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Author: Serkadis

  • ACLU Looking To Challenge Homeland Security On Border Laptop Searches

    Slashdot points us to the news that the ACLU is looking to challenge Homeland Security’s policies that it has pretty free reign in searching your laptop at the border. Now, to date, the courts have said that this is perfectly legal, so it’s not clear what is “new” that the ACLU hopes to prove. However, last year, after revealing that the new administration still stood by these border computer searches, it also revealed some data on laptop searches, suggesting they are quite rare — but do still happen. However, the ACLU is seeking people whose laptops were searched, but that looks like a pretty small number of people. While I agree that these searches seem quite questionable for a variety of reasons, I just don’t see this lawsuit being effective.

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  • Opel’s Management Team to Be Unveiled Today

    Nick Reilly will unveil today Opel’s new management team that will be in charge of the revival of the German group. At least, this is what European government and unions are expecting as Reilly promised several times that his new team will see daylight in mid-January.

    "I expect that on Friday a management team will finally be presented," one Opel board member told Reuters in a statement. "In the organizational structure there was always a (perpendicular) direct line and a so-ca… (read more)

  • Intel profits recover to $2.3 billion in Q4 2009, company describes it as 875 percent jump

    Yo Intel, when your 2008 fourth quarter was one of the worst you ever recorded, it’s slightly, just slightly, facetious to go trumpeting an 875 percent improvement in your 2009 fortunes. The self-appointed chipmaking rock star has clocked up $10.6 billion in revenues for the last quarter, which filters down to $2.3 billion in pure, unadulterated, mother-loving profit. That’s good and indeed technically nearly nine times what the company achieved in the same period the previous year — we’d just appreciate this to be represented as the recovery it is, rather than some major leap forward in the face of a global financial meltdown. Either way, the Santa Clara checkbook is now well and truly balanced, even if it would’ve looked fatter still but for the small matter of a $1.25 billion settlement reflected in last quarter’s results.

    Intel profits recover to $2.3 billion in Q4 2009, company describes it as 875 percent jump originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 02:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • 1983 review of Sony’s first-ever CD player unearthed: hindsight’s a beautiful thing

    Here’s a little bit of color for you. The gang at Retro Thing have brought our attention to a republished 1983 Stereophile review of the Sony CDP-101, the first-ever CD player. The results were that the audio quality was promising but not stellar, and the $1,000 (!) cost of entry for the device made it even less alluring. Knowing how history unfolded, we can’t help but chuckle a bit at the worry that CDs would in the near-term become obsolete by another physical disc medium, but hey, we can’t blame them for not being psychic. Just think, one day our own reviews will be discovered for the future to laugh about — paying over $500 for a device that doesn’t do multitouch on its native apps? What’s up with that? Find yourself 15 to 30 minutes of quiet time and hit up the source link for a blast from the past.

    1983 review of Sony’s first-ever CD player unearthed: hindsight’s a beautiful thing originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 01:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Ford Remains No. 2 in Europe

    American manufacturer Ford posted yesterday its sales results for Europe and announced it has consolidated its number 2 position in 2009, with a market share for its 19 main European markets now standing at 9.1 percent, 0.5 percent more than in 2008 and the best market share it had since 1998.

    "This is a great performance in a very difficult year for the European auto industry," John Fleming, Ford of Europe CEO said in a release. "Our achievement in growing our market share – … (read more)

  • This Valentine’s Day, Hallmark Launches AR Greeting Cards

    Call us cheesy, but the video below is just adorable.

    Hallmark, manufacturers of fine greeting cards and pointlessly sentimental holdiays, have launched augmented reality greeting cards. Like some of the prototypes we’ve played around with, the whole affair involves a little real-world hardware (in this case a webcam and a Hallmark card) and a little AR magic. The cards come to life with animation and sound, and the recipient is presumably swept off his or her geeky little feet.

    Sponsor

    Called “webcam greetings” so as not to alarm the less technically savvy, these cards will appear as an initial batch of ten for the saccharine love-fest on February 14. Additional greetings will be rolled out throughout the year.

    The lucky recipients of these AR greeting cards will have to go to Hallmark’s website and follow a few directions using their webcam to view their animated song-and-dance. Project manager Monic Muldrew stated, “As Hallmark embarks upon our next 100 years in business, it’s important to continually identify new ways to help amplify the emotions our consumers feel when experiencing and sharing our products. With the experience available through these cards that come to life with a webcam, we hope consumers will fully explore and interact with this fun new way to connect.”

    If Hallmark can demonstrate and market these cards correctly, they could help bring AR to the masses – all while turning a decent profit, as well. Most of the AR cards will retail for $2.99. Some will include a sound clip that plays when the recipient opens the card without going online. These deluxe bells-and-whistles editions will sell for $5.99. The entire line of AR cards will be available wherever Hallmark cards are sold.

    What do you think: Are augmented reality greeting cards simply a gimmick, destined to be Hallmark’s equivalent of Crystal Pepsi? Or do you think the traditional company’s forward-looking direction will help it adapt and financially prosper in changing – and increasingly digital – times? Let us know your opinions in the comments.

    Discuss


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  • MySpace Reshuffles Its Music Label

    MySpace Records, the indie record label that’s a joint venture between the social network and Interscope Records, is going through some changes. Not to be confused with MySpace’s popular MySpace Music free streaming portal, MySpace Records is a small record label designed to help promising new artists get early exposure. Earlier this evening, LA-based radio station KROQ reported that MySpace Records may have been disbanded. We’re hearing from multiple sources that that isn’t entirely accurate: A handful of people were let go from the label’s small team, and the label’s GM Jay Scavo has returned to Hollywood Records. But all artists currently signed to MySpace Records will remain on the label, and the partnership with Interscope remains.

    That’s sure to be good news for the label’s artists, which include Pennywise and Nico Vega. The label has also previously featured a handful of artists who were eventually promoted to the main Interscope label, including Kate Voegele and Mickey Avalon. However, while the current artists are safe, we’re hearing that the direction of the label and its future structure are still up in the air.

    When MySpace Records launched, MySpace planned to leverage its then-recent acquisition by News Corp to turn the label into a jumping off point for hot new bands (former CEO Chris DeWolfe was quoted as saying they’d get the bands into Fox movies and TV shows). Obviously it hasn’t performed as well as everyone hoped, but MySpace has still managed to help kickstart the careers of quite a few well known bands. Likewise, its MySpace Music site continues to perform well despite MySpace’s slowdown in other areas.

    Information provided by CrunchBase

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  • Schumacher Fires Up Best Time in Last Day at Jerez

    Michael Schumacher concluded the GP2 test in Jerez on Thursday, after finally being able to do some proper driving on the Spanish track in the last day of the session. Scheduled to take the wheel of a development GP2 machinery for three days in a row, Schumacher was unable to complete some decent test days because of poor weather on Tuesday and Wednesday.

    However, the clear sky on Thursday – although joined by some strong winds in the afternoon – gave the 41-year old German the opportunity to… (read more)

  • Missouri Style Barbecue Ribs

    For a little winter relief I decided to come up with a little low and slow cooked barbecue spare rib recipe that can be done in your oven. Not only will this give you hope that summer is coming but it will keep your kitchen warm for a few hours while it cooks. These ribs are styled after Missouri ribs, where a slightly spicy dry rub is applied and a wet mop is used at the end of cooking. These ribs are tender, juicy and have a little kick to them. I did not include any barbecue sauce for dipping and left them as the strict interpretation. For those of you concerned about fat grams this may not be the recipe for you but please be comforted with the thought that I will be presenting barbecue rib recipes of all kinds and you’re likely to find one that fits your personal plan. If any of you are from the "show me state" please let me know if these ribs remind you of home. I think they’ll come pretty close. I hope you enjoy.

    Missouri Style Barbecue Ribs

    Ingredients:

    1 slab St. Louis style spare ribs, about 4 1/2 to 4 3/4 lbs.

    Dry Rub:
    1 Tbsp. kosher salt
    1 Tbsp. chili powder
    2 Tbsp. Splenda
    2 Tbsp. paprika
    1 Tbsp. ground cumin
    1 Tbsp. black pepper, freshly ground

    Mop Sauce:
    1 cup white vinegar
    1 tsp. kosher salt
    1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
    1 1/2 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
    1 Tbsp. Splenda

    Preheat oven to 225′

    Begin by cleaning the ribs and removing all possible visible fat. Turn the ribs to the bone side and remove the skirt by sliding your knife between the bone and this piece of meat. Run the knife as close to the bone to remove. Reserve this piece and clean it to use later. Rinse the ribs under cool running water and pat dry with paper towels. Combine the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl. Rub ribs thoroughly with this mixture, gently massaging in on both sides. Use up all the rub for this. Prepare a sheet pan by covering it with aluminum foil and setting a heavy rack inside. Place the ribs on the rack and cook in 225′ oven for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Do not turn while cooking as the slow cooking infuses the spice into the meat. If desired, the ribs can be covered and refrigerated at this point for up to 2 days and can be finished then.

    Combine the mop ingredients in a container. Increase oven temperature to 425′ and cook ribs until browned on each side, basting every 10 minutes for 30 minutes and turning once during this process to finish cooking. All the mop sauce should be used and the ribs will be a rich, deep mahogany color. Turn slab to bone side and cut following the lines of each rib. You can use either an electric or manual knife.

    Nutrition Facts
    8 Servings
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 355.3
    Total Fat 26.4 g
    Saturated Fat 9.6 g
    Polyunsaturated Fat 2.6 g
    Monounsaturated Fat 11.7 g
    Cholesterol 103.0 mg
    Sodium 381.9 mg
    Potassium 119.2 mg
    Total Carbohydrate 5.0 g
    Dietary Fiber 1.4 g
    Sugars 2.1 g
    Protein 25.3 g

  • Lotus F1 Will Launch 2010 Car on February 12

    Lotus Formula One Team has joined the group of teams that will unveil their 2010 challenger during an organized media event. However, unlike the established teams of the series, the Malaysian outfit will only launch their car towards mid-February, whereas the former have all announced late January dates.

    Lotus F1 issued a short statement in which it confirmed that their 2010 car will be unveiled to the media & fans on February 12th. Although the team’s technical chief Mike Gascoyne previously… (read more)

  • Skype to FCC: Keep Internet Open & Neutral

    Skype, a big proponent of open networks and net neutrality, in a filing today with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) argued that net neutrality was “about growing the broadband ecosystem and preserving a borderless, open Internet” and it would “promote investment, jobs and innovation.”

    The company said that it “welcomes the Commission’s focus on preserving an open Internet and strongly supports the proposed six principles described in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM.)”Earlier, FCC had come up with a framework pertaining to broadband and wireless networks and issues of network neutrality. FCC’s has been seeking responses on the sensitive and divisive issues such as reasonable network management.

    Skype’s stance shouldn’t come as a surprise — the company needs net neutrality to keep going and growing. In its filing (embedded at the end of the post), Skype argued:

    Evidence suggests that carriers have the incentive and ability to harm innovation in the real-time communications application market, such as that made possible by Skype, either by outright blocking or more subtle forms of discrimination. Because these applications offer consumers additional choice and savings, they should not be delayed, obstructed or throttled by broadband access providers.

    The filing didn’t say anything surprising. After all we all know that it is services such as Skype and YouTube and Twitter are the reasons people subscribe to broadband connections, and in order to keep the demand for faster (and more expensive) broadband connections, the technology industry needs to keep creating such applications.

    Interestingly, Skype wants the FCC to keep the mobile broadband networks open much like fixed-line broadband networks, but it understood the need for some sort of network management when it comes to wireless networks, but wants FCC to make sure that VoIP providers such as Skype are allowed to offer their services over all kinds of networks.

    Skype believes that it should never be reasonable for any network operator, including wireless network operators, to block, throttle or degrade particular applications without regard to the network capacity such applications actually are consuming. Not all video applications, or peer-to-peer or VoIP applications, consume the same amount of bandwidth or place the same demands on network capacity. Skype, for example, optimizes its software application to adapt to network congestion and consume very few network resources — between 6 kbps and 40 kbps for a voice call depending on the level of network congestion, which is less than traditional POTS or other popular voice protocols.

    Thus, simply blocking all VoIP applications in response to network congestion is an over broad practice not based on fact and should be viewed as unreasonable. In addition, blocking practices or network management practices that use categories such as “P2P” or “VoIP” are both over- and under-inclusive. Some P2P applications might consume large amounts of network resources, while others, such as Skype, do not. Some VoIP applications include video communications capabilities, while others do not.

    Skype is but one example of a P2P application that both transcends the ‘voice’ category but is respectful of network resource issues and does not consume large amounts of bandwidth. The Commission should therefore reject network management practices that rely on these broad application descriptions because they do not bear any close relationship to actual demands placed on broadband networks.

    In a post earlier this week, Stacey pointed to research by The Public Policy Institute of California that said that broadband can boost economic development, but only up to a certain extent.”Whatever positive effects broadband may have on employment growth, it did not result in either higher employment rates or higher pay for residents in areas where broadband expanded in the 1999–2006 period,” the study found.

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  • December was the best month ever for video game sales

    2Looks like the recession is helping at least one industry. NPD Group reported that the video game industry turned in $5.53 billion dollars in sales for December, topping the results from last year by 4 percent!

    Boring as all these statistics are, the bottom line is people spent a whole lot of money on video games last month. The previous record was set in December of 2008, which was the first time that sales went over $5 billion.

    The Wii did the best, which is surprising since everyone pretty much wrote it off as being stalled out. Next up was the PS3, but it only beat out the Xbox 360 by a very small margin. The PS3’s unexpected comeback is credited to the launch of the PS3 Slim back in October, which has revitalized sales of the console.

    [Via Cnet]


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  • NewsCred Relaunches, Looks To Become “Ning For Newspapers”

    Back in 2008, we wrote about a startup called NewsCred, which looked to help identify the most trustworthy news sources using a combination of community voting and algorithms. That didn’t really take off, so the company is now heading in a new direction: it wants to help users build their own custom online newspapers in a matter of minutes, offering a professional-looking site tailored to include the content you’re interested in. And using NewsCred premium features, you could potentially create a combination news aggregator/opinion site in the same vein as The Huffington Post.

    Using the site is simple: you choose the title of your new virtual paper, then specify which topics you’re interested in following. The site includes a number of categories to choose from, including tech and politics, but you can also generate one based on a keyword if you’d like. Once you’ve chosen your topics, NewsCred will generate a virtual newspaper containing the latest stories from each area. Stories are drawn from popular relevant news sites and blogs, and you can specify a RSS feed if it isn’t in the NewsCred directory. Along the left side of the screen is a list of sections that you can jump through, much as you would in a physical paper. There are a handful of sample sites you can test for yourself, like this one on Mobile News, Celebrity Gossip, and Manchester United.

    We’ve seen news aggregators before, but NewsCred has a few options that are less common. For one, the site allows you to write editorials, which can be incorporated into the front page (or the topic specific sections). And the site will soon offer a premium version called NewsCred Pro, which is designed to help you further customize and even monetize the papers you’ve built. With NewsCred Pro, you can host your paper at a personal domain, run your own advertising on the page, eliminate NewsCred branding, and further customize the layout and newspaper template. Together, these features could allow you to build a Huffington Post-style news hub, complete with your own opinion pieces, focused on whatever topic you wanted.

    NewsCred has done a nice job putting their custom papers together, and most of the site looks very well done (though I did find some poor results as I searched for topics to add). But the new space it is entering is going to be competitive. For one, homepage sites like iGoogle allow users to include news feed widgets. And there are sites that are more directly competitive, like Meehive, the Kosmix-powered custom news site (covered here). That said, NewsCred may be able to build a business helping users build their own niche news portals, the same way Ning appeals to users building custom social networks.

    NewsCred closed a seed round of funding last year from private investors in the US, UK, and Switzerland, as well as “one of the large Silicon Valley VC firms” (the company won’t disclose the names of their investors).

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  • Sainz Grabs 2nd Win in 2010 Dakar Rally, Closens to Overall Victory

    With only a couple of stages to go in the 2010 Rally Dakar, Spanish driver Carlos Sainz seems to have taken a comfortable lead from Volkswagen teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah, for his first ever win in the event. The Spaniard completed the San Juan to San Rafael stage in a little over three hours and a half but, more importantly, almost a minute ahead of the Qatari driver.

    Sainz began the yesterday stage with a clear goal at restoring his overall lead in the standings, after it had been cut down t… (read more)

  • Debunking The Silly Complaints From People Who Don’t Like Social Networks

    Cory Doctorow has a fun column over at The Guardian responding to three of the common quips used by people to dismiss social networks, and pointing out why those complaints miss the mark. He responds to the following three:

    • It’s inconsequential — most of the verbiage on Twitter, Facebook and the like is banal blather, by noting that what’s inconsequential to you is most likely not inconsequential to those it’s actually targeted at.
    • It is ugly — MySpace is a graphic designer’s worst nightmare, by noting that this is done for a good reason, which is to make it a place where blatant overly designed marketing can’t take over.
    • It is ephemeral — Facebook will blow over in a year and something else will be along, by noting this is a feature and makes sure that the services adapt or die.

    There are, of course, lots of other silly “complaints” but my favorite (and perhaps this is really a subset of the first one) is that “I don’t want to use Twitter because I don’t care what someone is eating for lunch.” And, certainly, at some level I can understand the thinking behind that. And, yet, one of the first times I realized how useful Twitter could be was a couple of years ago, when a random Twitter message about what someone was eating for lunch resulted in a chance to meet up with someone who I’d only known as an occasional email acquaintance — because it passed on a variety of little tidbits of information that we wouldn’t have realized otherwise. Since then, I’ve noticed this quite often. No, I might not care what everyone I follow ate for dinner all the time (not that very many people I know share that info), but quite often these random tidbits of information paint a great picture of someone, which can be useful at other times. And, honestly, if your complaint is that you don’t want to know what someone had for lunch — stop following the people who post what they had for lunch.

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  • New to website

    Hello everyone! I’m 28 years old. Type 1 diabetic and have had diabetes for going on 9 years, after having my first child. I’m new to this site. Anyone out there using an insulin pump like me???

  • Digital Cube works WiFi, HD playback into i-Station T9, forgets the HD screen

    It’s pretty obvious what it takes to play in the current generation of PMPs: enough juice to process HD videos, and an HDMI port to get it off the player and onto the big screen. Unfortunately, the new i-Station T9 from Digital Cube sort of stops there. It has great codec support, and even WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity (to be enjoyed by what OS is unclear), but unlike its big brother S3’s WVGA display, the mere 4.3-inch, 480 x 272 screen on the T9 will have us looking for an HDMI port a bit early. No word on price or availability.

    Digital Cube works WiFi, HD playback into i-Station T9, forgets the HD screen originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Lady Gaga Collapse Forces Indiana Concert Cancellation

    Pop sensation Lady Gaga was forced to cancel a concert on her sold-out “Fame Monster Tour” after she collapsed just before taking the stage in Indiana on Thursday night.

    The Bad Romance hitmaker was scheduled to perform at Purdue University in Indiana but pulled out at the last minute after paramedics discovered her heart was beating irregularly.

    “Due to exhaustion and dehydration, Lady Gaga collapsed and passed out before her show tonight in West Lafayette, IN. Her physician has advised her to take a few days off to rest,” a rep for the singer told The Insider.

    With some bed rest, Gaga is expected to make a speedy recovery. She will makeup the cancelled gig on Jan. 26.

    “I hope you can forgive me. I love my little monsters more than anything, you are everything to me…..” the Grammy-nominated singer sadly apologized in a Tweet to fans.


  • Botanical Gardens » Blog Archive » What To Konw About Ethanol …

    [49] If all bioethanol-production energy came from non-fossil sources the use of bioethanol as a fuel would add no greenhouse gas.[50] [edit] Manufacture In 2002 , monitoring of ethanol plants revealed that they released VOCs (volatile …


  • Buy And Sell Proprietary Knowledge Through GenApple

    bluePeople are continually looking for new pieces of information. We go to school, read articles on a variety of subjects, have free websites such as Wikipedia, and use search answer engines such as Aardvark and Quora for the sole purpose of quenching our never-ending thirst for knowledge. But how do you find and access wanted information which people are unwilling to divulge, at least for free, except to their closest confidants? Enter GenApple, an information brokerage company who hopes that their website will help to facilitate the exchange of such knowledge. By creating a marketplace for information, GenApple, just entering public beta, hopes that those who would normally withhold certain privy information will be more reticent to disclose it when monetarily incentivized.

    Those with information to sell can create a listing similar to one you would find on any classifieds page. Postings are listed on the website immediately after submission. When creating a listing, the seller has the ability to hide any or all of his personal information which he used during sign-up: all that will show is the username. Conversely, he can show all of his information if he thinks it will aid in the process of a buyer purchasing his information. Potential buyers are able to post listings as well in the “I want to know” section. Here, buyers can state the kind of information they want, along with how much they are willing to pay for said information. GenApple also allows people to create free listings, where users can give away specialized knowledge for free. The knowledge is entered into an information vault for future use and can be any type of text entry or data file. GenApple creates their revenue by taking a commission on the final sale price.

    The anonymity of sellers, coupled with the fear of fraud may be an issue for some, and as such, GenApple provides a slew of buyer protection features. They have a standard feedback system where users can rate a seller, and also have a feature where sellers can put forth a veracity statement. GenApple operates under a brokerage business model (they host the listings and process payments) in order to instill trust in the listings being offered. In doing so, GenApple has the ability to hold payment to the seller if the buyer is not satisfied. If a buyer is not fully satisfied with the purchase, they can submit a ticket to GenApple who will then make a final decision as to whether fraud was committed or not and will act accordingly.

    Given the nature of this idea, GenApple will surely run into a couple of roadblocks down the road. The most obvious one, is that of insider trading. GenApple explicitly states in the terms of service that the exchange of insider information is illegal, but when has that stopped anybody? To counter this, GenApple has the authority to delete any suspicious postings and will cooperate fully with any government officials if the problem does come about. Additionally, only two employees at GenApple monitor listings. As they reach critical mass, they may find that personally overlooking the listings will be too great a burden for humans to do no matter the number of staff. To help with this, users are able to flag postings, but they will surely need a better system when they grow.

    GenApple’s idea is novel and shows promise. If they are able to continually protect buyers as the company grows then they could be successful. We’d give them some more pointers, but why give away such valuable information for free?

    The company is self-funded and operates out of an office in Minnesota.

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