Author: Serkadis

Google has announced that Gmail will now operate using HTTPS, a secure connection between a browser and a server, by default. Previously, users could turn on HTTPS connections as default in their settings, but the situation has now been reversed.

Google said that after taking a look at the trade-off between speed and security, the primary concern in this case, they decided that it was worth it to the end-user to automatically use a secure connection.

Sponsor

A group of 37 security and privacy specialists sent Google a letter (.pdf) last June, urging the company to offer this feature. Gmail became the third largest email provider last August, with more than 37 million unique visitors.

For all of you sitting at a coffee shop all day, using its unsecured wireless network, Google may have just saved you some serious headaches. That extra couple of seconds of load-time may just be worth it. Of course, if you don’t use Gmail or your service doesn’t offer HTTPS, there are always solutions like Pretty Good Privacy to keep your private emails secure.

Discuss

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

How much money will Google leave on the table if it makes good on its threat to walk away from China?

Depends who you ask.

Last night JP Morgan (JPM) analyst Imran Khan estimated that Google (GOOG) might give up $600 million in 2010 revenue if it bails. Today, Citigroup’s (C) Mark Mahaney ballparks the number in the $300 million to $350 million range.

Both analysts agree with Google’s description of the revenue loss as “immaterial”, though.

For now, that is. The real worry, of course, is that if Google gives up on China now, it will have forgone a huge business opportunity in the future.

So the real question — and one we won’t get an answer to for a bit — is whether Google thinks it is still negotiating with China, or whether it has already written off the world’s biggest population of Internet users.

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

In an interview with Bloomberg last week, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz gave herself a “B-minus in her first year.”

The anniversary of her arrival at Yahoo is, in fact, today. (Her first words as CEO at a press conference a year ago? “Yahoooo!” and “Friggin.’”)

In the Bloomberg interview, Bartz was less effusive, saying should have moved faster to reorganize and also strike the online advertising and search partnership with Microsoft (MSFT), even as she noted that the management challenge at Yahoo (YHOO) “was a little tougher internally than I think I had anticipated.”

Predicted Bartz about the Silicon Valley icon: “You’re just going to see Yahoo bloom more.”

That’s nice, especially since BoomTown loves getting pretty-smelling flowers!

But, ever the stickler, it is incumbent on this Yahoo-obsessed column to weigh in on grading too, starting tomorrow and drilling down a lot more specifically on Bartz’s overall performance in 2009.

Thus, I will be looking at five overall areas from which to render her marks: Management, financials, product innovation, deal-making and, yes, moxie–or, if you want to be dull, inspirational leadership.

Until then, please enjoy this highlights video below from my most excellent interview with Bartz at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference last May, in which she both touched my knee and cursed me out.

Let me say, Bartz gets an automatic A-plus for that!

And here is the video of the full session, if you’re interested, clocking in at about 49 minutes:

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

The first early sales data for Google’s Nexus One are in and it would seem to belie the “superphone” superlative the company has attached to it. According to market analytics firm Flurry, the Nexus One sold an estimated 20,000 units in its first week.

An unremarkable showing, to say the least–especially for a device launched amid so much buzz. Flurry estimates that Nexus One was outsold by Motorola’s (MOT) Droid by more than 12 times and by Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 3GS 80 times.

Now, Flurry’s Nexus One sales estimate is obviously the roughest of guesses–the company gets its numbers by monitoring application usage on the iPhone and Android platforms, not from any hard sales data. That said, it’s likely at least directionally correct and suggests that Google (GOOG) may have a tough time moving the five to six million Nexus One handsets analysts have been calling for it to sell by the end of 2010–especially if customer support issues associated with it continue.

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

The Italians and European Union are preparing a light 2-seat airplane for takeoff powered by hydrogen fuel cell and lithium ion batteries. I’ve talked about manned hydrogen fuel cell airplanes before, with and without the aid of lithium ion batteries.

The Rapid 200-FC hydrogen fuel cell manned airplane has an electric 40 kW propeller and a 20 kW hydrogen fuel cell, made by British company Intelligent Energy. The fuel cell airplane also contains a 20 kW lithium polymer battery pack to add more power for takeoffs.

The hybrid fuel cell airplane has a couple of advantages over a conventional small plane. First, the hydrogen plane is a zero emissions vehicle that emits only water and heat as byproducts. Second, the FCV airplane is very quite.

Because of noise abatement issues, some airports limit the amount and size of airplanes that can takeoff and land especially at night. Near where I live all airplanes are barred from taking off after 9 pm. This kind of quite small plane would fit into the low noise mandate on airports such as this and expand the flying time for pilots and their companies.

This Rapid 200-FC is part of the European Community “ENFICA-FC” project (Environmentally Friendly Inter City Aircraft powered by Fuel Cells). The aircraft has just completed its first high speed taxiing test. The aircraft has been built, however, to attain a maximum speed of 110 mph.

Filed under: Truck, Recalls, Safety, Honda

Honda is recalling up to 7,600 Ridgeline pickups from the 2006 and 2007 model years over possible HVAC issues. According to Honda and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a harness connector above the passenger-side footwell is susceptible to being kicked by exuberant passengers. The blows can cause the connector terminal to overheat, which in turn can cause all sorts of other issues, like a short-circuit and/or fire.

If you own one of these unibody pickups, your local Honda dealer will remedy the issue free of charge by inspecting the wiring, replacing it if necessary, and fitting a protective cover to deflect the possibility of future passenger kicks. More info on the recall in the notice after the jump.

[Source: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]

Continue reading Honda recalls 2006-2007 Ridgeline because your passenger might have a dangerous kick?

Honda recalls 2006-2007 Ridgeline because your passenger might have a dangerous kick? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Convertible, Coupe, Performance, Audi

The V10-powered Audi R8 5.2 FSI is a fantastic car, whether in coupe or convertible form. Heck, it’s even great in brown, as proven by the pair of cars on the show floor. It might not be our first color choice for the German supercar, although it was a nice change from the usual white, silver, and gray cars that usually are strewn about the Audi stand.

Not that it matters, of course. A look on Audi USA’s web site reveals that the color isn’t available here in the States. Neither are the carbon ceramic brakes that are hiding behind the 19-inch wheels. A sign of things to come? Perhaps, and we wouldn’t be too heartbroken if they came up as future options. Check out the gallery below and decide for yourself whether the color suits the R8.

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Detroit 2010: Audi R8 5.2 FSI coupe, Spyder make brown look good originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 hit another milestone as the best-selling video game has passed $1 billion in retail sales since its launch in November.

Activision Blizzard’s record-breaking game is second only to James Cameron’s Avatar film, which also passed $1 billion and is on its way to passing up Titanic as the biggest box office hit of all time. According to BoxOfficeMojo, Avatar has generated $1.34 billion in sales so far. More people have seen the film, since movie tickets cost less than the $60 game. There’s a kind of race between the two properties going on.

But Modern Warfare 2 beat Avatar in its first five days, generating $550 million in sales. And it beat other films such as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and The Dark Knight. The surprising thing with Modern Warfare 2 is that it is a hardcore game, which by its very nature has a more limited appeal to the mass market. It just so happens to be one of the most riveting game experiences ever. It also got a lot of attention because of a controversial scene where the player participates in a civilian massacre at a Russian airport; developer Infinity Ward has since included an option to skip the controversial scene.

I’ve been playing multiplayer since November and now have a rank of Major II in the game. I’m ranked worldwide at about 3.9 millionth. There are so many people playing the game that when I took six days off for the Consumer Electronics Show, my rank dropped by 300,000. The game does a wonderful job of holding your attention for weeks and weeks, mainly by doling out rewards for extended participation.

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

BBC
El lunes la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) inaugura el Año Internacional de la Biodiversidad en Berlín, Alemania, con una advertencia: la rica variedad de flora y fauna se está perdiendo a un ritmo mil veces superior al normal como resultado de la actividad humana.

Ocho años atrás, los gobiernos prometieron reducir la velocidad a la que están desapareciendo las especies para 2010. Sin embargo, esta meta no se ha logrado.
El crecimiento de las ciudades y la actividad agropecuaria son dos de las principales razones.

Alerta
En opinión de Ban Ki-moon, secretario general de la ONU, el fracaso en proteger la biodiversidad debe servir como una advertencia que nos impulse a buscar una forma efectiva para proteger los bosques, las cuencas hidrográficas, los arrecifes de coral y demás ecosistemas.

A medida que los sistemas naturales como los bosques o los humedales desaparecen, la humanidad pierde los servicios ambientales que estos ecosistemas proveen de manera gratuita como por ejemplo la purificación del aire y el agua o la protección frente a los eventos climáticos extremos.
La rapidez con la que se están extinguiendo las especies ha hecho que muchos biólogos afirmen que atravesamos actualmente la sexta era de grandes extinciones de la Tierra. Las cinco anteriores fueron provocadas por eventos naturales, como el impacto de asteroides.

La Convención de la ONU sobre Diversidad Biológica (CBD, por sus siglas en inglés) fue acordada en la Cumbre de la Tierra de Río, en Brasil, en 1992, junto con la Convención sobre Cambio Climático.

Más cumbres“Estamos frente a una crisis”, aseguró Jane Smart, directora del grupo conservacionista Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (UICN).

Sin embargo, la esperanza de la ONU está puesta en la Cumbre sobre Diversidad Biológica el próximo octubre en Japón, donde se discutirá la posibilidad de llegar a un acuerdo vinculante para tratar de frenar la pérdida de la biodiversidad.

Fuente Bibliográfica

We saw plenty of Samsung’s wild conceptual efforts while at CES, but it looks like they’ve not yet completely given up on actual products. Good news for Korea, today — it looks like they’ll be getting three new all-in-one PCs from the company any day now. The MU100 boasts an Intel Atom N450 CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and Intel GMA 3150 graphics, while the 2-inch MU200’s got an Intel Pentium T4400 processor and GeForce G310 graphics with 512MB of VRAM. Finally, the 23-inch, full HD MU250’s got an Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 CPU, 3GB of RAM, a 500GB of HDD, GeForce G310 graphics with 512MB of VRAM. Both the M200 and the M250 displays are multitouch, and all three systems run Windows 7 Home Premium. There’s no word yet on pricing or availability outside of Korea.

Samsung busts out three all-in-one PCs for Korean market originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Akihabara News  | Email this | Comments

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Article

Continue reading ‘World’s first’ LCD greeting card captures your child’s adoringly banal moments for posterity

‘World’s first’ LCD greeting card captures your child’s adoringly banal moments for posterity originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Article

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Budget, Hatchback, Nissan

Nissan apparently thinks America is ready for more $10,000 vehicles, and the Japanese automaker is gearing up to do something about it. Well, two somethings, really. Automotive News reports that Nissan’s chairman for the Americas, Carlos Tavares, has gone on record with reporters at the Detroit Auto Show saying that Nissan is planning a pair of vehicles that will start out around $10,000. AN reports that the vehicles will be based off of Nissan’s new V platform, an architecture set to underpin the next-generation Nissan Micra subcompact (current model shown above), which is smaller than the Versa and not sold in the States.

Nissan already markets a sub-$10,000 Versa model in the U.S., although the value-priced subcompact comes without a radio or power windows. Tavares reportedly didn’t want to speculate on equipment levels, adding “the only thing that we can tell you is that we will hold that price point.”

Nissan will build the vehicles at an assembly plant in Mexico, and the plan is to build three V platform products for North- and South American markets, although only two of them will be for U.S. consumption. Tavares told reporters that a $10,000 price tag would be “about right,” noting that “there are very few new cars sold at that price point in the United States.”

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req.]

Report: Nissan planning two $10,000 cars for U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

For many years we’ve questioned the logic of courts banning people from the internet for committing some sort of internet crime (mostly commonly sexual offenses online). Many courts have decided that it’s ridiculous to ban people from the internet in an era when the internet has become so integral to our lives and our jobs. And, as more content and services move to being online only, it gets even sillier. If you’re banned from the internet can you use a Kindle? What about a VoIP phone? It gets confusing fast. Luckily it looks like yet another court has thrown out an internet ban on a sex offender as draconian and a potential violation of the guy’s free speech and association rights.

While there’s been some split in the courts, it looks like many are starting to question such bans, given how ubiquitous the internet has become. And yet… just as this is happening, we have the entertainment industry pushing hard to kick people off the internet for a small number of accusations (not convictions) for file sharing. Seeing as the courts are already claiming that internet bans — even for online sex offenders — is too draconian, how can anyone justify an internet ban as being a fair and equitable “punishment” for being accused (not convicted) of sharing some music?

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story

Hugh Hefner’s barely-legal Buss It Babies are leaving the nest. Shocking, we know. Twins Kristina and Karissa Shannon are moving out of the mansion, the Playboy founder Tweeted Tuesday.

“The Shannon Twins are growing up. They’re moving to the Playmate House with my blessing so they will be free to do other things.”

Hef explains that the girls are looking to get more involved in “Playmate-related promotional work for the company.”

“They’ve been hanging out with a lot of the other Playmates and they see these girls traveling across the country to do promotion,” he told E! News of the twins. “They would like to be doing that, too.”

The girls will move out of the mansion and into the Playmate House — just down the street — in the next couple weeks.

“When they thought about it, they thought it was a good idea,” he said. “They will now be friends, but they won’t be defined as the girlfriends.”

In the meantime, the Girls Next Door star is focused on getting more “serious” with third girlfriend Crystal.

BERLÍN, EFE
La canciller alemana, Angela Merkel, equiparó la defensa de la variedad ecológica con la lucha contra el cambio climático y exigió “un giro” de la política para la protección de las especies “ahora mismo y no en cualquier momento”.

La protección de la naturaleza y de la diversidad de las especies biológicas es necesaria también en el ‘combate’ contra la transformación climática, afirmó la Canciller en un acto con motivo del comienzo del Año Internacional de la Biodiversidad.

Más acciones
Merkel advirtió que descuidar la biodiversidad puede acarrear, al igual que el cambio climático, costes enormes, a la vez que anunció la disposición de su gobierno a conceder ayudas financieras para la protección de los ecosistemas amenazados.
Tras calificar de “atemorizadora” la creciente extinción de especies animales y vegetales, hizo un llamamiento a la población para que todos hagan su pequeña aportación y subrayó la necesidad de “desarrollar una conciencia social”.

Durante el acto en el Museo de Ciencias Naturales en Berlín, la Canciller federal señaló que la diversidad biológica protege también la salud humana, si bien reconoció que las metas planteadas por las Naciones Unidas para frenar la extinción de las especies hasta 2010 no se podrán cumplir.

La política cristianodemócrata destacó que la protección de las especies es también ayuda al desarrollo y reclamó la creación de una red mundial de espacios protegidos, así como de un organismo de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente.

Fuente Bibliográfica

I show my G1 off to a lot of people.  I love to wow them with cool apps like Google Sky Map, Plink Art, and Shop Savy.  Invariably the question comes up, “How many apps are there for that phone?”  Thanks to Apple’s marketing efforts, consumers have been brainwashed into thinking quantity trumps quality.  Fortunately, we have people in places like Mplayit who are doing their part to show that the number of apps means nothing to casual users.

“‘How many apps?’ is the wrong question,” said Michael Powers, CEO and founder of Mplayit.  ”People just want to get the job done. It doesn’t matter if there are 50 different to-do list apps on iPhone, because Android or BlackBerry just need a couple of good ones to make consumers happy.”

I couldn’t agree more.  There are already a ton of “crapplications” in the Android Market that I just skip over as I look for better titles.  I couldn’t imagine having to cut through 4-5 times the volume.  Android apps are getting better all the time, adding more features and polish to them.  I’m very satisfied with where we are today in terms of apps, especially as many of the popular iPhone titles get ported over.  Often these apps pick up additional features thanks to Android’s capabilities.

Does anyone really see the Android Market limited in terms of selection?  Leave a comment below!

Published Jan. 11, 2010
By Molly Kelleher, KEPR TV

Map to Overflow Parking at CBC 

KENNEWICK — We’re taking action for you about parking problems at Columbia Basin College. There are more students fighting for fewer spots on campus.

We got an e-mail from a viewer upset about parking at CBC.

She asked what could be done about it and students are also sounding off on CBC’s Facebook page.

It’s the No. 1 complaint on campus: not enough parking.

The toughest time for finding a spot is in the morning until about 11 a.m. Action News tested it out by driving around the campus at that time.

It was hard to find a spot. And that’s not news to Bill Saraceno, senior vice president of administration at CBC.

Action News asked, are there enough spots for the number of students you have?

“Yes, just not in the areas they want,” Saraceno said. “The increased enrollment has made the problem more immediate. Our classes are 90 percent full and so our parking lots do fill quicker in the early morning.”

On the far north side of campus near Argent Street, CBC is going to put in more parking in two years’ time.

“250 to 300 spaces, but people don’t realize parking costs money,” Saraceno said. “It’s $6,000 per stall for gravel pavement and lighting the lot.”

But that’s two years away. So what can you do in the meantime? Park out by the baseball fields and by the observatory. It’s certainly a bit of a hike, but it’s practically wide open.

Otherwise, you’re taking a risk of getting a ticket. The fines you pay will pay for that new lot. And with lots as full as they are these days, that new parking may be paid for in no time.