Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Twitter Builds a Better Gagger
Twitter announced on Thursday that it can now withhold content from users country by country on demand, while still making that content available to the rest of the world. The news sparked widespread anger as critics accused the microblogging service of censorship and warned that the policy might impede popular anti-government movements such as those seen during the Arab Spring.
Under CEO Dick Costolo, Twitter is Growing Up
LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. — In its gradual rise from scrappy start-up to a global communications platform, Twitter has long faced crisis after existential crisis. What kind of company is it? How do we become profitable? What the hell do people use Twitter for, anyway? Since 2006, these questions have persisted, plaguing a company still getting [...]
Palms Down: Mobile Hardware Guru Jon Rubinstein Leaves HP
HP’s mobile era is over. Jon Rubinstein, the HP executive to lead the charge against Apple’s iPad devices, has left the company as of Friday morning. A company spokesman confirmed to Wired in an interview that the mobile hardware guru, once a star at Palm when that company was still a contender, was no longer [...]
Monday, January 30, 2012
Symantec Tells Customers to Pull the Plug on pcAnywhere Following Code Theft
Symantec is sounding the alarm for users of its pcAnywhere remote access software following threats from a hacker. In some cases, said the security software maker, they might want to turn off and disable the application entirely.
'Final Destination 3' Star Ryan Merriman Charged with DUI
"Final Destination 3" star Ryan Merriman has been charged with DUI -- two months after the actor was arrested in Newport Beach, CA.TMZ broke the story ... Merriman was pulled over for stopping past the solid line on a red light in November -- and…
Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind
photo by ISIphotos.com By FRANCO PANIZO In a week that saw several young and inexperienced players make their cases for more playing time on the U.S. men's national team, it was the veterans of the United States who shined brightly. Landon Donovan was one of those players, as he inspired Everton to victory by setting up both of its goals in a 2-1 win over Fulham in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday. In a Man of the Match-worthy performance, Donovan first delivered a perfect left-footed cross to Denis Stracqualursi in the first half to pull Everton...
virgin birth biggest loser season... blagojevich indictme...
The Nation: The Ultimate GOP Debate Word Chart
What are the most popular words in the recent Republican presidential debates? Ari Melber of The Nation notes that in a campaign often dominated by Super PACs, vanity candidates and Colbertish self-parody, the debates have managed to take the process off-script.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
A Wrinkle in Time 50th Anniversary Blog Tour: Tesser With Me
I’ll never forget where I first met Meg Murry: Mrs. Beville’s 5th-grade language arts class, Aurora, Colorado, 1978. Mrs. B. always picked the best books for her classroom read-alouds: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. The Cricket in Times Square. How to Eat Fried Worms. And Madeleine L’Engle’s A [...]
Google Already Knows You?re a 24-Year-Old Woman Who Loves Wombats
Google’s demographic and interest guesses… for a 24-year old female. Despite the controversy over Google’s�new privacy policy, the company�already�has you wrapped up into a neat little demographic package, as I was reminded yesterday when looking at my Google account settings. How accurate are Google’s guesses? We asked the Ars staff to take a look. Google [...]
Saturday, January 28, 2012
European Look Ahead: Liverpool set for United, top Italian sides meet and more
By JOHN BOSCHINI It's FA Cup weekend again in England, and the field is down to 32 teams. Liverpool are well out of the Premier League title race, and their Champions League hopes are diminishing quickly, but fans will find some solace in the domestic cups, especially after the club reached the Carling Cup final earlier this week. The Reds will host Manchester United at Anfield in a game that should be about two of best teams in England facing each other but might instead turn into cross-section of how much racism still permeates the English game. Patrice Evra is...
FOSS' Factious Gender Divide
There's no denying that the FOSS community has many virtues, but gender equality doesn't seem to be one of them. Gender-related issues and tensions have plagued the FOSS world for as long as many of us can remember, and the problem has already been picked apart on these pages time, time and time again. Well guess what? It's still a problem.
Motorola Raises Barely a Ripple in the Tablet Wave
It took Motorola Mobility a full year to ship 1/15th the number of iPads Apple sold in its most recent quarter.
Symantec Tells Customers to Pull the Plug on pcAnywhere Following Code Theft
Symantec is sounding the alarm for users of its pcAnywhere remote access software following threats from a hacker. In some cases, said the security software maker, they might want to turn off and disable the application entirely.
Friday, January 27, 2012
V.I.P. Diddy Party -- Most Outrageous Cover Charge of All-Time
P. Diddy's throwing a party so ridiculous every guy is getting 15 hot models to "service" them all night. There's just one tiny catch -- a FIVE figure cover charge!!
Nine Out of 10 iPhone Buyers Are Picking the 4S
Apple sold a lot of iPhones in its latest quarter, and most of them were the 4S.
Let's Play 'History As A List'
History, they say, is "one damn thing after another," but when you look down any historical list, strange, curious patterns pop out.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
AMD Gets Ultra-Competitive in Skinny Laptop Market
AMD's new "ultrathin" laptops will also be ultra-cheap.
Apple Seeks Ban on Samsung Smartphones in Germany
Yet another escalation of hostilities between Apple and Samsung.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Bodum Bistro Drip Coffee Maker: It?s Not Bitter
Danish kitchenware supremo Bodum has granted itself a do-over on the worst machine in your kitchen: the coffee-embittering drip machine. The new Bistro is a cross between old-school percolator and currently-fashionable pour-over coffee. And for convenience, it looks hard to beat. When you wake up, you head–like any rational human–to the kitchen to make coffee. [...]
So What Happened to Lincoln Logs?
My Dad was an engineer so I had lots of toys for which building was a part of the playing. We had an infinite number of Legos and Tinker Toys and an Erector Set that sort of scared me in its complexity. In fact, I don’t remember doing much with that one, although I remember [...]
Monday, January 23, 2012
Colbert channels Cain in big anti-rally
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The biggest political rally of the primary season was hosted Friday by a fake Republican who is running for president even though he's not on the ballot and a real Republican who is not running for president even though he is on the ballot.
Highway Pro Turns Cigarette Lighter Into USB Charger
Just Mobile’s Highway Pro should really come as standard in every car. It’s a small cylindrical widget which plugs in the cigarette lighter socket (are they still called cigarette lighter sockets?) and turns it into a pair of USB charging slots. Regular readers will already know that I think cars should be stripped of all [...]
Live Chat Now: Nuclear Power in the Wake of Fukushima
Japan?s Fukushima disaster last spring hit the nuclear industry like, well, an atom bomb. Get your questions about the future of nuclear power in a live chat with Wired's Spencer Reiss and PBS's Frontline team today. Enter your questions in this post.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Photo: Male Bowerbirds May Use Optical Illusion to Woo Mates
Complex structures erected by male bowerbirds may create an optical illusion that entices females into mating.
SOPA Shellacked, PIPA Plastered
The Stop Online Piracy Act, otherwise known as "SOPA," is losing friends fast, and now it looks like there's a good chance it'll lose the support it needs to make it out of Congress alive, much less the White House. SOPA and its Senate bill cousin PIPA, the Protect IP Act, have been controversial from the beginning, but a recent round of protests have made them almost toxic.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
A final frenzy shaking South Carolina
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - The rowdy Republican presidential race, after it seemed the party's disparate factions were about to unite behind Mitt Romney's steady candidacy, was roiled Thursday by developments that detonated like bombs - just as the South Carolina primary headed into its final hours.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Suppliers' Big Numbers Bode Well for Apple Earnings
Better-than-expected revenue for a key component supplier is just one of several positive indicators.
Fruit Flies Use Sunlight to Stay on Course
The fruit fly has the ability to coordinate its compound eye and brain functions for navigation by using natural sunlight, according to a new study. Other insects with similar eyes and similar flight patterns likely have the same capability.
Why Do So Many Have Trouble Believing In Evolution?
Why do some many people have issues with evolution? Does it really need to threaten belief or are there ways of disentangling the two?
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Website Scaling, Part 1: What It Means and How to Get There
The stories of websites that fell over and died when they got unexpected traffic are legion. A recent example of what not to do would be Target's introduction of a low-priced Missoni collection. The site attracted so much traffic that Target.com was swamped for several hours on Sept. 13, 2011, leading would-be shoppers to face a cute but frustrating site-down page.
High-Speed Animal Flight Videos Show Hidden Aerial World
From upside-down geese to dueling sparrows and clumsy beetles, these amateur high-speed videos provide stunning glimpses of animal behaviors usually hidden in a blur of motion.
'Food Stamp President': Race Code, Or Just Politics?
All of the Republican presidential hopefuls take on President Obama in their stump speeches, attacking his health care plan, his jobs record and more. But the shorthand former House Speaker Newt Gingrich uses, calling the nation's first black president the "food stamp president," triggers questions about race.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Local King Day organizer wins over the skeptics
Todd Bernstein, the man behind the Martin Luther King Day of Service, needed a break.
He had been up in time for his regular 4 a.m. run, and already, he had made appearances on two Sunday morning newscasts, asking viewers to join one of 1,300 volunteer projects around the region Monday dedicated to commemorating the slain civil-rights leader.
He had been up in time for his regular 4 a.m. run, and already, he had made appearances on two Sunday morning newscasts, asking viewers to join one of 1,300 volunteer projects around the region Monday dedicated to commemorating the slain civil-rights leader.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Top Dome and Drogue Chute Jettison System
Last week Capsuleman did not explain how the top dome was jettisoned in order to deploy the drogue for space capsule Tycho Deep Space. So it is my duty to continue where Capsuleman failed.
In short, the top dome of the space capsule must be jettisoned to deploy the drogue. The top dome is fixed at [...]
In short, the top dome of the space capsule must be jettisoned to deploy the drogue. The top dome is fixed at [...]
Quickoffice Pro: Strong Cloud Connections, Dreary Look
Many Android devices ship with stripped-down office suite apps that offer limited functionality loosely based on the kind you'd get with Microsoft Office on your desktop. Having had a discussion recently with someone who now regularly travels without a laptop, depending solely on his Apple iPad for office functions, I was keen to see just how far these Office-like tools could go.
3 Rocky Worlds are Smallest Exoplanets Found to Date
The tiny exoplanets Kepler-20 e and f barely got to hold their title of smallest exoplanet for a month. They have now been overtaken by three new rocky worlds, two of which are three-quarters the size of Earth while the last one is Mars-sized.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Updating the ROM in Your Mobile Device
Remember this: The phone or tablet you purchased is yours. It does not belong to the carrier that you bought it from despite the fact that the device is emblazoned with its corporate identity, logo or splash screen. This outright ownership you have in the device means that you can do pretty much whatever you like with it once you've walked out of the store.
GeekDad HipTrax #80 (GeekDad Weekly Rewind)
With 2011 now behind us, I can’t help but reflect on all the musical goodness that we enjoyed over the course of that year. Sadly, it saw a pair of my longtime favorite artists say goodbye to their previous projects, but it also introduced listeners like me to many amazing new acts only just beginning [...]
Dork Tower Friday
Read all the Dork Towers that have run on GeekDad. Find the Dork Tower webcomic archives, DT printed collections, more cool comics, awesome games and a whole lot more at the Dork Tower Website.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Quickoffice Pro: Strong Cloud Connections, Dreary Look
Many Android devices ship with stripped-down office suite apps that offer limited functionality loosely based on the kind you'd get with Microsoft Office on your desktop. Having had a discussion recently with someone who now regularly travels without a laptop, depending solely on his Apple iPad for office functions, I was keen to see just how far these Office-like tools could go.
Rihanna to the People's Choice Awards -- Screw This, I'll Be Across the Street
Rihanna totally blew off the People's Choice Awards in L.A. last night ... TO GO TO A CLIPPERS GAME ... (bet you didn't think you'd hear that 5 years ago). And ... to add salt to the wound ... the game was right across the street. We don't blame her…
TMZ
Rihanna to the People's Choice Awards -- Screw This, I'll Be Across the Street
Montel Williams -- Reinstating the DRAFT Could Stop Bad Military Behavior
Former talk show host Montel Williams tells TMZ ... "making" U.S. citizens join the military could help PREVENT soldiers from acting like the "bad apples" featured in the urination footage. Williams -- a retired Naval officer who started with the…
TMZ
Montel Williams -- Reinstating the DRAFT Could Stop Bad Military Behavior
white house correspo... beatification of joh... green card lottery
Thursday, January 12, 2012
South Korea Says Google Impeded Antitrust Probe
Google's relationship with the South Korean government was never all that great to begin with, but now it seems to have slipped into a real downward spiral.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Massive Galaxy Cluster Caught in Midst of Violent Merger
Tipping the scales at two quadrillion times the mass of the sun, the El Gordo galaxy cluster is the largest, hottest, and most energetic cluster ever seen.
Letters: 'The Moment,' Twins And Calendars
NPR's Neal Conan reads from listener comments on previous show topics, including the moment that changed your life, differences between identical twins, and a proposal for a new calendar.
News of school closings spawned false reports
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia's announcement that it plans to close 49 schools in June not only produced anger and grief, it spawned rumors and misinformation.
With Search+, Google Fires Another Shot at Facebook
LAS VEGAS — If last year’s launch of Google+ was the search giant’s first shot in the social wars, consider the new Search plus Your World product its Blitzkrieg. Launched Tuesday, Google’s new Search+ initiative integrates results culled from your Google+ social network connections into Google search queries, a major step into providing relevant social [...]
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Shakira knows whats up
?Shakira was in Miami yesterday, laying out in a thong bikini by a pool, and she spent much of the time rubbing her own ass. Which only sounds weird if you’ve never seen how hot Shakiras ass is. Once you have it seems pretty reasonable.
(image source = bauer griffin)
(image source = bauer griffin)
Going All-FOSS With a New Computer
Linux bloggers' New Year's resolutions tend to be many and varied in any given year, but one most can surely agree upon is the desire to outfit a new PC with nothing but free software. That sentiment was anticipated over at Computeractive UK, which published a compelling little story along those lines back in December. "I want to use only free software on my new PC. Where do I start?" the piece began.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Analyst: Zynga's Plunge Into Puzzles a Smart Move
Zynga is plowing new ground with "Hidden Chronicles," a game it has launched on Facebook. Zynga is touting it as its first social hidden object game, and indeed, it is a departure from the 'Ville model that made the company famous. It invites players to uncover hidden objects, solve puzzles, and unlock mysteries. As is typical of Zynga games, there is a heavy emphasis on the social element.
At twinned Delco high schools, raw grief at closings
They stood in knots, eyes wet, arms entwined, pouring out tears.
The alma mater they cherished like a beloved relative would soon be gone. What next? Where would they go?
The alma mater they cherished like a beloved relative would soon be gone. What next? Where would they go?
Friday, January 6, 2012
QOTD: Dr. Zaius to the Genius Bar, Please ?
As soon as we hand them over to the orangutans, we figure the lifespan could be as little as 15 seconds — whether they meticulously take them apart or just snap them in half. – Orangutan Outreach’s Richard Zimmerman, on a Milwaukee County Zoo program that’s bringing iPads to orangutans
Minitube Puts More You in YouTube
YouTube is a great source for watching an eclectic collection of videos on music, human stupidity and worldly comedy. But I find it much too easy to go far afield as I click on "also watched" videos when viewing a particular topic line. Minitube solves that problem for me.
5 Family-Friendly Features of PlayStation Vita
A look at features on the PS Vita that could make it a break-out hit for families (if Sony markets it right).
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Darth Vader Made From Salvaged Material
Artist Bellino Alain makes things from materials you would find at a demolition site. Fixtures, spoons, and even small statues are recycled to make works of art. Check out his video and photos of this amazing Darth Vader bust over at The Behance Network. You’ll also be able to view other works of art by [...]
It?s Now Sir Jonathan Ive
By Andrew Liszewski I hope you’re ready for a day of iKnight jokes, because Apple’s Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, Jonathan Ive, has officially been made a�Knight Commander�of the British Empire. Born in north London in 1967, the 44 year old designer joined Apple in 1992 and has been responsible for some of the [...]
Gonzalez & John leave USMNT camp ahead of potential winter moves
After the lengthy wait to have their chance to impress U.S. men's national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, it appears George John and Omar Gonzalez will have to wait a bit longer. Both John and Gonzalez have left national team camp in Arizona to attend to potential winter moves. John has left the country to pursue a potential transfer while Gonzalez is mulling over loan opportunities. Seattle Soundres defender Jeff Parke and midfielder Brad Evans were called in to replace the two centerbacks in the camp. John is entering the final year of his MLS contract, making a winter transfer...
BREAKING NEWS: Paris Hilton is an idiot
The bad news is that Us quotes Paris Hilton as saying: “I’ve earned $1.3 billion since 2005.” The good news is that’s not even remotely true.
“I’m involved in my products every step of the way. My fragrances are doing really well at the moment,” Hilton tells FHM UK’s January issue. “They’ve [...]
“I’m involved in my products every step of the way. My fragrances are doing really well at the moment,” Hilton tells FHM UK’s January issue. “They’ve [...]
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Stanford Offers A Peek Into Its Extensive Apple History Archives
What we wouldn’t give to watch a “Blue Busters,” a�company video made by Apple employees ? yes, including Steve Jobs ? posing as IBM-fighting�Ghost Busters.�Such a video does exist, and it’s currently housed at Stanford University’s Silicon Valley Archives as part of a collection donated by Apple and its employees. The location of the archive [...]
Santorum Explains His Comments About Black People And Entitlements
At a campaign stop, Rick Santorum seemed to say he did not want to "make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money." In an interview last night, Santorum said he condemned all forms of racism.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Victim of a different coach and era speaks
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - When Ken Stockton, a 63-year-old communications specialist here, read that Jerry Sandusky, accused of abusing children, allegedly lavished victims with attention and trips, his memory drifted back decades to his youth in Trenton.
virgin birth biggest loser season... blagojevich indictme...
LCD Makers Cough Up $538 Million to Settle Price-Fixing Charges
Seven major liquid-crystal display makers settle charges that they illegally conspired to fix prices of LCDs.
The 501st Legion and Me
Some people dreamed of growing up to be a Stormtrooper and some of us actually made it there. Since February 2011, I have been a proud and active member in the 501st Legion also known as Vader’s Fist. The 501st legion is a worldwide professional costuming club that specializes in the “bad guys” of the [...]
2012 gets off to a deadly start in Philadelphia
Joseph Testa had just switched off Dick Clark when he heard the shouting. It was 11 minutes into the new year. He went to his front steps.
Proposed New Calendar Would Make Time Rational
Time is eternal, but methods of tracking it are not -- and so a Johns Hopkins University astronomer wants to replace the Gregorian calendar, with its leap years and floating dates and 15th-century effluvia, with a sleek and standardized system for the world.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Rocket Test Preparations ? T Minus 20 Hours
We are almost ready for the double test tomorrow, Dec 30, where we will be testing engines SAPPHIRE-1 and BIG-LES. More details about this open engine test can be seen here in a previous blog post.
The team behind active guidance for the SAPPHIRE-1 rocket, led by Flemming Nyboe, as well as Peter Madsen and the [...]
The team behind active guidance for the SAPPHIRE-1 rocket, led by Flemming Nyboe, as well as Peter Madsen and the [...]
A Touch of Understanding: Gene Tweak Opens Sensory Black Box
For nearly 250 years, the intricate detail and complexity of skin's nervous-system wiring has thwarted attempts at understanding. But if researchers studying skin could be imagined as technicians reverse-engineering a supercomputer's peripherals, they'd have just traced about three lines back to the motherboard.
How to Save Venice: Make It Float
Everyone knows that on a sinking ship, you want to pump water out. But what do you do with a sinking city? In this case, the plan might be to pump water in.
Poetic Perfection: Three Favorite Poems Of 2011
There's nothing pedantic or flowery about poet and critic David Lehman's three favorite poems of the year. In simple, unadorned language, they address the mysterious and spiritual dimensions of human life.
Titan: A Wet World Not Far From Earth
Astronomers weekly announce the discovery of new exoplanets, some similar in size or temperature to our own planet -- but Earth-like worlds are not always far away. Saturn's largest moon, Titan, boasts many familiar features.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Holy Cow, You Spent $35.3 Billion Online This Holiday Season
Online spending this holiday season is 15 percent higher than last year, says comScore.
Leonardo downplays Beckham to PSG
Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com Most reports have been making David Beckham's signing with Paris-St. Germain a matter of "when" and not "if," but PSG sporting director Leonardo offered a far less convincing take on the potential signing on Friday. At a press conference where Carlo Ancelotti was introduced as the club's new coach, Leonardo told reporters that Beckham's move to Paris was "not done yet, and it might not happen." "We never said it was done," Leonardo added. "We have a good relationship, but I don't know what he is going to do. There is always the question of...
Phraseology, A Word-Analyzing Text Editor
Phraseology is a new iPad app for writers. It offers much of the usual stuff found in iPad writing apps, but it also brings some very clever features not found elsewhere.
First, though, what doesn’t it have? Phraseology has no support for Dropbox, nor iCloud: storage is strictly local (although you can easily export or print [...]
First, though, what doesn’t it have? Phraseology has no support for Dropbox, nor iCloud: storage is strictly local (although you can easily export or print [...]
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