Category: News

Twitter has seen a healthy amount of growth, especially last year, but it is adding new users at a steady pace even now. A big part of its success is due to the third-party services that have grown around it, built on the Twitter API. Twitter’s popularity hasn’t translated into too much revenue just yet, as is the case for many of the hot n… (read more)

" Burocracia é um mecanismo gigante operado por pigmeus. "

Honoré de Balzac

¿Sabía que a pesar de que es fácil de prevenir, hay más casos de cáncer de piel cada año en comparación a los casos de cáncer del seno, cólon pulmones, y próstata? ¿O que el cáncer de la piel está afectando a gente cada vez más joven? Eso se traduce a más de un millón de estadounidenses con cáncer cada año. Todo los años se designa el viernes antes del Día de Recordación por los Caídos como el “Día para no Freírse” (Día para Protegerse del Sol”) —como un recordatorio para ser prudente con el sol (Sunwise) y proteger su piel cuando disfrute del tiempo al aire libre.

¿Qué hace para prudente con el sol (Sunwise) y protegerse de la exposición excesiva al sol?

Do you like computer mice? Do you like ambidexterity? Do you like looking at renderings of concept products that are not yet real? Today, my friend, is your lucky day. Gaze upon the Nink wireless optical mouse. Imagine the feel of that corrugated shell under either your right or your left palm. Visualize the sensation of using either index finger to tenderly scroll that wheel up and down, up and down. You can almost feel the mild resistance as the Nink lovingly caresses your desk, gliding back and forth at your slightest bidding…

[Devin adds: What the hell, worst ambidextrous mouse ever. Get a Xai.]

An unwanted mobile ad might as well be poison to a company’s brand.

It’s intrusive and it’s undesirable to both the sender and recipient. But with the fragmentation and technical complexities of purchasing SMS campaigns, brands often have no choice but to blast irrelevant SMS ads, or they simply ignore the mobile platform altogether. Those companies avoid mobile advertising because to users, the current state of SMS advertising is no different than spam.

The mobile advertising marketplace is broken. What’s needed is a platform for advertisers that aggregates the ad inventory from all the mobile carriers. Alcatel-Lucent delivers such a solution with Optism.

The big difference is Optism only delivers permission-based advertisements. That means consumers must opt in before they receive any marketing messages. Ads scheduled through Optism are personalized and conversational, thereby achieving astonishing response rates — as high as 40 percent.

Optism uses Alcatel-Lucent’s existing relations with all major carriers to act as a “one-stop shop” for purchasing mobile ad campaigns. With all carriers aggregated, purchasing ad space is easy, plus reporting is consistent no matter which carrier(s) carry your campaign.

Typically, Optism campaigns begin with a question. The end user responds via SMS, which in turn delivers a relevant response. The goal of this conversational dialogue is to turn what was initially an advertisement into wanted information.

For more, watch the interview with Thomas Labarthe, VP Mobile Advertising at Alcatel-Lucent, below, and check out the Optism blog and interactive brochure.

Click here to view all Alcatel-Lucent posts

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Primeiro, vejam a foto acima. Viram? Esse carro “era” um Datsun 1979, mas agora ele é anunciado por seu dono como “O carro quase mais selvagem do planeta“, e que não achamos em nenhum outro lugar. O carro está praticamente 100% alterado, a sua parte frontal não lembra nem de longe o carro original, que pode ser visto nessa foto.

Mas não é só a parte da frente que chama a atenção. Também foram inclusos 4 carburadores Holley e um aerofólio da Subaru. Um verdadeiro “carro Frankstein pseudo-super-esportivo”. A parte traseira do carro, incluindo o aerofólio ficaram “incomuns”, para não falar outra coisa.

Para quem estíver interesasdo nessa jóia rara, ela está em Nevada e você pode comprá-lo por um lance generoso no eBay, que atualmente está em US$ 14.900. Vejam mais fotos do Datsun customizado logo a seguir.

Imagens do veículo

Via | Autoblog.uk

A research paper published by the American Chemical Society indicates that biodiesel production from municipal sewage is tantalizingly close (within several pennies) of being profitable. Although kind of disgusting, few would argue there isn’t a tremendous, renewable supply of the stuff. Nor would they say that every municipality doesn’t already have its’ own sources.

(more…)

Android 2.2 is out, and it’s pretty nice! But what’s next for Android? A better keyboard? More sexy? And how exactly does Google decide what goes into each version of Android anyway? Let’s ask Lead Android Andy Rubin. More »










Android – Google – Apple – Handhelds – IPhone

It was only today at TechCrunch’s Disrupt event that Tweetup (the “AdSense for Twitter”) was announced, so Twitter’s blog post spelling the end of third party advertising platforms will be very badly-timed news for a lot of developers. More »










Twitter – Online Communities – Social Networking – Trending and Popularity – Browser Plugins

Materials: (1) Helmer drawer unit on casters, (1) Vika Amon table top, (1) Hyllis shelving unit, (2) discontinued Ikea shoe racks, (1) Lack shelf, (1) Kolja mirror. The only extra hardware needed were some standard screws, drywall anchors and four small L shaped brackets.

Description: I design jewelry and work from my bedroom, where I already have a huge Vika Gruvan desk, an overflow of bookcases and no extra room to spare. So this action-packed little corner was pretty much my only option.

I also had no cash at the moment (Hey, not all of us can be Tiffany) so buying brand new furniture was out of the question, all the Ikea items I used were bought on Craigslist. I think I spent less than $40 total including hardware.

Here’s the steps so you too can do the jam:

First, I assembled the Helmer drawer unit. Then, using its height as a guide, I attached the L shaped brackets to the wall. (As you can see in the picture, I used some left over curtain brackets from another project to keep costs down.)

Next, I assembled the Hyllis shelving unit. Here is where I had to work some magic. The table top is wider than the shelves so in order to slide it in place without having to cut the table down to size I had to invert the Hyllis’ legs. This seriously compromises its stability, so I had to anchor it to the wall. After that, I slid the table top in place and secured it to the brackets with screws.

Then I hung the mirror (No, I’m not -that- vain, I just need to look at my work!) and the Lack shelf. As an extra bonus I installed a wire/tool dispenser made of L shaped brackets and a steel rod (Costs $2.50 to make). Since I still needed more shelving I added the shoe racks underneath the table. I bought two of them and stacked them, going under and around the Hyllis unit, then secured them with screws.

And that’s pretty much it.

Hey, it is not the sexiest of units, but it works for me. Plus it was $40 bucks. Beat that.

~ Sunny H., Chicago

Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Wagon, Mercedes-Benz, Luxury

Mercedes-Benz has a pretty ambitious goal to grow its U.S. sales by 30 percent over the next five years, and execs apparently think they will need to expand downmarket to do it. According to Automotive News, Ernst Lieb, CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, feels that the bringing in the B-Class hatchback and introducing additional C-Class derivatives will provide the best possibility of attracting more customer since growth opportunities for the E-Class and S-Class are likely limited.

Arch rival BMW already offers coupe, convertible and station wagon variants of the 3 Series in the States, along with the less costly 1 Series range, not to mention its ever-expending array of Mini products. In North America, surging Audi offers its A4 in sedan and wagon formats, along with the closely related A5/S5 Coupe and Cabriolet, and it also offers the less costly A3 hatchback.

For its part, Mercedes currently only offers the C-Class in a four-door sedan bodystyle in the States. A C-Class coupe is reportedly due to arrive here in 2011 with a convertible coming in 2013 off of the revised C-Class that’s due in 2012. And while the C-Class expansion makes sense, critics have feared for years that introducing the B-Class in America could lead to brand dilution (which is part of the reason that parent Daimler’s teetering Smart franchise has remained so distinct).

By comparison, in spite of its relatively slow sales here, the 1 Series arguably makes more sense in the context of the BMW lineup of performance luxury cars. So why isn’t brand dilution an issue for Mercedes overseas? In Europe, where the A and B Class have been available for a decade, Benz has a different, more mainstream image, with a much more comprehensive model range.

Despite a comparative dearth of entry-level products, Mercedes’ sales remain on a pronounced uptick in America, with sales through April increasing by 26 percent to 68,826 units. In 2009, Benz dealers sold through 190,538 units.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req’d]

Report: Mercedes-Benz C-Class lineup set to expand in U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 May 2010 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I’m told that the finale of “Lost” had the third highest ad rates of this season, behind only the Superbowl and the Oscars.  How many people watched those ads?  According to Bloomberg News, about 13.5 million.

Compare that to the finale of MASH, which was watched by almost 106 million viewers (including me, up late by very special dispensation). 

Now, MASH was the most watched finale of all time.  But the stark difference between its numbers and those of the most-heralded finale of the year illustrate why no series is ever going to surpass MASH’s record.  (The superbowl finally did this year, as people tuned in to watch the Saints.)  We live in a different world, one where there’s something for almost everyone–but not the same thing.

Lost – Television program – M*A*S*H – Television – Arts

When the Nexus One first came out, there was some question about wireless N.  Mainly why didn’t it work.   N1 users who were rooted and running Cyanogen Mod started seeing some 802.11n goodness last month, but now it’s official.  Wireless N support is included in Froyo.  You probably won’t notice much speed difference (at least I didn’t) as even the Snapdragon processor can only process so much information.  But the increase in signal strength and range is awesome — especially for spending a Sunday morning out on the deck reading the news with a pot of coffee and a cigar.  I used to have to depend on Sprint 3G and my Hero to do that, but Froyo lets me bring the N1 out for some fresh air and to join the party.

(Thanks, John (and Google)! Find a cool new feature in Froyo and want to tell the world about it? E-mail us here and we’ll make you famous!)

This is a post by Android Central. It is sponsored by the Android Central Accessories Store

Last week saw another mini-flight to safety.  The Euro was pushed down to the lowest point in about 4 years (before recovering), US Treasuries and other Bonds saw yet again an influx of scared money fleeing the global financial markets in drones.  But within this trend towards the illusive safety, many investors forget that US Treasuries and similar AAA rated sovereign debt instruments are not without risk.  I am not referring to pure credit risk but also to the inherent risk from the mechanics of Bond prices.  Although this is very basic, here’s a graphic reminder of the relationship of Bond prices to changes in interest rates.

The prices of Bonds, particularly the longer term Bonds (10, 20, 30 years), are rather sensitive to changes in interest rates.  Unless you hold a Bond to maturity, its price can fluctuate rendering your investment not all that risk-free after all.  Pension funds, Bond funds and Bond ETFs are not immune to this – something to consider before pouring all your money into the “safest of all” asset classes.

US short term rates are still at zero which makes it less likely that Bond prices could rise much further.  But let’s assume that the US will experience a multi-decade period of near zero short-term interest rates just like Japan since 1990.  What is the likelihood that longer-term Treasuries will retain their current ratings allowing them to continue to finance deficits at ultra-low rates?

IMHO, the Greek and Euro-zone crisis should serve as a wake-up call.  The long-held believe in the risk-free rate is beginning to fade.  Several US States, California being one of them, have budget deficits approaching Greek standards. Unfunded liabilities continue to rise, entitlement cuts are political suicide and therefore they cut the lowest hanging fruit first, education being one of them. 

For California, the proposed budget cuts in education have been so drastic that some Bond ratings agencies are now concerned about the long-term impact of these measures.  California and other US States are slowly approaching a tipping point of being no longer economically viable.   

In order to assess the credit worthiness of say a 20-year municipal Bond, ratings agencies must now consider whether California will have an educated enough labor pool to continue generating enough middle-class earners for the much needed tax revenues. By cutting education to the bone, governments dumb down society as a whole rendering their own state or country unable to get out of the debt spiral. For now, the ratings agencies are merely concerned that their clients might actually be paid back in 20 years.   

But with further cuts in education and other areas which contribute to the long-term economic viability of society, we should not only be concerned as long-term Bond investors.  Instead of cutting education, research & development programs for new and alternative energy, California as well as other States should heed the wake-up call from Greece. They must come up with cost-cutting measures for programs that do NOT contribute to sustainable long-term growth i.e. ridiculous pension and entitlement programs or building bridges to nowhere. If they don’t, the consequences are also clear.  Long-term financing at ultra-low rates will become increasingly difficult not just for California, Michigan and New York but it will affect US Treasuries, the mother of all  “risk-free” investments.

This guest post previously appeared at FXIS Market Insights >

Join the conversation about this story »

Members of the House Education and Labor Committee are holding a satellite hearing this morning in Beckley, W.Va., to examine the Upper Big Branch mine explosion, which killed 29 Massey miners and almost killed a 30th not far from Beckley.

What’s striking is how closely today’s testimony from UBB miners and their families resembles the damning stories about Massey’s corporate culture that we’ve been hearing about from former Massey miners since the April 5 tragedy.

For instance, Stanley Stewart, a UBB miner for 15 years who was underground during the blast, told lawmakers today that the ventilation system inside the mine suffered constant problems, and (worse) Massey higher-ups never really cared to fix them.

“The area of the mine [where] we were working was liberating a lot of methane,” Stewart said. “Mine management never fully addressed the air problem when it would be shut down by inspectors. They would fix it just good enough to get us to load coal again, but then it would be back to business as usual.”

My experience in the mines showed me that the ventilation system they had didn’t work. And with so much methane being liberated, and no air moving it gave me the feeling that area was a ticking time bomb. I was told prior to the April 5th explosion, that they had experienced at least 2 fireballs on the drum of the shearer.

This leads me to believe the methane was indeed building in that area, showing lack of air and ventilation problems. One question that I have is how could methane build up to that point where a fireball could start? How could this happen if the methane detectors had been working?

A longer piece on this to follow.

Search in calendar and contacts (most fields). See an Agenda of upcoming events. Dial, send SMS or Email directly from the results list. If you sync your Palm Pre or Pixi with Google, then this App provides all these features for you. Additional features: Tap on a found event or contact to go to the day in the calendar or to the detail screen of the contact on your phone. Partial word search. Filter by calendars and contact groups (categories). Contacts can be sorted and grouped by name, last name, company or zip code. You can even use the power of RegExp for some search types! This is a much enhanced version of our App "Google Calendar Search". Enhancements include search in contacts, multiple accounts, partial (sub-string) search, Agenda mode and highlighting in results. New in this version: Experimental Turbo mode (enable in Preferences) for even faster calendar searches and option to not save passwords.

MEMC Electronic Materials will acquire Solaicx for its efficient solar manufacturing technology at a price tag of approx $100 Million. …

… “Solaicx has developed proprietary continuous crystal growth manufacturing technology which yields low-cost, high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon wafers for the photovoltaic solar industry. The Solaicx technology allows for very high-volume crystal growth compared to the silicon ingots produced in the traditional precision semiconductor manufacturing process. The enhanced electrical performance of wafers from Solaicx ingots allows solar cell manufacturers to create higher efficiency cells with very competitive silicon costs. In addition to these customer benefits, the combined company will have low-cost polysilicon and crystal operations in North America and sales and support offices around the world, allowing the company to provide customers with industry leading customer service. ” …

Via MEMC Electronics Materials: Agreement to Acquire Solaicx (Link).

An Australian supermodel, Miranda Kerr, has put together a list of tips men should follow to keep their women happy and their relationships strong. (Article courtesy of reader J.N.)

Kerr revealed her top 10 romance tips to readers of AskMen.com, who voted her most desirable Australian woman in the world. They are:

1. Buy the right size

2. Listen to her

3. Connect with her

4. Know what you want

5. Don’t be afraid to show her love

6. Tell her she is beautiful and romance her

7. Get a baby sitter

8. Be healthy

9. Pamper her

10. Treat her like a goddess

Fascinating! In the interest of generous reciprocation, I offer my list of Chateau-approved tips for women to help keep the romance alive in their relationships.

1. Spend his money to buy yourself clothes in the right size. Men like it when they are made to feel like dutiful ATMs.

2. Talk to him. Constantly.

3. Connect with him emotionally. Sex should be an afterthought to connection.

4. Know what you want from him.

5. Don’t be afraid to withdraw love. Men like to chase.

6. Tell him he is your best friend. Punctuate with warm hug and three pats on the back.

7. Get a baby sitter so that he may spend lots of money on you at fancy restaurants and the theater so that you return home too tired for sex.

8. Be healthy. Duh. This needed its own tip?

9. Ignore him.

10. Treat him like a therapist… who also happens to be penis-less.

~~~

Naturally, Chateau decorum insists on the utmost adherence to sarcasm when the moment calls for it. This was on of those moments. The lovely Miranda Kerr’s list may as well have been titled “Top 10 Romance Tips for Men Who are Already Alpha Enough to Afford Handicapping Their Attractiveness”, or perhaps “Bottom 10 Romance Tips for Beta Males Who Yearn for the Closure of Being Dumped”.

Similarly, my list would work great for 9s and 10s who are dating men so grateful to be with them that the men will put up with all sorts of shit. For the rest of womankind, my romance tips would have any man with a shred of dignity and a molecule of testosterone left in his sack running for the hills.

Kerr’s list — and just about all female relationship advice — neatly demonstrates one of the Chateau’s maxims:

CR Maxim #57: Never trust a woman’s advice on how to please women. Her advice is designed for alpha men she already finds attractive and from whom she seeks signals of attainability and commitment.

Corollary to Maxim #57: A woman’s sex and relationship advice isn’t meant to help men; it’s meant to distract men from what really works to turn women on.

Filed under: Relationships, Ridiculousness

Bears have been body-slamming stocks most recently, and today the market is wobbly, but there are many fundamental and sentiment-based reasons why they’ll be proven over-eager according to Deutsche Bank.

DB is overweight U.S. equities, and they fired a barrage of bullish charts in their Fear and Fundamentals U.S. equity strategy.

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Source: Deutsche Bank

Don’t believe the hype? See why China could be heading down.

See why China could be going down and bring the world with it >

Join the conversation about this story »

Apple will open its Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote presentation from CEO Steve Jobs on Monday June 7 at 10:00 am (local time in San Francisco, USA). This year’s WWDC sold out the seats available for more than 5,000 developers in the record time of eight days.

The five-day event being held from 7 to 11 June, aims to provide advanced content and experienced developers in five key technology areas: Application Frameworks, Internet and Web, Graphics & Media, Development Tools, and Core OS.

Apple engineers taught more than 100 technical sessions and workshops aimed at solutions. The WWDC 2010 offers a community “very broad and heterogeneous” the opportunity to connect with thousands of fellow developers to iPhone and iPad from all around the world.

Related posts:

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2. Apple Hands Over iPhone OS 4 To Developers
3. Apple iPhone Update: Free iPhone Apps!