Author: Serkadis

CNN’s Anderson Cooper hasn’t actually ever watched an episode of Jersey Shore, but a few clips of the trainwreck courtesy of Joel Hale and The Soap is all The Silver Fox needs to stamp MTV’s biggest reality hit with an official “HATED IT!”

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Climate Change: Not long ago, we were pestered almost daily with another global warming scare. But the weather has changed. Now, it seems, each sunrise comes with fresh evidence that the scare is a fraud.

The latest setback for global warm-mongers is a probe conducted by the British Guardian newspaper, which discovered a prominent climate scientist “sought to hide problems in key temperature data on which some of his work was based.”

The Guardian, which has a history of pumping the global warming scare, looked over the leaked e-mail exchanges from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia and “found evidence that a series of measurements from Chinese weather stations were seriously flawed and that documents relating to them could not be produced.”

Source: investors.com

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Kia not only registered a great 2009 in the US, but also has a great start in 2010. The Korean manufacturer has just recorded its best-ever January sales in the UK, delivering 5030 cars to their customers. This means that their sales are more than 200% up compared to the same month last year.

The big sales boost in January helped Kia’s market share reach 3.47%, up from 1.52% in 2009. This allowed Kia to enter UK’s Top Ten retail brands and boosted the Picanto city car in third place of the A … (read more)

Here’s a pretty easy DIY project, for someone so inclined. I’ll be honest, after checking around a bit on the price of commercial teflon mouse pads, I’m not sure why you’d want to take the time to make one. Essentially the project is this: take a teflon surface like a cookie sheet, baking pan, or skillet, and then modify it to the right size, and then finish the edges so you don’t injure yourself.

The part that I have trouble with is the price. Searching around on the web, I found teflon coated mouse pads for under $25. The price of the two burned griddle that the creator of this project purchased was $25. He then took the time to cut the metal, file it down, and then sand it to a fine polish. To me, well.. my time is worth more then satisfaction of knowing that I made my own mouse pad. If you want instructions on how to do this project, click here.

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Oh how we love the Internet. This review of the now-classic Frogger was first published in issue number 24 of Compute! in 1983. It’s a fantastic look back to the simple times when Atari ruled the gaming world.

For those who do not frequent the arcade game rooms, a detailed description of the game follows. But first, there are a couple of options that may be set. Once the game has finished loading, you may choose between two speeds, FAST and SLOW, and whether you want the accompanying music on or off. The OPTION switch toggles the game speed between FAST and SLOW, with FAST being the initial setting. So far, the SLOW speed has been plenty hard enough for me.

The music option is controlled by the SELECT switch. By the way, this music is some of the best I’ve heard on any game so far. The music option is available only on the disk version. I also appreciate the fact that you are not required to listen to 10 to 20 seconds of music before you can start the game. You start or restart the game by pressing START. Even after the game has begun, you may still change speeds or toggle the music using the appropriate key.

Trust me, you’re gonna want click through and read the whole thing. It will bring a nostalgic smile to your face.

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Article Tags: Newspaper Article, You could not make it up

BRITONS are not convinced that mankind has caused global warming, three leading climate scientists admitted yesterday.

In the wake of the scandal at the University of East Anglia, they conceded there were “uncertainties” about the science, but said the evidence was still overwhelming.

Last year, leaked emails from the university’s climate research unit appeared to show that scientists had changed statistics to strengthen their case. But yesterday Professors Julia Slingo, Brian Hoskins and Alan Thorpe spoke out after weeks of controversy concerning the accuracy of the evidence.

Professor Slingo, chief scientist at the Met Office, said: “We have a real issue about communicating science in a clear way which the public can understand and we haven’t done that very well.” She said the impact on temperature of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, or CO2, had been known about since the 19th century. The link was “straightforward fundamental physics”, she said, while other data – from rises in sea level to retreating glaciers – also showed the climate was changing.

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Source: dailyexpress.co.uk

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Something’s definitely up in the air. Harmonix has filed for song licenses for several hip-hop and rap tracks, indicating probably a new music game in the works.
 
 
 
 

So um, remember this crazy 14-inch transparent OLED display Samsung was showing off perched atop a laptop at CES? Yea, that might be in the shops within the next 12 months. If that doesn’t get you tingling with excitement, we don’t know what will. Samsung will start its big push toward translucency with the IceTouch PMP, which we found to have a gorgeous 2-inch display in our earlier hands-on, but it’s already working away in the labs on turning the prototype above into a concrete retail product. The IceTouch is slated to make its US arrival early in the first half of this year, priced at around $332. European availability is as yet uncomfirmed, but the Korean’s company is being very ambitious about its technology, suggesting that windscreen-mounted SatNav units could be next on the agenda and ruling nothing out as it strives to bring its transparent AMOLED displays into the mainstream.

Samsung’s transparent OLED laptop could hit retail, IceTouch PMP will get the ball rolling originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ah, the sea. The big blue. From sharks to shipwreks, from the perfectly formed pipes of Hawaii’s waves to the dark and chilly depths of the deepest sea trenches, it’s one of Earth’s most fascinating habitats – one that people love watching and exploring.

Tonight, Google is bringing Internet-bound ocean lovers a new portal to the amazing biological and topographical diversity that lies beneath the waves. If you’re into underwater environments and you’re down with Google Earth, we highly recommend checking out Ocean Showcase, Google’s latest product release.

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“Anyone can be a desktop Cousteau,” writes Googler Jenifer Austin Foulkes. The Google Earth browser plugin allows users to browse through a selection of highlighted tours. Users of Google Earth 5 can go on to explore more, downloading tours and viewing photos and videos by checking the Ocean folder in the left-hand layers panel.

National Geographic ocean explorer Sylvia Earle narrates the highlights tour. The smattering of categories in the plugin-enabled tours include research discoveries, shipwrecks, dive spots, surf spots, underwater terrain and the Great Lakes. The tours are dotted with YouTube videos and more information from carefully curated websites.

Google’s put together some entertaining and high-quality content that integrates different technolgies, including Google Earth and YouTube. We also think that Ocean Showcase is going to be a huge hit in the classrooms, as it gives brief and educational content snippets in a visual, interactive context that kids can appreciate and learn from.

Let us know what you think of this product in the comments, and check out ReadWriteWeb’s archive of Google Earth-related products and news.

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areview.co.cc: Azadars are observing Chehlum to pay tribute to the martyrs of Karbala with religious devotion across the country today. Mourning processions are being taken out across the country to commemorate the great sacrifices and sufferings offered by Imam Hussain and his 72 followers at Karbala.The main procession was taken out from Imambargha Nisar Haveli which would be climaxed at Imambargha Karbala Gamay Shah sometime tonight.In Peshawar, the main procession would be brought out from Imambargha Akhwan Abad, which would return to the same after passing through different routes.The central procession is on its way in Karachi which was taken out from Nishtar Park, while in Multan the main procession was brought out from Imambargha Jawadia which would end at Imambargha Lal Shah. Security is put on high alert across the country to maintain peace.

The tech world has gone geo-loco for geo-locational apps. As per our article entitled Location is Hot: Foursquare Traffic Up 3X in 2 Months, users are flocking to location-based services in the hopes of literally leaving their mark on the world. While many are just discovering services like Foursquare, Gowalla and Latitude, others are making them into viable business platforms. Nevertheless, a recent forum posts suggests Apple may restrict geo-locational ads – an act that would be a huge hindrance for those looking to monetize the iPhone.

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One company that would be negatively affected would be Storm Media Innovations. The Vancouver company hopes to become the little ad engine that powers the monetization of the geo-local web. The company offers a white label API where restaurants send out venue-based deals via services like Gowalla, Foursquare, Open Table and Twitter. The difference between setting up a deal in Storm and setting up a deal with Foursquare independently is the fact that Storm is based on real-time needs. Rather than offering a 50% discount on meals throughout entire week, a restaurant owner signs in during slow hours to prompt deal offers. Storm does its best to ensure steady traffic without lulls or the stress of an unnecessary fire sale. In essence, the company’s CEO Craig Baker is attempting to build the AdSense of geo-locational apps.

If Apple chooses to restrict advertising, this may be a crushing blow to Baker in the North American market. Nevertheless, if he manages to bridge good partnerships with those developers who have pre-existing advertising programs, he might still have a chance to realize his vision.

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A little while back, we posted about Dan Bull’s excellent song protesting Peter Mandelson’s Digital Economy Bill, which (among other things) would force ISPs to kick off users accused of file sharing, and grant the UK Business Secretary incredible sweeping powers to change copyright law at will. And while the stated purpose behind such a law is to “help protect the entertainment industry” it seems that it’s actually incentivizing the creation of new works in a different way. Martin points us to a competition that was recently held for songs about the Digital Economy Bill. The “winning” song is called “Only Idiots Assume” and is a punk ditty with some choice words for Peter Mandelson.

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Well, everyone’s buzzing about it. The final code of Heavy Rain has landed, and what do you know, it’s said to be “even better” than Uncharted 2’s. Now that’s a lofty claim to make, but from the

Areview Forex:McGraw Hill PDF MB Make Volatility and Risk Work for You with Forex Trading! &ldquo This book should be in every trader investor&rsquo s library As we come out of this depressed 179028.

MySpace Chief Product Officer Jason Hirschhorn will soon be leaving the company, we’ve heard from multiple sources. Hirschhorn joined MySpace in April 2009 as part of the major executive shakeup that replaced the old guard, including long-time CEO Chris DeWolfe. After current CEO Owen Van Natta was chosen, Hirschhorn and COO Mike Jones were quickly brought on board to fill out the newly vacated roster.

Since joining MySpace, Hirschhorn has gotten a reputation for slashing products that weren’t deemed to be part of MySpace’s core strategy (given how bloated the site was, that wasn’t always a bad thing). But the core product hasn’t really changed all that much, either, which is something that needs to change for MySpace to get back on its feet.

But the real problem may have been a lack of chemistry between Hirschhorn and his fellow executives. CEO Van Natta was supposedly hired by Murdoch directly for the job. Hirschhorn and Jones were hired by Digital chief Jon Miller. Since the whole team was brought in at once, Van Natta didn’t have any say at all in the hiring of his two right hand guys.

Before joining MySpace, Hirschhorn was president of the Sling Media Entertainment group, a founding partner at TripleH Media Advisors, and Chief Digital Officer at MTV.

MySpace refused to comment on this story. An email to Hirschhorn has so far gone unanswered.

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On Monday evening I received a phone call from someone I trust who told me that one of our interns had asked for compensation in exchange for a blog post. Specifically, this intern had allegedly asked for a Macbook Air in exchange for a post about a startup.

After an investigation we determined that the allegation was true. In fact, on at least one other occasion this intern was almost certainly given a computer in exchange for a post.

The intern in question has admitted to some of the allegations, and has denied others. We suspended this person while we were sorting through exactly what happened. When it became clear yesterday that there was no question that this person had requested, and in one case taken, compensation for a post, the intern was terminated.

This was not one of our full time writers, and so the frequency of posts was light. Nevertheless, we’ve also deleted all content created by this person on our blogs. We are fairly certain that most of the posts weren’t tainted in any way, but to be sure we’ve removed every word written by this person on the TechCrunch network.

Our attorneys have advised us not to disclose the name of the individual because the person is not a legal adult. We also think that, given the intern’s age, it may not be appropriate to make their identity public.

We are all shaken here at TechCrunch – this is someone who was our friend and who we trusted to be honest with our readers. Our hope is that the intern learns something from this experience and grows into the kind of person that will be more welcome in this community.

I apologize to each one of you. I promise that we will always maintain complete transparency with you on how we operate, even when it isn’t such an easy thing to do.

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Curious about the bright minds behind the OLED-wrapped, Android-powered Snapdragon in your pocket? Google’s just posted its first in a series of videos about the Nexus One’s magical journey from concept to production, and this particular episode calls in Mountain View’s own Erick Tseng alongside HTC project manager Tomasz Hasinski and Lloyd Watts of Audience, which provided the phones dual-mic noise reduction tech. Don’t expect too much depth here — the entire video’s only four minutes long — but after Erick talks about the Nexus One’s unprecedented fusion of bleeding-edge hardware and software design, we get to hear a little bit about HTC’s selection of soft-touch materials and a large display for the device and Audience’s involvement in improving voice quality before getting a super-brief glimpse at three docks. One of them is already available — the desktop dock — but the other two appear to be a standard desktop dock with an integrated spare battery charger and the nav-friendly car dock on the left and right, respectively. The video gives no clues when we might actually see these available for purchase — but since they’ve finally shown them off here, it can’t be long, right? Follow the break to check out episode one in full.

Continue reading Google waxes poetic on Nexus One’s design in video series, new docks shown off

Google waxes poetic on Nexus One’s design in video series, new docks shown off originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Siri is one of the most ambitious mobile services we have seen in the last few years. Imagine if you could just talk to you phone and tell it to call you a taxi, reserve a table at your favorite restaurant or tell you what the weather in New York City will be like tomorrow. If you have an iPhone, you will be able to start doing that tonight. Siri, a virtual personal assistant, will recognize your voice query and either give you the answer to your question or connect you to the right web service.

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When we first encountered Siri 2 years ago, it was an extremely stealthy startup and the company only started to release more information about the product in the middle of last year. Siri was spun out of SRI International and its core technology is based on the ambitious CALO artificial intelligence project. CALO stands for “Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes” – and that’s exactly what Siri does.

Using Siri

The app transcribes spoken text and then takes these commands and routes them to the right web services. If you try to book a table at a Thai restaurant (”get me a table at a good Thai restaurant nearby”), for example, Siri will check where you are, query Yelp for reviews of nearby Thai restaurants, show you the options and then pre-populate a reservation form on OpenTable with your information. All you have to do is to confirm Siri’s selection.

Works Best on an iPhone 3GS

We should note that Siri recommends using the app on an iPhone 3GS, as the app is a bit sluggish on older versions of the iPhone. You can still install it on any iPhone, but your experience might not be quite as good as on a 3GS.

When we talked to the company last month, Siri’s CEO Dag Kittlaus described Siri as “the mother of all mashups.” To make this personal assistant work for enough of the most likely queries that people will enter, Siri needed to make sure that it connects directly to as many web services as possible. The company, for example, pulls concert data from StubHub, movie times from MovieTickets, movie reviews from Rotten Tomatoes, restaurant data from Yelp and you can order a taxi through TaxiMagic. In total, Siri current has partnered with 16 different companies and expects to expand this number continuously over the next few months. Siri will also plans to offer an API for developers.

Siri’s mobile app will be free. The company’s business model relies on getting affiliate and referral fees from these partners whenever somebody buys something through the service. This also explains why Siri is currently only available in the U.S., though given that adapting the speech recognition and semantic analysis to other languages will take a while, we don’t expect to see Siri in other languages anytime soon.

Our own tests of Siri have been limited so far, but the software is surprisingly good at translating voice queries into text. As the Siri team told us last month, the application works so well because it is able to recognize the context of your queries. This kind of semantic analysis is a very computing intensive problem, so most of the actual number crunching happens on Siri’s servers. Siri outsources the voice recognition to Nuance and if you are not comfortable with speaking into your phone, you can always use a regular text query as well.

Obviously, Siri won’t be able to answer every query – and sadly the app doesn’t use Wolfram Alpha to give you answers to factual questions (yet). Should that happen, Siri will just route your query to a search engine and display the search results. As the Siri team told us, however, users tend to learn which queries work best pretty quickly (just like we learned how to structure effective queries for Google).

If you want to give Siri a try, just head over to the App Store. Just remember to come back and tell us how well (or not) it worked for you.

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This one’s definitely one collectible I would love to personally have! Square Enix is releasing a 12-inch vinyl disc for a selection of music for Final Fantasy XIII’s soundtrack.