasons for introducing a few extra options: personalization will help the site fend off the 500 clones that are gunning for it, it will allow Groupon to offer an unlimited number of deals, and the site can now offer deals from businesses located outside of large cities. Local personalization is rolling out to six cities for now (Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle), with the rest on the way. CEO Andrew Mason says that one reason why there are so many Groupon clones is that the site simply hasn’t been able to accommodate all of the businesses looking to serve up a local deal, leading the businesses to turn a competitor. Deal personalization changes this, because Groupon can now distribute multiple deals in the same city on a given day. Where Groupon was previously limited to one deal (and maybe a second so-called “side deal”) per day, it can now offer as many deals as it has eager businesses. Again, to users, this won’t be readily apparent. When you sign up you’ll be asked for your zip code and gender, and Groupon will also allow you to specify if there are any particular types of deals you’re interested in. But there’s a good chance most people will have no idea that they’re receiving a different deal than their neighbors — they’ll still receive their daily deal in their inbox, and there won’t be a button to see the dozen other deals that might be available in that city. Deals will be distributed based on a personalization algorithm (Mason said they hired someone from Netflix to build it). Of course, that could introduce a problem: you may ask a friend if they’ve gotten in on the latest Groupon, only to find that you’ve both got different coupons. To remedy this, Mason says that you’ll still be able to send any Groupons you receive to your friends. In addition to allowing for an unlimited number of deals, the new system gives Groupon more flexibility behind the scenes. First, it can allow companies to stagger their deals, offering it multiple times over the course of a few months to different buckets of users. It also allows the site to offer deals to businesses from smaller cities. Groupon has historically only offered deals to businesses in major metropolitan areas — San Francisco, New York, etc. But plenty of users who might sign up for San Francisco deals live in a suburb, like Palo Alto. Now Groupon can identify which users live in those suburbs based on their zip codes, and send them deals from businesses in Palo Alto. This is going to be part of a broader trend for the site, which is shifting from “What’s your city?” to “What’s your zip code?”. And all of this has one other nice side effect: the deals landing in your inbox should be more relevant to what you’re actually interested in.      
Source: TechCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 7:28 pm TOTVS in 2Q10: 18th Consecutive Quarter of Double-Digit Net Revenue Growth, 18.9% Growth in License Revenue and 745 New Clients (+31.4%)SAO PAULO, July 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TOTVS S.A. (BOVESPA: TOTS3), the leader in developing and marketing integrated enterprise management software and provision of related services in Brazil, today announces its results for the second quarter of 2Q10. Highlights of the period: 18th consecutive quarter of double-digit organic growth.745 new software clients, 31.4% more than in the same period of previous year.Net Revenue: 12.4% growth over 2Q09, totaling R$270.128 million, a new quarterly record.License fee: R$70.316 million in 2Q10, 18.9% growth over 2Q09 - a record.Average ticket per client, 11.6% higher than in 1Q10.Services Revenue: 12.1% growth (2Q10 vs. 2Q09), amounting to R$90.588 million.Maintenance Fee Revenues: R$137.497 million in 2Q10, 12.3% higher than in 2Q09 - a record.EBITDA of R$62.747 million, with margin of 23.2%.Net Income and Adjusted Net Income with quarterly records of R$34.681 million (+25.7% vs. 2Q09) and R$45.908 million (+24.3% vs. 2Q09), respectively.TOTVS expands its leadership in ERP-suite in Brazil in 2009, according to IDC and reaches 65.6% market share in the small and medium companies segment.For further information, please visit: www.totvs.com/ir Conference Call in English Thursday, July 29, 2010, 01:00 p.m. (Brasilia) Webcast: www.totvs.com/ir Phone: 1 (412) 858-4600 Code: TOTVS SOURCE TOTVS S.A.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Jul 2010 | 7:14 pm In space, everybody can smell your armpitsFun trailer for Mary Roach's new book, Packing for Mars, which comes out on August 2. It tells the story of life in outer space. In this video, early '60s-era NASA conducts some delightful experiments in "minimal personal hygiene", to find out how humans might respond, socially, to a reality without earthly bathrooms. Via Submitterator
Fly Eyes Used For Solar Cellsdisco_tracy writes "Researchers took corneas from blow flies, fixed them on a glass substrate, added a polymer to protect the shape and then coated nine-eye arrays in nickel within a vacuum chamber. The result was a master template that retained those useful nanoscale features and can be used to make solar cells."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 28 Jul 2010 | 7:09 pm What Weeks Of Real Usage Tells About New iPhone [Personal Technology]When I reviewed Apple’s new iPhone 4 last month, I said that, overall, it was still the best of the super-smartphones. But I warned that, in my tests, its performance in making voice calls on AT&T’s network in the U.S. was decidedly mixed. [ See post to watch video ] In some cases, I found it dropped fewer calls than its predecessor, the iPhone 3GS. In others, especially in weak-coverage areas, I found that it showed fewer bars of service than the 3GS and that in about half a dozen cases in weak-coverage areas, it briefly showed no service at all, or was searching for a network, while the older model showed some service. I also reported that Apple told me that it had discovered a bug in the new phone’s display of bars, as opposed to its actual reception, and that a fix for the bug was in the works. Nevertheless, I said that despite the new iPhone’s overall quality, I couldn’t recommend it for people in areas with poor reception on AT&T, the phone’s sole carrier in the U.S. A big controversy then erupted after it was reported that if a user’s hand touched a visible seam in the phone’s antenna, which is mostly external and runs along its edge, the signal-strength bars dropped dramatically. Apple conceded the point, but said this effect, called attenuation, occurred on all cellphones, even those whose antennas were out of view inside the case. It also said the effect on the iPhone 4 appeared greater than it really was because the error in displaying the bars exaggerated how many there were in the first place. It has since issued the promised fix, which tends now to show fewer bars, and to show less of a drop-off when this “hot spot” in the antenna is touched. So, this week, I am presenting a follow-up on the reception issue. It is based on my real-world experience—not lab tests—over six weeks of daily use with two different iPhone 4 units: the original one Apple lent me for testing, and a second one I purchased on which I installed the fix for the display of the bars.  In weak coverage areas, the iPhone 3GS performed better in a six-week test than the iPhone 4. As in most unscientific cellphone tests, my experience was affected by many variables, including the locations where I used the phone (in this case, the Washington and Boston areas), and the coverage and congestion on the cellular network at various times and places. So, your experience may differ. After my six weeks of constant use of two iPhone 4s, I still believe it is, overall, the best device in its class, for reasons including its ultra high-resolution screen; easy, integrated video calling; slick software; strong battery life; a remarkably thin body; and a world-beating selection of 225,000 third-party apps. As for reception, I am sticking with my initial conclusions. I have found that in areas with average or strong AT&T coverage and capacity, the iPhone performs better than its predecessor and about as well as other AT&T smartphones I’ve recently tested. It still drops too many calls for my taste on AT&T’s heavily stressed network, which has experienced a stunning 5,000% rise in data traffic since the iPhone’s introduction in 2007. That data traffic reduces the network’s ability to handle voice calls. Just as with its predecessors, I have experienced some terrible calls, which dropped multiple times, especially while in my car, when any cellphone must hand off the call among different cell towers and travel occasionally through weak or overloaded coverage areas. But I have had fewer of these worst-case experiences than with the 3GS, and marginally fewer occasions when the call dropped even once. This experience may not be acceptable to some users, but it is, overall, an improvement. Outside of the car, in areas where I had good or just adequate reception, the iPhone 4 performed better than its predecessor, dropping fewer calls. In weak coverage areas, however, I continue to find that the iPhone 4 performs worse than the 3GS. Apple says it has heard the opposite from many of its customers. The company says they report that the new model works better in poor coverage areas. But that hasn’t been my experience. I still find that calls drop more frequently in these areas, and that, occasionally, it either shows no service or is searching for service, though it tends to recover quickly.  The iPhone 4 dropped fewer calls than iPhone 3GS. One caveat: on several occasions, I have found that even when the iPhone 4 showed only one bar (with the new bar-displaying software) I was still able to make and hold clear calls. What about the dreaded “hot spot,” a seam at the lower left of the external antenna where the cellular radio is connected to the external portion of the antenna? In my experience, deliberately touching that spot can, indeed, make the bars fall, from say, three to one. But, sometimes, it actually makes the bars rise. In general, I’d say it makes the bars fluctuate. But touching the hot spot doesn’t always ruin the call, even if it lowers the number of bars. In several cases, when I was already on a call with three or four bars showing, I deliberately covered the hot spot with my hand, and the call continued normally, strong and clear, even though the bars dropped to one or two. I also spent a few days testing the “bumper” case Apple is now giving away to every iPhone 4 user. It greatly reduced what call problems I experienced, even in weak areas, though it didn’t entirely eliminate dropped calls, which occur even in good coverage. One other point. A key reason Apple moved most of the antenna to the outside of the phone was to free up room inside for a larger battery, while keeping the phone thin. In my six weeks of experience, the battery life has been outstanding. I have never run out of battery in a day’s use, despite constant, heavy email traffic, lots of Web surfing and app usage, and frequent checking of social networks. So that’s my six-week, real-world report. Despite the hot-spot issue and the exposed antenna, the iPhone 4 does better than the 3GS for me in decent coverage. But I still wouldn’t advise adopting it as your primary phone if you live, work or travel in areas with poor AT&T reception, or if you prefer a network under less stress. Find Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the All Things Digital website, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com. Source: All Things Digital | 28 Jul 2010 | 7:04 pm Shopping in Harajuku, Tokyo
(In July, I went on a family vacation to Japan. Here are my posts about the trip: The Ghibli Museum | Watermelons in the shape of cubes, hearts, and pyramids | What happened to the Burgie Beer UFO of Melrose Avenue?) Having been to Tokyo three times previous to our recent vacation, I was excited to take my daughters to Harajuku, a popular teen shopping area in the city. To get there, we took a short ride on the JR Line to Harajuku Station, which has a neat Tudor-esque building built in 1925.
We took the Takeshita Exit from the station, which lead us to Takeshita Dori, a narrow pedestrian street filled with teen fashion boutiques and creperies. Many more photos after the jump.
I didn't see anyone smorking (or smoking, for that matter), but I saw plenty of "touts" -- young African men who follow shoppers down the street to try to convince them to shop in stores that hire them to tout their wares. No one seemed to pay any attention to the touts. I wonder how they make a living?
Cheap trinkets were in abundance near the top of the street, giving this part of Takeshita Dori a slightly seedy, past-it's-prime vibe, much the way I remember London's Carnaby Street in the 1980s.
We spent a long time at Kiddy Land, a toy story with six floors.
Near the Harajuku Station is Yoyogi Park, where cosplayers happily pose for photos.
Report finds government officials downloaded kiddie porn on the job
Viewing porn at work is stupid enough, but viewing child porn? And these people are entrusted with top secret clearance and our national security? Frightening. Read [Boston Globe] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:47 pm Staying Connected While Traveling [Mossberg's Mailbox]Q:
We’re a retired couple who travel in and out of the U.S.A. and need to keep in touch with our e-mails and Schwab account on line. Please recommend a netbook or laptop for this that we can use all over the world. We’d prefer to spend under $500. A: Since Wi-Fi works all over the world, and all netbooks and laptops today that I’ve seen have Wi-Fi, and your needs are modest, any sub-$500 laptop or any netbook would do. If you want to connect when you’re not near a Wi-Fi hotspot, look for one with a built-in data modem that supports the GSM standard which works world-wide and with AT&T and T-Mobile in the United States. Make sure it covers all the various frequencies used overseas, not just those used in the U.S. Or, you could simply buy an external USB cellular data card that meets these criteria. Q:
I just got my iPad and am wondering whether the more powerful iPad charger will work with my iPhone 3GS without damaging it, or whether the smaller charger that came with my iPhone will charge my iPad. A: According to Apple, the smaller iPhone charger will work with the iPad, although charging will be slower. I have tried this, and it works. As for the reverse case, Apple says you can also use the larger iPad charger with the iPhone, without harm, though it won’t charge the phone any faster. I have tried this, and it works. As for the reverse case, I have charged my own iPhone using the more powerful iPad charger with no apparent problems, but I don’t know if Apple officially approves of this. Q:
I have a new Dell Inspiron with Windows 7. My photos are all over the place—I still haven’t figured out this file and library thing. Can you recommend a program to find, organize and eliminate duplicate photos. Some have been renamed and are in various folders. A: I’d suggest you download the free Picasa desktop program for Windows, made by Google It will scour your computer for photos, allow you to organize them, and it includes an “experimental” features that hunts down duplicates so you can eliminate them. You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox and my other columns, online for free at the new All Things Digital website, http://walt.allthingsd.com. Write to Walter S. Mossberg at walt.mossberg@wsj.com Source: All Things Digital | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:40 pm Hacker Proves Facebook’s Public Data Is Public
Bowes created a torrent containing over 171 million entries with links to profiles that provide access to the names, addresses and phone numbers of 100 million users, one fifth of Facebook. Bowes accessed Facebook’s directory, which has the default dictum “Anyone can opt out of appearing here by changing their Search privacy settings.” Yeah, but should they have to? These kinds of security breaches will only encourage more hackers desperate for attention. Now would be a good time for Facebook to set their default search to “Friends Only.” Why? Because most people are aren’t quite aware that check mark next to “Everyone” includes a hacker who can grab your personal info, package it up and sell it to the highest bidder. According to Bowes the torrent contains (at 2.8 GB, our torrent is “still downloading”) …
While the advice to an individual user to change your privacy settings may be moot at this point, the suggestion that Facebook make it profiles unindexable by default isn’t. Especially when you read the more ominous statement from Bowes further on in his post on the breach, “So far, I have only indexed the searchable users, not their friends … I’d like to tackle that in the future.” Photo: Bejealousofme/Flickr Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:22 pm Chevy Volt Not Green Enough For Californiathecarchik writes "The first two plug-in cars from major manufacturers will go head-to-head on warranties and lease prices: $350 a month for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, $349 for the 2011 Nissan Leaf. Now the choice shifts to other measures, including electric and overall range, as well as the plug-in perks that states like California offer to early adopters to encourage them to opt for electric cars. This is where it gets interesting. While California loves the Nissan Leaf, current regulations deny Chevy Volt buyers two significant perks: a $5,000 rebate, and permission to drive solo in HOV Lanes."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:22 pm Amazon Strikes Back at the iPad With New, $140 Kindle
Jeff Bezos has survived the iPad. Predictions that Apple’s bright tablet computer would be a Kindle-killer haven’t quite come to pass: Amazon CEO Bezos says that the growth rate in sales of his e-reading device has tripled since June, when he dropped the Kindle price to $189. (Clearly increased competition from other e-readers, like Sony Reader and the Barnes and Noble Nook, hasn’t dampened the Kindle fire, either.) And he’s still kvelling over last week’s announcement that e-book sales on Amazon exceed the number of hardback books sold by the e-commerce site. “And that’s with a device at the end of its product life cycle,” he says. The cycle of life resets on Aug. 27, when Amazon will ship the third-generation Kindle. Judging from a brief hands-on demo, the new Kindle — which still costs $189 — isn’t a drastic makeover but a canny evolution that enhances the device’s raison d’etre: reading. But by also releasing a lower-cost ($139) version of the Kindle without 3G wireless connectivity, Bezos anticipates millions of new customers who can live with waiting for a Wi-Fi hot spot to replenish their content. He says that the introduction of the Wi-Fi version is purely a price play, a way to sell Kindles to families and couples who already have one in the house. “At $139, you’re going to have multiple Kindles, not just one,” Bezos says. Consistent with Amazon’s past practice, Bezos revealed no specifics about Kindle sales to date, other than to say that “millions” have already been sold. This year’s Kindle comes in either the classic ivory or an earthier graphite hue. The most significant improvement — perhaps as a “sez you” to the crisp iPad screen — is a sharper e-ink display than previous Kindles. Bezos claims that the contrast is 50 percent better, due in part to a proprietary technology involving “font hinting” which more skillfully manipulates the electronic ink that forms the letters. Also, as Apple’s CEO has been known to say, “It’s really thin!” The new Kindle is a svelte 1/3 of an inch thick and weighs 8.7 ounces, making it 21 percent smaller than the 2G Kindle. This makes Kindle lighter than a paperback, while the iPad is heavier than Infinite Jest. (Eventually, Bezos says, he’d like to make the Kindle so light “you’d need a paperweight to hold it down.”)
“Our best estimate is that Kindle books will outsell paperbacks sometime in the next nine to 12 months.” — Jeff Bezos
The pages turn 20 percent faster than on the previous Kindle, and Amazon has even tamped down the clicking sound of the buttons, so readers are less likely to disturb a slumbering companion. Those page-turning buttons, by the way, are longer and slimmer — almost like bumpers on the edge of the device. This may be the first Kindle that finally prevents you from turning a page by mistake. The long-anticipated Kindle touchscreen is … still not there. “From an engineering point of view, it would have been very easy to put a touchscreen on it,” says Bezos. “But it would hurt the reading experience.” He says that e-ink touchscreens degrade display quality and add glare. Instead, the Kindle revamps its interface by replacing its stubby joystick with a “five way” arrangement where a thumbnail-sized selection button is surrounded by a thin band of compass-point directional buttons. The home and the menu button are now placed on the keyboard array. Maybe third time’s the charm for the Kindle, which has changed navigational controls on each version. Other improvements include expanded battery life: a full month if the radio’s off, and 10 days if you leave the 3G turned on. There’s twice as much storage, enough for 3,500 books. And though Bezos didn’t show it to me, Amazon is offering a cover with a built-in LED reading light that works off the device’s battery. It’s $60, which seems pricey for a book light, but Amazon explains that it uses gold-plated conducive hinges. Maybe when you’re done reading you can use it as jewelry.
Citing competitive reasons, Bezos does not reveal Kindle sales figures, only saying the numbers are in the millions. “We’re starting to see evidence that at the $189 price point that this may be a mass product,” he says. “Even though we’re designing it for readers, it seems to be breaking out.” With a Kindle now selling at $139, he expects the tipping point to tip even more. What’s more, the revelation that Amazon sells more Kindle books than hardcovers is only the beginning of what now looks like an inevitable mass migration to e-books. “Our best estimate is that Kindle books will outsell paperbacks at Amazon sometime in the next nine to twelve months,” Bezos says. “And then at some point after that they’ll overtake the combination.” As for the iPad? Bezos is a fan. “My first thought when I saw the iPad is that it will be great for our mobile commerce business — the more internet-connected devices the better, from Amazon’s point of view.” But if people thought the iPad would be a challenger to Kindle’s e-reading throne, “it hasn’t happened that way,” says Bezos with his trademark laugh. He tried reading a bit on an iPad but didn’t get far because “if I have to read a long document on an LCD display, the first thing I do is print it out.” He thinks that people will be fine with carrying multiple devices — tablet, laptop and, of course, “purpose-built reading devices that are extremely light, let you read outside in bright daylight, a whole bunch of things.” Like the one he’s now selling for $139.
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:20 pm Amazon Strikes Back at the iPad With New, $140 KindleAmazon will ship the third generation of its Kindle e-book reader on Aug. 27, offering a cheaper, Wi-Fi only version for just $140. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos also offers some optimistic predictions about the future growth of e-book sales.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:20 pm Amazon Strikes Back at the iPad With New, $140 KindleAmazon will ship the third generation of its Kindle e-book reader on Aug. 27, offering a cheaper, Wi-Fi only version for just $140. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos also offers some optimistic predictions about the future growth of e-book sales.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:20 pm So Is The iPhone An “iPhone Killer” Killer?
If Reuters is to be believed, the BlackBerry 9800 set to be unveiled next Tuesday will destroy the iPhone. I’m not sure how yet. But it just will. Nevermind the fact that it’s at least the tenth or so phone to earn such a moniker — and the iPhone is not only still alive, but thriving — it just will. Now look, generally I don’t have a major problem with declaring something a “XXXXX-killer” in headlines. Sure, it’s lazy, but it’s also an easy way to get readers to understand what a product is attempting to be. And it’s a hell of a lot sexier than saying something is a “XXXXX competitor.” That’s boring (and longer, to boot). The problem with the term “iPhone killer” is that it has lost all meaning. Crying it has become the modern day equivalent of crying “wolf”. The G1 was an iPhone killer. The BlackBerry Storm was an iPhone killer. The Palm Pre was an iPhone killer. The Nexus One was an iPhone killer. The list goes on. All of those devices are now dead or dying. Sure, you could argue that the various iterations of the iPhone are all different so the original iPhone is now dead too. But the key is that it wasn’t any of the aforementioned devices that killed it — it was Apple. It was simply the natural product cycle that killed the older iPhones, not a competitor. And the iPhone hasn’t yet killed any competitor either — or at least not directly. You could argue that the device has had a hand in the death (by sale) of the Palm Pre, as well as the struggles that Nokia, and now LG are having in the smartphone space. But the larger point is that the entire space is growing so quickly that it would be nearly impossible for one device to actual kill off another one. Instead, it’s poor decisions and execution by the company in charge that kill the devices (see: Microsoft Kin). And specifically with “iPhone killers,” there’s a problem because while they may be created with the intention of competing with the iPhone, most actually don’t from the outset. Apple has a unique way of doing things where they control the hardware and the software for their devices. Most companies don’t (though BlackBerry parent RIM does), so instead they end up competing with one another. People buy the iPhone because they want the full hardware plus software experience and access to the contained Apple ecosystem. People buy the “iPhone killers” for other reasons. Some because they are cheaper. Some because they have have physical keyboards. Some because they are more open. Those products aren’t competing with (or “killing”) the iPhone because Apple doesn’t offer any of those things. So perhaps it would be better to label “iPhone killers” as “killers of iPhone killers” — or, even sexier, “iPhone killer killer.” The fundamental question here: is the BlackBerry 9800 going to kill the iPhone? No. Is it going to hurt the sales of the iPhone? Probably not. Is it going to be a popular device? Probably, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the iPhone. Yesterday, I noted that the mouse was going to die. But if you read those posts carefully, I didn’t say the Magic Trackpad (or any single device, for that matter) was going to kill it. Instead, it’s a combination of new devices and time that will kill it. The same is true for the iPhone. One day it will die. But the killer holding the knife will be Apple — either because they’ve mismanaged the product, or because they’ve moved on to something else.
[image: Lions Gate Films]      
Source: TechCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:17 pm Photoshop of Horrors: Readers Show BP How It's DoneWe asked for your help to show BP how to improve upon their terribly Photoshopped oil-cleanup images, and you delivered some awesome images.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:15 pm New Study Reveals Decline Of Marine Phytoplankton Over The Past CenturyStriking global changes at the base of the marine food web linked to rising ocean temperaturesA new article published in the 29 July issue of the international journal Nature reveals for the first time that microscopic marine algae known as "phytoplankton" have been declining globally over the 20th century. Phytoplankton forms the basis of the marine food chain and sustains diverse assemblages of species ranging from tiny zooplankton to large marine mammals, seabirds, and fish. Says lead author Daniel Boyce, "Phytoplankton is the fuel on which marine ecosystems run. A decline of phytoplankton affects everything up the food chain, including humans."Using an unprecedented collection of historical and recent oceanographic data, a team from Canada's Dalhousie University documented phytoplankton declines of about 1% of the global average per year. This trend is particularly well documented in the Northern Hemisphere and after 1950, and would translate into a decline of approximately 40% since 1950. The scientists found that long-term phytoplankton declines were negatively correlated with rising sea surface temperatures and changing oceanographic conditions.The goal of the three-year analysis was to resolve one of the most pressing issues in oceanography, namely to answer the seemingly simple question of whether the ocean is becoming more (or less) „green' with algae. Previous analyses had been limited to more recent satellite data (consistently available since 1997) and have yielded variable results. To extend the record into the past, the authors analysed a unique compilation of historical measurements of ocean transparency going back to the very beginning of quantitative oceanography in the late 1800s, and combined these with additional samples of phytoplankton pigment („chlorophyll') from ocean-going research vessels. The end result was a database of just under half a million observations which enabled the scientists to estimate phytoplankton trends over the entire globe going back to the year 1899.The scientists report that most phytoplankton declines occurred in polar and tropical regions and in the open oceans where most phytoplankton production occurs. Rising sea surface temperatures were negatively correlated with phytoplankton growth over most of the globe, especially close to the equator. Phytoplankton need both sunlight and nutrients to grow; warm oceans are strongly stratified, which limits the amount of nutrients that are delivered from deeper waters to the surface ocean. Rising temperatures may contribute to making the tropical oceans even more stratified, leading to increasing nutrient limitation and phytoplankton declines. The scientists also found that large-scale climate fluctuations, such as the El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), affect phytoplankton on a year-to-year basis, by changing short-term oceanographic conditions.The findings contribute to a growing body of scientific evidence indicating that global warming is altering the fundamentals of marine ecosystems. Says co-author Marlon Lewis, "Climate-driven phytoplankton declines are another important dimension of global change in the oceans, which are already stressed by the effects of fishing and pollution. Better observational tools and scientific understanding are needed to enable accurate forecasts of the future health of the ocean." Explains co-author Boris Worm, "Phytoplankton are a critical part of our planetary life support system. They produce half of the oxygen we breathe, draw down surface CO2, and ultimately support all of our fisheries. An ocean with less phytoplankton will function differently, and this has to be accounted for in our management efforts."---On the Net:Dalhousie UniversityNatureSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:12 pm Amazon Reveals New Kindle: $139 For Wi-Fi Version, $189 for 3G
     
Source: TechCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:09 pm Scientists Uncover Global Distribution Of Marine BiodiversityNew study suggests primary role of ocean temperature in the distribution of marine biodiversity, documents significant overlap between areas of high human impact and diversity hotspotsIn an unprecedented effort that will be published online on the 28th of July by the international journal Nature, a team of scientists mapped and analyzed global biodiversity patterns for over 11,000 marine species ranging from tiny zooplankton to sharks and whales. The researchers found striking similarities among the distribution patterns, with temperature strongly linked to biodiversity for all thirteen groups studied. These results imply that future changes in ocean temperature, such as those due to climate change, may greatly affect the distribution of life in the sea. The scientists also found a high overlap between areas of high human impact and hotspots of marine diversity.Much research has been conducted on diversity patterns on land, but our knowledge of the distribution of marine life has been more limited. This has changed through the decade-long efforts of the Census of Marine Life, upon which the current paper builds. The authors synthesized global diversity patterns for major species groups including corals, fishes, whales, seals, sharks, mangroves, seagrasses, and zooplankton. In the process, the global diversity of all coastal fish species has been mapped for the first time.The researchers were interested in whether there are consistent "biodiversity hotspots" - areas of especially high numbers of species for many different types of marine organisms simultaneously. They found that the distribution of marine life showed two fundamental patterns: coastal species such as corals and coastal fishes tended to peak in diversity around Southeast Asia, whereas open-ocean creatures such as tunas and whales showed much broader hotspots across the mid-latitude oceans.The scientists also tested whether these global patterns could be consistently explained by one or more environmental factors. Temperature was the only factor found to be linked with the distribution of all species groups, with the availability of habitat also playing a role.Says lead author Derek Tittensor of Dalhousie University, "it was striking how consistently temperature was linked with marine diversity. This relationship suggests that ocean warming, such as that due to climate change, may rearrange the distribution of oceanic life." Co-author Walter Jetz of Yale University notes "while we are increasingly aware of global gradients in diversity and their associated environmental factors, our knowledge of patterns in the ocean has lagged behind that of patterns on land. Our study attempts to help overcome this disparity."The study also assessed the overlap between hotspots of marine diversity and human impacts, i.e. the combined effects of fishing, habitat alteration, climate change and pollution. Human impacts were found to be particularly concentrated in areas of high diversity, suggesting the potential for severe species losses in these regions. Says co-author Camilo Mora of Dalhousie University, "the combined effects of exploitation, habitat alteration, pollution and climate change are threatening the diversity of life in the global ocean. Our research provides further evidence that limiting ocean warming and other human impacts will be particularly important in securing these hotspots of marine biodiversity into the future."Co-author Boris Worm of Dalhousie University also highlights the need to maintain biodiversity in the face of these impacts: "biodiversity and the functioning of ecosystems are often tightly coupled, with highly diverse ecosystems providing more goods and services that benefit human beings, as well as being more resilient in the face of disturbance, than less diverse ecosystems. The observed concentration of human impacts in our richest marine areas is a worrying indication of our growing footprint in the oceans."Many of the data used for this study come from the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS, http://www.iobis.org), a public database created by the Census of Marine Life. Says Edward Vanden Berghe of Rutgers University, co-author of the paper and executive director of OBIS: "with OBIS we've created a framework for sharing and re-using data, which makes this type of global, all-encompassing science possible."---On the Net:Dalhousie UniversityNatureSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:09 pm Amazon Reveals New Kindle: $139 For Wi-Fi Version, $189 For 3G
They say they’ve updated the web browser, which is nice, I suppose, but the idea of an E-ink web browser still leaves me cold. Focus on the reading experience and leave the browsing to iPads. There is a new voice navigation option, though, which sounds handy — I look forward to barking “next page!” at my e-reader in a crowded cafe. Personally, I think this is a nice little improvement. The streamlined, lighter body plus the new E-ink screen make it a legitimate step up from both the old version and other e-readers on the market. We’ll have a full review as soon as we get our hands on one. The 3G version will sell for $189. For the UK, the prices will be £109 and £149. You’ll be able to pick one up at your local Amazon.com as soon as they go live.
Source: CrunchGear | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:07 pm NRC, UOttawa Scientists First To Watch A Chemical Bond Break Using Molecule's ElectronsScientists at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) enjoyed a bird's eye view of a chemical bond as it breaks.The making and breaking of chemical bonds underlie the biochemical processes of life itself. A greater understanding of the quantum processes that lead to chemical reactions may lead to new strategies in the design and control of molecules — ultimately leading to scientific breakthroughs in health care and diagnostic medicine, quantum computing, nanotechnology, environmental science and energy.The NRC-uOttawa team, led by Dr. David Villeneuve, achieved their feat using a technique developed several years ago at NRC in which an image was obtained of a single electron orbiting a molecule. In the current experiment, which is reported in the July 29th edition of Nature, scientists injected bromine gas into a vacuum chamber. There, an ultra brief ultraviolet light pulse caused the bromine molecules to separate into their individual atoms (a bromine molecule is composed of two bromine atoms). A few femtoseconds later, an intense infrared laser pulse caused the molecule to emit an attosecond-duration X-ray burst that contained a snapshot of the atom's position as the molecule fell apart and revealed how the electrons rearranged themselves."Due to the strange laws of quantum physics," Dr. Villeneuve explains, "a molecule that is broken apart by an ultraviolet laser pulse is at the same time unaffected by the pulse, a paradox, much like Schrödinger's Cat is both dead and alive."The interference of the x-rays emitted by the two quantum states of the molecule was used to find the location of the atoms and to watch over a period of only 200 femtoseconds as it progressed from being a molecule to being two separate atoms. The experiment reached a precision below 500 zeptoseconds in clocking the emitted x-ray bursts. "It is exciting to see the quantum transformation as it goes from being a molecule, in which electrons are shared, to individual atoms, says Villeneuve.According to Professor Paul Corkum, co-author and a pioneer in attosecond physics, "In real life we are most sensitive to motion if there is a fixed background for reference. We have shown that it is the same in the molecular world. Unreacting molecules – usually a nuisance in an experiment – can also form a reference. Against this fixed background we become so sensitive to motion that we can see just few dissociating molecules. The experiment is another important step towards the dream of filming chemical reactions."The research was conducted at JASLab, the Joint Attosecond Science Laboratory, a shared laser facility between the National Research Council of Canada and the University of Ottawa, with the participation of the Technical University of Vienna. JASLab is one of the top laboratories in the world conducting research on the attosecond timescale.---On the Net:National Research Council of CanadaNatureSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:04 pm Let the Little Guys Get In on Pre-IPOThe rich are adding to their millions with pre-IPO stock, but today's internet stock rockets are social networks built by their members -- so shouldn’t Regular Joes get a cut, too?
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:00 pm U.S. Military Learns to Fight Deadliest WeaponsThe most deadly weapons in Iraq and Afghanistan aren't AK-47s or grenades -- they're roadside bombs made out of gas cans, garage door openers and fertilizer. Here’s how the U.S. military is fighting back.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:00 pm Nanoblasts From Laser-Activated Nanoparticles Move Molecules, Proteins And DNA Into CellsDrug delivery techniqueUsing chemical "nanoblasts" that punch tiny holes in the protective membranes of cells, researchers have demonstrated a new technique for getting therapeutic small molecules, proteins and DNA directly into living cells.Carbon nanoparticles activated by bursts of laser light trigger the tiny blasts, which open holes in cell membranes just long enough to admit therapeutic agents contained in the surrounding fluid. By adjusting laser exposure, the researchers administered a small-molecule marker compound to 90 percent of targeted cells – while keeping more than 90 percent of the cells alive.The research was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the Institute of Paper Science and Technology at Georgia Tech. It will be reported in the August issue of the journal Nature Nanotechnology."This technique could allow us to deliver a wide variety of therapeutics that now cannot easily get into cells," said Mark Prausnitz, a professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "One of the most significant uses for this technology could be for gene-based therapies, which offer great promise in medicine, but whose progress has been limited by the difficulty of getting DNA and RNA into cells."The work is believed to be the first to use activation of reactive carbon nanoparticles by lasers for medical applications. Additional research and clinical trials will be needed before the technique could be used in humans.Researchers have been trying for decades to drive DNA and RNA more efficiently into cells with a variety of methods, including using viruses to ferry genetic materials into cells, coating DNA and RNA with chemical agents or employing electric fields and ultrasound to open cell membranes. However, these previous methods have generally suffered from low efficiency or safety concerns.With their new technique, which was inspired by earlier work on the so-called "photoacoustic effect," Prausnitz and collaborators Prerona Chakravarty, Wei Qian and Mostafa El-Sayed hope to better localize the application of energy to cell membranes, creating a safer and more efficient approach for intracellular drug delivery.Their technique begins with introducing particles of carbon black measuring 25 nanometers – one millionth of an inch – in diameter into the fluid surrounding the cells into which the therapeutic agents are to be introduced. Bursts of near-infrared light from a femotosecond laser are then applied to the fluid at a rate of 90 million pulses per second. The carbon nanoparticles absorb the light, which makes them hot. The hot particles then heat the surrounding fluid to make steam. The steam reacts with the carbon nanoparticles to form hydrogen and carbon monoxide.The two gases form a bubble which grows as the laser provides energy. The bubble collapses suddenly when the laser is turned off, creating a shock wave that punches holes in the membranes of nearby cells. The openings allow therapeutic agents from the surrounding fluid to enter the cells. The holes quickly close so the cell can survive.The researchers have demonstrated that they could get the small molecule calcein, the bovine serum albumin protein and plasmid DNA through the cell membranes of human prostate cancer cells and rat gliosarcoma cells using this technique. Calcein uptake was seen in 90 percent of the cells at laser levels that left more than 90 percent of the cells alive."We could get almost all of the cells to take up these molecules that normally wouldn't enter the cells, and almost all of the cells remained alive," said Prerona Chakravarty, the study's lead author. "Our laser-activated carbon nanoparticle system enables controlled bubble implosions that can disrupt the cell membranes just enough to get the molecules in without causing lasting damage."To assess how long the holes in the cell membrane remained open, the researchers left the simulated therapeutics out of the fluid when the cells were exposed to the laser light, then added the agents one second after turning off the laser. They saw almost no uptake of the molecules, suggesting that the cell membranes resealed themselves quickly.To confirm that the carbon-steam reaction was a critical factor driving the nanoblasts, the researchers substituted gold nanoparticles for the carbon nanoparticles before exposure to laser light. Because they lacked the carbon needed for reaction, the gold nanoparticles produced little uptake of the molecules, Prausnitz noted.Similarly, the researchers substituted carbon nanotubes for the carbon nanoparticles, and also measured little uptake, which they explained by noting that the nanotubes are less reactive than the carbon black particles.Experimentation further showed that DNA introduced into cells through the laser-activated technique remained functional and capable of driving protein expression. When plasmid DNA that encoded for luciferase expression was introduced into the cancer cells, production of luciferase increased 17-fold.For the future, the researchers plan to study use of a less expensive nanosecond laser to replace the ultrafast femtosecond instrument used in the research. They also plan to optimize the carbon nanoparticles so that nearly all of them are consumed during the exposure to laser light. Leftover carbon nanoparticles in the body should produce no harmful effects, though the body may be unable to eliminate them, Prausnitz noted."This is the first study showing proof of principle for laser-activation of reactive carbon nanoparticles for drug and gene delivery," he said. "There is a considerable path ahead before this can be brought into medicine, but we are optimistic that this approach can ultimately provide a new alternative for delivering therapeutic agents into cells safely and efficiently."---On the Net:Georgia Institute of Technology Research NewsNature NanotechnologySource: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:58 pm Sensing Wind Speed With KitesKites have a storied history in meteorological research -- think of Benjamin Franklin and his study of electricity -- including being used to carry aloft sensors that measure wind speed. Previously, however, these sensors, because they were exposed to direct sunlight, were prone to temperature errors that affected their accuracy. Now researchers at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom have developed a way to use a kite itself to measure wind speed.The researchers, professor of atmospheric physics Giles Harrison and applied meteorologist Kieran Walesby, describe their device in the AIP's Review of Scientific Instruments. The instrument consists of a 2-meter-long and 1-meter-wide Rokkaku-type kite -- a simple-to-construct Japanese kite design with "good stability, reasonable load-carrying capacity, and a low sink rate when the wind speed drops," Harrison says -- attached to a ground-based strain gauge that monitors the tension in the kite's tether line. That line tension, Harrison and Walesby found, is linearly related to wind speed."The kite method is portable and cheap, and removes the need for a mast to support an anemometer," Harrison says. "A particular use is to provide measurements above those reached by masts" -- although, he adds, "it will work less well at low levels, or in very turbulent conditions. We expect to refine the kite design to allow operation in a wider range of conditions, and to encourage wider adoption of our approach."---On the Net:American Institute of PhysicsSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:55 pm iPhone 3G Users Complain of Slowdown on Upgrade to iOS4
Some Apple 3G phone owners who upgraded to the new iOS4 operating system are facing buyer’s remorse. The upgrade has left their devices slow and struggling for breath, according to complaints on Apple’s users forum. “My iPhone 8Gb 3G is soooo slow after ‘upgrading’ to OS4,” says a user registered as George Stark on the Apple forum. “Unlocking the phone sometimes takes 5-10 seconds and the home screen icons literally stop converging halfway through and then 2 seconds later, finish off. Other things are ridiculously slow, such as opening and replying to texts. Good one Apple, maybe you want us all to upgrade to the iPhone 4 so that OS4 actually runs at a manageable speed?” Apple is looking into the complaints. “We are aware of these reports and we are investigating,” a company spokeswoman told Wired.com Apple rolled out iOS4 in June as a new version of the operating system that would introduce features such as multitasking, a unified inbox for e-mail and the ability to group apps into folders. iPhone users who had bough their devices in 2007, when the phone was first introduced, cannot run iOS 4 at all. But iPhone 3G users can upgrade to iOS4 though multitasking is not supported for these devices. iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 are completely compatible with iOS 4. But Apple’s decision to make older iPhone models seems to have backfired. When Apple moved from iPhone 3G to iPhone 3GS, it introduced a faster processor in the latter. Remember all those company statement saying the ‘S’ in the 3GS stands for ’speed.’ The iPhone 3G has a 412 MHz ARM 11 chip, while the 3GS model uses a 600MHz ARM 11 processor. Clearly, the difference computing power seems to have an impact on how well the device can handle iOS4. The thread relating to iPhone 3G’s slow performance on the iOS4 is 38 pages now and has more than 560 messages. Those stuck with iPhone 3Gs running at glacial speeds, downgrading the OS to the iOS 3.1.3 may be an option. But as this tutorial shows it’s not an easy process. The alternative is to do a factory reset on the device. For Apple, the iOS4 woes on the iPhone 3G comes on the heel of ‘Antennagate‘–a widely publicized problem with the iPhone 4. Many iPhone 4 users have noticed that the device loses signal strength when gripped at a specific spot at the bottom left of the phone. Apple has responded to those complaints by offering its iPhone 4 users a free case. See Also:
Photo: (twenty5pics/Flickr) 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:51 pm R/C Millennium Falcon Lets You Play Out Your Han Solo Fantasies
Mini R/C helicopters are really fun to play with, and this model of the Millennium Falcon is no exception. Made from foam and built around a double bladed helicopter motor, this toy will let you reenact all of your favorite scenes from the original Star Wars trilogy. You can pre-order one now from the Star Wars shop for $44.99, and the expected ship date is August 1st. [via Technabob]
Source: CrunchGear | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:39 pm Firefox 4 Beta 2 adds App TabsSection: Web, Web Browsers
The biggest update on the user end of Firefox 4 beta 2 is the addition of App Tabs. We’ve already seen App Tabs in Google Chrome as pinned tabs. The basic premise is the same, App Tabs simply show a favicon in the tab bar, and are meant to be open at all times. The idea is that many users have tabs they want to keep open at all times anyway (Gmail. Pandora, Calendar, social networks, etc.) that shouldn’t be taking up space or closed accidentally. Aside from App Tabs, Mac users now finally have tabs on the top of the bar with this version. Under the hood of Firefox 4 beta 2 we see improved support for CSS3. Mozilla is touting improved support for some features, and even has a site dedicated to the improvements. Most of the examples also seem to work in Google Chrome. With the second beta of Firefox 4 already here, it looks like Mozilla is staying true to it’s October release date for the new version of the browser. Hopefully we can see some version of Tab Candy baked into one of the next betas (the test release was running on a pre-release beta 3). That functionality would really make the browser wars interesting. Read [Mashable] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:38 pm Private Security Firms Help FBI Bring Down Cybercriminals - Hacker Arrested in SloveniaMADRID and OTTAWA, Ontario, July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Spain's Panda Security and Canada's Defence Intelligence provided key information to the FBI and international authorities that led to catching 23 year-old, "Iserdo," the confirmed author of the Butterfly botnet kit. With their partners in the Mariposa Working Group, the two security firms identified Iserdo by analyzing the software behind the Mariposa botnet that compromised millions of systems worldwide. Iserdo was arrested last week in Maribor, Slovenia, and is currently free on bail. Mariposa and other information stealing botnets are built using malicious software packages such as the Butterfly kit. The Butterfly kit sold online for between euro 500 and euro 1500 ($650 - $2,000 US) and allowed people with limited computer skills to perpetrate cybercrime on a massive scale. The Butterfly kit has been used to create almost 10,000 unique pieces of malicious software and over 700 botnets. Victims include hundreds of financial institutions and government departments as well as millions of private corporations and individuals worldwide. "In the last two years, the software used to create the Mariposa botnet was sold to hundreds of other criminals, making it one of the most notorious in the world," said FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III. "These cyber intrusions, thefts, and frauds undermine the integrity of the Internet and the businesses that rely on it; they also threaten the privacy and pocketbooks of all who use the Internet." Defence Intelligence and Panda Security have been monitoring the Butterfly kit for almost two years. Victims include financial institutions, government agencies and businesses in over 200 countries. "What's exciting about these arrests is that it's the first time that the authors have been targeted. Typically, the operators of the botnets are caught, but it's extremely rare to have caught the author of the build kit behind the botnet," said Christopher Davis, CEO of Defence Intelligence. Defence Intelligence is hoping that these arrests will serve as both a precedent and a warning. Davis adds, "We need to go after all of them - the people who write the code, the people who sell it, the people who distribute it, even the money mules they use to convert stolen credit cards and banking credentials into cash." "We are extremely proud to be involved in the ongoing effort to fight cybercriminals like Iserdo, but we know that this is just one of many cybercriminals causing harm and there is still much work to be done," said Juan Santana, CEO, Panda Security. "At Panda Security we strongly believe that the fight against Internet crime requires an international collaborative effort from the computer security industry and public institutions. Together we must work to raise public awareness of the threat, push for proper legislation that apply dissuasive sanctions against criminal behavior, and provide proper training for working groups like the Mariposa Working Group to develop adequate prevention and remediation technologies to prosecute criminals effectively." Jeffrey Troy, Deputy Assistant Director for the FBI's cyber division says, "As opposed to arresting the guy who broke into your home, we've arrested the guy that gave him the crowbar, the map, and the best houses in the neighborhood. And that is a huge break in the investigation of cyber crimes." The Mariposa Working Group has contributed to the arrests of five cyber criminals in the last several months, and has dismantled one of the world's largest botnets, Mariposa. Defence Intelligence currently redirects hundreds of botnets to their "sinkhole" networks in an effort to stop their spread and facilitate analysis. "Tens of millions of unique IP addresses are contacting us instead of the bad guys," says Matt Thompson, lead researcher for Defence Intelligence. "We're proud of that," he adds. More arrests are expected as law enforcement agencies track down users of the Butterfly kit. About Defence Intelligence: Defence Intelligence is a privately held information security firm specializing in compromise protection. Based in Ottawa, Canada, the founders of Defence Intelligence are globally recognized industry experts. They have headed information security for Fortune 50 companies, consulted with hundreds of private enterprises and government agencies, and have assisted in the capture and prosecution of international computer criminals. For more information, visit www.defintel.com. About Panda Security Founded in 1990, Panda Security is the world's leading provider of cloud-based security solutions, with products available in more than 23 languages and millions of users located in 195 countries around the World. Panda Security was the first IT security company to harness the power of cloud computing with its Collective Intelligence technology. This innovative security model can automatically analyze and classify thousands of new malware samples every day, guaranteeing corporate customers and home users the most effective protection against Internet threats with minimum impact on system performance. Panda Security has 56 offices throughout the globe with US headquarters in Florida and European headquarters in Spain. Panda Security collaborates with Special Olympics, WWF and Invest for Children as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility policy. For more information, visit http://www.pandasecurity.com/. SOURCE Panda SecuritySource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:37 pm People Confront Prejudice Only When They Believe Others' Personalities Can ChangeConfronting someone who makes a prejudiced remark can be a good thing—but not everyone does it. Researchers at Stanford University studied how and when targets of bias will speak up, and found that they're more likely to do so if they hold a particular belief: that people's personalities can change.In one experiment, students (who were all ethnic minorities and/or women) were told they were going to discuss college admissions with another Stanford student over instant message. (The other student was actually a researcher.) In the course of his messages, the student, a white sophomore named "Matt," suddenly made a statement that communicated bias. He stated that he thought he had to be overqualified for college "because of the whole diversity admissions thing…so many schools reserve admissions for students who don't really qualify the same way." The participant had a chance to respond to the biased statement, or not. Who spoke up? Participants who thought personalities could change were more likely to point out and disagree with the comment. Two other experiments found that the same was true for a more blatantly prejudiced remark. The research is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science."Many people think of situations where confronting of prejudice happens as conflict situations," says Aneeta Rattan, a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford who co-wrote the study with her advisor, Carol S. Dweck. "But if confronting of prejudice is an expression of belief that people can change, to me it suggests that there's profound hope in that act as well." Other research has found that confronting people with biased views in a direct, educational way can help them learn not to behave in a prejudiced way.Rattan also points out another implication: some areas of law are based on a belief that people who are the targets of bias should speak up. "In the law, speaking up in the moment is very important in terms of whether people can bring lawsuits and the strength of their claims, especially in sexual harassment law," she says. The implication is that if the bias was all that bad, the person would have confronted it. This study suggests that people may have many reasons for not speaking up when they're the target of bias, including their own beliefs about personality. "Maybe our standards should not start with the idea that all people want to speak up—it may depend upon their beliefs about personality," she says. ---On the Net:APSPsychological ScienceSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:31 pm Exclusive: Google, CIA Invest in 'Future' of Web MonitoringThe investment arms of the CIA and Google are both backing a company that monitors the web in real-time -- and says it uses that information to predict the future.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:30 pm Most Panda Habitat Is Outside Nature Reserves According To Joint MSU-Chinese ResearchThough much effort and many resources have been expended to protect the endangered giant panda, research by an international team of scientists shows that much suitable panda habitat is outside the nature reserves and areas where the panda is reported to live."This research can help the Chinese government and international non-governmental organizations develop comprehensive strategic plans for more effective conservation of the panda," said Jianguo "Jack" Liu, MSU University Distinguished Professor of fisheries and wildlife who holds the Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability and serves as director of the MSU Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability (CSIS). Liu is internationally known for his work on environmental sustainability and coupled human and natural systems."Overall, about 40 percent of the suitable habitat for pandas is inside the nature reserves," said Andrés Viña, CSIS specialist. "Our model also identified potentially suitable habitat outside the currently accepted geographic range of the panda."The research is published in the journal Biological Conservation.The giant panda is the rarest member of the bear family. Panda once ranged throughout most of China, northern Vietnam and northern Myanmar. Today, fewer than 1,600 giant pandas live in the wild in three Chinese provinces: Gansu, Shaanxi and Sichuan. Human actions -- including logging, residential development and the expansion of farming -- are considered the main reasons for the dramatic contraction of the giant panda's habitat.The research team developed habitat models using geographical/environmental information gathered by satellites overlaid with information on panda occurrence. After analyzing the six mountain regions in the three provinces where pandas are known to live, the scientists developed a habitat suitability index for the entire 48,328-square-mile area.The range-wide habitat analysis model gives governments and other agencies a new tool as they develop conservation strategies and priorities not only for pandas but also for many other endangered species."The Chinese government plans to add approximately 69,500 square miles of land to the country's nature reserve system between 2010 and 2020," said Zhiyun Ouyang, director of the Lab of Urban and Regional Ecology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. "So opportunities exist to create new reserves, to expand existing reserves and to create corridors that increase the connectivity among the reserves. On the basis of our results, we suggest some new areas to be included in China's nature reserve system."---On the Net:Michigan State UniversityBiological ConservationSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:28 pm What's the Fastest and Best ISP in Your City? Look It Up HereRankings of the best and fastest ISPs in U.S. cities are now available, thanks to stats from Speedtest.net. And while the country is far from leading the world, the nation's tubes aren't nearly as bad as many suspect.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:25 pm Modu Android Prototype Leaked
[via Phandroid]
Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:17 pm Psychologists Develop 2 Potent New Predictors Of Suicide RiskTests promise to help clinicians move beyond reliance on self-reporting by suicidal individualsTwo powerful new tests developed by psychologists at Harvard University show great promise in predicting patients' risk of attempting suicide.The work may help clinicians overcome their reliance on self-reporting by at-risk individuals, information that often proves misleading when suicidal patients wish to hide their intentions. Both new tests are easily administered within minutes on a computer, giving quick insight into how patients are thinking about suicide, as well as their propensity to attempt suicide in the near future."Experts have long sought a clear behavioral marker of suicide risk," says Harvard Professor of Psychology Matthew K. Nock, an author of two papers describing the new assessments of suicidal behavior. "The current approach, based on self-reporting, leads to predictions that are scarcely better than chance, since suicidal patients are often motivated to conceal or misrepresent their mental state. We sought to develop more sophisticated, objective measures of how psychiatric patients are thinking about suicide. Our work provides two important new tools clinicians can use in deciding how to treat potentially suicidal patients."Nock and colleagues report on the tests in two papers, one in the current Journal of Abnormal Psychology and a second published in Psychological Science. Unlike many previous efforts focused on biological markers of suicidal behavior, their work identifies two behavioral markers: subjects' attention to suicide-related stimuli, and the extent to which they associate death or suicide with themselves.In one study by Nock's group, 124 patients in a psychiatric emergency department were administered a modified Stroop test measuring speed in articulating the color of words on a computer screen. Suicidal individuals were found to pay more attention to suicide-related words than to neutral words."Suicide Stroop scores predicted six-month follow-up suicide attempts above and beyond well-known risk factors such as a history of suicide attempts, patients' reported likelihood of attempt, and clinicians' predictions regarding patients' likelihood of attempt," says co-author Christine B. Cha, a doctoral student in psychology at Harvard.A second study adapted the Implicit Association Test developed by Harvard psychologist Mahzarin R. Banaji, using reaction times to semantic stimuli to measure 157 subjects' automatic mental associations -- in this case, the strength of associations between words related to "self" and words related to either "life" or "death/suicide." Participants were shown pairs of words on a screen, with response speed revealing unconscious associations between the terms. For instance, a rapid response to stimuli associating self with death/suicide suggests a strong unconscious association between the two.Nock and his colleagues found that those participants with strong associations between self and death/suicide were six times more likely to attempt suicide within the next six months than those holding stronger associations between self and life."These findings suggest that a person's implicit cognition may guide which behavior he or she chooses to cope with extreme distress," Nock says. "More specifically, an implicit association with death/suicide may represent one of the final steps in the pathway to suicide."---On the Net:Harvard UniversityJournal of Abnormal PsychologySource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:14 pm ASCAP Refuses To Debate LessigAn anonymous reader writes "Back in June ASCAP oddly declared war on free culture, specifically calling out Creative Commons, EFF and Public Knowledge, making a number of false statements about all three. The war of words continued as the three groups responded politely, pointing out the errors in the statement from ASCAP's Paul Williams. Larry Lessig wrote a blog post where he asked Williams to debate these topics, saying that it might help if they could get away from making false statements. Williams has now publicly declined to debate saying that it's not worth his time, and once again attacking these groups for trying to 'silence' him. It's difficult to see how a request for a public discussion and debate is an attempt to silence, but that's ASCAP's position and they're sticking to it."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:08 pm Exclusive: Answers.com Gets 200,000 Video Answers From 5Min
Every big publisher on the Web wants to be able to serve up ad-friendly videos, but creating them can be a pain. But there are already plenty of high-quality videos out there in every subject imaginable. With that in mind, Answers.com has quietly launched Video Answers with about 200,000 videos from video distribution network 5min on everything from home repair and fashion tips to cars and travel. 5Min is already one of the largest video networks, with more than 110 million video views a month and 30 million unique visitors across 800 partner sites. But Answers.com will become its biggest partner by far. 5Min syndicates videos from about 1,000 online video producers, including CBS, Hearst, Scripps, and WatchMojo. Anytime one of 5Min’s videos matches a question asked on Answers.com, WikiAnswers, or ReferenceAnswers, video results will show up and they will play on the new Video Answers page. Advertising revenues will be split between Answers.com, 5Min, and the video publisher, with roughly a third going to each. “What we are really building here is ability for every publisher to have their own video section without producing because I think there is no ROI for production,” says CEO Ran Harnevo. The videos in his network are all in highly-targeted, evergreen niches like yoga or food videos with low double-digit CPMs. Video producers ca extend their reach beyond their own sites by syndicating with 5Min and make some extra cash. 5Min’s model contrasts with Demand Media’s, which produces its own videos at $50 or so a pop and shows them on eHow and its portfolio of search-friendly niche sites. AOL also wants to get into this game with its recent acquisition of Studio Now. But 5Min’s philosophy is to let others produce the best videos, and focus on distributing them at scale, while splitting the downstream revenues. “Destinations are just not big enough today,” he says.      
Source: TechCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:05 pm W3C's Unicorn Validator Checks Multiple Standards at OnceWant to find out how magically terrible your web code is? Just ask the Unicorn. The web's governing body has launched a new validation tool called Unicorn that checks the quality of your website's code against multiple web standards simultaneously.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:00 pm CatholicSingles.com(R) Announces Free Open House this Weekend July 30- Aug 1LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif., July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- CatholicSingles.com, the original dating website for Catholic singles, brings back its Free Open House taking place this weekend, July 30th -Aug 1st, 2010. During the CatholicSingles.com Open House anyone can visit the site and get a full access membership to use all weekend long. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20060523/NYTU095LOGO) (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060523/NYTU095LOGO) "Summer is here and there is no better time to experience our service and find that special someone. All levels of membership are invited to participate, and use many of the other features that are usually reserved for paid members only," said David Nevarez, President of Catholic Sites, Inc. and CatholicSingles.com. "This special weekend offer starts on Friday, July 30th at 8:00am and ends at 11:59pm on Sunday, Aug 1st, 2010. Just visit http://www.catholicsingles.com/ and click on the 'Registration' or 'Member Login' link. Once a member is registered and approved, they have access to nearly all CatholicSingles.com membership privileges right away," says Nevarez. About CatholicSingles.com® CatholicSingles.com is the original online dating website created exclusively for Catholic single adults. CatholicSingles.com offers numerous fun, safe and comfortable methods for its members to meet and communicate over the Internet since its inception in 1997. CatholicSingles.com is very excited about the many long-term relationships, engagements, and marriages for which it is responsible. Just visit http://www.catholicsingles.com/ and click on the "Success Stories" link to see just a few of the successes for yourself. SOURCE CatholicSingles.comSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Jul 2010 | 4:38 pm Court Says Privacy Advocate May Publish Social Security NumbersA federal appeals court orders Virginia's attorney general to back away from threats of suing a woman for posting elected officials' Social Security numbers. The reason: The government published the private data first.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 4:33 pm British Minister: Photos Dangerous to Body ImageA British minister proposes health warning labels on fashion photographs, concerned about their influence on young women. But what does the science show?Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 4:25 pm Oracle's Java Company Change Breaks Eclipsecrabel writes "In Java 1.6.0_21, the company field was changed from 'Sun Microsystems, Inc' to 'Oracle.' Apparently not the best idea, because some applications depend on that field to identify the virtual machine. All Eclipse versions since 3.3 (released 2007) until and including the recent Helios release (2010) have been reported to crash with an OutOfMemoryError due to this change. This is particularly funny since the update is deployed through automatic update and suddenly applications cease to work."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 28 Jul 2010 | 4:22 pm Shields Up! Amazon brandjacked in new malcious spam campaignSection: Computers, Security, Features
Fortunately it’s easy to spot the fake messages. Real emails from Amazon will address you buy your name while the fake ones use either your email address or “Dear User”. Another easy way to spot fake emails is to let your cursor hover over the links. The real address it points to will be revealed. Just be careful not to click! Read [ZDnet] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 28 Jul 2010 | 4:21 pm Realtors Group Posts Blog Page to Discuss 'The Truth About Staten Island'NEW YORK, July 28 /PRNewswire/ --The Staten Island Board of Realtors (SIBOR) has embarked on a mission to share "The Truth About Staten Island" with the rest of the nation. "Staten Island, N.Y., is a wonderful place to live and work," said SIBOR CEO Sandy Krueger. "The borough offers a sophisticated blend of urban energy and suburban flair, with some of the city's most desirable neighborhoods, schools, cultural treasures, sports venues and restaurants." The educational campaign, Krueger said, "is focusing on all the wonderful things Staten Island has to offer, as opposed to the stereotypical falsehoods promoted by the television industry, which have unjustly tainted its reputation in the past." "The Truth About Staten Island" initiative is encouraging Islanders and others familiar with the borough to share their thoughts by commenting on the blog page. Post your comments and you may find them blended into this expanding story. To add your thoughts to 'The Truth About Staten Island,' visit the Staten Island Board of Realtors blog at http://www.siborealtors.com/blog/. MEDIA CONTACT: BARTON HOROWITZ RELEVANT PUBLIC RELATIONS LLC HEADQUARTERS: 718-682-1509 MOBILE: 917-715-8761 E-MAIL: Bhorowitz@RelevantPR.com SOURCE Staten Island Board of RealtorsSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Jul 2010 | 4:03 pm Where Did the Money to Rebuild Iraq Go?
From the Good Blog: Where Did the Money to Rebuild Iraq Go? From the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, July 27, 2010 (PDF): Weaknesses in DoD's financial and management controls left it unable to properly account for $8.7 billion of the $9.1 billion in DFI funds it received for reconstruction activities in Iraq. This situation occurred because most DoD organizations receiving DFI funds did not establish the required Department of the Treasury accounts and no DoD organization was designated as the executive agent for managing the use of DFI funds. The breakdown in controls left the funds vulnerable to inappropriate uses and undetected loss.
New NVIDIA Optimus Drivers Sport Handy New Features
Visibility of the GPU’s role in the system is important, since power draw and GPU needs are increasing all the time, yet batteries aren’t getting much bigger. [via PC Perspsective]
Source: CrunchGear | 28 Jul 2010 | 4:00 pm Commission Affirms NVIDIA Violated Rambus PatentsMojoKid writes "The International Trade Commission has announced its findings in the NVIDIA/Rambus patent infringement lawsuit, and it's not the sort of ruling Team Green would've preferred. The commission found NVIDIA to be in violation of three Rambus patents. The trade panel also granted an injunction Rambus had requested, which theoretically prevents NVIDIA and the various companies attached to the lawsuit (Asus, HP, Palit, and MSI among others) from selling products that contain the infringing IP. The commission's decision this week affirms a January ruling that saw NVIDIA in violation of three Rambus patents while dismissing two additional claims of infringement Rambus made."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 28 Jul 2010 | 4:00 pm Tiny Modular Phone Modu Runs AndroidIf size matters, Modu’s extremely tiny and lightweight phones that come with interchangeable casings are an interesting idea. Go beyond that and the phones seem rather dated. That could change as Modu is likely to introduce a new version of its phone that will run Android OS. A video showing a tiny Modu phone and some of the key screens has surfaced. Israeli company Modu, which makes these phones that are sold outside the U.S. and most of Europe, has engineered devices that weigh just 1.4 ounces. An iPhone 4G weighs about 4.8 ounces. So far, Modu’s phones have used a proprietary version of the operating system, giving rise to complaints about the tired looking user interface. Android OS could fix that. But it looks like it may not be enough. The new Modu phone has some glaring omissions such as the lack of 3G capability and a capacitive touchscreen, says Phandroid. The phone includes a stylus and a microSD card slot. It also seems to be running version 1.5 or version 1.6 of Android. Clearly, Modu become so captivated by the idea of a small phone that everything else–specs, OS, user experience– has become secondary. A pint-sized phone is enough to get consumers’ attention but when its peers are on Android 2.2 and turning into powerful little computers, Modu can’t just count on its looks to be accepted. See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 28 Jul 2010 | 3:57 pm Verizon Helps Firefighters, Evacuees Stay Connected With Free Wireless Services, Free Call Forwarding During Bull FireKERNVILLE, Calif., July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Firefighters in the field and evacuees at shelters in the Kern Valley are using Verizon's networks to stay connected during the Bull Fire, which has so far consumed more than 15,000 acres. To help fire crews communicate as they battle the blaze, Verizon Wireless has provided them with 15 Mobile Broadband devices and 30 wireless phones. "The devastation caused by wildfires affects our customers, communities and employees," said Kevin Zavaglia, region president for Verizon Wireless. "We are committed to helping firefighters and displaced residents stay connected when it matters most." To support Verizon residential and business customers who have evacuated because of the fire, Verizon is offering - at no charge - to automatically forward telephone calls to a working phone number at another location or to a wireless number. "As we enter another fire season in California, we know that staying in touch with friends and family is more important than ever during a crisis," said Margaret Serjak, operations president for Verizon in California. "We hope Verizon's free call-forwarding service provides some peace of mind to customers who have left their home because of this fire." In addition, the Verizon Foundation has donated $5,000 to the Kern County Chapter of the American Red Cross to provide relief supplies for evacuees at shelters during the fire. Verizon customers who set up call forwarding while they are evacuated will not be billed onetime fees or monthly charges for the service, but they will be responsible for any toll charges on forwarded calls and airtime charges if the calls go to a wireless phone. Verizon is also waiving set-up fees for customers who have lost their home and want to establish service at a new location or who reestablish service when they rebuild their home. Residential customers who need these services should call Verizon at 1-800-483-1000; business customers should call 1-800-483-2000. As of Wednesday (July 28), the fire had caused a telephone outage in Johnsondale, and Verizon crews were standing by to begin repairs as soon as it is safe to enter the burned area. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 92 million customers nationwide. Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers innovative, seamless business solutions to customers around the world. A Dow 30 company, Verizon last year generated consolidated revenues of more than $107 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com. VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news releases. SOURCE VerizonSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Jul 2010 | 3:47 pm Making of a Meme: The Story Behind Wookieeleaks, a Hash Tag With LegsA storm of Star Wars-themed jokes hit Twitter, mimicking WikiLeaks' recent disclosure of U.S. military memos. Only this stuff is funny. Greg "Storm" DiCostanzo shares techniques he used to get the #wookieeleaks hashtag to take off.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 3:45 pm Osmonds song from "Pretty Maids All in a Row"After seeing Pesco's moogarific Osmonds post, I got to thinking about a terrific piece of cinematic sleaze from 1971 called Pretty Maids All in a Row starring Rock Hudson and Angie Dickinson, written by Gene Roddenberry, and directed by Roger Vadim (Brigitte Bardot's svengali, over-the-top bon vivant playboy, and director of Barbarella). The lead song, "Chilly Winds," was performed by the Osmonds, and is probably their best song ever. I can't beat Bad4Alice's description of the movie, so I'll just cut-n-paste: The First 5 minutes of "Pretty Maids All in a Row" (1971) - Welcome to the 70's! A Teen boy seduced by a HOT substitute teacher (Angie Dickenson); a Footbal Coach / 'Counselor' (Rock Hudson) giving 'Private Lessons' to the Willing and Sexy Young High School girls - Short Skirts, No Bras, Lots of 'Bounce' and Upskirt Peeks - It makes Certain 'Things' Hard for a young highschool guy, especially the New Substitute in her Short Skirt, Jiggly Butt, and Tight Top, who 'Accidently' pokes his face with her Breasts! He has to get a Hall Pass, and 'Limp' to the Boys' Room, holding a clipboard in front of himself, for a little 'Relief'! He's about to start, when he finds a cute young girl in the next stall, Skirt Up and Panties showing - But she's having a harder day than his - She's DEAD! The movie (NOT the Clip) goes on to more girls murdered, lots of nudity, Telly Savales & James Dohan (Scotty on Star Trek) as the Cops, Roddy McDowall as the Principal. and the Osmonds singing the Theme Song! It's a Sexy Comedy/Murder Mystery -- Far Out, Groovy, and Right On!
StarCraft II Pirates Stung By Malware
Nefarious pirates looking to, um, pirate StarCraft II are running into a bit of a problem: one of the more popular torrents that purports to be the game is actually nothing more than a conduit for a nasty bit of malware. I know $60 for a PC game may seem a little expensive to many of you, but would you rather pay the money (and earn Light Side points) or try to pirate it (and earn Dark Side points) and have to deal with cleaning out your system? Microsoft has warned gamers about the dangers of trying to pirate the game:
Nearest I can tell there does exist a legitimate pirated copy of the game available online, released by one of the prominent release groups. No names here, of course. The crack is more involved than the usual replace-the-exe-with-another-exe, according to the nfo. The point is, putting aside the morality of piracy, that you’re playing with fire if you try to find a pirated copy of the game online, particularly if you’re downloading it from a public BitTorrent site or one of those shady release blogs. Beware!
Source: CrunchGear | 28 Jul 2010 | 3:30 pm Tellabs Declares Regular Dividend of 2 Cents Per ShareNAPERVILLE, Ill., July 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today the Tellabs Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of 2 cents per share. The cash dividend is payable on Aug. 27 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Aug. 13. About Tellabs -- Tellabs innovations enable the mobile Internet and help our customers succeed. That's why 43 of the top 50 global communications service providers choose our mobile, optical, business and services solutions. We help them get ahead by adding revenue, reducing expenses and optimizing networks. Tellabs (Nasdaq: TLAB) is part of the NASDAQ Global Select Market, Ocean Tomo 300(TM) Patent Index, the S&P 500 and several corporate responsibility indexes including the Maplecroft Climate Innovation Index, FTSE4Good and eight FTSE KLD indexes. http://www.tellabs.com Tellabs® and Tellabs logo® are trademarks of Tellabs or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Any other company or product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. SOURCE TellabsSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Jul 2010 | 3:30 pm Apple fanbois not as data hungry as Big Phone says - Register
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 28 Jul 2010 | 3:13 pm Kmart now offering the $99 Android-powered netbook from Augen Kmart has been going all in with low-priced Android devices lately. We recently saw the $150 Augen Gentouch tablet and now we have word of a $99 netbook. This model also comes by way of Augen, and its the GenBook. Feature wise this is nothing to brag about, but I guess you cannot expect much in terms of a $99 computer. You will find a 7 inch display with an 800 x 480 resolution, 400MHz processor, 128MB RAM and 2GB of internal flash storage. In short, I guess if you were just looking for a basic web browsing machine this could be an option, but otherwise, its just a sub-$100 computer that is way underpowered. The good news—its running Android 1.6 which means it has a decent browser along with a Gmail app. Via [AndroidGuys]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 28 Jul 2010 | 3:10 pm North American Bancard Launches New Distribution Channel by Acquiring One of MICROS Systems' Largest DealersTROY, Mich., July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- North American Bancard, LLC, one of the industry's leading payment solutions providers, announced today its acquisition of CDI Technology from the corporate development and investment firm Quantum Ventures of Michigan, LLC. CDI Technology (CDI) is the leading regional supplier of point-of-sale systems to the restaurant and hospitality industry in Southeast Michigan and Western Ohio for more than 20 years. The company is among the nation's largest MICROS Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: MCRS) dealers. MICROS Systems, Inc. is the world's leading provider of enterprise applications for the hospitality and retail industries. The acquisition reflects North American Bancard's (NAB) objective to continue to differentiate its distribution channels as a dominant player within a continuously converging payment and technology space. NAB is allocating substantial sales and capital resources to fully automate CDI's core systems and to enable the company's launch of its national POS sales and support platform. In addition, NAB is offering CDI merchants incentives and financing for installation and upgrades, as well as discounts on certain services in order to integrate processing into a consolidated platform. "We're confident that NAB's resources will not only propel CDI's market growth, but enhance CDI's client relationships," said Marc Gardner, Founder and President of North American Bancard. "We've integrated a payment and POS services solution that enables our customers to 'save a bundle when you bundle!' From the responses we've received already, it's clear our hospitality clients are seeing the intended benefits of the program." Concurrent with North American Bancard's announcement of its acquisition of CDI Technology is the appointment of David L. Tepoorten as General Manager and Thomas C. Merten as Merchant Services Manager. Peter C. Violassi and Cary Nickerson will continue in their respective roles as Sales Manager and Director of Operations and Support Services. CDI's Michigan-based staff now operates from NAB's headquarters in Troy, while the Ohio-based staff remains located in Toledo. Press inquiries may be forwarded to David L. Tepoorten at 1-800-226-2273 x1824. About North American Bancard Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, North American Bancard is a multi-faceted payment solutions provider dedicated to providing the latest technology as well as committing to the highest service levels. As a registered MSP/ISO since 1992, North American Bancard provides its clients with a full suite of products and services including Credit, Debit, EBT, Check Conversion and Guarantee, ATM, Gift and Loyalty Cards and Online Payment Gateway solutions. NAB processes over $8 billion in electronic transactions annually for over 100,000 merchants nationwide. For more information, visit www.nabancard.com. About CDI Technology CDI Technology is a leading regional supplier of technology to the hospitality industry. CDI provides point-of-sale, telecommunications and paging systems, along with a full range of consulting and support services. CDI has a twenty year successful track record in serving a wide range of table and quick service restaurants, stadiums and arenas, casinos, institutional cafeterias, hotels, and other types of leisure and entertainment companies. CDI's consulting team has helped implement some of the largest point-of-sale installations in the world. Additionally, CDI is one of the leading MICROS Systems, Inc. dealers in North America and has earned numerous awards for its excellence. CDI is a wholly-owned subsidiary of North American Bancard, one of the electronic payment processing industry's leading solutions providers. For more information, visit www.cditech.com. SOURCE North American Bancard, LLCSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Jul 2010 | 3:09 pm Frappes are wonderfoul
Mark Richards says: "I spotted an instructive sign at a Greek festival."
Tandem USB Connector: Good Idea, Bad Idea
And of course, while it’s not nearly as cool of an idea, a good USB hub will do the same job with fewer complications.
Source: CrunchGear | 28 Jul 2010 | 3:00 pm Could This Be the Eve Of the Kindle 3?
It seems that all Kindle orders have been frozen and, it seems, that Jeff Bezos is hanging around New York right now and will speak on Charlie Rose tonight. While I seriously doubt that Bezos will whip out the Kindle 3 on the Charlie Rose show (he’ll probably talk about ebooks outselling hardbacks) it seems there is definitely something afoot. Thoughts? What could Amazon do to improve the Kindle? [Thanks, Kevin]
Source: CrunchGear | 28 Jul 2010 | 2:58 pm Google's Social Gaming Plan: More Than Just Rumors? - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 28 Jul 2010 | 2:54 pm Alex Trebek, teachers and Googlers unite at the Google Geo Teachers Institute(Cross-posted from the Lat Long Blog)What do Alex Trebek, teachers and Googlers have in common? Last week, these individuals and groups all came together at the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA to celebrate exploration and learning. Google hosted its first Geo Teachers Institute, an intensive two-day workshop in which 150 educators received hands-on training and experience with Google Maps, Google SketchUp and Google Earth, including features like Mars, Moon and SkyMaps. Attendees from around the globe not only learned how these products work, but also discovered tips and resources for introducing these tools to students and using them to conceptualize, visualize, share and communicate about the world around them. Through this event, teachers were hopefully inspired to bring the world's geographic information to students in compelling, fresh and fun ways.  As part of our continued effort to collaborate with teachers and help students get a better sense of places across the globe, we also announced that Google Earth Pro is now available to educators for free through the Google Earth for Educators site. Educators from higher educational and academic institutions who demonstrate a need for the Pro features in their classrooms can now apply for single licenses for themselves or site licenses for their computer labs. A similar program exists for SketchUp Pro through the Google SketchUp Pro Statewide License Grant, which is currently being provided via grants to 11 states, and available to all others at the K-12 level at no cost. In conjunction with these exciting Geo-related events and announcements, the Geo Education team also thought it’d be timely and fun to test Googlers’ geographic knowledge by hosting the company’s first ever Google Geo Bee. With help from National Geographic, 68 teams relived their school years and took a written geography exam, competing for a spot on stage with Alex Trebek, who hosted the main event. The competition was based on the group version of the National Geographic Bee for students, which Google has sponsored for the past two years. Questions included those like “Which country contains most of the Balkan Mountains, which mark the boundary between the historical regions of Thrace and Moesia?” and “Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the United Kingdom, is located in which mountain chain?”  The final three Google teams (the Tea-Drinking Imperialists, the Geoids and the Titans) all showed off their geographic literacy and answered a plethora of diverse and complex questions. In the end, it was the Tea-Drinkers who emerged the winners when they figured out that Mecca was the answer to the clue, “Due to this city’s location on a desert trading route, many residents were merchants, the most famous of whom was born around A.D. 570.” And they didn’t just walk away with bragging rights; thanks to Sven Linblad from Linblad Expeditions, they also won an amazing adventure trip to either the Arctic, the Galapagos or Antarctica. Through all of these education efforts — for teachers, students and grown-up Googlers alike — we hope people of all ages never stop exploring. Posted by Tina Ornduff, Geo Education Team    
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 28 Jul 2010 | 2:45 pm Interesting: MobiTV App For Android Is Prohibited From Working Over Wi-Fi (On Some Phones)
Sure, and usually that’s why they ask you to connect to your Wi-Fi: so it doesn’t burden the network and/or use up all your data (at which point you inevitably come crying to them). So why does this one tell you to shut it down? It’s kind of ugly, but the fact is these are the deals that get cut so you can pay $200 for a $600 device. No one’s forcing you to use them, just like no one’s forcing you to click on ads. And if you don’t like it, get a custom skin like LauncherPro and just hide the suckers. Update: Craig from MobiTV notes below that the app does in fact work over Wi-Fi, but content restrictions (i.e. their contract with so-and-so content provider) prevent you from doing so on a few devices, like the Captivate. So it’s not a plot to sell more data.
Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 2:32 pm iPhone Appidemic: Wall Street Images’ Maptool XFROM APPLETELL - Instead of helping you navigate the world, Maptool X helps you navigate your investments in the stock market. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 28 Jul 2010 | 2:30 pm Russian Megageek Shows Off His Immense Processor Collection
[via English Russia and GearFuse]
Source: CrunchGear | 28 Jul 2010 | 2:30 pm Worst Oil Spill in Midwest Raises Pipeline ConcernsThe oil spill in Michigan, though small compared to the Deepwater Horizon, raises questions about the country's network of oil and gas pipelines.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 2:18 pm Time magazine rolls out Android appSection: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile
Time also has apps for the iPhone and BlackBerry. I use the BlackBerry one and it is top quality. It displays beautifully and all the content from the website is right at your fingertips. I think you Android users will love it too! Read[IntoMobile.com] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 28 Jul 2010 | 2:00 pm Will the asteroid known as 1999 RQ36 destroy all life on the planet, thereby preventing you from dinging 80?
Not to alarm you, but we only have 172 years to live, so better ding 80 (soon 85) while you still can. Scientists have spotted an asteroid that, if all goes well (er, bad), will smash right into Planet Earth in the year 2182. There’s a 1-in-1000 chance that the asteroid, called 1999 RQ36, will strike the planet. (The next most likely asteroid has a 1-in-250,000 chance to hit the planet.) They’ve even pinpointed a specific date that this will all go down: September 24, 2181. Barring some sort of scientific breakthrough I’m pretty sure we’ll all be long gone by then, so there’s not an awful lot to worry about. Future People, now they could have something to worry about. 1999 RQ36 is big. Like, really big. The best measurements put it at more than 1,800 feet across. That’s approximately the length of five NFL football fields. Something that size hitting the Earth at any sort of speed—and it would smash into the Earth at a remarkable rate of speed—would certainly cause destruction on a wide scale. Maybe even mass extinction. Basically, what happened to the dinosaurs would happen to us—maybe another species will rise up from the ashes to take our place? That would be exciting! Dr. Michio Kaku often talks about these type of Hollywood scenarios. Provided we have enough time, the best course of action would be merely to nudge the asteroid off its trajectory. Accomplish that however you want to accomplish it, perhaps by landing a small device on the surface that has tiny booster rockets on there. What you don’t want to do is blow it up since that will only put several destructive objects on a collision course with the planet.
Source: CrunchGear | 28 Jul 2010 | 2:00 pm RIM Buys “BlackPad.com”, Presumably As A Home For The BlackBerry Tablet
Unless someone at Research In Motion is taking the time to screw with all of us, it looks like we might have an official name for their long-rumored BlackBerry tablet project: BlackPad. Word of the name comes not from a disgruntled employee, nor from a prototype left at a bar; this one’s straight out of a good ol’ fashion WHOIS lookup on a domain. According to registration records, RIM purchased BlackPad.com just days ago. How RIM obtained the domain still isn’t completely clear. The domain swapped hands at least once before, and has been squatted by one person or another since January of 2002. I’m not able to find any trademarks for the “BlackPad” name, so it seems unlikely that RIM could have squeezed it out of the previous owner’s hands without a bit of cash. As is to be expected for an unannounced and mostly unofficial project, the domain currently doesn’t resolve to anything. Interestingly, the name “BlackPad” has been surrounding the rumored tablet for almost as long as the rumors have existed. Some have chalked it up as a code name, while others insist it’s the name it’ll ship with — either way, RIM seems to have interest in protecting it. With that said, lets go ahead and get the unavoidable argument started now: BlackPad — Good name? Bad name? Duke it out in the comments below. [Thanks for the tip, Mr. Canada!]
Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 1:54 pm What to search when you’re expectingThis is part of our summer series of new Search Stories. Look for the label Search Stories and subscribe to the series. -Ed.Having been a new dad for six months now, I’ve quickly come to learn two valuable parenting lessons. First, being a father is truly a full-time job—and second, sleep is completely overrated. Whether buying the latest bottles, binkies, blankets and bibs, or just blogging about the whole magical journey, becoming a father has been the most invigorating and moving experience of my lifetime.  This week, I’m excited to help introduce our latest search story, New Baby. The video really captures the joys (and costs!) of becoming a new parent. I’d like to share my heart-felt compassion with new dads everywhere (and of course, my wife and the other mothers out there who are the true heroes.) We will all rest when they head off to college—in the meantime, enjoy! Posted by Murali Viswanathan, Product Manager   
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 28 Jul 2010 | 1:54 pm Current List Of MAK And BAT Values Presented With 61 Modifications And New EntriesThreshold value for bisphenol A retained / new data on N-Octyl tin compoundsThe Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area has presented the 2010 list of MAK and BAT values containing new data on 61 substances. These values for the classification of health hazards constituted by work area substances have been adjusted this year. Thus the Commission is using a new conversion process similar to that used at a European level (REACH) in the event that a MAK value is derived from animal experiments based upon the oral ingestion of substances. The categories that describe whether substances can cause cancer have been more clearly defined by the Commission. Substances within categories 1 to 4 bear no increased cancer risk if the MAK value is observed; category 5 lists substances that only represent a slight cancer risk if the MAK value is observed. This is particularly assessed in comparison with other influences, such as the endogenic concentration of a substance in the body. As is the case with all substances, the Commission has formulated a detailed scientific explanatory statement for each classification.The MAK and BAT values list was presented to the Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs as every year. It contains the MAK values indicating the amount of a substance - be it in the form of gas, steam or aerosol in the air at the workplace - that will not cause long-term damage. Additionally, the list indicates whether these substances are carcinogenic, can damage germ cells or a child during pregnancy, can sensitise the skin or the respiratory tract or are percutaneously absorbable. Apart from the MAK values, the list also indicates the concentration of a substance in the body to which a person can be exposed for the duration of their working life without their health being damaged (BAT values). The biological guideline values (BLW/BAR values) are also described. Compiling this list of MAK and BAT values is part of the DFG's mission to provide policy advice to public authorities on questions relating to science and research, as laid down in its statutes. It is important here to emphasise that the Senate Commission is an independent body, whose work is based purely on scientific findings and transparent decision-making processes.In the current MAK list, two of the substances that have new and in this case lower values for non-toxic concentration in the air at the workplace are the heavy metals mercury and manganese, together with their anorganic compounds. Mercury and its compounds were again classified as skin sensitising. New data, supplemented during the commentary period, also facilitate a differentiated evaluation of the effect of n-octyl tin compounds during pregnancy. These compounds are used as stabilisers in PVC. Furthermore, the Commission carried out a further review of bisphenol A. This substance, used for example as a plasticiser in baby bottles and PET bottles, has been investigated for its effects on reproduction and retains its MAK value, valid from 1996, which indicates no risk during pregnancy.Fresh scientific data may be submitted until December 30, 2010 in order to comment upon the justifications for all new entries and modifications in the 2010 MAK and BAT values list. Only then will the Senate Commission conclusively adopt the recommended values and their justifications as the basis for legislation on health protection at the workplace.---On the Net:Deutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jul 2010 | 1:50 pm When Flowers Turn Up The HeatTwo Illicium species provide warm flower nurseries as a reward to pollinating midgesCould a "hot" flower attract pollinators by serving as a reward in a plant-pollinator mutualism? Many flowering plants produce nectar and pollen as rewards in exchange for pollination services by insects and other animals. Interestingly, however, a few plants have flowers that also produce heat metabolically—so what is the adaptive function of this flower heating?Susanne Renner from the University of Munich, Germany and Shi-Xiao Luo from the South China Botanical Garden, along with collaborators from China and Taiwan, were interested in determining whether there was a connection between the heating of flowers and the pollination services of flies in an ancient Chinese family, Schisandraceae. Although this family is quite widespread, including Asia and the Americas, its center of diversity is in China, which is one reason Renner and colleagues chose to examine this question in two Chinese Illicium species. Their novel findings are published in the July issue of the American Journal of Botany."A few flowers, usually ones pollinated by beetles or flies, produce heat to help scent emission or to create especially attractive egg laying sites for their pollinators," Renner commented. "Usually such heating occurs only during flowering, simultaneous with the release of pollen and stigma receptivity. We discovered that in an Asian Illicium species, flowers reach their highest temperatures during early fruit development, and experiments revealed that this is for the exclusive benefit of the pollinator's larvae, which develop in the spent flowers."Indeed, by combining diurnal and nocturnal observations of flower visitors with recordings of flower temperature from the onset of the female phase, through the male phase, and on through what the authors term the "nursing phase," Renner, Luo, and colleagues made a surprising discovery that the key stage of thermal warming was well after the flowers' sexual function is over.By staying up for hours throughout the night, Luo observed that gall midges, belonging to a new species of Clinodiplosis, visit flowers in the male and female phases, carry pollen in on their bodies, and lay eggs on stigmas. At the end of the male stage, the flowers' stigmas fold inward and the styles move upright, forming a chamber around the midge eggs. It is during this "nursing phase" that the flowers produce the highest temperatures (about 2.5° C above ambient temperatures)."Experiments revealed that heated tissues are essential for the development of the pollinators' larvae," Renner noted. When the tepal tips were trimmed, larvae in the nurseries died, presumably because of the temperature drop, but seed development was not affected. "This implies a novel role for flower heating," says Renner. "An immediate lesson from this discovery is that heat monitoring should not stop with the end of a flower's attractive phase."When the authors examined the pattern of midge pollination and flower heating in Schisandraceae within a molecular phylogenetic context, they concluded that flower heating is an ancestral trait, which likely first evolved to attract flies through increased odor emission. Midges subsequently may have taken advantage of the warm flowers for breeding, thus setting the stage for this exclusive mutualism. ---On the Net:American Journal of BotanySource: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jul 2010 | 1:44 pm University Of Hawaii Completes 3-Year Investigation Of Military Munitions Sea Disposal SiteThe University of Hawaii at Manoa's School of Ocean Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) completed a three-year long investigation of Sea Disposal Site Hawaii Number 5 (HI-05), a deep-water military munitions disposal site in U.S. coastal waters approximately 5 miles south of Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii.This complex investigation required the use of high-resolution sidescan sonar and remotely operated underwater vehicles to locate sea disposed munitions in water as deep as 1,500 feet. The SOEST's Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory's (HURL) two three-man PISCES research submersibles were deployed to validate the results of sonar data and take water and sediment samples in areas where military munitions were found."We know from archived records thousands of military munitions were sea disposed at HI-05. There were also some indications that as many as 16,000 M47 100-pound bombs containing approximately 73 pounds each of the chemical agent mustard were disposed in the area," said Dr. Margo Edwards. "The systematic approach that we developed in collaboration with personnel from the U.S. Army and private industry (Environet, Inc.) allowed us to identify more than 2,000 munitions on the seafloor in the study area. With assistance from the HURL, samples collected within a few feet of several munitions provided the study team the ability to assess the potential impact of sea disposed munitions on human health and the ocean environment, as well as to assess the impact of the ocean environment on sea disposed munitions."Sediment, water and biological samples were analyzed at the University of Hawaii and independent laboratories on the mainland for munitions constituents, including explosive compounds like TNT, chemical agents and their breakdown products, and metals.The HI-05 project report has six major conclusions, which may be summarized as: * Most munitions in the HI-05 Study Area were disposed of by ships that were underway as munitions were cast overboard. * The integrity of munitions in the area spans a broad spectrum, with even the best-preserved munitions casings deteriorating at a yet-to-be determined rate. Skirts and pedestals observed at the base of munitions may be the result of rusting, possibly in combination with leakage of munitions constituents. * The analytical methods used to detect munitions constituents during the program were effective. With the exception of one unconfirmed detection of mustard, neither chemical agents nor explosives were detected in any samples. * Analysis of sediment samples collected around several munitions showed relatively little influence from human activities or man-made objects. This is significant given that the samples were taken within six feet of the munitions. * The observations and data collected do not indicate any adverse impacts on ecological health in the HI-05 Study Area. * The risk to human health from the consumption of fish and shrimp collected near the HI-05 Study Area were within Environmental Protection Agency acceptable risk levels.Mr. Tad Davis, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health stated, "University of Hawaii at Manoa's School of Ocean Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) and the quality team it assembled exceeded our expectations performing an extremely complex study with scientific rigor. By providing the Army with demonstrated, proven procedures for characterizing and assessing a munitions disposal site, SOEST has made a significant contribution to the Department of Defense's understanding of the potential effects of historic sea disposal sites on the ocean environment and those that use it."The University of Hawaii undertook this project in partnership with Department of Defense's National Defense Center for Energy and the Environment. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Environet, a local environmental engineering firm, consulted with the University of Hawaii on the project. The U.S. Army's Edgewood Chemical Biological Center provided chemical safety and analytical support for the project. The final report is available on the project website (www.hummaproject.com).---On the Net:University of Hawaii at ManoaSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jul 2010 | 1:28 pm Appletell reviews Joby’s Ballhead XFROM APPLETELL - The Ballhead X is one of the best accessories you can buy for your Gorillapod Focus or other tripod, based on its ease-of-use and ability to pan and tilt independently. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 28 Jul 2010 | 1:20 pm Google Rolls Out Android’s New Anti-Piracy Mechanism
If we’re hearing any one thing from developers that is scaring’em away from Android, it’s that Android apps are just way, way too easy to pirate. Hell, you don’t even have to go through shady third party download sites; just buy an app, copy it to the sd card, and refund the application. Ta-da! (Read: Don’t do that.) Google’s been talking for some time about a new, considerably more secure system for protecting applications from pirates and dishonest refunders. Today, that system goes live. The new system seems pretty painless. One thing to note, however: it requires a bit of modification to each application, so apps already on the market won’t be protected until their developers choose to update them. Developers include a set of code libraries provided by Google, and then use those libraries to send a message to the Android Market app requesting the user’s licensing status. The Market then checks through its own database to see if a user really did buy the app, and then sends a message back to the app with all the details.
The whole system is free for developers to implement, and will work properly on any Android handset running Android Market 1.5 or later (read: just about all of them.) The idea of server-based authentication is by no means a new one, and, like pretty much any anti-piracy method, it tends to be surmountable if the right hackers decide to take a stab at it. With that said, it’s a whole lot better than nothing (at least from a wary publisher’s standpoint.) You can get the full nitty-gritty at the Android Dev Blog — or if you’re a developer, you can start looking into licensing your applications here.
Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 1:08 pm Windows Phone 7: AT&T will be the premier carrierSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile
While all four major U.S. carriers will sell Windows Phone 7 phones, it looks like AT&T will be the main, “premier” carrier of Microsoft’s latest endeavor. After Microsoft’s failed Kin launch with Verizon, perhaps it is seeking a new carrier to sell the majority of the Windows Phone 7 devices. A spokeswoman from AT&T said, “We’ll be the premier carrier for Windows Phone 7” in an email to PC World. No word on how many devices AT&T plans on selling when WP7 launches in the fall, but Altimeter Group analyst Michael Gartenberg said AT&T signed up to sell 8 million smartphones. For AT&T, it has every type of smartphone covered from the iPhone, to Android, to webOS, and now being the premier carrier of WP7. Perhaps if AT&T could improve its service in large cities, it could overtake Verizon as the top American carrier. Via [PC World]
Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 28 Jul 2010 | 12:51 pm High Performing Laptop Is Stuck Squarely in the PastMeet the Ava Direct gaming rig, a notebook computer with modern components but with mid '00s styling and heft.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 28 Jul 2010 | 12:30 pm Motorola Droid X ad fires back at Apple: “No Jacket Required”
The back-and-forth jabbing between Motorola and Apple is like the Cantina gunfight between Han Solo and Greedo — depending on who you talk to, who shot first seems to vary. The way I saw it unfold: Motorola ran a full page ad in the New York Times proclaiming that you can hold the Droid X “any way you like“. Apple responded by adding the Droid X to the list of phones they demonstrate as being death-grippable. And now, Motorola returns with another ad. Unlike that first ad, this ad’s jab isn’t tucked into the fine print — in fact, this one’s mud-slinging is the biggest, boldest text on the page. “No Jacket Required”, it reads. For anyone not following the drama, it seems like Motorola’s saying “This phone is so sharp, it doesn’t even need a suit jacket.” To anyone else, though, it’s an obvious stab at Apple’s free case program. Children, children.. stop your bickering! Actually, keep it up — it’s entertaining as hell. [Via AndroidCentral]
Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 12:19 pm Appletell reviews Joby’s Gorillapod FocusFROM APPLETELL - The Gorillapod Focus can hold up to an astounding 5kg (11lbs). That means it’s either a bit overkill for what you have, or just perfect. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 28 Jul 2010 | 12:10 pm Burning in a Heat Wave? Let Dyson's Latest Fan Blow You AwayA fan without blades? That could only come from a company that makes a vacuum without bags.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 28 Jul 2010 | 11:50 am Ocean greenery under warming stress - Nature.com
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 28 Jul 2010 | 11:44 am Amazon Kindle 3 May Be On Its Way
Amazon’s Kindle e-reader is listed as “temporarily out of stock” on the company’s website, in what could be a sign that a new Kindle model may be on its way. The latest shortage of the device lines up nicely with earlier rumors that Amazon plans to introduce a new Kindle model in August. An e-reader with a color screen is not likely, but the new Kindle could sport a better black-and-white display, updated hardware, improved user interface and new apps. “Order now and we’ll deliver (the Kindle) when available. We’ll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information,” says Amazon on its page listing the Kindle, which is currently on its second generation. (When introduced, the current model was called the Kindle 2, but Amazon dropped the numeral after discontinuing the first-generation model, like a son dropping the “Jr.” after his father passes away.) The shortage may be because of a surge in demand for Kindle — but it’s more likely that Amazon is preparing to introduce an improved version of the device. So far, Amazon hasn’t commented on the reasons for the Kindle shortage. In June, Amazon cut the price on the Kindle from $260 to $190. A few days later it launched a new Kindle DX, featuring an updated version of the E Ink screen known as Pearl. The black-and-white Pearl display offers a contrast ratio 50 per cent better than the earlier model of the DX screen, Amazon claims. One of the hottest consumer electronics products of last year, the e-reader market is in turmoil this year. Smaller e-reader makers such as Audiovox, iRex, Plastic Logic and Cool-er have found themselves squeezed out by the competition, especially Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Despite the launch of the Apple iPad, which comes with its own iBooks bookstore, Amazon has continued to see strong demand for the lower-priced, reading-optimized Kindle. Since it lowered the price of the Kindle to $190, sales of the Kindle have tripled, says Amazon. However, Amazon hasn’t disclosed exactly how many Kindles it has sold. See Also:
Photo: (kairin/Flickr) 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 28 Jul 2010 | 11:11 am Ocean's Most Abundant Food Source DisappearingContrary to what you might believe, a clear, blue ocean isn't necessarily a good thing.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 11:00 am 100 Days in, Oil Spill Questions Still UnansweredThe leak itself may be plugged, but the long-term impact of the spill may not be felt for decades.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 10:55 am Kilauea Lava Flows Claim 1 House, 2 More ThreatenedA surge of lava flows from Kilauea volcano are threatening the town of Kalapana. One house has already been lost and two more are in immediate danger.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 10:39 am Spain's Catalonia Region Bans BullfightingCatalonia's move to outlaw the centuries-old tradition may have more to do with regional identity than animal rights.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 9:55 am Samsung’s Wi-Fi Camera Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Computer
Samsung has put a Wi-Fi radio inside its latest digicam, the ST80. The camera is pedestrian in almost every regard, from its ho-hum zoom range (35-114mm equivalent), through its 3-inch screen with just 230,000 dots to the too-big 14.2-megapixel sensor. But the saving factor is that Wi-Fi, which means that you can share your pictures without a computer. In addition to email, you can upload images to Facebook, Picasa, YouTube and Photo Bucket. The touch-screen also lets you carry out basic editing first: you can crop, for example. The ST80 will also shoot 720p video at 30fps in H.264, and comes with an Boingo account to access Wi-Fi hotspots on the go. This is the direction that more and more cameras will take. As smart-phones get better and better cameras, their connectivity becomes much more useful. With the iPhone, you can shoot video and stills, edit them and send them out to the world. Dumb cameras don’t even come close. Samsung has bets on both sides, with digicams and phones in its lineup, but we’re certain that those lines will blur more and more. The ST80 will be available in September for $250. Company press page [Samsung] Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter. 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 28 Jul 2010 | 9:23 am Fly Eyes Used For Solar CellsA special mold constructed from fly eyes coated in nickel could improve solar cell efficiency.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 9:14 am Ansel Adams Photos Turn up at Garage SaleThe buyer paid $45 for a collection worth an estimated $200 million.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 8:45 am Hands-On: Spaceship Bike Light Blinds Puny Humans
A while back, the folks at Portland Design Works sent over a couple bike lights, a set containing the Spaceship and the Radbot. After opening them up and almost blinding myself, I set out to test them, with the intent of killing them. Read on to find out if they survived. The kit consists the Radbot 500, a 0.5-watt red LED powered by a pair of AAA batteries, and the Spaceship, running on two AAs, which shines its white LED through a “German-engineered lens” and will “withstand rain showers and meteor showers,” (according to the blurb). I started out the test in Barcelona, but it quickly became clear that the hot temperatures, lack of rain and smooth roads weren’t going to tax these lamps. Worse, Barcelona is so well lit at night that you really don’t need lights on your bike (although the law says otherwise). So I took the pair to a rather more difficult terrain: Berlin, Germany. Berlin is almost bankrupt, which means long stretches of unlit road and teeth-rattling cobbled streets. It is also in the North of Europe, which gives it hot, dry days (up to 40-degrees, or 100º F) punctuated by cold nights and day-long thunderstorms. It is, in short, a very tough place for bikes and bike accessories.
The lights are removable. The Spaceship clamps onto the handlebars with a wraparound collar and a finger-operated screw to tighten it. It stays in place, even over the cobbles. The Radbot comes with a few different fixings. I clip it to the Brooks tool-bag hanging from my saddle, but you can screw an adapter to the light-mount on a rack, the seat-stay or the seat-post. Despite hanging on tight, I managed to drop both lights plenty of times (usually while trying to drunkenly fix them onto the bike, post-beer-garden). They bounced, and neither of them has even a crack (yet. I’m still trying). Both lamps have also sat outside in Berlin rainstorms: They’re waterproof. Problems? Very few. While the Radbot needs a long, 1.5-second press on the power switch to turn it on and off (to stop it lighting up in a bag), the Spaceship doesn’t, and actually switched itself on in my bike-bag on its air-trip here. Also, to change the batteries, you need to unscrew the lights to open them. A minor pain, as the screw-shut cases are what keeps the rain out. Otherwise, they come highly recommended (especially the Radbot’s cool pulsing flash-mode). The Spaceship even doubles as a handy weapon with which to blind rival bike-polo players (I have tested this). Available now in a set for $45. Spaceship/Radbot 500 [PDW. Thanks, Dan!] Photo: Charlie Sorrel See Also:
Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter. 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 28 Jul 2010 | 8:41 am First images of the myTouch 3G HD leaked?
Android Central — who sourced the images — also say that there is a fair chance that this will be T-mobile’s first HSPA+ phone, bringing with it noticeably faster download speeds (in compatible areas). So, what else is there to get from this image? A little button on the side, no apparent keyboard, and next to the usual navi, home, back, and search keys is the same Genius button seen on the Slide… and that’s really it. Of course, we can’t even be sure this is the real deal, but hey, that’s the fun of leaks, right? The myyyystery. As usual, we’ll let you know as more information comes to light.
Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 7:46 am Panasonic Announces 3D Lens for Micro Four Thirds Cameras
Panasonic is really into 3D. Not only will it sell you a big 3D television with which to watch the latest Hollywood head-spinners, it will soon sell you a lens which can be popped onto a G-series camera and shoot your own stereoscopic pics. The lens is actually two lenses in a single, compact housing. When you shoot an photo or video, two pictures are captured simultaneously onto your sensor. Obviously this reduces the overall resolution of the resulting images, but with video this shouldn’t matter as the footage is down-sampled from the giant photo-sensor. This double-image (or video) is then turned into a 3D one in software, to be viewed on one of Panny’s TVs. The lens has not yet been given a launch date or a price (other than a vague “end of the year”), so plenty of questions remain unanswered. Will cameras need a firmware update to use the lens? That seems almost certain. Also, how good will the stereoscopic effect be with the two lenses so close together? And I’m assuming here that the cameras will actually shoot 3D video: the press release only mentions still images, but who wants to view their photos on a TV screen? Still, we love that Panasonic is making 3D an optional extra for its Micro Four Thirds system. It’s this kind of innovation that is currently leaving the likes of Nikon and Canon behind, and we’re all for it. And it shouldn’t be long before somebody hacks their way around the 3D format and lets us do something useful with the images instead of looking at them on a TV. Panasonic developing world’s first interchangable 3D lens for Micro Four Thirds (Press release) [DP Review] See Also:
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Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 28 Jul 2010 | 7:42 am DIY Kit Puts Satellites Into Orbit for $8,000For extreme hobbyists, the new kit offers a chance to launch personal projects into space.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 28 Jul 2010 | 7:30 am Froyo for HTC Incredible leaked
Those wonderful guys n gals over at XDA Forums have managed to source a ROM based on the upcoming OTA release for the Droid Incredible, and it’s a wee ripper, with additions including:
…and more. And, as it’s pretty much the final build, it’s as stable as you could expect it to be. Take that, Galaxy S owners! Full instructions are in the link I posted above. You’ll need Radio 2.x and above for it to work, though. Luckily enough, there are instruction for that, too. [via BGR]
Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 7:05 am Six-Month Pinhole Exposure Shows the Sun’s Travels
The hypnotic image you see above is the result of a six-month exposure. Taking a photo that lasts half a year results in something that isn’t just a picture, but also a record of the weather and of the passage of the Earth around the Sun. The image was made by Justin Quinnell, and comes from the simplest of cameras: a soda-can with a 2.5mm hole punched into the metal and a sheet of photographic paper hidden inside. Because photo-paper is so much less sensitive to light (in the darkroom you’d typically expose for 10-seconds or more), it needs to sit around for a long time to record an image. The lines paint the path of the Sun as it slipped through the sky over Bristol’s Clifton Suspension Bridge (England). The dotted lines are caused by cloud hiding the Sun. The exposure was started on December 19 2007 and ran until June 21, 2008, the Winter and Sumer solstices. This isn’t Justin’s only long picture. If you can stomach his Flash site, you can see a whole portfolio of the creepy, haunting pictures. The Clifton picture, though, is especially significant. Justin’s father died halfway through, so you can kind of pinpoint the date on the photo itself. It’s a wonderful memorial. Pinhole Photography [Justin Quinnell via Household Name and Neutral Day] See Also:
ttw 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:28 am Video: Nexus One meets Wiimote and bike handlebar holder, do the sexy dance together. Is there any happier place on the internet than Make? Don't answer that. Just watch this video.
What you're looking at is a self-proclaimed "svelt and neatly pocketable" option for playing old-skool ROMs on-the-go (ah, I remember the days when these romz were nü skool, and were known as cartz, not romz. That's right, I put 3 'z's and an umlaut in that sentence) made from a bicycle handle holder for a Nexus One, a Nexus One, a Wiimote, and an elastic band. In my books, that's makes baza210 a definite candidate for a gold star.
Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:27 am Froyo for Samsung Galaxy S leaked
Now, this isn’t the final build, so don’t expect this to be bug-free, but if you like to live dangerously, then you can get it here. Usual disclaimer applies: it aint my fault if you brick your device. Not much else to say, really. Wait! There is! Don’t, whatever you do, try and install this on a non-standard (eg any of the US variants) Galaxy S phone. The universe may explode. No joke reality. [via Samsung Hub]
Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:58 am Apple’s First ‘Magic’ Trackpad from 1997
It turns out that the Magic Trackpad, released yesterday, isn’t the first external trackpad from Apple. Way back in 1997 the $7,500 Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh came with a detachable trackpad in its keyboard. It wasn’t a Bluetooth pad, of course, but instead popped out and remained tethered by a wire. And once it was removed, according to Wikipedia, a classy patch of leather was left underneath lest you have to look at an extra square of desk instead. What are the other differences? Well, apart from not using the fancy new capacitive touch of all Apple’s glass-paneled trackpads and touch-screens, there are surprisingly few changes: The size and the color, and that’s about it. But what about the buttons, you ask? Well, the new Magic pad actually has buttons. With typical Apple style, these are secreted in the little rubber feet under the pad’s front edge. Press down on the whole pad, just as you would with those on the MacBooks, and they’ll click. So there you have it. Nothing is ever really new, if you look hard enough. And Apple doesn’t really hate buttons. It just hates the ones you can see. New Magic Trackpad: not so new [Simon OS via ★] Apple Magic Trackpad [Macworld] See Also:
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Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:58 am Daisy-Chaining USB Cables Add Endless Connections
I’m always running out of USB ports. The problem is even worse because I use a MacBook, which has a mere two holes, and those are so close together that anything larger than standard plug will block off both of them. Sure, I could buy a hub, but what about the more convenient option of forcing every manufacturer in the world to make this great Tandem USB connector? Each plug offers its own socket at the rear so you can simply slot in another cable, daisy-chaining them until your USB port is drained of every last drop of power. It truly would make things a lot easier if all cables were like this, but I’d settle for a cheap set that I could buy myself. Sadly, the near-death of FireWire means that we don’t get to use the daisy-chaining that is built in to FireWire devices. Remember the hard-drives that had another port on the back for sharing? Over at Yanko Design, where I found this IF Concept Design Award-winning device, writer Radhika Seth points out the one major flaw with this setup. What if you need to unplug the peripheral that sits in the middle of the chain? The USB Lineup [Yanko. Thanks, Radhika!] See Also: Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter. 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:17 am
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The 52-week low that Research In Motion hit earlier this month is quickly receding on 
People don’t send postcards anymore. Why bother when you can photo MMS a friend? Attempting to restore some of the social experience behind photography, 
Amazon’s Kindle has always been an interesting device to me. When I first heard about it in late 2007, I was sure I wouldn’t want one. It was awkward looking and at $399, way too expensive. But when the second iteration came in 2009 with a sleeker look, I decided to buy one to see what all the fuss was about. I quickly learned to love it.
Local deal goliath 
The Boston Globe is reporting that federal investigators have discovered over two dozen federal employees who downloaded and viewed child pornography on their taxpayer funded computers. The individuals worked for the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and other Pentagon related agencies. Some were convicted but sadly many more have never faced any punishment due to bungled handling of evidence or lack of resources. 
Security specialist Ron Bowes has once again proven how easy it is to glean valuable user information from 
This morning, Reuters published 
Modu isn’t well known in the US, but they make a tiny handset that’s been out for a while. While their current product offering has been criticized for being outdated and clunky, the good news (at least for them) is that they have developed a new Android based handset which should be available in the near future. That handset leaked, and while it’s got some strange things about it (no 3G, have to use wifi for data transfer) this may be because it’s a prototype. The Modu android phone also has a built in FM receiver, but you have to use a head set with it in order to hear the tunes. The leaker sent over some video, you can check it out after the jump.
A new spam campaign is using Amazon to deliver malware. The emails look just like a notification from Amazon and tell the recipient that in order to continue their Amazon Delivers newletter subscriptions they must click on a link to verify their email address. The link leads to a malicious URL that pushes malware designed to look for and take advantage of several different security flaws in everything from Adobe Acrobat to IE. 
This is a little quirk of mobile deal-making I wasn’t aware of. Gadgetwise noticed that on the AT&T Captivate (which I recently 
Time Magazine has announced the introduction of an app for the Android platform. Users can read web and magazine content, listen to podcasts, view photos, watch video clips and add pieces of the app’s content to their homescreens as widgets. Content can be saved and read offline and the app also supports multi-tasking.
The lamps do their most important job admirably. They’re ridiculously bright: the red Radbot alone can illuminate a whole room at night, and that’s when its still strapped on my rucksack, pointing in the wrong direction. The Spaceship’s tight beam, a mere curiosity in Barcelona, was essential when cycling through the pitch-black Mauerpark at night, picking out a glowing ellipse on the ground in front to illuminate a safe path between the potholes and broken beer-bottles.
Just in case all you 
Samsung’s 
