Category: News

  • 5 iPad Presentation Tips

    After getting frustrated working with Keynote on the iPad for the last month, and giving and planning a few talks, I’ve come up with some presentation tips I want to share with you. Used properly, and in a situation that allows it to play its strengths, the iPad can be an effective presentation tool.

    To learn more about using Keynote and other iWork apps, check out our iWork screencasts on TechUniversity (subscription required).

    1. Make sure the iPad is the right tool for the job

    That line I just used, about properly and in a place that allows it to play its strengths? Make sure where, and what you’re presenting, is ideal for the iPad. Remember, you won’t be able to use a remote, or have any sort of presenters view. So, if you’re giving a talk in a small conference room where you’ll be sitting at a table with the iPad hooked up to the projector, that’s a perfect use of the tool. Giving a Steve Jobs-style presentation in front of 5,000 people and a large stage? Not so good. I’m giving a talk in a month about e-books on the iPad (self plug: June 9 at the Boston Mac User Group) in a lecture-style room with a table in a convenient place to allow me to walk around and tap the screen, so I might use the iPad there.

    2. Do the dirty work on the desktop, but think of the iPad

    My presentation tool of choice is Keynote, but PowerPoint will do OK. Keep in mind the screen on the iPad is 1024×768. Make sure your presentation is that size when you design it. Also, don’t resize any graphics in the program. Do all your work in a graphics program and import the image at the size you want. If you want an image to take up the whole slide, resize it in a graphics program.

    The iPad handles editing poorly. Any object groupings will be lost when you import it. I’d recommend only light edits on the iPad, like when you realize right before the talk that you misspelled the CEO’s name.

    Fall in love with iPhoto. I have an album in iPhoto named “Presentation Images” and all my images for talks go there. That library also syncs to the iPad, so I can add an image if I need to.

    3. Keep it simple

    Transitions — which you should avoid anyway — can cause some problems on the iPad. Some are supported, some are not. Rather than risk it, use minimal transitions and only when needed. Don’t get fancy with line spacing, either, as that nice, tight, and finely kerned type you have on the desktop will likely be reset to default spacing.

    Also, keep in mind if your talk is going to end up on a widescreen projector as pie charts might get distorted. Unfortunately, if you create a widescreen presentation, it’ll come into the iPad full screen and still get distorted on a widescreen monitor.

    4. If on a Mac, use the Padlicious services to render custom fonts as images

    For informal or fun presentations, I love Comiccraft’s Comic Book Fonts. However, I can’t use them on the iPad. Padlicous’s Text to Render services are a lifesaver. Select the text in Keynote and use the service to create an image of the selected text. Delete the text block and replace it with the image. Now, when you present you’ll be free of the default fonts.

    5. Do several test runs before presenting

    I know, you’re rehearsing the talk constantly, but make sure you’re rehearsing it on the iPad and in a similar situation. Just in case you ignored tip #1, now is when you find out any issues with the import, or if having to tap the iPad screen to advance to advance the slides really is a hassle. You’re going to want to have your rehearsal environment be as close to your venue as possible. If it’s a new enviroment, plan for the worst case scenario you can.

    Honorable Mention Tip

    Bring a backup of the talk on a USB drive in all possible formats — if you’re a Keynote user, have an exported (and checked) file in PowerPoint and PDF. This way, if for some reason the iPad doesn’t play nice with the projector, you’ve got a fall back plan.

    Related TechUniversity Screencasts: Keynote Transitions & Effects



    Atimi: Software Development, On Time. Learn more about Atimi »

  • Another LG Fathom review

    Our favourite Windows Mobile reviewer, Noah from Phonedog, has had a look at the LG Fathom, and was surprisingly not too vicious to the device, praising its snappy Snapdragon processor, responsive resistive screen and good keyboard.

    In fact, after seeing his review, I almost feel the device would be a pretty worthy successor to a HTC Touch Pro 2 that is getting long in the tooth.

    Do any of our readers agree? Let us know below.



  • Science Wednesday:OnAir: Particle Pollution Causes Cardiovascular Disease, says EPA, American Heart Association

    Each week we write about the science behind environmental protection. Previous Science Wednesdays.

    Congressional staff, physicians, members of industry, and the public health community gathered on Friday, May 21 at the inaugural   Air Science 40 briefing, an event co-sponsored by EPA, the American Heart Association (AHA) and the House Committee on Science and Technology in recognition of the 40th anniversary of EPA air pollution research.

    At the seminar, leading scientists presented evidence that air pollution causes cardiovascular disease and death.

    The news that air pollution impacts the heart may have been new to some, but for others it served as official affirmation of a scientific link that researchers have been building a case toward for several years.

    Dr. Robert Brook, physician and researcher of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Michigan, presented an official AHA statement that emphasized the “causal relationship between PM2.5 exposure and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.”

    Brook is lead author of the statement, which was produced by a large panel of scientific experts after an in-depth evaluation of the breadth of current scientific literature on the health impacts of air pollution.

    Brook noted that the AHA statement panel reached consensus on the causal relationship between particulate matter and cardiovascular health independently from EPA, which reached a similar conclusion in its most recent Integrated Science Assessment for Particulate Matter (PM).

    Dr. C. Arden Pope III, economist and environmental epidemiology researcher at Brigham Young University and co-author of the AHA statement, presented additional groundbreaking findings on the vast benefits of air pollution regulations to human health.

    He shared his landmark 2009 finding that air pollution regulations over the past two decades have increased the average American life expectancy by “a half to a full year,” and discussed an array of other studies on air pollution’s impact on cardiac morbidity and mortality that have proved “reproducible and remarkably robust.”

    The AHA statement and supporting science presented by Brook and Pope deems fine particle exposure a “modifiable factor contributing to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality,” and includes new recommendations to physicians on how to advise patients at high risk for air pollution health effects. The statement offers several practical suggestions for reducing particle exposure and limiting potentially harmful physical activity in relevant cases.

    While science to support the link between air pollution and cardiovascular health is constantly evolving and developing, the conclusions presented Friday should be taken seriously, Brook said.

    He emphasized one of the concluding sentences in the AHA statement presenting the scientific evidence linking cardiovascular with air pollution, which asserts: “at present, no credible alternative explanation exists.”

    About the Author: Becky Fried is a science writer with EPA’s National Center for Environmental Research. Her OnAir posts are a regular “Science Wednesday” feature.


  • New HP monitors look – well, practical


    A new lineup of basic consumer LCD monitors has been announced by HP, and they look fine. Juuuuust fine. Nothing flashy here, but the specs look solid (except for the cheapest one) and the styling is very “Apple Cinema Display” – but less chromey. That’s a good thing, in my opinion.

    Basically you’ve got four models, at 20″, 21.5″, 23″, and 27″. The 2010i is kind of low resolution, and has a slow response time and (relatively) low contrast as well, so we’ll just strike that one from the running.

    The 2210m and 2310m (pictured above) are nearly the same, except of course for the slight size difference and a ever-so-slightly slower grey-to-grey time on the 2310m. 1000:1 contrast ratio (and the usual vastly exaggerated 40,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio), 2.5ms response time, 1920×1080 resolution, and a couple integrated 2W speakers. The 2210m costs $220 and the 2310m costs $260.

    The 2710m (above; also, that link is kind of janky) has virtually the same specs (and, disappointingly, the same resolution) as its smaller brethren, but costs significantly more at $456 (or at least, that’s what is listed at Amazon (you can get it for $366 though)). With a rather larger pixel pitch, this one won’t give you as crisp an image as the others. My pick for value out of this bunch is the 2210m; it could make an excellent second monitor if you already have a large, high-quality one for your primary.


  • Ford Ranger 2010 é chamada para Recall nos EUA


    Foi anunciado pela Ford o recall de 2.934 unidades da Ranger 2010, devido a um problema no freio de mão que pode causar movimento involuntário do veículo, de acordo com a NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). A Ford não registra ainda nenhum acidente por causa desse problema.

    Também segundo a agência, apenas os veículos com transmissão manual sofrem com esse defeito. em declaração oficial, a NHTSA informa o seguinte:

    “É possível que o freio de mão se desconecte do atuador da roda direita traseira durante tempos frios. Isso pode ocorrer quando o freio de mão é solto se as pastilhas de freio ficarem congeladas na posição certa.

    Se o cabo do freio de mão da roda direita traseira se desconectar, o pedal será pressionado e não terá o efeito completo do freio de mão. Um veículo de transmissão manual estacionado no ponto morto sem um freio de mão adequado pode gerar movimentos involuntários que podem causar acidentes”.

    Via | Inside Line


  • Citroën launches DS3 design competition

    Filed under: , , ,

    Attention all budding car designers: Citroën‘s DS3 Design Competition is giving you a chance to see your automotive vision in production. Well, at least the dashboard and roof of your automotive vision. Seeking designs that are daring yet professional, the contest to create a compelling look for the top and front of the DS3 is open to anyone anywhere in the world.

    Should you enter, your work will be critiqued by designing eyes from GQ, Louis Vuitton and The Cartier Foundation. If you win, your work will be showcased on an actual DS3 at this year’s Paris Motor Show in October and Citroën’s C_42 show on the Champs-Elysées.

    For more info, a look at the DS3 Portfolio and style advice or inspiration on the “Concept Anti-Retro,” check out the Citroën Creative Awards site. And save us an autograph at the show if you win…

    [Source: Citroen Creative Awards via Car Design News]

    Citroën launches DS3 design competition originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 26 May 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  • Christina Aguilera Explains Tour Cancellation

    Xtina has x-ed out her summer tour — and she wants her fans to know why.

    The singer was set to tour North America with British singing star Leona Lewis in a tour kicking off in Connecticut on July, but now the dates have been pushed back until 2011 and the announcement came just four days after the tickets went on sale.

    What gives?

    The “Back In The Day” crooner wants her loyal legion of followers to get acquainted with her new album, Bionic, when it hits shelves next month before she embarks on a stage show.

    In a post on her official website Tuesday, Aguilera explained: “I made the decision to move my summer tour and I am truly sorry to those of you who had purchased tickets and have been disappointed by the news. My album has not even been released as yet and I would like for you all to become familiar with the music before you hear it live on tour. Again, I am sorry to have to move the dates, but I promise to come see you when the time is right!”

    Bionic will be her first album of new music since 2006’s Back to Basics.


  • The Return of the ‘al-Qaeda Seven’ Witch Hunt?

    Something else to keep an eye on in the Senate Armed Services Committee’s defense authorization mark-up: via Satyam Khanna, Steve Vladeck finds the remnant of a much-denounced smear on attorneys who have defended Guantanamo Bay detainees in the bill.

    [S]ection 1037 of the Act [page 403 of the PDF], titled “Inspector General Investigation of the Conduct and Practices of Lawyers Representing Individuals Detained at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,” instructs the Department of Defense IG to “conduct an investigation of the conduct and practices of lawyers” who represent clients at Guantánamo and report back to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees within 90 days.

    “Reasonable” basis for an investigation of these lawyers includes such vagueries as believing an attorney “interfered with the operations of the Department of Defense at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.” As Vladeck points out, this can mean any attorney, since the overlapping DOD commands at Guantanamo Bay (the Office of Military Commissions; the Naval Base; Joint Task Force-Guantanamo; the Office of the Secretary of Defense) ensure that any lawyer will inevitably “interfere” with some operation on the base. Consider the chilling effect that will have on detainees’ access to counsel in the commissions.

    For instance. Right this moment, the chief commissioning authority for the military commissions at Guantanamo, Vice Adm. Bruce MacDonald, is in talks with detainee Omar Khadr’s attorneys to see if the Khadr’s case can be resolved through a plea deal. The government’s interest in seeking a plea? First, a judge might throw out a lot of the basis for its case against Khadr as improperly coerced; and more broadly, a detainee who was 15 years old when first captured by U.S. forces might not make the best poster boy for the justice dispensed by the military commissions.

    So how cooperative might Khadr attorneys Barry Coburn and Kobie Flowers be in those plea talks if a different military command is investigating their activities at Guantanamo Bay? More broadly, how might an appeals court consider the overall fairness of a system that allows for detainees’ access to counsel — but places the specter of military investigation over counsel’s heads?

    We’ll see whether this survives the Senate committee mark-up or the floor vote in the House.

  • BlackBerry Bold 9650 Verizon training has begun, launching soon

    BlackBerry Bold 9650 training

    While Sprint has already launched their version of the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and we’ve gotten hands-on time with it, Verizon has yet to say anything about their own Bold 9650.  If you’re on Big Red and have been waiting to get your paws on the Tour successor, you won’t be waiting much longer.  The BlackBerry Zone has received a tip that Verizon has begun training on the new ‘Berry, along with photo proof.  The phone looks to be exactly the same as the Sprint version, but as a sign of good will, it looks like you’ll be receiving a 2GB microSD card along with the device.  Still no word on an exact release date, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it landed within the next couple of weeks.  So, are any of you planning on picking up the Verizon Bold 9650?


  • Magna planning battery factory for EVs in U.S., Europe

    Magna Milan EV Concept

    Battery manufacturers are all scurrying to secure for themselves, a relevant role in the impending boom in electric vehicles. Magna International Inc., is one such company; the Canadian company is actively seeking locations to produce batteries for electric vehicles.

    CEO Siegfried Wolf has said that $200-$300 million has been earmarked for each of two factories; one in the U.S. and one in Europe.

    Magna started a new business earlier in the year whereby they will focus exclusively on electric cars, producing battery units as well as complete vehicles. The company’s E-car business is a joint venture with Magna’s founder Frank Stronach and is part of a deal that will reduce his direct influence on Magna.

    Wolf said that the decision about where to build the battery factories would come by year’s end. He said the company will begin serial car production in 2012 or 2013.

    – By: Stephen Calogera

    Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)


  • ABC News: Carville slams Obama’s response to BP oil spill

    The White House is seemingly making an increased show of pressuring BP, but President Obama is facing political heat from within his own party for what some say has been a lackluster response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Democratic strategist blasts White House over rig spill reaction. The “political stupidity is unbelievable,” Democratic strategist James Carville said on “Good Morning America” today:

  • NEWS RELEASE: Global Alliance Launched to Curb Trade in Illegal Wood

    The Forest Legality Alliance was launched today to support private sector efforts and policies to reduce trade in illegally harvested wood. The Alliance is a global public-private initiative open to businesses, industry associations, financial institutions and civil society organizations with a stake in legal forest product supply chains.

    Joining the World Resources Institute (WRI), the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA-U.S.) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the Alliance are the American Forest & Paper Association, the Hardwood Federation, IKEA, the International Wood Products Association, NewPage Corporation, the Retail Industry Leaders’ Association, Staples Inc., and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

    “Some companies are not aware of the need to ask questions about the wood they are buying or the consequences of letting illegal wood enter their supply chains,” said Craig Hanson, director of WRI’s People and Ecosystems Program. “The Alliance seeks to build confidence that imported wood and paper products are legal. Done right, trade supports environmental protection and the Alliance recognizes the role trade plays in protecting our world’s great forests.”

    Responsible forest management delivers renewable raw material for a wide range of products, such as timber and paper. It also provides livelihoods for millions of people and contributes to preserving biodiversity.

    In many regions, however, illegal logging is having unsustainable impacts. Much of the illegal logging taking place is directly connected to land conversion activities, for instance, when forests are cleared to make room for agriculture and ranching activities. This illegal logging contributes to deforestation, biodiversity loss and greenhouse gas emissions, deprives nations of much needed public revenue, and can lead to social conflict and human rights violations.

    Any illegal wood from these activities that makes its way into international trade creates an unlevel playing field for the private sector, allowing a few bad actors to put companies with legal operations at an unfair disadvantage. It also affects poor, rural residents in developing countries who rely on forests for food, fuel, and other benefits.

    In response, major wood importing regions are enacting policies to reduce demand for illegal wood. In 2008, the U.S. government amended the Lacey Act to prohibit trade within the United States of products made from illegally harvested wood. With this amendment, the United States became the first country to ban imports of illegal wood and related products.

    The European Union is in the final stages of approving a “due diligence” regulation to curb illegal timber entering the European market, and Australia is also considering legislation to prohibit trade in illegal wood.

    “From musical instruments to textbooks, legislation in the United States and abroad is fundamentally changing how wood and everything that is made from wood is traded and produced,” said Sascha von Bismarck, executive director of EIA in Washington, D.C. “Suppliers unaware of these emerging policies could face financial repercussions in addition to reputational risk. The Alliance will work to provide businesses and civil society groups the information they need to avoid risks and create change in the world’s forests.”

    The Alliance will ensure that importers and supply chains know and understand the emerging new trade policies. It will develop new online resources that help companies assess the risk of encountering illegal wood, conduct due care, and complete import declarations. It will work with suppliers to document best practices and unforeseen challenges associated with purchasing legal wood and complying with import regulations. It will focus on the capacity for legal trade in the sector as a whole, rather than on the performance of individual companies, and complement existing initiatives that certify legality and sustainability.

    “USAID is pleased to be a central partner in the Forest Legality Alliance,” said James Hester, director of the USAID’s Office of Natural Resources Management. “Eliminating illegal wood from supply chains will help developing country producers compete in developed country markets while maintaining biodiversity in their forests and strengthening forest governance.”

    USAID helped catalyze the formation of this new partnership under its Global Development Alliance initiative which seeks to leverage the resources, expertise, creativity and market access of corporations, industry associations, civil society organizations and others to jointly address pressing development challenges around the world.

    For more information on the Alliance, please visit www.forestlegality.org.

  • New Home Sales Spike Much More Than Expected in April

    This morning, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that sales of new homes spiked in April. They also revised their March sales estimates upward:

    Sales of new one-family houses in April 2010 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 504,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 14.8 percent above the revised March rate of 439,000 and is 47.8 percent above the April 2009 estimate of 341,000.

    The median sales price of new houses sold in April 2010 was $198,400; the average sales price was $249,500. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of April was 211,000. This represents a supply of 5.0 months at the current sales rate.

    Economists expected some spike, due to the expiry of the Obama administration’s $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers and $6,500 tax credit for some other buyers at the end of April. But the bump was actually higher than most economists thought. A Bloomberg survey, for instance, expected new home sales of 425,000, or 450,000 at the highest. (Also, note that these are not actual April sales numbers, but annualized rates of sale.)

    The numbers are good. But two things to throw some cold water on any enthusiasm. First, the tax credits to some extent pushed borrowers from May and June into April and March. If you were considering purchasing a house, you would have rushed to get it done before the tax credit expired — meaning we might see a very precipitous drop in the May numbers. Second, the housing market in general remains very, very troubled on a number of fronts — high inventory, slack demand, falling prices and rising numbers of underwater mortgages.

  • Report: Teradata Buys Xkoto

    Wade Roush wrote:

    Waltham, MA-based Xkoto, which makes database virtualization software for businesses, has been acquired by Teradata (NYSE: TDC), the Dayton, OH-based data warehousing and business intelligence giant, according to a report this morning in PE Hub. Neither company has formally announced the deal; a voicemail greeting at Xkoto confirms that the company has been acquired by another organization, but doesn’t name it, and officials at Teradata did not immediately respond to Xconomy’s inquiries. We first covered Xkoto back in 2007, when Boston-based GrandBanks Capital arranged to transplant the company’s headquarters from Toronto to Boston. Xkoto raised a $7.5 million Series B round in 2007 and a $3 million Series C round in 2009 from GrandBanks and GrowthWorks Canadian Fund.

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  • BlackBerry Bold 9700 OS 5.0.0.680 Officially Released

    It’s funny these days I thought we usually saw the OS leak before getting officially released, but yesterday Hutchinson released OS 5.0.0.680 for the Bold 9700. We aren’t too sure what this new OS version offers, but if you have installed it feel free to drop a comment below and let us know. This operating system can be installed on any Bold 9700 just remember to remove the vendor.xml file after installing it on your computer.

    Download OS 5.0.0.680 for the BlackBerry Bold 9700

    [via BerryReview]

    You’re reading a story which originated at BlackBerrySync.com, Where you find BlackBerry News You Can Sync With…

    This story is sponsored by the new BlackBerry Sync Mobile App Store. Grab your free copy today at www.GetAppStore.com from your BlackBerry.

    BlackBerry Bold 9700 OS 5.0.0.680 Officially Released

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  • Why We Do What We Do

    Megan Garber at Nieman Journalism Lab has written a nice review of our iPhone and iPod touch app. First of all, thanks to her and to Nieman for liking the app. She also picked up on one of the key elements of our app: bringing our team of writers closer to our readers and our community. This exchange of insights and accessibility to our readers is part of our philosophy and is why we do what we do. Here is what I told Garber:

    There should be no friction when it comes to our readers getting in touch with us. That was the premise of starting my company, and that’s the premise I hold true today. We are who we are because of our readers, and they should have the ability to get in touch with us whenever they want.

    While it might result in more email and more work for our team, customer service is part of any business. Communication with our readers is just that — judicious learning and improving from the folks who matter the most. As I said:

    “I have learned so much…by being able to communicate with people on a one-on-one basis…That, really, is what’s behind this whole thing.

    I also want to thank AppsFire for making GigaOM iPhone App the featured app of the day on their home page and sending us all those great readers. If you want to learn more about our app and download it, click here.

    You can read my post about our iPhone and iPod touch app and the philosophy behind the design here.

    #alttext#



    Atimi: Software Development, On Time. Learn more about Atimi »

  • Does Facebook Have a Fatal Cultural Problem?

    Has Facebook lost touch with the core of its user base, and could that spell doom for the social network? In a post at the Harvard Business Review site, Bruce Nussbaum argues that Facebook has, and it could spell doom. The former assistant managing editor for BusinessWeek, now a professor at the Parsons School of Design, says that Facebook has alienated the “millennials” who have been its primary users since its early days as a university-only network by pushing the boundaries of what they are willing to accept in terms of privacy as they have grown up and gotten jobs and started families. This, he says, is a fatal mistake — and even rolling out new privacy controls, which Facebook is currently explaining to legislators in Washington, won’t help in the long run.

    In a nutshell, Nussbaum argues that Facebook has failed to adapt and evolve as its core user base has grown up. While millennials might have enjoyed a more open approach to privacy when they were younger and in university, as they have grown older and gotten jobs, formed relationships, etc. they are less interested in — and even hostile to — the social network’s attempts to get them to share more of their personal data. Nussbaum’s viewpoint is based on what he says are responses from his students at the Parsons School of Design to Facebook’s recent changes:

    They live on Facebook and they are furious at it. This was the technology platform they were born into, built their friendships around, and expected to be with them as they grew up, got jobs, and had families. They just assumed Facebook would evolve as their lives shifted from adolescent to adult and their needs changed. Facebook’s failure to recognize this culture change deeply threatens its future profits.

    Is Nussbaum right? I’m not sure that he is. Yes, Facebook has alienated some users with its privacy changes, and some have likely canceled or deleted their accounts, as some high-profile users have. And there’s no question that the social network could have implemented its new features in a more open way — including not opting people in by default — and communicated better. But this is not the first time, or even the second time, that Facebook has been through this kind of process. Nussbaum criticizes the network for not evolving, but the reality is that it has evolved considerably from what it once was, and has been testing the boundaries of what people want to share for years now.

    That has involved a more or less continuous process of pushing to open things up, getting criticized for it, revising and changing, and so on. We can argue about whether Facebook is trying to change people’s expectations of privacy and sharing or whether it is trying to adapt to them (or likely both), and it’s clear from CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent op-ed in the Washington Post that the company plans to keep pushing, because it sees sharing information with others as a positive thing both for users and for society as a whole. But then so do lots of other people, judging by the speed with which Facebook continues to add users. And even some of its harshest critics, such as sociologist Danah Boyd, aren’t prepared to write the network off just yet.

    The other flaw in Nussbaum’s argument is that he sees the millennials who have grown up now as the core of Facebook’s user base, and losing touch with them as a fatal flaw. Given that the network now has close to 500 million users, and their average age is somewhere in the mid-40s, that group of university students who have grown up with Facebook haven’t been the most important segment for the company for a long time now — not to mention the fact that every year millions of younger users have adopted the network as a social hub, and continue to do so regardless of the public outcry over privacy.

    Does Facebook have issues around privacy? Of course it does, and it has to be careful not to let that snowball turn into an avalanche. But assuming it can continue to evolve and change its approach to adapt to what the bulk of its users want — and mollify legislators so that they don’t impose onerous regulations on the company — those mistakes don’t have to be fatal.

    Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d): Could Privacy Be Facebook’s Waterloo?

    Post and thumbnail photos courtesy of Flickr user Crunchies 2009



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  • Opel unions reacted angrily after Germany delayed again state aid decision

    2010 Opel CorsaOpel unions were upset upon learning that Germany’s state rescue fund didn’t make a recommendation on loan guarantees that it requires in order to aid in financing a restructuring plan worth 3.7 billion euros ($4.52 billion).

    Last Tuesday, a steering committee of the rescue fund failed to recommend if taxpayers’ money should be used to backstop loans of about 1.3 billion euros to help Opel lower European production and labor capacity by 20%. According to Germany’s Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle, the decision on loan guarantees is expected to arrive in late May or early June. About 18 months have passed since Opel made its first request for aid but officials say that since Opel isn’t dangerously close to collapsing, there actually is no immediate need to make a decision. Because of these delays, more people are speculating that Berlin is only going to consistently postpone making a decision but that it has no intention of granting the request.

    [via autonews – sub. required]

    Source: Car news, Car reviews, Spy shots

  • BlackBerry Bold 9650 OS 5.0.0.699 Official Release from Sprint

    If you’re a Sprint BlackBerry Bold 9650 owner you may have noticed an OS update is now available. You can download OS 5.0.0.699 from Sprint’s BlackBerry OS downloage page at the link below. No word on what this OS update fixes, but I’m sure its for the better. If you did install this OS let us know by posting a comment below…

    Download OS 5.0.0.699 for the BlackBerry Bold 9650

    [via CrackBerry]

    You’re reading a story which originated at BlackBerrySync.com, Where you find BlackBerry News You Can Sync With…

    This story is sponsored by the new BlackBerry Sync Mobile App Store. Grab your free copy today at www.GetAppStore.com from your BlackBerry.

    BlackBerry Bold 9650 OS 5.0.0.699 Official Release from Sprint

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