Author: Serkadis

Media consulting firm, Frank N. Magid Associates, has released the results of their survey, and they found that only 15% of gamers buy DLC for their games. Heck, 43% of them aren’t even aware of what DLC

-Country star Kenny Chesney purchases $9.2 million Tennessee mansion…..

–Mad Men’s Emmy-winning costume designer is writing a style book….

-FX has purchased the television rights to the box office blockbuster Avatar….

–American Idol alum Katharine McPhee to guest star on Community….

-Reese Witherspoon is counting on the kindness of friends to get her through her recent split from actor Jake Gyllenhaal….

-Stuart Townsend has dropped out of the Thor movie…..

-Once of Tiger’s whores is being wooed by a Mistresses Club…

-Some moviegoers see racist themes in this season’s box office smash, Avatar…..

–Newflash: Exes Deryck Whibley and Avril Lavigne hate each other…..

-MTV/VH1 VJ Lala Vazquez goes topless for gay marriage…..

Amazon’s Kindle device sparked quite some controversy last year over its text-to-speech capabilities. The Authors Guild was up in arms over the feature, identifying it as a threat to audio book sales, and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and the American Council of the Blind (ACB) had some things to say about the Kindle, too.

In June 2009, NFB and ACB jointly filed a discrimination lawsuit against Arizona State University (ASU) to prevent the university from deploying Amazon’s Kindle DX as a means of distributing electronic textbooks to its students because the device cannot be used by blind students. Sounds arbitrary, I know, but more on that later.

ASU was one of six institutions of higher education to deploy the Kindle DX as part of a pilot project to assess the role of electronic textbooks and reading devices in the classroom.

The main contentions in the lawsuit filed by NFB and ACB – which also targeted the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) – was that while the Kindle DX has a text-to-speech feature, the menus to select a book or purchase a book are not blind-friendly, making it impossible to select textbooks for download.

The blindness organizations alleged that this was in violation of federal law. ABOR and ASU denied and continue to deny any violations of the law. Either way, the parties this morning announced that they have reached a settlement agreement.

The agreement was reached in light of several factors, according to the press release: ASU’s commitment to providing access to all programs and facilities for students with disabilities, the fact that the pilot program will end in the Spring of 2010 and the university’s agreement that should ASU deploy e-book readers in future classes over the next two years, it will strive to use devices that are accessible to the blind.

Interestingly, the settlement agreement also stipulates that Amazon “and others” are making improvements to and progress in the accessibility of e-book readers. It’s unclear which what these improvements are and when they will be into effect.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

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CA today announced that it has acquired privately-held Oblicore, a provider of Service Level Management (SLM) software for enterprises and service providers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although Israeli business news outlet Globes had picked up rumors about the pending acquisition late last year and pegged the purchase price at $25 million.

If correct, this isn’t a great outcome for the company’s investors, who injected at least the same amount of capital into the company since its inception in 2000.

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Rusty Wallace Racing (RWR) had a busy weekend, not only confirming Brendan Gaughan as the team’s No. 62 Toyota Camry driver for the 2010 season, but also naming Scott McDougall crew chief for the No. 66 driven by Steve Wallace.

"Rusty has built a great organization and everyone is working extremely hard to get our Toyota Camrys in Victory Lane this season," Brendan Gaughan said according to NASCAR. "With a full year of Nationwide Series experience under my belt no… (read more)

How do you take a great idea like Xbox Live games coming to cellphones and ruin it? By only bringing those games to Windows Mobile phones, which may be what Microsoft has planned.

As you can see by the image above, taken from some internal Microsoft marketing material from last month, Xbox Live is spread across the Xbox 360, Windows and…Windows Phone. Now, this could just be a stand-in for many phones, or a new branding for game content to be available on many platforms. But it also could mean the games are just heading to Windows Mobile phones, which would pretty much kill the entire initiative right off the bat.

Also conspicuously absent from these plans: the Zune. No love for the Zune, Microsoft? [Kotaku]

What happened to your iPhone? It broke?! How?!! Just stopped working?! Really?! You didn’t drop it in the toilet? You dropped it in the toilet, didn’t you? Ah, the truth comes out. You dropped it in the toilet.

We’ve all dropped phones in the toilet before, except today’s complicated smartphones don’t work after being dropped in the toilet — unlike those old Nokia phones from the late 90’s. If you’re looking to replace your toilet phone, you can get an unlocked, refurbished iPhone 3G from sellout.woot.com for $380, today only.

That’s not a terrible deal considering that a new, no-contract iPhone 3G can set you back well over $500. This one carries a 90-day warranty.

Apple 8GB iPhone 3G [sellout.woot.com]

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We saw Fujitsu’s “service robot” ENON back in October 2008 during the CEATEC exhibition in Chiba/Japan (see video below), and it seems the friendly guy has been selling well in the meantime. The robot can be used as an information terminal, for entertainment purposes, patrolling, assistance etc. And last weekend, ENON could be seen in the wild, namely in a shopping mall in Osaka.

That specific ENON spent the entire Saturday interacting with customers. Equipped with a camera and face recognition software, the robot is capable of detecting a human’s gender and age. Combine this with ENON’s ability to “speak” and move around, and you get a store clerk of a very different kind.

During the test in Osaka, ENON was able to sweet-talk different customers into going to different stores, depending on the age and gender of the people he interacted with. Reportedly, the robot recommended a bar to a woman in her 30s by telling her the style of the bar would fit her beauty. ENON can switch between a female and a male voice, too.

Here’s the robot recommending a seafood restaurant:

Here’s ENON trying to talk people into going to a bar:

And finally, here’s the ENON video I made over one year ago at the CEATEC show:

Via Plastic Pals via Sankei News [JP] via Robonable [JP]

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We’ve been hearing grumblings on the intertubes about the newly minted Nexus One having 3G connectivity problems with T-Mobile’s network. Users have been reporting that the Nexus is constantly bouncing between 3G and EDGE, even in a 3G saturated area, or, in some of the more severe cases, not connecting to the 3G network even when it is available. A moderator on T-Mobile’s forums states, “Google and T-Mobile are investigating this issue and hope to have more information for you soon. We understand your concern and appreciate your patience.” Let’s hope this is a minor coding snafu and can be resolved quickly by a software patch. Any early adopters of the “Sexy Nexy” seeing 3G issues?

[Via TmoNews]

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MotoGP World Champion and Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi made a guest star appearance at the Auto Expo in New Delhi the past weekend, marking the Italian’s first visit to India. During the first day, Rossi met India Yamaha Motor’s senior management, signed autographs and also inspected the latest India Yamaha models.

During his second day of visit in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Rossi also met John Abraham, one of the biggest Indian film stars and also an ambassador for Yamaha … (read more)

Hoy ha sido publicado el texto completo del Anteproyecto de Ley de Economía Sostenible (en Meh.es, formato PDF) con los cambios introducidos en la Disposición Final Primera tras todo lo acontecido tras el manifiesto y la observación por parte de la clase política de los efectos en la opinión pública.

Sobre los cambios introducidos poco puedo añadir a los análisis realizados por gente como David Maeztu, Enrique Dans, Julio Alonso, La aldea irreductible, Andy Ramos y Versvs. El resumen de noticias es que el gobierno quiere ceder el control de internet a las gestoras de derechos y a las industrias tradicionales de los contenidos.

Sólo quería resaltar algo que me preocupa adicionalmente más allá del atropello a las libertades y al derecho a la defensa, cómo estas medidas que plantea el gobierno de cierre de webs por un órgano administrativo constituyen un incentivo negativo para la innovación. Si pensamos en servicios como Google, Flickr, Youtube, Twitter, Digg, Facebook, Blogger… todos tienen en común que son susceptibles de ser utilizados para enlazar / encontrar / almacenar contenidos con copyright, todos estarían amenazados por la censura, con una losa de inseguridad jurídica habilitada en una ley llamada de “Economía sostenible”. Pintoresco nombre, porque precisamente los modelos de distribución y promoción de contenidos dibujados por estos servicios son los que tienen sentido y están siendo adoptados en internet y no es lo que precisamente esta ley impulsa, sino todo lo contrario.

Se trata de un sacrificio de las pocas posibilidades que hay de que desde este país se contribuya a los nuevos modelos para los contenidos en la red, mientras se abraza el TDT como modelo para la red, se subvencionan los portales-coartada que sirven para decretar que “internet no funciona” y se intenta un imposible: que nada cambie, que los que hacen negocio sigan haciéndolo igual, con los mismos márgenes y que ante tal dislate nadie proteste. El próximo Google no se creará en España, es lo más probable en todo caso, pero sin duda esta ley no hará sino contribuir con ello. No está mal recordarlo cada vez que oigamos a un político hablar de innovación y cambio de modelo.

• Key Competitors: Chevrolet Camaro SS, Dodge Challenger SRT8, Nissan 370Z.
• Power: 5.0L 4-valve Ti-VCT V8 – 412-hp / 390 lb-ft.
• Transmission: 6-speed manual, 6-speed automatic.
• Performance: Somewhere in the 4.5 – 4.7 range.
• Availability: Mid-2010.
• Pricing: TBA.

The 5.0 Mustang GT is back and it has rolled into the 2010 Detroit Auto Show 412-hp and a peak torque of 390 lb-ft. Finally passing the 400-hp out, the 2011 Mustang GT should compete fairly strong against the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS and the Dodge Challenger, which produce 426-hp and 425-hp respectively.

Transmission choices will be a 6-speed automatic, which helps deliver an estimated fuel-economy of 17/25 mpg (city/highway), or a 6-speed manual, which helps return 16/24 mpg.

Pricing and other details will be announced closer to launch date later this year.

Click through for the live high-res image gallery.

2010 Detroit: 2011 Ford Mustang GT:

All Photos Copyright © 2009 Stephen Calogera – egmCarTech.

2011 Ford Mustang GT:

– By: Stephen Calogera

Gov. Pat Quinn today named Dr. Quentin Young Illinois’ Public Health Advocate.

Dr. Young will develop wellness and education programs to help improve the health of the residents across Illinois.

“Throughout his long and distinguished career, Quentin Young has stood up for patients everywhere,” said Gov. Quinn.

“He will be a strong voice for Illinois families and will fight to ensure that everyone has easy-to-understand information about critical public health issues facing our state.”

Dr. Young has been a constant advocate for patient rights, changing the face of medicine in Chicago and around the nation. Dr. Young founded the Committee to End Discrimination, which would eventually help to desegregate Chicago hospitals.

In 1964, he helped launch the Medical Committee for Human Rights, serving as national chairman for the group that would become the medical arm of the Civil Rights Movement. (Background Information)

Serving as personal physician to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Young marched beside him in 1966 during a peaceful protest in Chicago, treating King’s wound when an angry spectator hit him with a rock.

”I am honored to be appointed to be Illinois Public Health Advocate by Gov. Quinn,” said Dr. Young.

“I look forward to utilizing my lifetime of experience to develop effective programs that will improve the health of the people of Illinois.”

Dr. Young served successfully as chairman of the Department of Medicine at Cook County Hospital, president of the Chicago Board of Health, and president of the American Public Health Association.

Dr. Young founded the Chicago-based Health and Medicine Policy Research Group and co-founded the Physicians for a National Health Program. In 2001, a 78-year-old Dr. Young walked across Illinois with Governor Quinn in support of quality healthcare for everyone.

Gov. Quinn signed an executive order to create the position of Illinois’ Public Health Advocate on Nov. 21, 2009.

The office will recommend and facilitate the development of public health strategies designed to prevent, diagnose, treat, and cure diseases. (Executive Order)

In his position Dr. Young will focus on assisting residents in understanding health coverage provisions and help them better understand their public health rights. He will also work to ensure that public health reports are easily accessible and understandable.

The position will be housed within the Department of Public Health and will utilize existing public health programs, staff and resources.

Content creators are happy to argue the same rhetoric over and over again on how online piracy is raging havoc in the established industries and continue to ask for ever-increasing penalties for users guilty or just accused of illegal sharing. At the same time, the industry is happy to ignore actual hard numbers that indicat… (read more)

Since the Final Fantasy XIII release back in December, there has been word buzzing around that the game is an epic disappointment with frustrating linearity to boot. If this Hong Kong gaming mag is to believed, it’s

Japanese carmaker Nissan took to Detroit this week yet another crazy concept with EV capabilities, called Mixim. The concept is part of the Michelin Challenge Design display, which can be viewed at the the 2010 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).

The Mixim, which has the same wheelbase as the Nissan Cube, is powered by two Super Motor electric motor/generators with unknown capabilities. For storage, the concept uses lithium-ion batteries, while separate electric motor… (read more)

So this is how Snooki ended up on Jersey Shore!

Did you know that the loudest pouf-lovin’ guidette in Garden State was featured on an episode of MTV’s Is She Really Going Out With Him? last summer.

Check out this vintage clip of Snooki flipping into Full Bitch Mode on a wayward boyfriend!

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Sedan, Chrysler, Luxury

Chrysler made one of the past decade’s strongest design statements with the 2005 introduction of the 300. The rear-wheel-drive sedan with blocky styling was a knockout with both the general consumer and, maybe more specifically, the aftermarket. Five years on and the 300 is still a SEMA favorite.

Sometimes, modded 300s look pretty swank. Of course, sometimes not so much. If you’re standing in Chrysler’s shoes, obviously you want to muscle in on this market. Meet the 300 S6 and 300 S8. Essentially, these two cars are appearance packages. However, we think they’re great looking appearance packs.

The big difference between the new cars (both are badged with “300 S” instead of the more Audi-infringing S6 and S8 monikers) and the regular 300 is the grille. Gone are the full chromed snouts of the normal 300s, in are blacked-out grilles with chrome surrounds and body-colored accents. The doors are “shaved,” the mirrors are body-colored and the headlight bezels are darkened. And, of course, the 20-inch wheels are highly polished.

The interior is also done up in low-key bling. There’s a carbon weave steering wheel with red stitching and silver spokes, “track-tested” leather seats with a “300 S” logo with perforated suede inserts. The door handles are also done up in carbon weave with red stitching – a cool, thorough touch.

If you’re wondering what the difference is between the two special edition models themselves, the 300 S6 comes with a 3.5-liter V6 (250 horsepower, 250 pound-feet of torque) and the 300 S8 comes with the 5.7-liter Hemi V8 (340 hp, 390 lb-ft of torque). Visually, the difference is quite slight. The 300 S8 has twin pipes and nearly solid-red taillights, while the 300 S6’s rear lights feature a clear round circle. Also, we called Audi to ask about infringement on their S6 and S8 names. “No comment.”

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

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Detroit 2010: Chrysler 300 S6 and S8 are reminders of Mopar magic originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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