Category: News

  • Coffee-shop marketing still erring on the side of women in bikinis

    HotChickALatte

    If you can wade through the terrible puns in this article about Hot Chick-a-Latte, a new coffee shop in Denver, you’ll learn that it employs hot chicks to serve coffee in their underwear, which has to be the best and worst idea in a long time. It’s good because it follows a successful business model (Perky Cups, also in Colorado, among others), and it might revitalize the lackluster storefront it’s housed in, because hot chicks do get people out of the house. It’s problematic because once the appeal wears off for everyone who isn’t a perv with no impulse control, fights involving boiling water start happening. Plus, they could drive off female business, since I doubt a whole lot of girls will find the OMG BOOBS gimmick as appealing as guys do. Then again, Hooters is doing OK, so I guess picking a side isn’t a huge financial risk these days.

    —Posted by David Kiefaber

  • America’s Amazing Rise to 3G Dominance

    Nearly 70 percent of U.S. cell phone subscribers are on a 3G network, according to data released today (and based on info gathered at the end of the first quarter) by Wireless Intelligence. In comparison, at the end of last year only 20 percent of the world’s mobile phones were on a 3G connection. India is in the process of auctioning off its 3G spectrum and China plans to boost its 3G coverage over the next few years, which will boost worldwide 3G. Meanwhile, the U.S. has a lead when it comes to innovation on the wireless front that is driven in no small part by its widespread access to 3G speeds, and its citizens’ willingness and ability to consume them.

    In the first quarter of this year, all four of the nation’s top carriers were among the top 10 in the world making money from data revenue, with Verizon leading the list for the first time. As power in the industry shifts to mobile computing from the desktop, such dominance is a clear indicator of how fast broadband helps drive innovation.

    But it isn’t just the pipe. Consumers have to be able to access the faster networks on their phones, which is why devices like the iPhone have played such a huge role when it comes to both new mobile computing innovations and the boost in data revenues (GigaOM Pro, sub req’d) (and most importantly, data traffic). As we transition to next-generation networks like LTE or WiMAX, the relationship among the pipe, the device and the corresponding level of innovation is notable.



    Alcatel-Lucent NextGen Communications Spotlight — Learn More »



    Alcatel-Lucent NextGen Communications Spotlight — Learn More »



    Alcatel-Lucent NextGen Communications Spotlight — Learn More »

  • Mocospace Moves Beyond Feature Phones, Launching Android and iPhone Apps for Mobile Social Networking

    The Mocospace app on an Android phone
    Wade Roush wrote:

    Boston-based Mocospace, proprietor of one of the country’s largest mobile social networking services, has long kept its focus on users of feature phones—meaning cell phones that can connect to the Internet via built-in Web browsers but that don’t run separate apps. Now, in a major change of tactics, the company has launched Mocospace apps for both Android phones and the iPhone.

    The company soft-launched the apps in the Android Marketplace and the iTunes App Store last week, and officially announced them today.

    Mocospace CEO Justin Siegel says he expects that most users—who come for the service’s mix of chat and media sharing tools, as I’ve detailed in past profiles—will continue to access the service via the mobile Web browsers in their feature phones. But since the beginning of 2010, he says, the company has seen a doubling in the number of users accessing Mocospace from iPhones and Android phones. “Our strategy has been on the browser side of things, but we want to make sure that we are integrating with our users and given them the most and best options possible for accessing Mocospace,” Siegel says.

    And there’s another reason for the shift: the time had come, Siegel says, to get on the app bandwagon. “Very few people think of the mobile space as a browser-based space,” he says. “The constant question, even from our own board and investors and potential partners, was ‘How many people are using your app?’ We’d have to explain that no, this is a browser-based service. We spent so much time explaining why we don’t have an app that we finally said, ‘Let’s just build an app.’”

    Mocospace’s iPhone and Android apps are designed mainly to facilitate live chat, photo uploads and sharing, and profile viewing and commenting. They don’t yet include advertising, virtual currency features, or the other mechanisms Mocospace uses to monetize the Web version of its service, but those features will arrive over the next couple of months, Siegel says.

    Interestingly, today’s news release from Mocospace focused completely on the Android app and didn’t even mention the iPhone app, though it came out concurrently. Siegel says that’s for two reasons: first, “We’ve seen a tremendous amount of growth in our base of Android users,” at a pace outstripping the number of new users connecting over iPhones or BlackBerry devices. Second, according to Siegel, there’s just so much coverage of the iPhone that it’s no longer news when companies launch iPhone apps.

    Overall, the release of the smartphone apps “is not a change in strategy,” Siegel says. “We continue to believe that the browser wins in the long run. In fact, yesterday at Google I/O, Sergey Brin commented that the Web and applications will merge in the not-too-distant future, and we believe that. But as a startup we’re pretty nimble and fast-moving, and apps are going to have a little bit more staying power and play a bigger role than we thought a couple of years ago.”

    UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS



























  • Lindsay Lohan Issues Desperate Plea For Private Jet Out Of Cannes

    Happening Now: Reporters are on the scene of Lindsay Lohan’s scheduled probation status hearing at the Beverly Hills Courthouse, where the troubled star is expected to be a no-show because she is stuck in France. The “Mean Girl” had been partying and campaigning for new gig at the Cannes Film Festival before her passport mysteriously disappeared.

    The judge is expected to issue a warrant for Lindsay’s arrest if she misses the hearing, and as recently as Wednesday, the star was in a desperate race against time to get back to the City of Angels before her 8:30 AM court deadline. According to RadarOnline.com, Lindsay sent out an email begging friends to send her a private plane. Without a passport, that would be the only way for her to travel internationally. Here’s a copy of Lindsay’s cry to pals:

    “I need my friends, and people I work with to PLEASE help me get on a private plane tomorrow by at least 5 PM. This is such a horrible thing that’s happened to me and extremely unfortunate. My passports been stolen and the day before my court hearing. I would never ask such a thing, but if there’s anything that I could ever ask of anyone, it would be to help me with this. I must get back on a jet to LA tomorrow. If anyone has planes leaving Nice/Cannes at any time after 11am when I get my passport, please, please, let me know if you can help me. God bless All my love Thank you, Lindsay Lohan….”

    At least she’s got a nice tan to match her new orange jumpsuit….


  • Reader Mailbag: Flakes, Snakes and Alpha Male Tales

    Email #1:

    I am currently seeing a girl who I like to invite over to my place to have some fun.

    She often follows through, but at the last minute she flakes or attempts to make changes to my plans. Recently, she’s done this 3 days in a row.

    I don’t get angry, but I don’t budge when she asks me, for example, to go out of my way to meet her downtown to hang out with her and her gay friend at the last fucking minute.

    I told her that I couldn’t make it, and that I needed two weeks’ notice before we changed any plans from here on out.

    At this point, I’m going to be super lazy at responding to her texts.

    What do I do to straighten this thing out?

    Ed

    What we know: Girls flake when your alpha gravity pull is weak. She’s keeping her options open. Think of flaking as a whoreschach test of your mettle — the more you acquiesce to her flakiness, or seem to tolerate it, the more beta you appear. She’s flaked on you three days in a row? This means you attempted to set something up repeatedly in the teeth of three straight disses of your masculinity. Rat-a-tat, alpha down flat! Remember, your time is always worth more than her time. Why behave as if just the opposite is the working premise?

    As for not meeting her downtown with her BGBF, well, that’s the minimum threshold of expected spine-stiffened behavior. Don’t pat yourself on the back too hard.

    Here’s what I recommend: Stop trying to make plans with her. That should be step number one. It sounds like she’s still texting you out of the blue, so that means she wants to keep you active in her pool of prospects. How does it feel being a third stringer to a disrespectful ego-inflated bitch? Not very alpha, eh? Good. Now take that feeling and turn it into beneficial asshole game. Don’t respond to her texts for a week. When you do respond, keep it short and serrated:

    “Hey blabby girl, gotta go. talk later.”

    Of course you won’t be talking later. Wait another week. Ignore any of her texts in the interim. After that (if she’s still texting), text her back with this (ignoring whatever was the substance of her text):

    “Drinks at 8 at X. Be there by yourself. yr buying 1st round.”

    If she balks, don’t reply. Think of this as the textual equivalent of a backturn. Write her off, or, if you’re a particularly cheeky sort of fellow, fuck around with her everytime she texts in the future:

    “Still texting? Come over. I got a new couch I want to fuck you on”

    “You’re annoying”

    “Stop wasting my text plan”

    “gay”

    “titty fucking. love it or hate it?”

    ***

    Email #2:

    I’ve been seeing this girl for a year. We live together and I’ve still got hand. Her during sex two weeks ago: “If you hit me this time use your left hand, the left side of my face hurts from last time.” I’m still flirting with other girls near her, etc.

    Two days ago she tells me that a guy that used to be really mean to her when they worked together emailed her out of the blue (apparently they never hooked up) . He said when they worked together three years ago he actually liked her. She wanted to know what she should write back. My antenna tingled. I played it cool and insinuated he was a weirdo but she still wrote him back a short message.

    She didn’t say anything else about it. Last night we were at a bar and she was blowing up with texts. I checked her phone and it was the guy. He isn’t very slick, but since she seems to be eating it up, I’m concerned. He is already hinting he’ll come visit her this summer (we’re going to be in separate cities). I’d like to squash this, any suggestions for my next move?

    Other facts: This guy is 2,000 miles away now so they haven’t done anything yet. She is leaving in a week and will be gone for the summer. Right now, she doesn’t know that I know this guy been texting her.

    ST

    Sounds like you’ve got an ingenue on your hands. This type of girl will coordinate the attentions of multiple men in order to ensure she gets access to the maximum amount of resources. Think Carla Bruni. (Until recently, that is. Poor Carla has hit the wall badly, so she will no longer be playing her game of roll out the cock carpet.) When a girl starts waxing soap operatically to you about some random dude out of the blue, it means one of two things — she’s coaxing a jealous reaction out of you so you’ll give her more attention and love, or she’s musing about cheating and/or leaving you and her inner thoughts are tumbling out of her like a burp from a colicky baby.

    First, this was a moment when you shouldn’t have played it cool. A bit of the ol’ ultrabadass would have done more good. No girl I’m dating for a year is going to get my permission, either directly or indirectly, to email an interloping male admirer. The way to answer your girlfriend’s head games is with the dread of loss:

    “Hey, great idea, you email your hard-up stalker, and I’ll email my ex-girlfriend. Sound like a plan?”

    She’ll get the idea.

    Unfortunately, she emailed him, and the result was an extended textplay. (If you remind yourself that wordplay to women is like a handjob to men, you’ll be a little less tolerant of your girlfriend’s phone blowing up with texts from another man.) What were you expecting? Girls live for this sort of multi-headed male attention. Your operating assumption from this point forward should be that she will cheat with him if they ever get together. And that she is completely untrustworthy. You may want to run the Door Pattern on her before she leaves on her trip. I wouldn’t confront her about the texts, as this will only make you appear a jealous low-value lover. I’d just insinuate that the upcoming time apart would mean a lot of exhilarating freedom for the two of you, and that any funny stuff that you find out about means you are out the door for good.

    ~~~

    ST emailed me a followup a few days later, after I had already written my reply to his first email above:

    Well R, it looks like this is definitely over. She sent him an eight paragraph email. I had four words, “I’m kinda
    seeing someone.” Then there was an entire paragraph about meeting up after she leaves for the summer. She’s been extra careful about her phone and now never leaves it around. But strangely she is acting sweeter toward me than ever. I’ve never had so much PDA and baked goods, what’s up with that?

    It hasn’t happened yet, but it’s like seeing a wrecking ball arc toward a building: there is time before it happens, but it will definitely happen.

    In any case, any ideas for a good way to break this off with a bang?

    Me: “Your operating assumption from this point forward should be that she will cheat with him if they ever get together. And that she is completely untrustworthy.”

    Called it. Am I good or what?

    I’m not surprised that she is piling on the PDA and feminine sweetness now that her gig is about to blow up. I wrote about this phenomenon in this post about a girl whose best fuck I had with her occurred the day before we broke up.

    The afternoon before the breakup we had the best sex ever.  She orgasmed freely.  There is something about breakup sex that brings out the animal in women.  Perhaps it is the only time they can completely sever their emotions from sex and just let their vaginas take over with a man they trust.  Or maybe it’s a last hurrah.  I felt used for my body.

    I’ll add that guilt can drive a woman to feminine accommodation of the man she has cheated on, or is thinking of cheating on. Particularly if she has had second thoughts and decided that you are a higher value male than the long distance lover. Anyhow, the way I would initiate breakup sequence is with maximum pain and humiliation inflicted. By that I mean, get caught fucking another girl. When your beloved lashes out in fury and anguish, calmly reply:

    “I thought you were OK with this. After all, this chick isn’t the only whore I’m fucking.”

    ***

    Email #3:

    Hey…..I’ve been a long time reader of yours and wanted to ask a quick q. – I apologize if you have addressed this issue already…I just couldn’t locate the relevant post. Anyhoo here goes:

    When a girl you are flirting with mentions/boasts about previous erotic encounters with alphas  e.g “And then I met this total hottie in Paris who blew my mind” or “This reminds me of that argentinean tango dancer I had a fling with once”, how is one supposed to respond? Should it be completely ignored or should one maybe try to counterattack by casually mentioning real or even fictitious encounters with hot girls?

    Thanks for your time

    D

    Classic beta bait. Subconsciously, this is one ploy that a girl will use to take the measure of your manhood. If you show any indignation, hurt, or jealousy, you fail. If you attempt to counterattack with your own hot lover tale, you risk looking try-hard. The way to handle these “alpha male ex machina” (AMEM) shit tests is either through humor or disregard.

    “And then I met this total hottie in Paris who blew my mind…”

    “You slept with a gay man? Damn, must’ve been a helluva dry spell.”

    “This reminds me of that Argentinean tango dancer I had a fling with once…”

    “Wow, I’ve gotta poop.”

    “This reminds me of that Argentinean tango dancer I had a fling with once…”

    “Use em and lose em, that’s my motto too!”

    You could parry the AMEM with an AFEM of your own, as long as you do it right. For example:

    “This reminds me of that Argentinean tango dancer I had a fling with once…”

    “Hey, if we’re gonna trade sex stories from our past, I’ve got a really good one for you. So there was this cute girl and her mom, and a camera hidden in the closet behind a peephole…”

    Filed under: Reader Mailbag

  • Next Infiniti G Coupe to gain styling cues from Essence show car

    The Infiniti Essence concept was one of the most dramatic show cars to come from the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, and it looks as though the radical two-door’s styling will be making the transition to production car.

    According to Autocar, Infiniti will style its next-generation G37 Coupe after the Essence show car. Inside sources say a “sizeable” amount of the Essence’s design will make it into the next G Coupe, including the concept’s bold wheel arches and crisp lines.

    The Essence was powered by a twin-turbo 3.7L V6 mated to a hybrid drivetrain — developing a very un-hybrid like 590 horsepower — but that configuration will likely be toned down for the next G37. Instead, expect a hybrid system derived from the unit earmarked for the M35 hybrid. The means the G Coupe will likely come packing a 3.5L V6 and an electric motor generating a total of 360 horsepower.

    A diesel-hybrid is also said to be under consideration, but the idea is quickly losing favor. The United States in Infiniti’s largest market and has proven to be largely opposed to diesel-powered vehicles. Still, the idea could gain traction for the European market.

    References
    1. ‘Infiniti Essence to…’ view

       

    Source: Leftlane

  • American Academy of Sciences suggests Carbon Tax to reach US climate goals.

    WASHINGTON – Ditching its past cautious tone, the nation’s top scientists urged the government Wednesday to take drastic action to raise the cost of using coal and oil to slow global warming.

    The US National Academy of Sciences urged the government on May 19  to take drastic action to raise the cost of using coal and oil to slow global warming. More specifically it called for a

  • BlackRock’s Bob Doll: This Correction Is At An End

    BlackRock’s Vice Chairman Bob Doll spoke with Betty Liu of Bloomberg Television this morning on where the market was heading. Doll thinks this correction is over, but that we may move sideways for a while.

    • 0:20 After the correction, we will see a bull market rally, so long as things stabilize, particularly in Europe
    • 1:00 We are now at the end of the correction, price wise, and we now need to be repairing damages
    • 1:40 We underestimated the impact of European contagion
    • 2:15 We may go sideways before we emerge from this

    Join the conversation about this story »

  • I Swear: Subatomic Particles Are Singing to Me! | Discoblog

    Large Hadron Collider physicists have heard the voice of the “god particle,” the Higgs boson, and it sounds a bit like a child’s music box. Lily Asquith, a physicist searching for the Higgs boson–the elementary particle believed to give everything in the universe mass–is using more than her eyes. With artists and other physicists, she started the LHCsound project to hear subatomic particles. New Scientist reports that the idea arose from a conversation between Asquith and percussionist Eddie Real:
    “I was actually doing impersonations of different particles and trying to get him to develop them on his electronic drum kit.”
    They decided to use real data about particles (and theoretical data for the yet unseen Higgs) to make some noise. In the process that Asquith calls “sonification,” the researchers match, for example, the particle’s momentum and energy to pitch and volume. The project’s various simulations demonstrate that Higgs won’t be auditioning for Glee anytime soon. Still, Asquith believes that physicists might use her particle music as an analysis tool, since human ears can detect small differences in a sound’s direction (within around three degrees) and frequency (around 0.3 percent). The aim of the project is to combine each particle’s data from the LHC’s ATLAS detector into …


  • Skyfire launches their first B2B offering: Skyfire Rocket

    We’ve written about Skyfire before. Plenty of times, actually. It’s the smartphone browser that, by way of data-compression proxies (and tiny wizards), can chew through Flash video and other Rich media formats on Android, Windows Mobile, and S60 handsets. Thus far, Skyfire has been an entirely business-to-consumer operation.

    Today, Skyfire makes the good ol’ jump to business-to-business with the launch of Skyfire Rocket.

    Rocket comes in two parts: Rocket Device Client and Rocket Cloud Platform.

    To my understanding, Rocket Device Client is essentially a white-labeled version of Skyfire 2.0. Debuted on Android just weeks ago, Skyfire 2.0 differs from versions prior in a few major ways: it’s build on WebKit, only video data is sent through Skyfire’s data conversion proxy, and that happens only once the user specifically selects a video to view from the “Skybar”.

    The Rocket Platform, on the other hand, is for carriers and manufacturers who want what Skyfire has to offer, but want it in their own browser. In other words, Skyfire is licensing out the video streaming, data compression, and content recommendation tech they’ve built to any third-party willing to cough up the dough.

    It’ll be interesting to see how this one goes. Smartphone platforms tend to come with their own browsers, with OEMs and carriers only supplanting the built-in offering when it’s.. well, when it’s pretty terrible. Will this see enough adoption to warrant its creation?


  • Report: Porsche 918 Spyder to contest 2011 Nürburgring 24

    Filed under: , , , , ,

    Porsche 918 Spyder – Click above for high-res image gallery

    Porsche made an impressive showing at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring this year with its 911 GT3 R Hybrid. But don’t think for even one power-boosted second that its hybrid initiative was a one-time affair for the Stuttgart-based automaker. Not, at least, if the latest reports from Germany prove accurate.

    According to Auto Motor und Sport, mere days after the conclusion of this year’s race, Porsche is already preparing to campaign a competition-spec version of the 918 Spyder at the Ring next year. The 918 Spyder concept debuted just a few months ago at the Geneva Motor Show to rave reviews. Derived from the same program that gave birth to the 917, 911 GT1 and RS Spyder, the 918 Spyder packs 718 horsepower of combined output, 90 miles per gallon and a simulated Nordschleife lap time of 7:30, making it an ideal machine to contest the grueling endurance race. We’ll just have to wait a year to find out whether it lives up to its promise or falls victim to arch-rival BMW.

    [Source: Auto Motor und Sport (translated)]

    Report: Porsche 918 Spyder to contest 2011 Nürburgring 24 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 20 May 2010 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  • What’s New in Android 2.2 [Android]

    Android 2.2 is here. We’ve been using it with Flash 10.1 and it is nicer than 2.1 in some small, but key ways. Like built-in tethering and Wi-Fi hotspot powers. Oh, and Flash.
    More »







  • Ex-Panera Bread CEO Opens Commie Not-For-Profit Eatery

    What is a meal at Panera Bread worth to you? A former Panera location in a prosperous St. Louis suburb has reopened as “St. Louis Bread Company Cares,” a restaurant where customers can select a meal, then pay what they think the meal is worth–or as much as they can afford. If customers can’t afford to pay anything, they can volunteer to work there. A not-for-profit foundation runs the restaurant, which opened this week.

    The location has the same menu as regular Panera locations and is part of the chain’s distribution network, but the new business model seemed to make customers’ brains explode.

    Dawn Frierdich, 52, came in to buy three loaves of bread an iced tea. She asked how much the drink would cost.

    “About $1.85,” said the 21-year-old cashier, Michael Miller.

    And the whole order?

    “It would be, like, $12,” Miller told her, reminding her she didn’t have to pay if she didn’t want to. Frierdich tried to hand him $12 in cash, but he directed her to put it in the donation jar.

    “This is a little hard. I just can’t wrap my head around this,” Frierdich said.

    If the outlet can support itself, Panera hopes to expand the model across the country.

    New Panera location says pay what you want [AP]
    Panera: Pay what you can afford [St. Louis Business Journal]

  • Would America support a national broadband tax or is that too ‘big government’?

    The Cousins were mulling over a broadband tax, but the new Government has put a stop to that. (Now they’re considering using some of the BBC license fee to fund broadband development.) The idea was to charge people 50p (around $0.70) per month to fund the expansion of broadband into rural areas. Would such a move work here in the U.S.? Would you be willing to pay, say, $1 per month, paying toward some sort of Broadband Fund, to ensure that people in the middle of nowhere have access to reliable broadband? What’s more American than wanting to help your neighbors?

    The UK plan, as I understand it, was supposed tack on an additional 50p (that’s read “fifty pence”—watching Sky Sports News has made me familiar with the Pound Sterling, especially during football transfer season) to your monthly tax bill. Doing some maths, that works out to £6 per year. That’s £6 per year to ensure that the fine people of Hull and the North East have access to broadband.

    Let’s take that idea and apply it to us here in the U.S. You send the IRS an additional ~$10 every April, ~$10 that goes to a Broadband Fund. That money is then used to develop a modern broadband infrastructure in places that otherwise would go without. I don’t know if the good people of, say, Wyoming or Nebraska currently have access to 100 mbps broadband, but it sure would be useful.

    Imagine an entire United States of America wired for broadband! And by “broadband” I don’t mean some crummy DSL service that’s marginally faster than AOL dial-up. No, I’m talking 100 mbps at a minimum for everyone. What better way to spur the likes of Netflix to increase the quality of its streaming movies? (I shudder to compare a Blu-ray with a Netflix stream!) Maybe Hulu could bump up the resolution (while dialing down the compression) of “Parks and Recreation”?

    Broadband for everyone! Who’s with me?


  • Way too Early Look at the Basketball Bucks, Part 2

    In this second part of my incredibly early look at the Basketball team I will focus my attention on the Buckeyes highly regarded incoming recruiting class.  The first three new guys I feature won’t have any stats to their name as their coaches chose not to release them to the internet.  That said, High School Basketball stats always tend to be a little on the ridiculous side so make sure to take the ones I do have with a grain of salt.

    I can’t wait to see these guys suit up for the Scarlet and Gray.  They all look like tremendous athletes and are going to be a joy to watch during the season.

    Videos of their high school exploits are included after each player.  As per usual, I don’t get to choose the music so be careful when viewing the videos.

    Aaron Craft (6-1, 170, Liberty-Benton HS, Findlay OH)

    Aaron Craft

    Craft is a prototypical Floor General style Point Guard.  He’s a particularly good passer and reportedly one of the best defenders in the class, suggesting that there’s a good chance we’re going to see him on the floor early and often.  His perimeter shot needs some work, though, so his production on offense will primarily be through distributing the ball to his teammates and getting into the paint.  He reads defenses well, and seems to have a knack for taking a leadership role.

    Craft is a traditional PG through and through.  He’ll likely be told to work on his shooting a bit during the offseason, but don’t expect him to be a primary scoring option for the Buckeyes during his career.  Do expect him to be a big name on the defensive side of the ball early and often much like Lighty has been for much of his time in the Scarlet and Gray.

    Lenzelle Smith (6-3, 215, Zion-Benton Township HS, Zion IL)

    Lenzelle Smith

    Smith and Craft are quite similar in their skill sets, though Smith isn’t likely to score off the dribble drive as well as Craft may be able to.  Smith will lead the offense from beyond the arc and is reportedly a very good passer.  The Buckeyes will find him particularly handy in getting the ball down low to Lauderdale and Sullinger during the season.  He also appears to be quite adept at the 3 ball.  He gets great arc on his deep shot, seems to follow through well and can hit a long shot even with a hand in his face.  This should give the Buckeyes another shooting dimension to compliment Buford and Diebler during the season.

    Smith, like Craft, is clearly a 1 position style of player due to his ball distributing skills.  In order to see lots of time, though, Smith will have to work on his ball-handling or the Big Ten teams will simply press him into plentiful turnovers.  We may also occasionally see him at the 2 given his 3 point shooting skills.

    Jordan Sibert (6-5, 180, Princeton HS, Cincinnati OH)

    Jordan Sibert

    Sibert is coming to Columbus as a SG, probably to be the guy who will fill Jon Diebler’s shoes in the future.  He’s not as prolific a three point shooter as Diebler is (honestly, who is?), but he has developed an inside game that Diebler seemed to lack his first two seasons which should help make him a little more dangerous early in his career.  Jordan is a particularly versatile player overall, but may function better in motion away from the ball rather than leading the offense, so don’t expect him to suddenly transition to PG.

    Sibert will likely play the 2 spot during his time in Columbus, but he has the size and versatility to switch to the 3.  His versatility will also be a huge advantage in those times when Matta wants to go small and play a fast paced game.

    JD Weatherspoon (6-7, 190, Northland HS, Columbus OH)

    JD Weatherspoon

    Weatherspoon is not your prototypical power forward.  While he clearly plays his best game under the hoop, he’s a lot quicker than your typical PF and can surprise defenders with his speed.  His videos suggest that he’s a bit of a dunk artist, so expect to see some high-flying acts while he’s in the game.  In fact, I can hear the “Craft to Weatherspoon” or “Smith to Weatherspoon” dunk calls already!

    Weatherspoon’s dribble looks a little awkward, but he seems to be able to do things while putting the ball on the ground so that may not hamper him too much.  While watching him dribble, I got the impression that it will be ripe for a steal at the college level, so we may see Matta command him to never put the ball on the deck.  Such a command certainly wouldn’t hurt his game any considering it seems to center around throwing the ball through the hoop as often as he possibly can.

    Name PPG FG% 3P% FT% FGM FGA 3PM 3PA FTM FTA APG BPG RPG SPG
    JD Weatherspoon 13.5 0.735 0.429 0.559 119 162 6 14 52 93 1.4 0.5 6 0.6

    Weatherspoon looks to be a perfect fit for the 4 position, especially since he’s already spent time working with Mr. Sullinger sitting at the 5 and has likely developed a rapport with him.  He may be able to play the 3 if the Buckeyes choose to go big with his speed, or play the 5 if the Bucks choose to go small, so there are plenty of options that can be explored with some of his skill sets.

    DeShaun Thomas (6-7, 215, Bishop Luers HS, Fort Wayne IN)

    DeShaun Thomas

    Of all the players coming to Columbus this year, DeShaun Thomas has to be the one that I’m most excited to see hit the hardwood.  I spoke of previous players on the list having some versatility to their game, but DeShaun Thomas seems to perfect the word.  Scout.com lists Thomas as a Power Forward, which with his size he could easily play.  That said, though, Maxpreps.com lists Thomas as a Guard.  I want you to think about that for a moment.  He could conceivably play anywhere from the 2 to the 5, and possibly even play the 1 depending on how good he is at directing traffic.  Am I hyping a little?  Sure, but this kid seems worth it.

    Thomas is a threat from anywhere on the court, including from beyond the arc (despite Scout.com’s claim that his 3 point shot is weak).  His shot does tend to be a little flat which is not conducive to a high shooting percentage, but that doesn’t mean he can’t do it – his 30.8% shooting from three suggests that quite well.  Is he going to shoot lights out from downtown?  No, but he will hit a fair amount of the time, and his 208 attempted 3 pointers (out of 583 total shots – 35.7% of his shots) suggest that he’s not afraid to take a crack at it.

    Name PPG FG% 3P% FT% FGM FGA 3PM 3PA FTM FTA APG BPG RPG SPG
    DeShaun Thomas 30.3 0.484 0.308 0.762 282 583 64 208 189 248 2.7 2.5 15.1 1.6

    I have a hard time deciding where Thomas would be best suited.  His skill sets and video suggest that he would probably best fit at the 2 or 3 spot, especially the 3 considering his size.  Ultimately, I think he’ll end up playing at the three not unlike Evan Turner did in his first two years in the program.

    Jared Sullinger (6-9, 265, Northland HS, Columbus OH)

    Jared Sullinger

    Sullinger is the guy that everyone else is most excited to see on the floor – and for good reason.  Buckeye fans have already seen him play in several games, including high school games televised on the world-wide leader and in games at Value City Arena.  So far, Sullinger has done nothing but impress with his tenacity and power down low.  He seems almost unstoppable in the paint, especially once he gets the ball in his hands.

    He’s accused of being slow and of being unable to run the court effectively.  Given what I’ve seen so far of his play, I’m not certain who the experts were watching or on what basis they were evaluating his talent.  One of my favorite plays on the video linked to below is the one starting at about 33 seconds in where Sullinger picks up a pass down low for a layup and starts to move back to play defense, realizes that the opponent is pushing the ball down the court and hustles down to get the huge block without fouling.  In one play, Sullinger showed the kind of desire, hustle and self control that coaches want in a player.  Plus, being able to get down the court that quick is a bonus too.  I’m sure that knocks on his speed and ability to get down the court have a lot more to do with fast breaks down the court, but for a big man I’m not too surprised.

    Name PPG FG% 3P% FT% FGM FGA 3PM 3PA FTM FTA APG BPG RPG SPG
    Jared Sullinger 23.1 0.756 0.385 0.723 217 287 5 13 115 159 2.1 1.7 11.6 1.3

    Don’t make too much of the three pointers he takes in that video.  He only shot 13 total and made 5, so you saw almost the entirety of his mid-range to outside shooting in that one video.  Those three pointers were almost certainly a gimmick – though the fact that he can hit them on occasion is a nice way to keep defenses on their toes once in a while.

    Sullinger will play the 5 spot for the Buckeyes almost without question.  I would be surprised if Matta decided to move him to the 4, even if that meant putting Lauderdale and Sullinger on the floor together.  If anything, Lauderdale may move to the 4 before Sullinger does.

    Come back tomorrow for a look at what the Buckeyes depth chart might look like next year given what we know now.

  • College Board Basis: SAT Scores



    After finishing highschool, several examinations have to be passed so as to move on from post secondary education to the college education.
    In the United States, one of the most important consideration as to whether the admission to a certain college or university of choice is possible is the SAT score. Most of the colleges require or recommend one or more of these tests for admission or placement purposes.
    The aptitude test may be easy or hard to a person depending on the preparation done.
    It is important to know what to review and focus on and be familiar with the test contents.There are only two major sets of exams in SAT. First is the SAT Reasoning test, more of the IQ side and second is the SAT Subject Tests which is more on the knowledge portion. It will just take a student approximately three hours and forty five minutes to complete the exam. Most of the questions, just like any other entrance tests, are in multiple choice form, although in SAT, in addition to the numbered questions, there is a twenty five minute essay writing component. This will be a form of evaluation of the student’s ability in critical reading, in math and skills in writing.
    The SAT Subject Tests is shorter and is taken for just one hour. Also in multiple choice form, this evaluates the level of knowledge on specific subjects and the application portion of the knowledge to practical phenomenon.

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  • Tree frogs shake their bums to send threatening vibes | Not Exactly Rocket Science

    Redeyed_treefrog

    Two males red-eyed tree frogs square off over a female. Fisticuffs will soon ensue and as a final challenge to each other, the males… er… vigorously shake their bums at each other. Their quivering buttocks shake the plants they sit on, sending threatening vibrations towards their rival. This secret line of communication has just been uncovered by Michael Caldwell from Boston University. To decipher these messages, he has used a hi-tech combination of infrared cameras, saplings rigged with accelerometers and even a cybernetic Robofrog.

    During mating season, male red-eyed tree frogs gather in the rainforests of Panama to compete for females with dramatic multimedia performances, involving calls and visual signals. Studying these messages can be difficult because the frogs communicate at night. A white lamp would kill their natural behaviour, prompting males to become far more restrained than usual, save in the presence of females. Instead, Caldwell watched them under an infrared light. He pitted 38 pairs of frogs against each other, on plants fitted with accelerometers.

    Frog-vs-frogThe frogs made two types of calls (chuckles and chacks), raised their bodies off their leaves and kicked out with their legs. And in every aggressive encounter, they also rapidly shook their bums, producing vibrations with a consistent high-pitched tone. The contests would last for anywhere from a minute to an hour. If the signalling didn’t work, the time was talk was over and violence ensued. Males would wrestle with each other, sometimes for hours on end (see right).

    The vibrations, or ‘tremulations’, were clearly very important and were usually the last line of negotiation before battle commenced. The victor almost always shook for more time, created longer-lasting vibrations and was more likely to have the last shake. The frequencies of the vibrations were fairly constant although victors tended to produce higher-pitched tremulations if they were smaller than their rivals or similarly sized.

    Of course, the sight of a frog shaking its bum is also quite striking, but Caldwell found that a male was no more likely to tremulate when his opponent was facing him than when he was turned away. This strongly suggests that the vibrations themselves were carrying information. In fact, every part of the male’s repertoire sends distinctive tremors through the plant, including his chuckles. Even the kicking legs seem to brush past the plant stems in the style of a musician plucking a guitar string.

    Caldwell’s observations had been informative but he wanted to test the frogs’ behaviour. Enter Robofrog – a model equipped with an electric shaker and a prime directive is to provoke other males. When he made his own vibrations, living males responded accordingly and aggressively. By contrast, nothing happened when he sat still, when he made visual signs without tremulating, or when Caldwell exposed the test frogs to white noise vibrations in Robofrog’s absence.

    Robofrog

    All in all, these experiments show that competing red tree frogs use a secret channel of communication that most human observers would be completely unaware of. Vibrations are an excellent way of conveying messages in the rainforest, when the combination of darkness and dense foliage might prevent the conversers from seeing each other clearly. Exactly what they say is unclear, but they could provide information about the contender’s motivation or size. And they’re undoubtedly aggressive – the tree frog’s version of smack-talk.

    So far, the red-eyed tree frog is the first back-boned animal that’s been clearly shown to communicate by shaking the surface it sits on. But Caldwell suspects that it’s far from the only one, especially since many other species are highly sensitive to vibrations. Tree-dwellers are probably particularly good at this, especially ones with larger bodies that can shake their supports more strongly.

    Candidates include the male veiled chameleon, which shakes the branches it sits on in the presence of a female, and the female South Asian common tree frog, which seems to attract mates by tapping her toes on the plants that encircle their breeding sites. On the ground, and on a much bigger scale, elephants could also use vibrations as a sort of ‘seismic signal’. Nature is probably full of such hidden conversations, spoken in rumbles and tremors.

    Reference: Current Biology http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2010.03.069

    Photos and videos by Michael Caldwell

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  • This Is Adobe Flash 10.1 on a Phone (It’s Not Bad) [Flash]

    Honestly, there’s not much to say about Flash 10.1 on Android that you haven’t already seen, given how hard Adobe’s been pushing the Flash-on-phones message. There’s a few things. More »







  • Reach HTC Executives

    If you need to reach upper management at handheld manufacturer HTC because of some intractable issue with their device that regular customer service can’t or won’t solve, consider lofting a well-crafted letter over to some of these folks:

    [email protected] Senior Director Enterprise Business Unit Americas
    [email protected] Chairman
    [email protected] Chief Marketing Officer, HTC Corporation
    [email protected] Senior Public Relations Manager at HTC
    [email protected] COO of HTC
    [email protected] Board Member of HTC
    [email protected] CEO
    [email protected] VP HTC
    [email protected] Chief Innovation Officer

  • Severe Cycle to Hit India’s Southeast Coast

    A severe cyclone with the winds of 110 kilometers an hour has been expected to hit the southeast coast of India later in the day. More than ten thousand people evacuated their homes with the fear of storm damage.

    Cyclone called Laila was expected to hit the state of Andhra Pradesh in India later today on Thursday. There is a forecast of heavy rain, strong winds, and disruption in power and communication lines. More than 35,000 people had been told to evacuate the place especially those who are in low lying areas.

    Forces have been sent to the state of Andhra Pradesh for assistance, Chief Minister of the state called Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting extra assistance. “We have had no power supply since yesterday,” Ramulu, a middle-aged resident of Balajinagar town, told the TV5 local news channel. According to the latest news from the department, the storm is going to hit the state late Thursday and people were asked to stay inside.

    A shed collapsed due to heavy winds and three people were dead and a fisherman was also drowned. Storm is very common in India and Bangladesh due to the cyclones which develop in Bay of Bengal.

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