Author: Serkadis

  • 69adget’s OhMiBod Freestyle Review

    Ohmibod1

    The OhMiBod Freestyle Vibrator lets you DJ your own orgasm – literally. The vibrator wirelessly connects with your iPod or iPhone and vibrates along with the beat. Perfect for those of you who get turned on by the hot new Jay-Z song (or Ricky Martin, it’s cool, he’s on my playlist too), whatever your music of choice may be, this vibrator will redefine the way you look at your iPod.

    In the Box:

    I’ve seen my fair share of sex toys, but this one is completely different from the second you lay your eyes on it. The kind folks at OhMiBod sent me the OhMiBod Freestyle as a sample to review and thought of everything – from packaging to concept. The vibrator comes in a hard plastic case with padding on the inside for maximum portability to school, work, business trips, the supermarket, or the gym… What makes it even better is the fact that it comes with three different electrical adapters so you can use your vibrator whether you find yourself in Europe, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, or the U.K. You will never be left high or dry next time you find yourself away from home – thank you OhMiBod!

    High Tech Hotness:

    The Freestyle comes with a charger and a 2.4GHz wireless transmitter with adjustable intensity for syncing with your music player. The vibrator has two functions: manual and music sync mode. A pretty intense vibration, it’s not for the faint of heart. In manual mode, there are seven programmed patterns and in music sync mode, the pulse patterns depend on your playlist of choice. What’s really cool is that you can sync the vibrator with pretty much anything that has a 3.5mm port, which includes iPhones, iPods, CD Players, a Stereo System or other MP3 music players. Completely wireless, the vibrator runs for 5 hours on a full charge and is a whopping 8 inches long and 1.5 inches thick. The only downside is that it’s a little large and made of hard plastic, which may turn off someone looking for a more realistic look or feel. The $130 vibrator is simple to set-up: plug the transmitter into your iPod and then plug in headphones or let it blast out loud from your iPod dock. The hardest part about setting the thing up is choosing the right playlist. My first thought was that my techno playlist might be interesting because that is probably the most beat driven music you can get. Surprisingly, songs with strong melodies felt the best. Think Kanye, Beyonce, and Britney. The awesome build up had me craving the chorus. And if “All the Single Ladies” doesn’t have the melody to make you get there, you can always twist the vibrator to manual mode mid session for a constant vibration and a strong finish. It’s also great for couples, although that’s clearly not necessary!

    My Playlist:
    Kanye West “Gold Digger”

    Bret Michaels “Nothing but a Good Time”

    Beyonce “Single Ladies”

    Justin Timberlake “Rock Your Body”
    (Yea, like I would make it through more than four songs)

    The Verdict: Dump Your Boyfriend:

    The main reason why a self love session cannot usually stand up to a real love session is because you are completely in control when alone. You know exactly what’s coming next. The Freestyle solves this problem because it incorporates so many different levels of intensity, leaving you feeling surprised and wondering what’s coming next. If Madonna sings an especially loud note or if the bass kicks in, you’ll feel it. This element of surprise totally rules and mimics the type of orgasm you would have with a partner thanks to the varied pulses, unexpected vibes, and changing intensity. But way better. You’ll be begging for the next song on your playlist to begin.

    For more about the latest sex toys and technology, check out 69adget.com


  • The DVR vs Internet Video

    The “conventional wisdom” of internet intellectuals is that its a foregone conclusion that the future of content delivery is via the internet.  Furthermore, the same internet panel populaters seem to be of the mindset that traditional entertainment and content companies “just dont get it”.  History has written that if it can be gotten for free, it should be gotten for free.  It’s a given that the next re-make of Planet of the Apes is supposed to end with  Taylor looking not at The Statue of Liberty, but an enormous Comcast or DIRECTV logo when he screams  they “blew it all to hell”.  That major content conglomerates like Viacom, Disney and the like, that depend on traditional TV models are doomed because they just dont understand the new world.

    I agree.

    Those big companies just don’t get it. Forget the Internet.  For some reason they want to kill off the DVR. They think the DVR is the bane of their existence.  That because consumers fast forward through commercials, DVRs must be dumbed down,  limited in any and every way possible and even eliminated.

    To this I reply, “Are you serious ?”

    Do you not realize that the DVR is the one device that can save all things traditional and holy to your business and stock price ?  That the DVR is what every internet based TV delivery device or service aims to be when they grow up ? That the more powerful and feature rich that you allow DVRs to become, the sooner your customers, the people that pay  an average of what, $80 dollars a month to consume your content,  will realize that all the capabilities that the internet pundits predict that the future of the internet will offer, are available today for the DVR ?

    Let me ask a simple question, if everyone had a DVR that could record any and every series they liked, enabling them to watch the shows they missed immediately, why would they go to Hulu ever again ? Lunchtime at work you say ? I respond simply with “slingbox enabled DVR”. Let them stream the shows from their homes. Oh, and one more thing. When they do stream it from home to work, they pay for the bandwidth, not you.

    Traditional media should be blasting the cable/telco/sat companies for not adding DVR features and dropping pricing fast enough.  Not only should remote internet access to content be a given, but the ability to save shows at “internet quality”  and original quality, side by side, should be as well. This would not only improve streaming, but also increase the number of shows that could be saved. I could go on for days with features that could and should be added to DVRs, but I will shortcut this by once again butchering a quote from Charlton Heston, this time from Soylent Green. “Its PCs. DVRs are made out of PCs.”.  Which means that they can not only be upgraded with features, but if someone where smart and fully opened up  Tru2way and added net connectivity, it could be a rich foundation for applications. Anyone got a Charlton Heston quote for the Iphone App store ? So what if Netflix does instant streaming to it.  Go out and get the same rights and add them to your VOD Offering and create a movie on demand subscription service that you host on the internet or  implement when you go IP. The full feature DVR is the killer of all boxes designed to integrate internet video into traditional TV viewing.

    If you have gotten this far, you need to wipe away the tears.  Yes, advertising dollars could take a hit. Sometimes the business world requires you to make a choice.  Call me crazy, but a device that consumers love and further commits them to paying the cable/sat/telco distributors that PAY YOU BILLIONS EVERY YEAR, IS A GOOD THING ! A device that can pre empt whatever threat there might be from over the top video, is a good thing for you.  A device that makes people watch MORE traditional TV is a good thing too, right ?

    I know its tough recognizing that 40pct plus of DVR users want to and will skip through commercials.  But do you think if you kill the golden goose and push people to the internet they will be more likely to watch your commercials ?  No. They won’t.

    Its time for you to finally understand the new world of technology and content. You have an amazing technology, the DVR,  that has almost tripled its installed based to more than 30pct in just 2 years.  DVR users watch 8 hours per month of time shifted TV, which by the way is more than total average consumption of 3 hours of internet video per month.  Even kids 18 to 24 watch more video on their DVR than they do on the net ! Don’t you think its worth noting that the number of DVR users is growing faster than the number of video watching internet users ? The individual  consumption of DVR video far exceeds internet video. More importantly, since most DVR users are cable/telco subscribers, they actually PAY YOU MONEY to do all the above.

    Its time you come not to crush the DVR but to praise it.

  • Nintendo Weekend Warrior – another busy week for publishers and homebrew devs alike

    Looking back to the week, it seems that both publishers and homebrew developers were able to deliver on their respective forms of output. We’ve got tr…

  • Energy Future Debt Swap Gets Few Takers

    NEW YORK (Reuters) – Energy Future Holdings has extended the deadline on a massive debt exchange after getting just a fraction of the participation it had sought, the company said in a statement on Friday.

    Bondholders have offered to swap just $351 million of debt as of Thursday, out of $12.15 billion that was eligible for exchange. The deadline has been extended to Nov. 10 from Nov. 3, the company said.

    Formerly known as TXU, Energy Future has been trying to restructure some of its $43 billion debt load, much of it taken on for its 2007 leveraged buyout by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and TPG Capital — the largest LBO ever.

    The small participation was a major victory for bondholders, including Franklin Templeton Investors, who had organized to block the exchange after being offered as little as 46.5 cents on the dollar to swap their debt.

    Bondholders believed the discounts were too steep now that the bond markets have recovered from a selloff earlier this year, a source close to the group said. Energy Future is also expected to report strong earnings on Oct. 30, potentially lifting the value of its bonds, the source said.

    While the debt swap is hanging over the market, however, bonds may not trade much higher, the source added.

    Energy Future was hoping to reduce its debt load by about $2 billion by swapping $6 billion of outstanding notes for $4 billion of new notes. The company on Friday said it was reducing the maximum amount of new notes to be exchanged to $3 billion.

    In addition to the bond discounts, bondholders were opposed to amendments to bond terms Energy Future was seeking as part of the exchange. The changes to terms or covenants would have made it easier for Energy Future to sell its valuable transmission business, Oncor, a person close to the deal said.

    Energy Future also on Friday eliminated an early tender deadline and said that all bondholders who swap debt by Nov. 10 will get the same terms. All bondholders are being offered between 46.5 cents and 74.5 cents on the dollar to exchange their debt.

    “Bondholders think that they can do better,” said Timothy Doherty, an analyst for high-yield research firm KDP Investment Advisors.

    The new notes being offered would have given bondholders an improved claim on Oncor assets, but bondholders worried that their security would be weak. Covenants would have allowed Oncor to be sold and the bonds transferred to a different company, analysts said.

    Analysts also said the debt exchange would have done little to head off Energy Future’s major debt problem, a looming $23 billion maturing in 2014.

    Carl Blake, analyst at independent research firm Gimme Credit, said in a report earlier this month the exchange would have trimmed its total debt by less than 3.5 percent, at best.

    “Energy Future Holdings is suffering under the weight of an untenable debt load created by an ill-timed leveraged buyout at the top of the market,” Blake said. The debt swap was likely the first step in a multistage restructuring of the company’s capital structure, he added.

    By Dena Aubin

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  • Blackstone Plans Merlin Entertainments IPO for 2010

    LONDON (Reuters) – Private equity firm Blackstone (BX.N) is preparing to float theme park operator Merlin Entertainments next year, hoping to take advantage of buoyant equity markets, a source familiar with the situation said.

    The U.S. buyout house has called in Citigroup (C.N), Goldman Sachs (GS.N), Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), UBS (UBSN.VX) and Nomura (8604.T) to advise on the initial public offering, which could value the business at around 2 billion pounds ($3.33 billion) and come early in 2010, the source said.

    Merlin is the world’s second largest theme park operator after Disney, owning the London Eye, Madame Tussauds and the Sea Life centres. Dubai International Capital (DIC) also owns 20 percent of the business.

    Blackstone and DIC declined to comment.

    As equity markets have stabilised, private equity firms have started to line up better-performing businesses for possible flotation in order to realise some cash from their investments.

    Blackstone Chief Executive Steve Schwarzman said earlier this month the firm was evaluating the possibility of seven IPOs in addition to one — Team Health — already filed. [ID:nN13200951]

    Blackstone is expected to remain a majority shareholder in the business after the float, with much of the capital going to finance new attractions, the source said.

    ($1=.6006 Pound)

    (Reporting by Simon Meads; editing by Patrick Graham)

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  • House Dems: Health Reform Bill Would Close Medicare “Doughnut Hole”

    CQ Politics: “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made another bid to solidify support for Democrats’ ambitious health care plans Friday, pledging to move aggressively to close the “doughnut hole” in Medicare drug coverage. Pelosi said the legislation she is negotiating with members of her caucus will give Medicare recipients who fall into the coverage gap an immediate 50 percent discount on brand-name prescriptions and shrink out-of-pocket costs by $500. The doughnut hole would be completely phased out by 2019, she said. … She didn’t say how much the new Part D plan would cost.”

    “Nancy A. LeaMond, executive vice president at AARP, said 26 percent of Medicare recipients enrolled in Part D plans fall into the doughnut hole each year in 17 states”  (10/23)

    Bloomberg reports that the coverage gap “begins when elderly recipients amass a certain amount of drug expenses, currently $2,700. Coverage resumes after recipients pay all of the next $3,454 in drug costs. … A PhRMA spokesman, the trade group that represents drugmakers and negotiated changes to the doughnut hole with the Obama administration, declined to comment on the latest proposal. (Rowley and Litvan, 10/24).

    Reuters: “The emerging bill would also gradually eliminate the gap in prescription drug coverage in 10 years. The earlier version of the bill would have eliminated the gap in 15 years. … Support from the elderly, who are more likely to vote in elections than other demographic groups, is crucial to enacting healthcare reform. Closing the doughnut hole could go a long way toward winning their support and is a top priority for the AARP, an influential advocacy group for the elderly. … Healthcare reform legislation working its way through the Senate also includes provisions aimed at reducing the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap (Smith, 10/23).  

  • BlackBerry OS 5.0 to be released for existing devices starting this week?

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    While the launch of the BlackBerry Storm2 on Verizon is widely expected to take place on October 28th and the Bold 9700 is so close we can almost taste it, owners of current generation BlackBerry smartphones  — the Pearl Flip 8220/8230, Curve 8330/8350i/8900, Bold 9000, Storm 9500/9530 and Tour 9630 — should be pleased to note that RIM is all set for the launch OS 5.0. Specific dates aren’t easily pinned down as it more or less depends on the device one has and the carrier one is with, but thanks to our connects we know, for example, that Verizon will be dropping for the OS 5.0 for the Storm 9530 tomorrow evening with a fall back date set for Monday. Those that don’t have Desktop Manager set up on either their PC or Mac might want to get everything ready ahead of time as it looks for the most part that OTA software updates will not be made available. Oh well. OS 5.0 is oh so worth the hassle.

  • Uncharted 2 exceeds expectations, DLC coming within the year

    As it is, there were already a lot of expectations for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Amy Hennig is proud to say that even with all the acclaim and the a…

  • A look at how the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Laboratory (VAIL) is changing the world

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    Volkswagen is taking great strides in making the roads safer and remove the dangerous fun from driving by developing fully autonomous vehicles. I had a chance to talk to Dr. Burkhard Huhnke, director of the Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) about the future of the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Laboratory (VAIL) at Stanford University and how the technology developed there is being integrated into Volkswagen Group vehicles. You may be able to buy a real-life K.I.T.T before you know it. It probably won’t be a Pontiac though.

    You may recall that Volkswagen was the first team to complete the DARPA Grand Challenge in 2005 by having a fully autonomous Volkswagen Touareg SUV (his name was Stanley, btw) drive 132 miles through the Mojave Desert. Then for the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, a VW Passat Wagon took second place behind Tartan Racing team from Carnegie Mellon University in a 60 mile urban course. But those two challenges are nothing compared to what’s on tap for next year: Pikes Peak in an autonomous Audi TT-S.

    CrunchGear: How about we start with an overview of the project.

    The VAIL is an initiative that we started here from our electronics research lab in Palo Alto to initialize automotive center at Stanford. We got the smartest people from all over the world in one place. We already had experience with the DARPA Grand Challenge race success. We won the desert race with the autonomous driving cars together with the Stanford racing team. Then we repeated the success in the Urban Challenge in 2007.

    So we thought how can we bring each competence together, create a platform for a convenient automotive industry and Silicon Valley partners to look into the future and find some solutions for the mobility, safety and environmentally-friendly problems, which we have to face together.

    The Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Laboratory funded a building, which will be dedicated and opened tomorrow (10/24/2009). We’ll fund the research projects with $750,000 per year for the next five years.

    CrunchGear: How is Stanford involved in the project?

    We expect first that we collaborate with the Stanford genius together on the solutions that we create for the future. We divided the VAIL topics into three major themes

    One is how do we want to drive autonomously in the urban environment. We have so many problems that we have to solve like direction recognition, lane warning, lane detection, but all these obstacles have to be observed by camera systems in the urban environment, which is one of the biggest challenges.

    What we would like to create for all of these three topics, and I’ll come back to the 2nd and 3rd, is initiatives. The vision for urban driving is to drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles autonomously and that involves traffic jams and obstacles. What can we do to provide to our drivers with? They want to text while driving and we have to make that safe.

    We already established systems in our current models like blind spot detections, adaptive cruse control but what’s the future for that? Can we already allow them to press the auto button to start texting? So that’s the vision. Drive along the highway and allow the driver to do something other than driving.

    The second vision is up to the limits together with the driving dynamics department at Stanford. If you come to a critical situation, you generally have to take the control over from the driver.

    Let me explain it to you this way: If you brake your car without control, you will definitely hit the obstetrical in front of you. Can you imagine that we can try to find the emergency parts for the driver and turn the car into a different path to avoid any impact any with the obstacle? It would be a smart system that acts within the limit’s range of the car that would find an emergency solution. The driver would never be able to do this because there is too much information within the milliseconds.

    The idea for up to the limits is to look at the best drivers to give us super examples how to react in critical situations. So we looked at a German rally driver that drives up Pike’s Peak. It’s a really critic race, but it’s a challenge for us to try to understand what makes this rally driver so special and get this knowledge into the car.

    We built a next generation autonomous car that’s able to drive like a rally drive and drift into the curves. It drives even in extreme situations. We think we can actually drive up hill to Pike’s Peak next year. That’s the second project.

    The third one is with multitasking. We actually sponsored a project seen in the NYT on what people are really able to multitask or are they not really able to focus on one task and fulfill that. It’s really an interesting study. But for us it’s really interesting because we would like understand what the perfect interface between humans and machines. Do you believe in your car? Do you believe that if you press the autopilot button that the car would actually do what you would expect. Or do you have blue screens like we experience everyday – I don’t want to blame Windows – but with our operating systems. We have to prepare the highest reliability for systems. But what do you expect in these relationships between the car and the driver in the future.

    These three founding purposes are the main intentions at VAIL.

    CrunchGear: What type of testing has the Pike’s Peak vehicle seen so far?

    We actually tested that at Salt Flats to have the open area available to be able drive up to the limits without any risks. It sounds crazy but we needed the smartest people actually at Stanford to prepare to the algorithms because you have to control systems again in the in-stable mode and the few years ago we thought it was impossible. But we did test already and we created a movie to show that’s possible and we think we can go one step farther and do this crazy race.

    Again I told you that it’s rally style driving. It’s really incredible; up to the limits.

    CrunchGear: One of the reason they use Pikes’s Peak is because of the environmental conditions. How does the altitude affect the vehicle?

    We have the best system actually to use for that in the Audi TT-S and it’s working perfect. We tried it already at Pike’s Peak in slow mode to figure out what type of problems we might have in that environment.

    CrunchGear: What else has changed in the Audi TT-S

    If you saw our Junior VW Passat Wagon urban environment, we had many roadblocks to avoid and accidents with any person in that car. We don’t need the rack on the roof anymore. We don’t need big sizes for that at all. It looks almost like a stock car. You would only see three antennas on top of the roof. That’s all. We fit the computer in the trunk. We really want to show off that we’re coming closer to an actual product. It’s not too far away.


  • Weekly App Store Picks: October 23, 2009

    The long-awaited weekend has finally arrived and with it comes the opportunity to consider purchasing some shiny new Apple hardware. If you’re looking for a distraction from those wallet-emptying new Apple toys, I suggest you check out my picks from the App Store.

    This week’s picks are all about distractions, I’ve selected four apps to take your mind off everything else. My top pick is NFB Films, the National Film Board of Canada’s official iPhone app. Plus I’ve also been looking at Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals, Rebtel and Mr. Bounce.

    NFB Films (Free)

    appicon_nfb_filmsKnowing little about the National Film Board of Canada, I was admittedly drawn to the app for other reasons. You see, I’m a long-time fan of Boards of Canada, a Scottish duo who make crackling, whistful electronic music. The pair are known for borrowing samples — and even their name — from Canada’s NFB.

    The app itself has absolutely nothing to do with the musicians. It’s actually a meticulously archived selection of videos plucked from the National Film Board of Canada’s brimming library. There’s both classic and current content, organized into categories such as Classics, Documentaries, Animated Films and Social Issues. It’s worth noting that these aren’t clips — the videos are feature-length presentations.

    For such a vast quantity of content, it’s encouraging that the app is focused on usability. Browsing content feels just like Apple’s own iPod app, you can mark videos to be watched later, or send to a friend too. There’s even a button to find out what other nearby users are watching. And all this for free, too. It’s really quite brilliant. It’s a truly wonderful app and the NFB should be commended for allowing us all access to such a fantastic collection.


    Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals ($7.99)

    appicon_jamie_olivers_20mmCooking might not be everyone’s idea of fun but, for the non-believers, I can assure you that once you get started it’s a joy. There’s nothing quite like creating a gorgeous looking plate of food and then, in the process of devouring it, discovering that it’s actually quite tasty too.

    The turning point for me came after I attempted Jamie Oliver’s recipe for pan-fried tuna steak with fresh asparagus wrapped in pancetta. Before that, the extent of my cooking ability was scrambled egg. Or omelette if I happened to get distracted and forgot to do the scrambling. For me, Jamie made cooking easy and accessible. A pleasure instead of a complex chore.

    The iPhone app is essentially a Jamie Oliver cookbook infused with a dollop of multimedia goodness. There are 50 recipes included, all of which can be thrown together in 20 minutes. Each recipe features mouth-watering step-by-step photos and audio clips from Jamie too. There’s even a range of videos presented by Jamie to help you learn essential kitchen skills. A proper pukka package, as the man himself might say.

    Rebtel (Free)

    rebtelNews broke a couple of weeks back that AT&T is finally ready to allow Internet voice calls over its wireless network. What this means for iPhone users in the U.S. is that soon you’ll be able to make calls using the Skype app over 3G.

    We’re still waiting for the news to manifest itself in an actual Skype app update, furthermore it’s unclear whether carriers across Europe will follow suit with AT&T. This is where VOIP service Rebtel comes in. The company claim that their new app allows super-cheap VOIP calls on the iPhone today.

    Except the app doesn’t quite do that. What it actually does is uses a smart workaround to create a clever compromise. When you call a contact using Rebtel, the app automatically generates a local number which your call is routed through. It’s essentially an automated version of the Skype To Go service.

    Mr Bounce (99 cents)

    appicon_mr_bounceThe last of my devastatingly distracting picks this week comes in the form of a game. Mr Bounce gives Atari’s oft-cloned Breakout an intriguing physics-based twist. Rather than just controlling the bat, you also control the ball’s altitude.

    Initially it feels complicated. Like a physicists re-imagining of a classic game. Changing the altitude effectively changes the bounciness of the ball. There’s also trajectory projection, so you can see the path that the ball will follow. The game is even rendered with an RGB aesthetic and glowing vector geometry.

    Once you’ve traversed the first few levels though, the game clicks and you’ll be guided through 25 excellent levels by the catchy blippy bloppy soundtrack. Great fun and great value too as Mr Bounce is currently only 99 cents.

    That’s all the picks for this week. I’ll be back in seven days with a fresh selection of App Store recommendations.

    In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?



    In Q3, Uncle Sam was the green IT king maker. Read the, “Green IT Q3 Wrap-up.”

  • A look at


  • People Around World Incorporate the Number 350 at Iconic Places to Highlight Need to Get CO2 Levels Under 350 PPM

    Maldives350-2009

    Maldives – 350.org Day of Action

    DominicanRepublic350-2009

    Dominican Republic – 350.org Day of Action

    Mongolia350_2009

    Mongolia – 350.org Day of Action

    2009Oct24: People around the world incorporate the number 350 at iconic places. The event is organized by 350.org, an organization that argues for the need to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere from the current level of 387 ppm to under 350 ppm, the level scientists, including Jim Hansen and David Suzuki, have identified as the safe upper limit for CO2 in the atmosphere (350.org).

    Reference: 350.org http://www.350.org/mission

    Read Andrew Revkin’s article about the 350.org in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/science/earth/25threefifty.html

    Image Description: a) 350 in the Maldives. B) 350 in the Dominican Republic. c) 350 in Mongolia. Image Credit: 350.org. Images are located at a) http://www.flickr.com/photos/350org/4022797142/in/set-72157622455212282/ b) http://www.flickr.com/photos/350org/4035746047/in/set-72157622455212282/ c) http://www.flickr.com/photos/350org/4039832300/in/set-72157622455212282/ Image Permission: These images are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

  • Fat Princess to get New Pork for free, patch 1.03 detailed

    Just because her highness greedy for cake, doesn’t mean she’ll want your money too. Good news Fat Princess fans – Titan Studios has announced that the…

  • Pelosi Cajoling, Compromising To Win Public Option In Final Health Bill

    News outlets covering Capitol Hill report that, with pressure from Democratic leaders, the public option now appears more likely to be in final health care reform legislation.

    The Wall Street Journal: “House Democratic leaders signaled flexibility Friday on how a proposed government-run health insurance plan would operate in the private market, in an overture to centrist lawmakers who want to limit the government’s impact on the market. … For months, senior House Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, have pushed proposals that would give a government plan big leverage in the marketplace. They would tie payments to doctors and hospitals to the low rates paid by Medicare, the government health program for the elderly. … But the speaker and House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D., S.C.) suggested they were open to other ideas, including a proposal that would require the government plan to negotiate payment rates directly with health providers” (Hitt, 10/24).

    The Los Angeles Times reports that Pelosi “said that states might be able to ‘opt out’ of any nationwide government insurance plan, a compromise that she suggested could unify congressional Democrats and enable President Obama to sign a healthcare overhaul bill later this year.”

    “Pelosi remains a leading champion of the ‘public option,’ which would establish a federal health insurance program that would give consumers who don’t get coverage through their employer an alternative to plans offered by commercial insurers. But she told reporters at the Capitol that she did not ‘think there’s much problem’ with the opt-out alternative, which had sparked interest among moderate Democrats in the Senate. … A group of Senate Democrats is also trying to build support for such a plan in the healthcare bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is planning to bring up for a vote next month” (Levey and Oliphant, 10/24).

    Politico: “During an end-of-the-week press conference, Pelosi told reporters, ‘Part of the decision is not just about votes…We have a very strong Democratic majority here. Part of it is the end-game of conference. I think it’s really important to note this…The atmosphere has changed.’ The ‘atmosphere’ she’s referring to is that in the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid seems to be giving some ground on a public option – which was long thought to be dead in the Upper Chamber. Now that the Senate is giving optional government-sponsored coverage a serious look, Pelosi seems to be open to their suggestions. … ‘So this is about the endgame now…There’s no philosophical difference between a robust public option and negotiated rates. It’s just a difference in money. It’s just a difference in money. And money is important’” (O’Connor, 10/24).

    The Hill: “Hopes are running higher than ever for supporters of creating a government-run public option as part of healthcare reform. The question is not settled and the healthcare reform project itself is far from guaranteed to succeed but liberals see mounting evidence that their position is going to prevail. Supporters of the public option perceive a tide turning their way –and sweeping up previously reluctant Democrats. ‘I think people are sensing an inevitability that it’s going to be in the bill,’ said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). ‘There is momentum working here’” (Young, 10/24).

    The Associated Press reports: “… it’s no longer a debate about whether there will be a health care bill. The questions are when, how — and who can compromise. Democratic leaders expect their members, looking ahead to next year’s elections, to vote for a health care bill despite any misgivings. But the vote-counters have no real way of knowing until each chamber produces a bill. That’s why negotiators have slogged through months of hearings, hundreds of amendments and meetings with members that require interminable listening, waiting, reassuring, cajoling and answering questions from the recalcitrant”  (Kellman, 10/24).

    The New York Times: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped up the pressure on House Democrats on Friday to support her preferred version of legislation that would require the federal government to sell health insurance in competition with private insurers. Her action came amid indications that Ms. Pelosi had not locked down the votes for the proposal, the most contentious element in a bill that would provide health insurance to more than 35 million people, at cost of nearly $900 billion over 10 years.”

    “Other provisions of the bill, including enhanced Medicare benefits, could take the total cost over $1 trillion, Democrats said. But they promised to offset the cost and avoid any increase in federal budget deficits” (Pear and Herszenhorn, 10/23).

    In a separate story, The Associated Press: “Some moderate Democrats have expressed reluctance to support a bill as high as $1 trillion. Last month, Obama said in a nationally televised address before a joint session of Congress that he preferred a package with a price tag of around $900 billion. Obama also said he would not sign a bill that raised deficits, and the CBO estimates the emerging House bill meets that objective. Officials said the measure would reduce deficits by at least $50 billion over 10 years and perhaps as much as $120 billion.”

    “‘The bill will be paid for over 10 years. It will reduce costs but also will not add a dime to the deficit’ in future years, (Pelosi) said at a news conference” (Espo, 10/24).

    Roll Call reported that, breaking his current pattern, President Obama did not use his weekly address to talk about health reform, but Republican Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Nebraska, did: “Johanns painted a dire prospect for a broad spectrum of the population if Democratic-backed legislation passes. … ‘To the recent college graduate burdened with student loans: You’ll be forced to buy health insurance the government mandates, and if you refuse, you’ll be hit with a penalty,’ Johanns said. ‘To our seniors who wish to receive care in the comfort of their homes: Funding for hospice care and home health care services would be cut,’ he said … Johanns added that although Obama promised negotiations on C-SPAN, ‘a 1,500-page bill, full of carve-outs and backroom deals, is currently being brokered behind closed doors.’  (Koffler, 10/24).

     

  • Review: Fonera 2.0n

    fon-fonera-2n-wifi-router
    Short Version
    The Fonera 2.0n router essentially gives you free WiFi anywhere in the world for a one-time fee of $100. It may or may not work, but it’s worth a try.

    Review
    If there’s one thing I hate about travel it’s paying for WiFi. WiFi, like air and a nice piece of sausage, is the birthright of every traveler from Spain to Texas yet free WiFi is almost impossible to find. Thankfully, FON and their new Fonera 2.0n router offer a way to get a free connection while giving something back to the community at large, namely free WiFi.

    For those not sufficiently well-versed in FON, it’s kind of like Boingo for Communards. You buy a router and you automatically gain access to FON routers around the world – up to 700,000 in all. You can see a map of access points on the Fon website.

    The device itself costs $99 and is a small four-port router with one Internet input. It runs at 801.11n speeds and can act as a 3G-to-WiFi converter with the right hardware. You can also connect a hard drive to create a NAS server.

    When you’ve connected your router you log in type in a WPA key printed on the side of the device. You then can add all of your information including your YouTube, Facebook, and Picasa logins. Why? Because the router can take over your image and video uploads after you’ve completed them, offloading some of the upload time to the router itself. Want to download torrents? The Fonera box will do it for you while you sleep and it will save the downloads to the attached hard drive.

    The coolest thing, however, is how it shares your WiFi. You have complete control over how much bandwidth you want to share and you even even share in the revenue generated by the share. When you turn on the router it starts two access points, a public one and a locked private one. The public one displays a pay wall for users, the same pay wall that you will use to gain free access when you’re travelling.

    Bottom Line
    The Fonera 2.0n is a compact little device and the mission – if not the actual implementation – is fresh and exciting. For about $100 you essentially have free WiFi all over the world. The service is only as good as its coverage, however, which makes this a sort of hippy-dippy free love stab at web access – noble but doomed to be popular with only a certain subset of the population. If you’re in an area with lots of students and other idealists, look for FON routers to be plentiful and useful. Wall Street? Probably not.

    Regardless, it’s not expensive, there are plenty of great built-in features, and even if the FON dream fails you can still say that you’re supplying WiFi in the mode of “From each according to his DSL connection, to each according to his needs.”


  • PayPal’s Fate Now Rests With Developers

    EC-buttonUpdated: PayPal opening up its payment processing API to developers, hoping to unleash new apps that use its electronic payment service, sounds somewhat anti-climactic. After all, most of the other brand-name web companies that emerged in the late 90s — including PayPal’s parent, eBay — have been doing that for years.

    But the strategy puts PayPal at an important crossroads: One path leads to PayPal being just one of many e-payment companies vying for attention as online commerce evolves; the other gives PayPal what may be its last serious shot at unseating the credit card companies. What direction PayPal takes isn’t really up to the company — rather it will come down to the apps that developers build using the company’s technology, and how common they become.

    Back in 2002, when eBay bought PayPal for $1.5 billion, the startup looked poised to depose credit cards and checks as payment methods of choice. But as is often the case where money is concerned, there were complications. Frauds and phishers scared away some users, others were put off by poor customer service. Untangling regulations set before the Internet era slowed things down further.

    But the biggest barriers were the credit card companies and their bank members –- PayPal needed the cooperation of the very institutions it was trying to compete against. So for years, PayPal was focused on eBay’s e-commerce platform; it wasn’t until eBay’s purchase of BillMeNow BillMeLater that PayPal was finally able to build deeper relationships with sites like Walmart.com. It’s now used by 44 of the top 100 retail sites.

    More recently, two trends have gotten underway, both of which stand to benefit PayPal. First, consumer appetites have turned against using credit cards. Not only are people more averse to debt, many banks are raising their annual fees even for cardholders with good credit. Second, online payments are on the verge of a dramatic evolution thanks to the proliferation of mobile devices as well as social sites like Facebook. It’s not just that these changes are creating an app economy, it’s that any economic engine needs oil to run smoothly, and e-payments are that oil.

    The tricky part for PayPal is that it’s not the only one trying to benefit from these trends. Google has made its Checkout available on mobile devices. Nokia’s purchase of a stake in Obopay is helping it develop Nokia Money, another mobile payment system. Amazon’s Flexible Payment System, built on its payments infrastructure, is another daunting rival, as would any offering from Apple that was integrated into iTunes.

    To outrun those competitors, PayPal needs to win over more consumers with a payment system that is reliable, intuitively simple and secure. Over the years, PayPal has gained some ground, but still has work to do. More importantly, it needs to win the trust of developers. It’s their creativity — and their sense of how the web is changing consumer behavior — that will reshape the way money is transferred online. Its Paypal X Innovate developers conference next month could be a deciding moment in winning that trust.

    PayPal may have been slow to open up its API, but the company’s development has always been careful and complicated. And because the future of online payments itself an open question, it has a rare chance to expand its role. Whether it succeeds or simply remains an also-ran in the sector, however, is up to the web’s community of developers.

    Updated: There were two errors in the PayPal post. We wrote that Nokia bought Obopay, but instead they bought a stake in the mobile payments start-up. Also, we incorrectly referred to BillMeLater as BillMeNow. The errors are regretted and have been fixed.


  • “Now is the time for steady and clear policies” – PM

    The PM records his podcast at Number 10The Prime Minister has warned of the need for “steady and clear policies” to help the economy recover and said it would be “suicidal” to cut off the funding and investment for young people, families and businesses.

    Speaking on the 80th anniversary of the Wall Street Crash, Gordon Brown said the battle to stop the current downturn becoming a second great depression is being won.

    In his latest podcast, the PM also looked ahead to this week’s European Council meeting in Brussels, where European Union leaders will discuss jobs and support for businesses.

    The PM said:

    “What matters is what Europe does. We need a plan to further mobilise our resources in support of businesses and jobs, including an ambitious European Union target on apprenticeships for the future.”

    The podcasts, which are available on our iTunes channel and YouTube, are recorded at Downing Street or around the world when the Prime Minister is travelling.

    Speeches and transcripts: Prime Minister’s podcast

  • Ezio has 51 Trophies to earn…easily?

    For those who just can’t put the controller down until they’ve secured the platinum, Trophies for the PS3 version of Assassin’s Creed 2 have now been …

  • Nokia N900 delayed until November, tests our patience

    We know many of you are close to dying and holding your breath for the awesome Nokia flagship device, the Maemo-packing N900. It was probably a big tease when we told you guys it was going to hit U.S. distribution centers on September 27, but for some untold reason sales planned for October have been delayed and it will go on sale in November. In just days T-Mobile will be making its Even More and Even More Plus plans available, and the N900 will totally support the network’s 3G, and several of our readers are waiting to jump on this handset/carrier combo. Just be prepared to fork over somewhere in the neighborhood of $650 – $700 for the device itself and you’ll be good to go. You’ve waited this long, what’s another week or two?

    Read

  • Confused by your bad luck in love? Do you think all dating should be renamed “blind dating” – and instead of saying “I’m seeing someone” you should be more honest and say “I’m dimly viewing someone?”


    Come join me on 5 Fun Love-Boosting Seminar Sunday nights in NYC!

    The first POST DATE RECAP SEMINAR is tomorow evening –   Oct. 25th – at 5pm here in NYC!

    Come join me – bring friends – and I will help you to jackhammer drill down, down, down and discover what your mischeivous subconscious is up to, choosing those Prince Harmings and Princess Harmings of your now forever past!

    Stop blaming your past for bad relationships — and started blaming your present.

    What are you thinking and doing NOW – which is giving the results you are having NOW?

    If you keep thinking and doing the same ol’ things, you will keep having the same ol’ results in love!

    I’m calling these series of 5 Sunday Evenings: POST-DATE RECAP SEMINAR SERIES – because I want you to bring me your Love Questions – and I’ll give you my Love-Boosting Answers!

    In my Oprah.com-recommended book PRINCE HARMING SYNDROME I put forth that YOU MUST BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO DATE – and offer Princess Charming School tips for seduction – which I will ALSO be sharing this Sunday – and all future Sundays in this series.

    This Sunday Oct. 25th I will be having 2 amazing Princess Charming School Professors coming to offer their empowering seduction tips.

    Donna Sonkin, holistic health counselor extraordinaire, who will give techniques for feeling beautiful from the inside out – whom you can find out more about here: http://www.getthinforthecamera.com/

    Alisa Vitti, founder of Laughing Sage Wellness, who will give techniques for feeling sexy and sensual from the inside out – whom you can find out more about here: http://www.laughingsagewellness.com/events_speaker.shtml

    I’m offering a special discount rate if you sign up BEFORE tomorrow night for this series!

    SIGN UP BEFORE OCT. 25 – Get all 5 Sunday seminars for $50.00, per paypal – write me, I’ll send you a super-easy paypal invoice

    SIGN UP AFTER OCT. 25TH – Get 4 Sunday seminars for $40.00, write me, I’ll send you a super-easy paypal invoice

    INDIVIDUAL SEMINAR FEE:  $18.00 per seminar via super-easy paypal, $20.00 per seminar at the door

    I’d love to have you join in on these fun and love-empowering seminars! Simply write to me at [email protected]. Put POST DATE RECAP SEMINARS in the subject box – then in your email let me know if you’re interested in the whole package or singular seminars!

    THE DATE DETAILS:

    10/25: Press and VIP Guests who purchase before Oct. 25th!
    11/1, 11/8, 11/15, 11/22: Open to everyone!

    INCLUDES:

    5 pm: Love Potion# 9 1/2 Cocktails
    5:30 pm: Seminar begins
    6:15 pm: Dating Q’s + Love Boosting A’s

    ADDRESS:

    Kellari Parea Bistro, 36 East 20th St. NYC

    ATTENTION PROCRASTINATORS:

    If you sign up BEFORE tomorrow to come tomorrow night, you get a FREEBIE seminar amongst VIP MEDIA PEEPS – so hurry up and sign up, dammit! :)

    For more about how to break the Prince Harming or Princess Harming curse of your past, check out PRINCE HARMING SYNDROME by clicking this line you are reading NOW!

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