Category: News

Found under: Android, iPhone, Apple, Google, 3G, Hack,

Android for the iPhone 3G ready and waiting for you to come download it this little project from David Wang has been causing a fanboy frenzy ever since he showed it off on video now the time has come for the over average joe to give it a try. Ill advise you not to expect much from this there are many things that still needs to be ironed out so dont expect to stop using iPhone OS just yet.Because Androids power management function doesnt yet work your iPhone battery die within or

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Forget obsessing over stock and fussing over fonts. There’s no point. Because Ramiro Pareja Veredas has created the ultimate business card. It’s a circuit board that displays all your relevant info, and it’s got a fancy trick up its sleeve. More »










Printed circuit board – Business – Electronics and Electrical – Contract Manufacturing – Tools and Equipment

Do you guys miss the amazing moment when you just opened up a Google page like you normaly do and suddenly see an Interactive game right infront of you? Do you miss spending office hours playing this game over and over and over again? Well now you can. Google has saved its first and most popularized interactive logo becouse of popular demand. You can now get it at www.google.com/pacman, It is said to be staying permanently so play all you want! You can start by clicking the insert coin box which originally was the Feelin Lucky box.

Have Fun Playing!

Related posts:

1. Pac-Man 30th Anniversary! Insert Coin to Play Pacman Game Before…
2. Download and Play Google Free Online Pacman – Pacman 30th Anniversary
3. Pac Man 30th Anniversary: ‘Insert coin’ for two player pacman free online game

It is fair to say, as Apple’s market cap is set to exceed Microsoft’s, that consumer computing devices have become an increasingly important measure of the success  or failure of a company.  By that measure Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division have at best a passing grade, with Xbox success, but Zune and Windows Mobile failures.

Whether the current re-org was spurred by this report card will not be known (Robbie Bach’s “retirement” at 48 is certainly suspicious) but the effect has ultimately been to bring the division front and centre in Microsoft, with its two VP’s Don Mattrick from the Interactive Entertainment business (Xbox), and Andy Lees, from the Mobile Communications business (obviously Windows Phone) now reporting directly to Steve Ballmer, and presumable being closely performance managed. Given what we have heard about Steve Ballmer, he is likely not a person one would want to disappoint too many times either.

J Allard has left the company, but will in fact it appears be elevated in many ways to a Svengali-like figure, now with direct access to Ballmer, advising on UI and Design, an area which has never been known as Microsoft’s strength.

With rumours that Courier-type interfaces may still make an appearance after all, it is likely Microsoft will be moving aggressively into the post-Windows consumer computing market. 

What do our readers think? Let us know below.

Mrs. Obama, Lynn Sweet on White House South Lawn

from left, in gold shirt, Cynthia Gordy, Essence Magazine Washington Correspondent, Katherine Skiba, Chicago Tribune Washington Reporter, Darlene Superville, AP reporter, Lynn Sweet, First Lady Michelle Obama (photo by whoever picked up my camera and took some shots)
WASHINGTON–First Lady Michelle Obama ran, jumped, did some squats and ran an obstacle course on the White House south lawn on Tuesday, along with 84 kids and trainers from professional teams.

It was part of a kick-off of a summer program to get children to exercise. At one point she walked over to where the press was watching the event and said “you guys” should be participating too–and then she surprised me by calling out my name to come out and join her on the lawn. A few moments later, three other members of her press corps also came out.

Click below for transcript

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the First Lady

___________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release May 25, 2010

REMARKS BY THE FIRST LADY

AT “LET’S MOVE” SOUTH LAWN KICK-OFF

South Lawn

4:10 P.M. EDT

MRS. OBAMA: Well, it’s good to see you all again! (Applause.) You are the first in this series. The first! Nobody has done this yet. You’re the very first.

But let me tell you a little bit more about why you’re here. As Shelly said, this is about your health. And we’ve spent a lot of time this year talking about eating right. And that started when we planted just behind you our garden in the White House. We call it the White House Kitchen Garden, and we planted that last year, and we worked with a lot of kids in the D.C. area. They helped us to plant and to harvest.

And the good thing about the kitchen garden is that it helped us start a conversation about eating right, because the kids got so excited about the garden, we figured that if we can get this group of kids excited about vegetables and gardening, that we might be able to take that nationwide.

So we started this campaign called “Let’s Move.” And the goal is to make sure that kids grow up healthy, eating well, and living better and longer, and that you learn skills that you can then teach your kids when you grow up.

And this is a nationwide campaign. I mean, we’ve got everyone in the country helping. We’ve got your parents helping, because we’re asking them to do their part in making sure they know what kind of good food to serve you.

We’re asking schools to do your part — to do their part, as well. We’re trying to make sure that schools around this country are serving healthy foods in your lunch rooms, because a lot of you are eating most of your meals at school, so we need to make sure they’re giving you what you need.

And we’re asking folks around the country — grocery store manufacturers — to make sure that everybody has access to good food that they can afford.

But the most — one of the most important things that we’re going to need is your effort in this, because the truth is, is that the whole important word in “Let’s Move” is “move,” right? One of those words is moving, because what we’re finding is that kids these days aren’t moving as much as they should.

You know, there’s a report out that says kids should get no less than 60 minutes of exercise every single day. And around the country we just got a report that shows that in states across the country, a lot of kids aren’t coming close. They’re not getting just what they need. And it’s hard if your schools don’t have P.E. and gym, right?

If you can’t do it at school, if you don’t live in a community where you have sports teams and things like that, if you can’t play outside because neighborhoods aren’t safe, right, so your parents want to keep you inside, if you’re watching too much TV and playing too many computer games — (laughter) — sometimes that cuts into your ability to move.

And this series that we’re doing on the South Lawn is really to encourage kids, because we got this press all behind you, and they’re going to show you guys on TV, and there are going to be a lot of kids going, how do I do that? You know, how do I get moving like that? They’re at the White House moving. Maybe I can do this in my own back yard, in my own community.

So you guys are going to be the first example this summer of really encouraging kids to move. But we are going to need you, not just here today, but you’re going to have to go home and take some of what you’ve learned here and teach your families and folks — the other kids in your schools who haven’t had a chance to come, and figure out how you guys can get other people in your lives moving. Can you promise me that you’ll help me on this?

CHILDREN: Yes.

MRS. OBAMA: You promise?

CHILDREN: Yes!

MRS. OBAMA: Well, we’ve enlisted some help. We’ve got trainers here from some teams all around the city — from the Redskins and the Capitals, you name it. There are people around this city who are going to be working with you guys, teaching you softball and tennis and some soccer moves and some running moves — all things that I enjoy doing, as well as the President and our kids. So this is supposed to be fun. And I think I may get out there and run around with you, if you will allow me, if I don’t get too hot. (Applause.)

CHILDREN: Yes!

MRS. OBAMA: But what I want you guys to do is make a commitment that you will do your best to get that 60 minutes in every single day, and that you will find other people in your family and your schools and encourage them to do the same thing. Will you promise me that?

CHILDREN: Yes!

MRS. OBAMA: All right, well, let’s start talking, and let’s start moving. Let’s move! Come on, let’s see what we got going. (Applause.)

END 4:15 P.M. EDT

President Obama’s decision today to deploy 1,200 National Guard troops to beef up security on the U.S.-Mexico border, at a cost of $500 million, has fallen short of a GOP embrace and at the same time alienated some of his progressive allies.

Obama’s move — seemingly an overture to win Republican support for immigration reform after meeting with GOP senators earlier today — earned a backhanded response from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and was likewise chided by the leading pro-immigration reform group America’s Voice.

“Americans are hungry for real leadership on immigration, but this move by the President serves only to reward those who are standing in the way of real reform,” Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, told me in an e-mail, alleging Obama has taken “one step forward and two steps back.”

McCain, who reportedly requested a deployment during the meeting, said he “appreciate[s]” the president’s intention but thinks the move is “simply not enough” to tackle Arizona’s border woes. McCain “called for 6,000 National Guard troops to be sent, and he asked for $250 million more to pay for them,” The Associated Press reports.

Still, Sharry considers Obama’s decision a major concession to anti-immigration forces.

“Caving in to McCain and Kyl on ‘border-only’ immigration policy echoes the Democrats’ cave-in on immigration in the health care exchange following Joe Wilson’s rude outburst,” Sharry said. “It even echoes the eyebrow-raising White House announcement of support for offshore drilling.”

Neither of those moves, of course, won much Republican support.

Sahil Kapur is Washington correspondent for Raw Story and a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and The Guardian.

Posted by Ray Long and Michelle Manchir at 5:07 p.m.; last updated at 9:17 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD — The Democratic-led House passed legislation tonight to borrow $4 billion tonight to cover payments for the state pension system and cobble together a shaky state budget, hours after the same effort failed by one vote.



The borrowing plan was approved with the bare minimum 71 votes with the help of a couple of lame-duck Republicans who broke ranks as supporters argued borrowing now is the best of a number of bad options. Forty-four lawmakers were opposed. You can see how they voted by clicking here.



The breakthrough vote came as the Memorial Day deadline for passing a budget looms large and the visceral politics of Election Day could not be mistaken. Republicans mostly held firm against any proposal that called for borrowing, and Democrats contended it was the only way to end the spring session.



House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, said borrowing the money would cost the state $1 billion over eight years. But skipping the pension payment next year, which is also under consideration, could cost $20 billion over time because of losses in , Currie said.



"So 20-1 ratio, you tell me what’s the responsible thing to do,” Currie said.

Currie’s first attempt got 70 votes — one short of passage. The second attempt got the 71 votes needed for a three-fifths majority.



Rep. David Miller, D-Lynwood, a candidate for state comptroller, had voted against the borrowing measure on the first vote. Before the second attempt, Miller talked with House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, and huddled in Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s office, brushing off reporters along the way.



As he spoke during debate before the second vote, Miller said: “I do not like supporting this bill. I do not like it.”



But Miller, who had sought to raise taxes in prior years to help the state’s bleak finances, said he would vote for borrowing “because it’s the right thing to do” now.

“You’ve got to do the mature thing which is to at least get us through this crisis, no matter how bad it is," Miller told reporters after the vote.



Miller said he’s not sure how his vote will impact his run for comptroller, but said his focus today was not on his future but the people he represents now.



“At some point you have to do some soul searching about why you’re here in the first place.”



He said he was not offered anything in return for his vote by the governor.



Two Republicans who aren’t seeking re-election, Reps. Bill Black of Danville and Bob Biggins of Elmhurst, were needed to reach the 71 votes in favor of the proposal.

The House also approved a plan giving Quinn the emergency authority to make cuts within state agency budgets and transfer money to what he believes are more important needs. It also would cash in a large portion of the state’s share of the national tobacco settlement to raise $1.2 billion and allow Quinn to borrow $1 billion from specially earmarked-funds.



Despite the budget action, the state will still face a $13 billion deficit and have $6 billion in unpaid bills, according to state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, the Chicago Democrat who serves as House Speaker Michael Madigan’s top deputy.



Ever-mindful of election year concerns, the measure also incorporated some suggestions from a group of House Democrats that would cut mileage and lodging reimbursement rates for state lawmakers and require legislators and top elected officials to take 12 days without pay.



The measure also would require state agencies to review contracts to look for savings. But other suggestions, more politically sensitive, such as cutting education funding by $300 million and requiring state retirees to pay higher health-care costs were not part of the package.

The House also approved a tax amnesty proposal that would allow for people and companies owing back taxes to pay up without penalty, a move that supporters hopes would generate $250 million. The bill went to the Senate on a 102-14 vote.

Posted earlier…

SPRINGFIELD — House Democrats tonight found the votes they needed to pass a $4 billion borrowing plan to help balance the budget and cover state pension payments.

The approval came hours after the borrowing measure failed by one vote.

House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, said borrowing the money would cost $1 billion over eight years. Skipping the pension payment next year, which is also under consideration, could cost $20 billion over time, Currie said.



“So 20-1 ratio, you tell me what’s the responsible thing to do,” Currie told her colleagues.



The measure needed 71 votes to pass but received only 70 votes in favor while 46 voted against. One lawmaker, Rep. Beth Coulson, R-Glenview, voted present. You can see how lawmakers voted by clicking here.

There are 70 House Democrats, so some Republican votes were needed.



Breaking ranks from his Democratic colleagues, Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, argued against the measure, saying it was time to look at responsible cuts in spending. “We’re talking about putting a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound,” Franks said.



Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville, said he could not vote against the measure, saying both Democrats and Republicans need to take responsibility.



“This is a joint mess that we’ve got ourselves in,” Black said.



Quinn wasn’t prepared to give up, and lawmakers suggested they would try again.



“Well, we’ve got more to go,” Quinn said, saying he still wanted the borrowing plan to pass soon. “We’re working. We’re not done yet.”

Hace no demasiado os contábamos como Audi y Qualcomm estaban pensando en incorporar la posibilidad de que algunos de sus vehículos, en concreto en el sector premium en el que se mueve el Audi A8, pudieran ser convertidos en un hotspot Wifi, esto es que varios dispositivos pudiesen conectarse a internet a través de él.

Pues bien, desde Gizig nuestros compañeros nos confirman que en 2011 Audi ya empezará a ofrecer este nuevo extra. Evidentemente será sólo un extra, pero si decidimos incorporarlo tendremos la posibilidad de introducir una tarjeta SIM en el coche y que hasta 8 dispositivos se conecten con el vehículo con una velocidad de hasta 7.2 mbps.

La antena Wifi estará situada bajo la antena de radio del coche y ya no nos limitaremos a descargar cierta información de utilidad como se había concebido en un pasado, de estilo de información sobre tráfico, obras o el tiempo, sino que podremos navegar todo lo que nuestro operador telefónico nos permita.

En España aún no está del todo implantado internet en el móvil aunque se avanza rápidamente hacia ello. Este extra de Audi es un perfecto ejemplo del avance, que esperamos que en unos pocos años sea algo más o menos cotidiano en los vehículos más comerciales.

Vía | Gizig

It’s so appropriate yet sad that Alyx is tasked with announcing the six-year old Half-Life 2’s Mac launch. But really there’s no shame in playing the some-what old Half-Life 2 even today. It’s one of the games that we agreed with in PC Gamer’s top games of all time list. But it’s yet another sign that the Mac gaming scene still has a long way to go.

by Jonathan Hiskes

We do not live in the Gulf of Mexico, you stupid oil company.Oil companies are supposed to have spill-response plans prepared
before they begin drilling in American offshore waters. Minerals Management
Service safety regulators are supposed to scrutinize those plans
before signing off on them. But it’s looking more and more like no one bothered to
read BP’s backup plan before the Deepwater Horizon rig began drilling
35,000 feet below the ocean’s surface.

Here’s the evidence:

1. BP mentions sea lions,
seals, sea otters, walruses in its Oil
Spill Response Plan for the Gulf of
Mexico region. The geniuses who wrote the plan either don’t know
jack about wildlife, or they cribbed text out of a plan for the Arctic region.

2. BP’s “plan” offers a Japanese home shopping site as the link to one of its “primary
equipment providers for BP in the Gulf of Mexico Region [for] rapid deployment
of spill response resources on a 24 hour, 7 days a week basis.” Apparently the
site didn’t have a 100-ton underwater containment dome in stock—it took rescue workers days
to build one in an early attempt to stop the leak … which failed.

3. The “plan” included no
information about tracking sub-surface oil plumes from deepwater blowouts,
although more oil may be spreading below the surface than at the top.

4. The “plan” includes no
oceanic or meteorological data, despite the ocean-floor site in a hurricane-prone region.

5. The “plan” directs BP
media spokespeople to never make “promises that property, ecology, or anything else
will be restored to normal.” Sounds like weasely responsibility-dodging,
although this may be more honest than the company intended.

6. The “plan” included no
measures for preventing disease (viruses and bacteria) transmission to captured
animals in rehab facilities. This was found to be a major risk after the Exxon
Valdez spill, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
(PEER), which analyzed the response plan and culled these absurd lapses in common sense.

7. The nearly 600 pages of
the “plan” consist largely of lists, phone numbers and blank forms, according
to PEER Board Member Rick Steiner, a marine professor and conservationist who
tracked the Exxon Valdez spill.

“This response plan is not worth the paper it is written on,” Steiner said in a prepared statement. “Incredibly, this voluminous document never once discusses how to stop a deep
water blowout even though BP has significant deep water operations in the
Gulf.”

Even if BP tried to craft a decent plan, all such contingency plans
are basically “fantasy documents,” according to Rutgers sociologist Lee Clarke,
who studies disasters. “These documents let everybody get through the day,” he
told Grist. “They provide comfort that risks are under control. The plans
are based on assumptions that you can control the uncontrollable, and the truth
is there’s nothing much that can be done.”

Good times, huh? If the giant bleeding gash in the earth has you bummed out, go check out some constructive responses.

(Big hat tip to PEER for its work.)

Related Links:

The gulf oil spill in video

BP gears up for ‘top kill’ to plug oil leak, despite doubts

Is the Gulf oil spill spinning out of control?

And this one isn’t just limited to Facebook.

Social networking sites may be sharing a lot more of your identifying data with their advertisers than you realize.

From the link:

A report in the Wall Street Journal indicates that a number of social networking sites (including Facebook, MySpace, and Digg) may be sharing users’ personal information with advertisers. Since the Journal started looking into this possible breach of privacy, both Facebook and MySpace have moved to make changes.

The practice is actually a somewhat defensible one–and most of the companies involved did try to defend it–in which the advertisers receive information on the last page viewed before the user clicked on their ad. This is common practice all over the web, and, in most cases, is no issue–advertisers receive information on the last page viewed, which cannot be traced back to the user. In the case of social networking sites, the information on the last page viewed often reveals user names or profile ID numbers that could potentially be used to look up the individuals.

Depending on what those individuals have made public, advertisers can then see anything from hometowns to real names.

The Journal interviewed some of the advertisers who received the data (including Google’s (GOOG) DoubleClick and Yahoo’s (YHOO) Right Media), who said they were unaware of the data and had not used it.

For some reason I find that last claim from DoubleClick and Right Media a bit hard to believe.

First The Divine Lady Liza tried her hand at Beyonce, now it’s Reba McEntire’s turn to put her Southern twang on a Bey ballad. The country queen performed “If I Were A Boy” — penned by BC Jean and made famous by Mrs. Knowles-Carter — during a live performance on Country Music Television this month.

Rock It or Drop It?

Microsoft President of Entertainment and Devices—that’s Xbox, Zune, Kin, Courier, et al—Robbie Bach announced his retirement today. And in his exit interview with TechFlash, he holds forth on the once and future Microsoft. So Robbie: what happens now? More »










Microsoft – Xbox – J Allard – Courier – Zune

Filed under: Aftermarket, SEMA Show, Classics, Ford

Vaughn Gittin Jr. is mostly known for his ability to pilot Ford Mustangs in a sideways – he currently leads the points race in the 2010 Formula Drift season – but over the last year the Maryland native has also been busy launching his own car brand, RTR, beginning with last year’s show at SEMA with the debut of the RTR-C Mustang.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Gittin will be following up the RTR-C with perhaps something even more impressive. In a collaboration with Team Need for Speed, the drifter/car builder will unveil another Mustang at the 2010 SEMA show dubbed the RTR-X. Based on a 1969 Mustang using a Dynacorn replacement body shell, the RTR-X will feature the 5.0-liter V8 from the 2011 Mustang GT and a one-off sub-frame from Art Morrison. You can follow the progress of the build until its debut at SEMA in November and even vote on the car’s livery over at SpeedHunters. Hit up the gallery below to see Gittin’s upcoming creation in more detail.

[Source: SpeedHunters.com]

Vaughn Gittin Jr. planning RTR-X Mustang for 2010 SEMA debut originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 25 May 2010 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today, the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its Board of Governors meetings to discuss the United States’ monetary policy in April. In February, all twelve Federal Reserve regional bank presidents requested to keep the primary credit rate at 0.75 percent. In March, eleven banks voted for 0.75 percent, but the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas voted to move to 1 percent. In mid-April, the heads of the Kansas City, St. Louis and Dallas banks all voted to establish a rate of 1 percent.

On one hand, this is no surprise. The three banks’ presidents are, respectively, Thomas Hoenig, James Bullard and Richard Fisher — all known as inflation hawks, more concerned with low rates leading to inflation than with high rates leading to unemployment. It is not a sign of an imminent rate increase either. (The Federal Reserve banks don’t set their own rates. Additionally, to be clear without getting too deep in the weeds here, the primary credit rate is different from the federal funds rate, and it impacts how much banks pay to borrow from the government rather than how much consumers pay banks for loans.)

Indeed, last month, for the sixteenth month in a row, the Federal Reserve recommended keeping the federal funds rate low for an “extended period”: “With substantial resource slack continuing to restrain cost pressures and longer-term inflation expectations stable, inflation is likely to be subdued for some time. The Committee will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 0.25 percent and continues to anticipate that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.”

Still, it demonstrates that more major figures within the Federal Reserve system are advocating a consideration of rate increases.

If you use Facebook, running this tool is a pretty good idea. It’ll at least let you find out exactly what parts of your profile are exposed where and to whom. With the steady diet of privacy setting changes that require opting-out instead of opting-in, you might be surprised where your Facebook information stands in the public/private online sphere.

From the link:

About a week ago, as frustration with Facebook and its privacy settings reached its pinnacle, Matt Pizzimenti, a software engineer and cofounder of Olark.com, launched ReclaimPrivacy.org, a site that scans your Facebook settings and warns you of what information you’re exposing to the public.

“I felt that [Facebook’s] navigation was too complicated to explain to my less-technical friends and family, so I built this tool to help them quickly see their privacy settings and change them,” Pizzimenti says.

Here’s an example of why LGBT activist groups who cheered the Obama administration’s acquiescence to a legislative push overturning the military’s ban on open gay service are girding up for a close fight.

Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), the powerful veteran legislator who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, came out just now against the compromise. Skelton thought Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ initial preference for delaying any legislative action on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” until a Pentagon working group instructs Gates on how the services feel repeal ought to proceed is the right way to go. And he read the reluctance in Gates’ acquiescence to the compromise as an opportunity to oppose the repeal push when Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) offers it as an amendment to the fiscal 2011 Defense Authorization bill during the House floor vote later this week.

Here’s Skelton’s statement:

“In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee this spring and in a recent letter, Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen asked Congress to defer any legislative action regarding ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ until after the Department of Defense completes its comprehensive review later this year.  In a statement today, the Pentagon indicated that ideally, Secretary Gates continues to prefer that the Department complete this review before Congress considers legislation.  This is a reasonable and responsible request that I respect.

“My position on this issue has been clear – I support the current policy and I will oppose any amendment to repeal ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.’  I hope my colleagues will avoid jumping the gun and wait for DOD to complete its work.”

It’s unclear whether Skelton’s opposition could derail the amendment. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) have maneuvered more controversial bills through the House with lesser margins for error. But it’s yet another sign that whatever the White House may have endorsed, passage of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal is anything but guaranteed. And that’s not even factoring in tomorrow’s vote in the Senate Armed Services Committee.

That Lost finale sure was divisive! Some people loved it, others hated it and then there’s a big chunk of people who want the internet to shut the hell up about it. Can’t help you there, angry non-Losties! More »










Lost – Arts – Television – Programs – Dramas