Category: News

Latest news tell us that Indrani also known as Pal Chaudhuri is dating with Lindsay Lohan and recently was believed to have spent some time at Lohan’s hotel.

Many think that Lindsay Lohan now has a lesbian lover. Indrani is a reality show star and currently the photographer of Lohan. Indrani, 36 years old respectively is twice as old as 23 year old Lindsay. Rumors are going around that they frequently date each other. They first met at a photo shoot last fall where most probably some spark occured between the two of them. Dating particularly in Los Angeles and spending nights together at Lohan’s hotel.

Indrani told The Post, “We have been spending a lot of time together. I have never had a relationship with a woman before, but Lindsay is just somebody who I find fascinating, gorgeous and extremely smart, as well as super-hot.

“Lindsay gets a lot of bad press, but she’s a really strong, creative woman and is trying really hard to get her life in a good, positive place.”

“When they are together, they talk about art and the deeper meaning in life.”

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My newest column for Discover is about that strangest of the senses, smell. An odor can be an overwhelming experience, and yet it’s often impossible to put that experience into words. In fact, we’re terrible at naming smells, despite being exquisitely sensitive to the differences between them. I take a look at some recent research that may bring us closer to resolving this paradox, with the invention of the first yardstick for the nose–a simple measurement of odor molecules that reveals a lot about how pleasant or vile we find them. Not only might it help us understand our own noses, but it may even let us build electronic noses to sniff for things we don’t want to stick our own noses in. Check it out.

ESPN (NYSE: DIS), which has already notched more than six million downloads for its free ScoreCenter app, continues to expand its digital presence on devices with six new mobile apps announced at today’s upfront. Five are actually localized versions of the same one, a free ESPN Local app that will launch first for ESPNDallas.com with Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York to follow. The move also extends ESPN’s competition with local news orgs now getting into apps.

The most interesting one, though, may well be ESPN Passport, a geo-location app scheduled to launch in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and designed around the game experience. ESPN says users will be able to check in at games and create a mobile “scrapbook” through pictures and messages shared on various social platforms. ESPN will aggregate the check ins for user-gen coverage of events on ESPN.com, so if you download this app don’t try any sick-day sneaks.

The local apps will include local and national news; GOS-activated weather details; blog posts/tweets from local contributors; stadium guides; local SportsCenter video/audio; texting to ESPN radio. Nothing so far about personalization. A number of ad opps, including dynamic insertion in news stories, and in-app purchasing potential. ESPN says the local sites in Chicago, Boston, Dallas and LA are drawing more than 3.4 million users a month. ESPNNewYork.com just launched last month. More details in the release.

—New social game: With licensing deals for a variety of console games, ESPN is no stranger to gaming. Now the network is getting into social gaming through a two-year deal with social gaming company Playdom. Starting this fall, ESPNM and Playdom plan to be on Facebook. MySpace (NYSE: NWS), Bebo (if there is a Bebo), and other social media sites, as well as their own ESPN.com and Playdom.com. Mobile “extensions” are also planned. First up, a Farmville-like ESPNUville, according to SBJ. (ESPN PR says the ESPNUville isn’t a formal name, but was used to provide a comparison.) Release.

As outspoken as she is gorgeous, Megan Fox has some stern advice for frumpy folk thinking of emulating the look of old Hollywood glamour by going under the knife: “See a shrink!”

“I would encourage anyone to first speak with a therapist, to try and figure out where this want comes from, because a lot of times it’s not related to your teeth or your nose or your chin, the surgery is not going to alleviate that insecurity for you,” Megan tells Allure Magazine in its June issue — on newsstands May 25. “If, then, you feel, ‘This is something that I want to do,’ then do it. It’s amazing that we have the technology to do the stuff that we do.”

The 24-year-old Transformers stunner goes on to tell Allure that she has no qualms about strangling the uidentified photog who snapped a topless photo of her on the set of the upcoming flick Passion Play.

Megan On Nude Photo Leak: “If I knew who took this picture, I would personally cause them harm – physical harm. I’m not a fucking reality TV star that’s courting the paparazzi and wants my fucking picture taken all the time. I’m at my job and I’m trying to play a character and I’m trying to be serious, and this is the shit that’s happening to me. It makes me furious.”

Why Megan Hates To Cook: “I’ll starve to death before I’ll cook for myself. I think I could survive a week without eating. I’ll eat the same thing every day for two months and then never eat it again. I did that with Life cereal. I ate it every day for so long that the thought of it makes me upset,” she told the mag. “The only person I enjoy cooking for is my boyfriend’s son. I like arranging it on his little plate…. I like cooking for kids, for some reason.”

How Megan De-Stresses: “Just being able to be at home, and light my candles and my incense, and just be isolated and shut everyone out except the people that I’m close to and be in a family environment and have some semblance of a normal life.”

Just a reminder, everybody, that we’ll be liveblogging the keynotes Wednesday and Thursday from Google IO in San Francisco. Be sure to check back in if you want the latest in Android news, as it happens.

At a public briefing to discuss the reports, Ralph J. Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences, will deliver opening remarks, and members of the panels that wrote the reports will discuss their recommendations and take questions. The briefing starts at 10 a.m. EDT Wednesday, May 19, in the Lecture Room of the National Academy of Sciences building at 2100 C Street, NW, Washington, DC. Those unable to attend the event can watch the live webcast at The National Academies website.

The National Academy is releasing reports tomorrow from three panels on “America’s Climate Choices“:

1. Panel on Advancing the Science of Climate Change.  This panel will address the question: “What can be done to better understand climate change and its interactions with human and ecological systems?”
2. Panel on Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change
3. Panel on Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change

NAS panels tend to be quite conservative in their articulation of the science, but the reports are timely so it will be interesting to see just how much or how little coverage they get from the media.

Inkia isn’t a new player in the tablet game and so the inPad 701 and inPad 702 might be solid contenders. Details are a bit light but we know that both run Android on a 7-inch screen with the 702 model getting a 3G module. It’s probably safe to assume that the target market is Asia but retails such as Dynamism has a long history of bringing similar products to the states. That is of course if they are worth our time and not garbage.

Felix Salmon on why people invest in stocks:

My feeling is that people like to invest in stocks because they like knowing that there’s a chance that the stock market will solve all their financial problems when it rises. Think of it as a three-pronged strategy: buy a house, invest in stocks, and work hard. Any one of these three things can pay off with lots of money at retirement, in the way that investing in TIPS won’t.

What’s more, an entire generation of Americans started working and saving and buying a house in the early 1970s — and millions of them hit the trifecta, becoming successful in their careers even as their stocks rose and the value of their real-estate soared. I doubt that particular combination is going to happen again in the U.S., but the experience of that generation is so powerful as to give a lot of people a lot of hope. Even if that hope isn’t particularly rational.

If you’re saving a little bit in the expectation that your 401(k) will boom, your house will appreciate, and Social Security will support you, you may well end up in big trouble.  Modern retirement planning should probably focus more on putting away an unreasonably large chunk of your income.

Para que nos demos cuenta de lo importante que es la carrera de las 24 Horas de Nurburgring para las marcas y teniendo en cuenta de que BMW ni siquiera esperaba ganar, los chicos de la marca alemana van a desatar ahora toda su artillería en el mercado. En Münich, circula un rumor de que el BMW M3 GTS tendrá un hermano aún más malvado: el M3 GTS-R.

El M3 GTS-R sería una versión conmemorativa del triunfo en el Infierno Verde el pasado domingo. Los ingenieros de BMW fueron muy rápidos para trazar en su mente lo que tendría que tener este nuevo M3: el mismo motor V8 de 4.4 litros, acompañado de un sistema KERS regenerativo y con potencia adicional, cantidades industriales de fibra de carbono y un acabado negro mate para carrocería y llantas, que hará que no pase desapercibido.

A pesar de que no lo mencionan, este rumoreado M3 GTS-R va a tener, seguramente, recordatorios del triunfo en Nurburgring por doquier. De momento no contaría con una subida de potencia en el motor (se dice que es una opción más que se está analizando).

Como en el coche de carreras, los pasos de rueda traseros serán ensanchados como históricamente la marca estila en sus coches de competición, por lo cual adoraremos aún más a los M3, aunque esto solamente sea un rumor que BMW no ha confirmado ni desmentido aún.

Vía | M3 Post

Mike’s mom is one of the fifteen people in the U.S. who doesn’t have a cell phone, so she called him collect from a pay phone in California. Mike and his mom didn’t know it at the time, but they fell into the sarlacc pit that is Custom TeleConnect, a creature that hides in payphones and charges $20 fees for less than half a minute of talking.

Mike writes:

My mom hasn’t adjusted to life in the 21st century yet and does not have a cell phone. She needed to get in contact with me and made a collect call from a pay phone in Monterey, CA. Ok, no biggie, I’m always fine with helping mom out. I accepted the charges onto my credit card and we spoke for all of 20 seconds and then hung up.

I was curious as to what a collect call goes for these days and was surprised to see a charge for $20.14. I investigated the company that charged me (Custom TeleConnect) and found that they’re in the business of charging tons of money for collect calls.

Also, it seems like they often charge people more than once for the calls they placed. Further investigation shows that they really aren’t too into refunds as their phone numbers go to endless holds and answering machines. So, I’m fairly certain I’m stuck for the $20 because I did authorize the charge which I own up to, but $20 for a 20 second call is a little much.

The Consumer Affairs page Mike links to above has recent stories of Custom TeleConnect charging people an average of more than $7/minute for collect calls.

For a business that’s built around providing phone service, the company seems to have some serious problems with telephone systems. A couple of complaints mention that there’s no way to get rate info at a payphone because dialing zero as instructed doesn’t work. When one consumer tried to block the company’s collect calls to her home as per their instructions, the number she dialed told her that call volume was too high to process her request. (She was charged almost $200 for 9 collect calls that she refused to answer.)

The company can’t manage websites either. I emailed Custom TeleConnect at the email address provided on their “Contact Us” page, and it was bounced back with a “rejected by the recipient domain” error.

Mike, you should file a complaint with the FCC by filling out Form 2000B (English – PDF) (Spanish – PDF). You can also call the FCC at 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322). Check this page for information on how to mail or fax your complaint.

Mike adds, “Also, I plan on getting my mom a pre-paid cell phone.”

SimpleGeo, the impeccably timed geo-location infrastructure startup, has raised a $8.14 million Series A round from Redpoint Ventures, First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital, Ravi Narasimhan and Foundry Group after raising a $1.5 million seed round last November. And at only a year old, it’s remarkable how quickly the Boulder, Colo-based company has been able to capitalize on the excitement around geo-location technology and be recognized as a thought leader in the space.

SimpleGeo founders Matt Galligan and Joe Stump

For some rumor mill watchers, it’s interesting to note that Redpoint is making the big bet on SimpleGeo (though the venture firm was also in the company’s seed round) and Accel Partners just led a big round for Booyah, the maker of MyTown. Both firms had reportedly been in talks to put a major investment into Foursquare. SimpleGeo and Booyah aren’t necessarily direct Foursquare competitors, but it’s clear both VC firms wanted to have a big location investment to put them on the map.

What SimpleGeo does is provide location data from its API, as sort of an instant geo-juice for your app. So if a service acquires information about where one of its users is (usually through their phone), SimpleGeo will relay what’s nearby that latitude and longitude. The company charges customers between $400 and $10,000 per month, commensurate with the number of API calls.

SimpleGeo also announced a number of additions to its team, including many from Digg, where co-founder Joe Stump formerly worked. One notable hire is Jeffrey Kalmikoff, who was until recently at Digg and before that was chief creative officer for Threadless, the innovative user-generated T-shirt shop. He will be VP of product for SimpleGeo.

SimpleGeo competitor Mixer Labs (aka GeoAPI) was bought by Twitter last year and its founders now lead Twitter’s location efforts.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

Location: The Epicenter of Mobile Innovation

Safety Tips for Teenage Drivers During National Youth Traffic Safety Month

With springtime comes proms, graduations and the end of the school year. This can become a distracting and dangerous time for young drivers. They’re already at a much higher risk of causing a car accident due to inexperience and poor driving judgment. And they’re statistically far more likely to become seriously injured in the warm weather months ahead.

According to the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning, the top five “hazardous actions” contributing to fatal automobile crashes involving teen drivers are:

1. Speeding,

2. Careless/negligent driving,

3. Driving left of center,

4. Reckless driving, and

5. Failing to yield.

A lesser-known yet startling statistic: Nighttime fatal crash rates for 16-year-old drivers are nearly double the daytime rates. In fact, our own personal injury lawyers have created rapid response teams of investigators for nighttime fatalities caused by truck accidents and other crashes. Sadly, we notice that far too many of these non-truck accident fatalities involve younger drivers, and often alcohol.

The marked increase auto accidents can mar this special time in young people’s lives forever. To help prevent this, I’d like to give you some tips to protect your young driver. They include:

1. Restricting teenage drivers from driving under risky conditions such as late at night, in bad weather, and on highways with friends in the car (young drivers are almost twice as likely to cause an accident when there are other teenagers in a car).

2. Requiring seat belt use at all times.

3. Minimizing distractions by forbidding your young driver’s use of a cell-phone or sending or receiving text messages. There is no reason – ever – for a teen driver to text while driving a car.

4. Limiting the number of teens permitted in a car or truck when your teen driver is at the wheel.

How to Keep Your Children Safe

While these traffic statistics and tips will provide parents with some basic knowledge, there are numerous other factors involved in your child’s safety that can help to keep your child safe.

That’s why the auto accident attorneys of Michigan Auto Law have written a guide, “How to Keep Your Children Safe: Simple Steps to Protect Your Loved Ones from Hidden Dangers.”  With this guide, you will discover dangers that pose substantial risk of death and injury to children and teenagers, as well as suggestions for avoiding these hazards.

Watch for our publication, to be released in June. It will be available through our website, www.michiganautolaw.com, as well as by calling our office at (800) 777-0028.

Steven M. Gursten is recognized as one of the nation’s top experts in serious car accident and truck accident injury cases and automobile insurance no-fault litigation. Michigan Auto Law has received the largest reported jury verdict for an automobile accident case in Michigan in seven of the past 10 years, including 2009, according to published year-end verdicts and settlements reports.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, by BdwayDiva1

Related information:

Top 10 Michigan Auto Accident Guide

Uninsured Motorist Coverage: A Must Have

Do I Have a Car Accident Case in Michigan?

Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident, motorcycle accident and bus cases throughout the state. Call (800) 777-0028 if you’ve been injured in an auto accident, and would like to speak to a lawyer.

File this one under "Stuff we knew, deep down inside." While discussing Sprint’s future and the upcoming EVO 4G launch, CFO Bob Brust took a moment to talk about how the Palm Pre fared on his network:

"The Pre didn’t work out as well as we hoped," he said. Brust said Sprint didn’t have enough Pres to meet demand, which he said will not be an issue with the Evo

Not having enough phones to meet demand doesn’t exactly jive with our memory of how the Pre fared on Sprint, but it’s certainly the opposite problem that Verizon faced: too much inventory and not enough excitement. Either way, it’s bittersweet to read that even the favorite network for most of our readers is now admitting they could have done better with the Pre. Let’s hope we won’t be waiting for a similar admission from AT&T in the months to come.

In any case, we’re hoping Sprint can pull through and see brighter days, but we’re not sure how much emphasis they’ll be putting on the Pre now that they have their Android darling the EVO 4G. Add in Verizon’s newfound love for the Droid Incredible and the anticipation for the iPhone HD on AT&T and it’s looking like a tough summer for webOS. That HP buyout is looking sweeter by the day.

via @phonescooper

Verizon’s newest commercial for the Droid Incredible has landed online in YouTube fashion.  Taking off from the previous teaser, viewers are starting to learn more about the handset it self.  We like the fact that the carrier actually decided to show the phone, albeit briefly, at the end of the clip.  It’s one thing to talk about how powerful a phone is, it’s another thing to show how sleek it is or that it’s touch-only.

Might We Suggest…

• High Demand Puts Droid Incredible On Back-Order
  

  Okay, so if you want a Droid Incredible before May 4th, you may want to head down to your local Verizon store.  The official Verizon website has already thrown up a semi-warning that the Droid Inc…

The smallpox vaccine could protect people against HIV infection, said an article released in the journal BMC Immunology.

According to the publication, researchers from George Mason University, George Washington and UCLA in Los Angeles, USA, showed that in the laboratory the vaccinia virus, the basis of the vaccine reduced the replication of HIV.

It appears that the compound blocks a receptor, called CCR5, on the surface of white blood cells, the same as the HIV virus uses to infect cells.

However, more studies are needed before recommending the general use of the immunogen in the fight against AIDS.

After the disappearance of the disease in 1977 (first eradicated throughout the world), the World Health Organization recommended removing the vaccine, something that happened in the same period of time when HIV and AIDS was discovered.

Hence, the researcher suggest that the biological removal may have been the cause of the rapid spread of HIV in Africa.

Several explanations were given on how HIV spread in the black continent, including wars, use of unsterilized needles and the contamination of polio vaccines, said Raymond Weinstein, author of the work.

But no theory has been able to determine the behavior of the pandemic, he said.

“Our finding that previous immunization with vaccinia virus can give a person some protection against subsequent HIV infection suggests that the withdrawal of this vaccine may have been the explanation for the rapid spread of HIV in Africa” Weinstein concluded .

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Austin City Limits 2010 Update: ACL 2010 lineup is now released!  Austin City Limits 2010 seems quite different this year compared to the Austin City Limits in the past years. ACL 2010 lineup used a good majority of their funds to purchase very big name artists.

Are you ready for the Austin City Limits 2010?

See the ACL 2010 Lineup for the Austin City Limits 2010:

Friday ACL 2010 Lineup:

Phish
The Strokes
Spoon
Vampire Weekend
Sonic Youth
The Black Keys
Broken Bells
Slightly Stoopid
Beach House
The Sword
Girls
Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses
Blues Traveler
The Soft Pack
Amos Lee
Robert Randolph & The Family Band
Miike Snow
Mountain Goats
JJ Grey & Mofro
Angus & Julia Stone
Hockey
Asleep at the Wheel
Nortec Collective
GIVERS
Band of Heathens
Charlie Mars
Sarah Harmer
Chief
Those Darlins
Carolyn Wonderland
Kings Go Forth
The Ettes
Qbeta
The Kicks
Ponderosa
Two Tons of Steel
Gospel Stars
Wesley Bray & The Disciples of Joy

Saturday ACL 2010 Lineup:
Muse
M.I.A
LCD Soundsystem
Monsters of Folk
Deadmau5
Gogol Bordello
Pat Green
Matt and Kim
The xx
The Temper Trap
Local Natives
Gaslight Anthem
Lucero
Pete Yorn
Ozomatli
Manchester Orchestra
The Almighty Defenders
Bear in Heaven
Mayer Hawthorne
Kinky
David Bazan
The Very Best
Beats Antique
Two Door Cinema Club
Lissie
The Dough Rollers
Basia Bulat
Balmorhea
Dan Black
The Jane Shermans
Caitlin Rose
Run With Bulls
Heavenly Voices
Jones Family Singers

Sunday ACL 2010 Lineup:
The Eagles
Flaming Lips
Norah Jones
Band of Horses
The National
Robert Earl Keen
Yeasayer
Rebelution
Portugal. The Man
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Devendra Banhart
Gayngs
Richard Thompson
Martin Sexton
Midlake
Foals
Switchfoot
Cage the Elephant
The Morning Benders
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Henry Clay People
Blind Pilot
Dawes
The Constellations
T Bird and the Breaks
Frank Turner
The Relatives
MyNameIsJohnMichael
SPEAK
Maxim Ludwig
Ashley Cleveland & Kenny Greenberg
Buddy & The Straight Way Travelers
Ruby Jane SmithPhish

See more of ACL 2010 Lineup and Austin City Limits 2010…

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Little Rock, Ark. (FOX) – Election officials tell Fox News that Senator Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., has already voted by absentee ballot.

“She can pretend to vote but she can’t put a ballot in that box.” Said 88th precinct Chief Judge Arlette Miller. “Our paperwork says she’s already voted.”

There is definitely some confusion about the issue at the Lincoln campaign where staffers assure Fox News that Senator Lincoln will be headed to the precinct to vote soon.

“She hasn’t voted yet.” Said Lincoln Campaign staffer Charlie Gocio.

I hear a lot about militant atheists, but the problem I see is that they’re not militant. No violence, no (or very little) gun-totin’, door-bang-downing, or even rootin’ tootin’.

Then there are these guys:

S.H.O.O.T is Secular Humanist Occult Obliteration Taskforce, a Dark Horse comic about real atheist militants: they attack demons and ghosts and paranormal things they don’t believe in, but appear to exist anyway. I have to admit I’m intrigued, and I think I’ll have to take a look when the comic comes out. The article about the comic brings up a point I’ve always wondered about: why are the worlds depicted in comics so much like the real one, even when the paranormal is real? If ghosts and demons and such actually existed, society would be a lot different than it is today.

Think about it: if vampires existed, do you think it would’ve been a human who discovered blood transfusion? Why invent doors when you can discover how ghosts travel through walls? Why on Earth would you need microscopes if you could shrink yourself down to the size of The Amazing Atom? Wouldn’t the history of slavery across the world be a little different if there were real live (um…) zombies?

Sheesh. People need to think this stuff through. I can’t keep doing all this for them!

Tip o’ the to Fark.

Filed under: Hybrid, SUV, Technology, Crossover, Land Rover, Diesel, Luxury, Off-Road

When the new LRX compact crossover hits the market, it’s goal is to change the way the world perceives Land Rover. Unlike the rest of the marque’s range, the LRX isn’t likely to boast unbeatable off-road prowess with fuel-sucking power – quite the contrary, in fact. Land Rover has officially announced that in addition to the previously rumored front-wheel drive model, a diesel hybrid version of the LRX will be on the road in 2013. These two new-to-Land Rover features should go a long way in broadening the brand’s attractiveness to new sets of buyers interested in smaller vehicles like the new LRX, though the move might risk alienating traditionalists, particularly if the model’s off-road ability is severely compromised. (Note: The LRX name still isn’t in the books yet, and to this day, Land Rover is referring to the crossover as the “all-new compact Range Rover”).

Near the end of this year, Land Rover will start testing its first diesel hybrid prototype, which has been dubbed “range_e.” This development vehicle, which rides on a Range Rover Sport platform, will use LR’s existing 3.0-liter turbo-diesel V6 and a ZF eight-speed automatic mated to an electric motor. The goal is to produce a powertrain that can achieve a range of around 20 miles solely on electric power, while emitting less than 100 g/km of CO2 emissions. A conventionally powered production-bodied LRX was already spotted testing just earlier this week.

While this technology is still a few years away, Land Rover has assured us that the front-wheel-drive LRX will be available right away when the range launches next year. Never fear, though – Land Rover will still offer the LRX with an honest-to-goodness four-wheel drive system, and we look forward to getting both some on- and off-road time in the new baby Rover. The full details are available in LR’s press release available after the jump.

[Source: Land Rover | Images: KGP Photography]

Continue reading Officially Official: Land Rover confirms hybrid and front-wheel-drive LRX models

Officially Official: Land Rover confirms hybrid and front-wheel-drive LRX models originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 18 May 2010 11:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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