Category: News

Rona Newton-John, sister to “Grease” star Olivia, has lost her battle with brain cancer. She was 70 years old.

Olivia was at her sister’s side when she passed, after announcing just last month that Rona had an aggressive form of cancer. The actress posted about her loss on Facebook, saying that sadly, Rona died on their mother’s birthday.

“My beautiful sister Rona sadly passed on May 24th in Los Angeles,” she wrote. “It was May 25th in Australia – which was our mother Irene’s birthday. Rona died of a very aggressive brain tumor and mercifully suffered no pain. She was surrounded by the love of her four children – Fiona, Brett,Tottie and Emerson and, her wonderful friends. I will miss her forever – my beautiful, smart, talented, funny, brave sister Rona.

In lieu of flowers the family would appreciate
donations to the ONJCWC where a brain tumor wellness program will be started in her name. Thank you all for your kind words of love and support.”

Olivia Newton-John suffered from breast cancer herself, but has been in good health in recent years. She recently postponed her Vegas residency to care for Rona.

“In light of this news, I have decided to postpone my forthcoming Las Vegas residency to spend time with her and our family,” Newton-John wrote in a statement. “As a cancer ‘thriver’ myself, as many people are, I am very aware of the importance of love, support and family during this journey she is about to begin.”

Image: Facebook

Windows 8 is about to get a big dose of Bing, according to reports. We’ve already seen the return of the Start button in a leaked screenshot of Windows 8.1, the operating system’s coming update, but there are some interesting Bing-related changes in store as well.

Search Engine Land’s Greg Sterling got ahold of some screen caps of the new experience, along with a description from the company itself, which is as follows:

We think that your search experience should be beautiful as well as functional and we don’t think the two are at odds. Modern search takes the best of Bing multimedia and brings it into the Windows search experience to create something that’s not only useful and well-organized but also highly crafted. You’ll see rich images across all your search results that help you find what you’re looking for faster and help bring order to the vast information on the web. Modern search needs to be functional, and we think it should also be spectacular.

Sterling himself explains, “Bing has incorporated the Windows 8 design into the presentation of content and made it much more visually appealing. Users don’t ‘go to Bing’ to obtain the new experience; it’s available from any screen. In the old days this deep OS-search integration might have raised anti-competitive concerns; however not in the current climate. And it has competitive implications for Google if Windows 8.1 is successful. However Windows 8 has struggled to date.”

Here’s a partial look at one of the images he shares, which comes directly from Microsoft. Check the article to see more.

Earlier this month, Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc talked about the operating system update in a blog post, saying, “Windows 8.1 will help us to deliver the next generation of PCs and tablets with our OEM partners and to deliver the experiences customers— both consumers and businesses alike —need and will just expect moving forward. Today, there are more devices – and choice – allowing you to pick the right Windows 8 device that meets your needs. Windows 8 provides a great experience for consuming and creating content, for both work and play and on the go. And you’ll immediately benefit from continual updates – whether it’s from app updates through the Windows Store, performance updates through Windows Update or the Windows 8.1 update later this year.”

Windows 8.1 will be a free update to Windows 8 via the Windows Store. It will enter public beta in June. I would imagine the Bing team will be offering up more details on the new experience as it’s released.

Microsoft  Windows 8.1 will offer users a more familiar desktop mode featuring — you guessed it — a Start button, albeit one that looks different from the old standby. Previews of the new operating system upgrade have been promised for attendees of Microsoft’s Build Conference in June.

In a blog post, Antoine Leblond, corporate VP, provided some detail around the 8.1 release. He wrote:

You can even choose your desktop background as your Start screen background, creating a greater sense of unity and familiarity. And the Start screen in Windows 8.1 features a variety of tile sizes including a new large and new small tile, so you can organize your Start screen exactly the way you want it. It’s also even easier to name groups and rearrange tiles. You can now select multiple apps all at once, resize them, uninstall them, or rearrange them. We also found people were accidentally moving tiles on their Start screen so in Windows 8.1, you press and hold (or right click) to move things around.

Windows 8 debuted last fall to mixed reviews. One problem, as our Kevin Tofel reported, was that Windows 8 and its new tiled Metro interface was trying to bridge tablet and PC worlds and that was maybe a bridge too far. But many criticized just how different it looked and that’s a problem for a franchise with hundreds of millions of users.

Microsoft is between a rock and a hard place. It wants to embrace new form factors with an OS optimized for them but also needs to placate millions of existing — and change resistant — users. But some question whether Windows 8 underperformed (although Microsoft says it sold 100 million copies) because users don’t like it or because users just aren’t buying as many PCs.

It’s hard to overstate how big a deal the Windows Start Button is to users. Some of us old timers remember when Microsoft licensed the Rolling Stones “Start Me Up” to  promote this very important feature of Windows 95. And on that note, here’s a good excuse to revisit that era:

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Last night, country music star Miranda Lambert took to the stage at the Healing in the Heartland benefit concert, televised live on network TV. The benefit for survivors of the recent deadly tornado in Moore, Oklahoma was organized in part by Lambert’s husband, country music star Blake Shelton, who also hosted the event.

Lambert was introduced by Shelton as “an amazing woman, a compassionate human being, a great talent – oh, and by the way, an amazing wife.” Lambert’s performance was specifically meant to raise awareness for the animals affected by the tornado. Images of pets and their owners appeared on the giant screen behind Lambert as she sang the song “The House That Built Me.”

Halfway through the song, emotion and tears overtook Lambert. She had to stop singing and pointed the microphone at the audience to take over for her. Though she recovered quickly and managed to finish the song, she was wiping tears from her eyes at the end of the performance:

If you have ever searched for a business on Google, you’ll have noted some have images available — carefully staged ones of course. These are especially popular with hotels and restaurants who wish to portray their establishments in the best light.

Google’s Business Photos program makes this possible by letting firms hire one of the Trusted Photographers or Agencies to grab the images and get them up online. The service uses Google Street View technology to create panoramic images from the photo shoot and upload them. These results can be found on Google.com, Google Maps, Google Maps for Mobile and on the Google+ page or Places for Business listing. Photographers can also sign up to become ‘Google verified’.

“The Business Photos program enables merchants to create 360-degree, interactive tours of their establishments. This imagery is published on Google so potential customers can look inside and explore businesses before they go”, Deborah Schenker, Program Manager for Google Business Photos explains.

It’s clearly popular as from today the search giant is expanding the program globally with seven new countries, spread out across both Europe and Asia. New nations include Belgium. Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Russia, Singapore and Switzerland. You can find out more on the Business Photos page.

Despite the fact that I’ve seen every movie trailer online way before I see them inside the movie theater nowadays – I still kind of like watching trailers at the cinema. Maybe it’s nostalgia – it’s always been like that. The lights go dark, you watch a few trailers, and finally your movie comes on. That’s the experience.

But there’s a problem. Are movie trailers too long and thus too revealing? It’s not uncommon to spend 20 minutes watching previews during the average theatergoing experience. And by the end of that 20 minutes, I usually have a pretty good idea about the entire plot of at least 4 or 5 movies that are set to come out in the near future.

Spoilers. Spoilers. Spoilers.

Apparently, theater owners aren’t too happy about this part of the moviegoing experience. They think that trailers are too long and too revealing, and they are looking to change that.

The Hollywood Reporter says that the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) are making a push to cap trailers at 2 minutes – 30 seconds shorter than the current norm. Hollywood studios, as you might imagine, aren’t too happy about this.

THR’s sources says that studios execs are a little sour about NATO’s proposals, which are being pushed by its executive board.

“My trailers are 2.5 minutes because that’s what we need to send the right message. This could be a paradigm shift. Thirty seconds is a long time,” one anonymous studio exec told THR.

Although the idea is barely in its nascent stage, studios are concerned that the voluntary guidelines proposed by NATO could lead to theaters strong-arming longer trailers out of rotation.

What do you think? While you think, enjoy my favorite spolier-filled trailer. Want to watch the movie The Island in 2 minuteas and 20 seconds – I mean, the entire thin? Well, thankfully you can.

The Samsung Galaxy S 4 mini has appeared again and again, (and again) and now it appears as though Samsung has officially announced to the public that the device actually exists, and is coming soon. The device is essentially a smaller, more compact version of the manufacturer’s current flagship, with slightly trimmed down specs.

Check out the presser after the break.

Samsung Introduces the GALAXY S4 mini : A Powerful, Compact Smartphone

May 30, 2013

Come comment on this article: Samsung Galaxy S 4 mini made official, preparing for June launch

Antoine Leblond, Microsoft’s corporate VP for Windows Program Management, has today made an official announcement on the Windows Blog detailing some of the many changes we can expect to see in Windows 8.1.

There are no massive surprises in the reveal, which is titled “Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1”. We’ve already seen and covered most of them previously. But it is good to finally get an official peak behind the curtain.

Windows 8.1 will, Leblond states, be Windows 8, but better. Microsoft is using the update to respond to customer feedback and “deliver improvements and enhancements in key areas like personalization, search, the built-in apps, Windows Store experience, and cloud connectivity”.

Windows 8.1 will offer a greater selection of colors and backgrounds for the Start screen, including animated ones, and you’ll be able to use your own desktop wallpaper on the Start screen too. There’s a selection of tile sizes, including bigger and smaller options, and it will be easier to rearrange tiles, name groups, and delete apps.

Apps you download from the Windows Store won’t be automatically added to the Start screen, instead they’ll appear on the Apps page and you’ll be able to choose which ones to pin. Which is great.

You’ll be able to “turn your PC or tablet into a picture frame by making your Lock screen a slide show of your pictures” (stored locally or in SkyDrive) and take photos with a webcam right from the Lock screen without logging in.

The search charm has been revamped and will provide global Bing-powered search results. “It is the modern version of the command line!” claims Leblond, which really fails to sell it.

The built in Windows apps are being revamped, with big changes in store for Photos and Music in particular.

The ability to run multiple apps alongside each other will make a welcome appearance in Windows 8.1 — something that should have been available from the start in Windows 8.

You’ll be able to access PC Settings quickly without having to go through the Control Panel and save files directly to SkyDrive.

The Windows Store has been improved too, to show more information about the apps on offer. Given how poor I found the Windows Store experience, anything Microsoft can do to improve it will be hugely welcome.

Perhaps the best news for Windows 8 haters is the return of the Start button which I posted about earlier today. Antoine Leblond admits that touch hasn’t taken off quite as quickly as Microsoft obviously expected, and so Windows 8.1 will offer various improvements for the legion of keyboard and mouse users out there.

“We’ve improved the way you navigate to Start with the mouse by changing the Start ‘tip’ to be the familiar Windows logo,” he says. Clearly Microsoft doesn’t want to use the word “button”.  “The new tip appears anytime you move the mouse to the bottom left corner of the screen, and is always visible on the taskbar when on the desktop. There are also options to change what the corners do, and options to boot into alternate screens. For example, if you prefer to see the Apps view versus all the tiles, you can choose to have the Start screen go directly to Apps view”.

Leblond also confirms that Windows 8.1 will be available to download and try for yourself from June 26, timed to tie in with Microsoft’s Build developer conference.

Leblond finishes by stating, somewhat defensively:

Windows 8 has been a bold, necessary move towards mobility for the PC industry — pushing ourselves and our industry ahead with a touch-first approach that is redefining the PC as we know it, while offering the best of all worlds across any device at any time. Our commitment to that vision — and to always improving — remains the same as we stay the course of the evolution of Windows with Windows 8.1. We’ve been watching, we’ve been listening; Windows 8.1 will continue to build on what you love bringing the latest advancements in hardware, apps, cloud services and the OS to enable a unique experience in everything you do.

So what are your thoughts on what Windows 8.1 has to offer? Excited, relieved, underwhelmed? Leave your comments below.

Tensions have risen even further in the four-way stand off between Sprint, Clearwire, Dish Network and SoftBank. On the eve of a shareholder vote determining whether Sprint will take over Clearwire, Dish has upped its bid for the WiMAX operator by 29 percent.

Dish is now offering $4.40 a share for Clearwire, representing $1.10 more than its initial proposal and a huge premium over Sprint’s most recent offer of $3.40 a share. Dish’s deal values Clearwire at $6.3 billion, but unlike Sprint, Dish wouldn’t necessarily take complete control over the company. Dish said it is willing to settle for a minority stake as long as it can get 25 percent of the company.

Sprint was already on shaky ground going into Friday’s vote as many of Clearwire’s institutional investors have been agitating for better terms. Dish’s new offer definitely complicates Sprint’s takeover plans even further. Dish said it would formally submit its offer to Clearwire shareholders at tomorrow’s meeting, forcing a standoff between it and Sprint.

“The Special Committee of Clearwire’s board of directors has received Dish Network’s offer and will review it to determine the best course of action for the company and its stockholders,” read a statement issued by Clearwire late Wednesday. “The Special Committee has not made any determination to change its recommendation of the current Sprint transaction.”

Dish and Sprint aren’t just battling over Clearwire. Dish is trying to take over Sprint as well, challenging SoftBank’s $20.1 billion buyout of the U.S. carrier. Sprint and Softbank are gradually getting the necessary regulatory approvals to finalize their deal, but Sprint is formally weighing Dish’s offer. When Sprint holds its own shareholder vote next month to approve the deal, Dish could create similar controversy.

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Ringo Starr is about to make some Beatles fans very happy; the iconic drummer is set to publish an e-book, “Photograph”, which brings together tons of never-before-seen photos of his childhood and bandmates.

The images give an exclusive look into the world of The Beatles and of Starr’s younger days; they also include shots of the band while they were traveling on tour and give us a view of more intimate moments behind the scenes. Fans will be happy to note that images from their trip to India are included, as well as some from their last days as a band in the ’70s. Starr says some of the photos were found after his mother died, hidden away in boxes at her home.

“These are shots that no one else could have,” Starr said.

The e-book is being released in conjunction with an exhibit at the Grammy Museum titled “Ringo: Peace And Love”, but there will also be a limited-edition print run out in December of 2500.

The latest product from BlueStacks, the GamePop Android-powered gaming console, will retail for $129 once it exists its free pre-order offer, which is ongoing and will continue through the end of June, the company announced today. And it will launch with a solid line-up of paid gaming titles for the all-you-can-eat subscription fee of $6.99 per month, thanks to newly announced partnerships with COM2US, Korea’s largest game developer, which will have its own dedicated channel in the GamePop menu.

Other newly announced partners included Intellijoy, and education developers that boasts three of the top 10 spots in the education app category of Google Play, which will be adding around $30 worth of software to the subscription package on offer from GamePop. At launch, GamePop plans to have 500 top paid gaming titles available to subscribers, with revenue split 50/50 between itself and those game developers chosen to be included in the roster.

GamePop also shared sparse details about its controller system, which will feature dedicated hardware as well as other mobile devices. I spoke with BlueStacks’ John Gargiulo about the new GamePop announcements, and about the controller in particular.

“It is not what people will expect, it’s much better, we will ensure that the experience is high quality game-by-game,” he said. GamePop will also support using Android or iPhone devices as controllers, via a virtual gamepad interface, and also using “new control paradigms that have recently been made possible,” he teased, though he couldn’t go into more detail about what exactly we’d be seeing in terms of unique control schemes. Most likely gesture-based controls that leverage the accelerometer in those devices will be in play, perhaps providing a Wii-style gaming experience. These will also be tailored to titles game-by-game.

Overall, the game-by-game approach is a key competitive advantage for GamePop, Gargiulo argues. Whereas others like OUYA have put the impetus on developers to bring their software to their platform and tweak it to make sure it fits, GamePop is doing the opposite, and making sure that developers can bring their software untouched to its device. That means devoting more resources from its own team to ensuring the experience is a good one on the console, but it’s a necessary step when you’re asking developers to embrace a new business model, and it’s something that will ultimately help lower the barrier of entry and ensure that Bluestacks can offer as strong a library as possible.

That library needs to include games that people already know and love, Gargiulo believes, and delivering that will be the difference between success or failure in this space according to him.

“What’s really helping us win developers is the fact that we’re using our resources, our funding, our engineering to build all of the IP around their apps and games working on GamePop,” he said. “Whereas, the old school console model, and what others are doing in this space, is asking quite a lot of developers. Developers don’t have a lot of bandwidth, and people are asking them to integrate SDKs, special controls, build special menus and that’s not something we’re asking for.”

Instead, developers are helping cross-promote the console through in-app advertising and other channels, which requires relatively no effort, and, depending on subscriber base, they stand to make a lot more money than they can by offering their titles on a pay-per-install basis. Gargiulo also says that in-app purchase mechanics will remain untouched, and that all proceeds from those sales will go direct to developers (minus the standard Google Play store cut), without BlueStacks taking any cut of the action.

The GamePop is still on track for a Winter 2013 release, the company says, and it arrived at the $129 pricing based on a desire to make sure that it has powerful enough hardware to support the most demanding mobile games, and provide some degree of future-proofing. Its 500-game selection may be subject to future expansion, since they company has seen tremendous developer interest, but will also feature a rotating crop of titles, with under performing games being dropped to ensure players always have access to the top titles.

“You really hate people,” said an ex to me during intermission at the theater, as we discussed our weekend plans. He, as always, wanted to get groups of friends together. I wanted, in contrast, a night to ourselves. “I do not hate people,” I said, angry and sad that it was this conversation again. “I just don’t want to be around them all the time.”

I’m an ambivert — both an introvert and an extrovert. As an ambivert, I also love being social and participating in social activities, but with active pauses for restorative personal time. Most of the population are ambiverts.

For anyone with introverted qualities, the above conversation (or some variant upon it) might sound familiar — your desire for alone time, one-on-one time, or a little peace and quiet, is met with misunderstanding and often judgment. I don’t think the guy in question meant harm — it’s just that our society, as Susan Cain underscores in her best-selling book Quiet, values extroversion more than introversion. But it’s not that introverts and ambiverts don’t like people. We just find large groups of them, well, a little draining.

This is challenging in personal life, but as an entrepreneur — the face of your company, consistently pitching your wares whether they be services or a product— it can be downright exhausting.

How is an introvert, ambivert, or anyone with introverted qualities to balance these social norms versus personal needs when it comes to owning your own business? And is there any way she can use them to her advantage?

As Cain explains, in our society, having introverted qualities are often met with shame. I didn’t understand why a group vacation would make me anxious, or spending a day with a lot of people without any time to myself or in a smaller setting was unappealing. It’s about wiring.
To shill your own business, you have to be outgoing, always “on.” Endless networking, going to conferences, always being up for a dinner with people that might be able to propel your trajectory — this can be exhausting even for an extrovert, but it’s even more so when you’re not wired to be around people 24/7.

What is an entrepreneur to do? I spoke with Cain candidly about this very issue — when you’re in the business of starting up, and getting yourself out there, how are you also able to do it in a way that doesn’t overload?

To begin, Cain suggests a three-pronged approach:

Go deep, not wide. “You don’t have to work the room,” says Cain. “My career has taken lots of different turns, and it has all be en a function of not having the widest rolodex, but a really deep one. I think we do people a disservice when we tell people they have to get out there in a very wide net-casting way.”

Find an extrovert. “Team up with an extrovert. Together you are greater than the sum of your parts. It’s the yin and yang.” If that’s the case, why didn’t my yin-and-yang like relationship with my extroverted ex work out? Cain says that even though introverts and extroverts complement each other, they don’t always understand each other. “This is a really big one,” she said. It’s all about a “big misconception of what introversion is. People assume that the person who wants to stay home on a Saturday is antisocial or misanthropic. Introverts are just as warm and caring, but they would rather lavish those on the people they know well. There are still going to be negotiations [between introverts and extroverts], but it should at least be conducted from a place of mutual understanding.”

Pace yourself. “Make sure to pace yourself.” This is especially important for ambiverts like me. I happen to project an extroverted image that is only partially accurate. For people like me, Cain says that means “I”m out there presenting an extroverted face, and the more I present that, the more is asked of me. It’s a great blessing to be an ambivert, but you have to be aware of pacing yourself.”

Sometimes introverts or ambiverts feel a need to defend their behaviors. Instead, Cain suggests, just be graceful. “You can just say it gracefully, ‘I’m going to my room but can’t wait to see you tomorrow at breakfast !’ People don’t give it as much thought as you think they do.”
But what if you’re in an extroverted business, like PR or Sales?

As someone who started her own digital public relations company, it can feel hard to compete with those who have no trouble going out every night, who attend a constant stream of conferences or Instagram every industry party. (Yes, there is both actual and digital FOMO.) What if everyone is hanging out without you?

Cain chocks this up to perception. “You’re really not alone, even though it looks that way. So many people appear like that to the world, and it’s the most unlikely of people.”

“Social media needs to be used on your own terms. There is nothing that says you have to constantly announce who your’e with. Maybe you present your life as one giant party, but you could be using it as a much deeper and more thoughtful way.”

Finally, says Cain, introverts are everywhere, and appearances can be deceiving. “I expected that in my research I would find introverts clustered in more traditionally introverted fields. It’s sort of true, but you find them in many professions where you least expect it. Many in media, many in public relations, it’s all about developing the skills to function.”

To borrow from the old adage, fake it ’til you make it. And then find some time for some peace and quiet.

More evidence of the hotly anticipated Galaxy S 4 Active has found its way to the internet today in the form of an AT&T-ready variant that went through the FCC’s approval process. While this doesn’t guarantee that it will be on AT&T’s network, it includes the same four LTE bandwidths found in the majority of AT&T smartphones. Unfortunately this doesn’t reveal any details about whats under the hood, but we do know that the device will have a downgraded processor and judging by photos and a brief video, a sleek and obviously water and dust-proof body. No word on a release date but judging by the information we have and various rumors we shouldn’t be waiting much longer.

Source: FCC

Come comment on this article: FCC approves AT&T variant of Samsung Galaxy S 4 Active with LTE

This week, during McDonald’s annual shareholders meeting, McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson fielded a question about nutrition from a 9-year-old girl.

The girl, who identified herself as Hannah, took issue with the famous fast food company selling food that isn’t good for children using “toys and cartoon characters.” She claims that children her age are suffering from obesity and diabetes, and ends her statement with the question, “Mr. Thompson, don’t you want kids to be healthy so they can live a happy life?”

Sure, it’s a loaded question. One she was no doubt coached into asking by adults who used her as a sympathetic prop. However, Thompson’s answer shows that he may not have been prepared to fend off such a question at the shareholder’s meeting.

Thompson begins his answer by saying, “First off, we don’t sell junk food Hannah.” With junk food generally defined as food with low nutritional value, Thompson’s statement implies that all of McDonald’s food has at least a better-than-low nutritional value.

Thompson goes on to provide a personal anecdote, stating that his children eat McDonald’s, but that they also cook “foods and veggies” at home. He points out that McDonald’s sells apples and salads, and says that the company will try to provide products like kiwi-on-a-stick and pineapple in the future. Thompson’s response, in full:

Hannah, thank you very much for your question and by the way it’s good to meet you upfront. Couple of things Hanna. First off, we don’t sell junk food, Hannah. My kids also eat McDonald’s, when they were about your size to my son who is with us was a little bit bigger – he was a football player – and also they cook with me at home. I love to cook, we cook a lot of foods and veggies at home. We serve a lot of foods and veggies at McDonald’s and are trying to sell even more with the apples that we introduced into the Happy Meal. We serve different foods and different variety. I was telling you a little bit earlier about things we would like to introduce even more, there is a affinity for them, like kiwi on a stick and pineapples, and we serve salads ,and we serve those for a dollar on the Dollar Menu and they are very affordable. And so there’s a lot of things that we’ve done, our chicken nugget happy meals, fat free milk, both. We also just changed the chocolate factory milk. We are making a lot of changes at McDonald’s and we will continue to. I think it’s really great that you want to continue eating more fruits and more vegetables. I honestly hope even more kids do. I know that as my kids came up sometimes I had to nudge them a little bit more to eat some more fruits and vegetables, but they did eat quite a bit of fruits and vegetables and that’s what we served in our household as well. So thanks so much for the question. Next question?

“It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.”

That’s Revelations 13:16-17, the famous Bible verse describing the fabled mark of the Beast. In recent history, evangelical Christians have claimed various technologies (barcodes, RFID chips, etc) would be this mark. Well, get ready to hear people claim Motorola is the devil because it just revealed what may be the closest thing to the mark as described yet.

The Verge reports that Motorola SVP for advanced technology and projects, Regina Dugan, was at the All Things D conference showing off two new technologies the company is working on. The first is an electronic tattoo that the company thinks might revolutionize wearable computing. So far, wearable computers have been watches or glasses. What happens when they’re implanted directly into the skin?

Well, certain people (i.e. evangelical Christians) are going to get scared. If a mandatory RFID tag around the neck sends them into a flurry of apocalyptic visions, just imagine what a tattoo would do.

If the tattoo scares them, the other project at Motorola will send them into panic fits. It’s a pill with an embedded chip that’s activated by stomach acid. After swallowing said pill, the entire body becomes an authentication token that can be picked up by various machines.

The average person will probably be more concerned about the privacy implications presented by such technologies, but that seems to be par for the course when it comes to new wearable (or ingestible) computers. The fear of a mystical fire demon cataloguing sales seems pretty tame compared to being tracked all day and every day from a chip inside your stomach.

Still, privacy proponents and apocalyptic scholars have nothing to worry about in the immediate future. These technologies are still very far off. They are in development though so get those Beast watch conspiracy Web sites ready.

[Image: The Verge]

John Holbrook Vance, better known to the literary world as Jack Vance, has died. He was 96.

Vance, a prolific author who penned more than 60 books in his more than 60-year career, wrote across multiple genres including mystery, sci-fi, and fantasy. Most of his work was penned under the name Jack Vance, but he also had multiple pseudonyms inducing Ellery Queen, Alan Wade, Peter Held, and John van See.

Friends and family, who manage Jack Vance’s site, have posted a message about the author’s passing:

“Jack Vance passed away at home on the evening of Sunday May 26, 2013, ending a long, rich and productive life. Recognized most widely as an author, family and friends also knew a generous, large-hearted, rugged, congenial, hard-working, optimistic and unpretentious individual whose curiosity, sense of wonder and sheer love of life were an inspiration in themselves. Author, friend, father and grandfather – there will never be another like Jack Vance.”

Vance won Hugo Awards for his 1963 work The Dragon Masters, as well as 1967′s The Last Castle. He also won for his 2010 memoir This Is Me, Jack Vance!. He also won a Nebula Award, an Edgar, a Jupiter Award, and a World Fantasy Award for his writing. He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2001.

Google hasn’t quite announced its next Android version just yet, but that isn’t stopping big-name manufacturers from working behind the scenes to ensure which of its devices will likely make the cut and get the next coveted update. Thanks to the leaked preliminary list you see above, it’s looking like HTC already has an idea of which of its devices will see which of its devices will see Android 4.3 and others that well… won’t see Android 4.3. For the most part, it looks like owners many of the flagship devices released in the last 15 or so months should expect to see the next version of Android. This means that all of you HTC One X, One X+, HTC Butterfly (Droid DNA) and of course HTC One owners can go ahead and breathe a sigh of relief.

On the flipside, HTC One S and Verizon Desire owners are probably going to be out of luck— though there’s a chance that HTC will possibly update its guidance and figure that the those devices can handle Android 4.3 after all.

source: Technos Amigos
via: Phone Arena

Come comment on this article: Preliminary list of HTC devices set to receive the Android 4.3 update is unleashed in the wild

A staff member in an Equinix facility.

The technology landscape has truly evolved over the past few years – and with that evolution comes a new demand for the future of IT administration.

IT managers and engineers are tasked with knowing more, understanding further components within their own environments and must have the ability to truly be creative. The old days of IT saw engineering dedicated to one process. Rare interaction between teams was seen as an exception rather than norm. Cross-IT team collaboration would be usually done at the management level, and even then it wasn’t always successful.

There is a new breed of engineers being born from the era of cloud computing. New job titles are being created with demands being placed on engineers who are unique and have the ability to communicate. In this post, we’ll outline some of the traits which are in high demand from this new type of IT professional.

Among many new traits and personality qualities that an engineer may have, the following are beginning to emerge as truly defining characteristics of the new IT pro:

• Communication. There is a misconception and even a stereotype that IT people are quiet, introverted and often times don’t communicate well. Although in some cases this may be true, many successful IT professionals have broken out of that shell. Communication is crucial to the success of any IT person. The new technological environment calls for people who can not only walk the walk – but explain what route they took. Furthermore, this oftentimes will mean explaining various technology objectives to both end-uses and executive staff.
• Leadership. Administrators and engineers must take more of a leadership role if they wish to progress in their careers. Usually, this means saying ‘no’ to things. However, a real leader won’t only know when to say ‘no’, but also how to say it. Effectively challenging ideas and collaborating to help evolve solutions is much better than flat out saying ‘no’ to things.
• Drive. Complacency in IT has always had detrimental effects. With all of these new technologies being released on a seemingly daily basis – being complacent now is worse than ever. IT pros must have the drive to keep pushing forward, learning new things and expanding their horizons.
• “Thinking outside of the data center.” Cloud computing and distributed infrastructures have created a new line of thinking. IT folks, both young and seasoned, must know how to see the big picture whenever they’re working with a large corporate environment, including a thorough understanding of business goals and objectives. Cloud computing has truly created a new breed of architects who have to incorporate various technologies to establish sound solutions. We’ll get into this in the next blog!
• Collaboration. The ability to work with various teams and to collaborate on projects – even as a junior engineer – is truly important. Sharing ideas for the sake of best practices and collaboration will help ensure a good deployment. Even more important, it’ll enhance team work!

The ability to think on your feet and go far beyond simple troubleshooting within an organization can mean the difference between a desk-job and sought after career advancement. Outside of the common “cloud” computing technology what else is driving this type of demand in today’s business IT world?

The reality is that the logical progression of technologies has not only created the need for articulate engineers and architects – organizations now seek folks who can speak the language of many different technologies. As the data center advances, cloud and data center architects will have to learn about the various components that make up a solid data center infrastructure. This means understanding some of the following technologies:

• Unified, converged and high-density computing.
• Various types of network and WAN connection best practices.
• End-user management and security.
• IT consumerization and BYOD controls.
• Data management, replication and even analytics.
• Understanding around various cloud models, APIs, and deployment strategies.
• Disaster recovery, business continuity, and backup.
• Global server and traffic management.
• Data center design best practices and efficiencies.

The modern data center, in reality, can be considered the home of the cloud. We can no longer think of the data center as stand-alone physical unit. These data warehouses and processing centers are creating massive connectivity points for an ever-expanding Internet and cloud environment. Today’s data center is really a logical connection point to many other data centers and the services that they may be running.

Cloud and data center architects of tomorrow need to understand how this vast environment all functions together and how it affects the end-user. One of the biggest challenges for the new breed of engineers is designing an environment around one very important business and technology aspect: mobility. The ability to be agile, very mobile and provide on-demand services are becoming standard requirements for many data center providers.

Not only will engineers and architects need to have the ability to communicate, they will need to know about many different technologies which directly affect the modern data center. These IT professionals will often act as the liaison between numerous different, still very important, business stakeholders. This means translating user and executive needs into direct IT solutions. For those professionals that can do this – there will be a need for them, both now and in the future.

A truck hauling crushed cars through Truxton, New York lost its trailer on Wednesday night after it became disconnected, causing a devastating crash that killed seven people inside a minivan.

The van was carrying people from two families, including four children under the age of ten. Authorities say they don’t know what caused the trailer to disconnect from the truck; the weight of the transport sent it careening into the van, tearing it apart.

Cortland County Coroner Whitney Meeker said there was one survivor in the deadly crash who was taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, but the identities of those involved haven’t been released. The two people inside the truck were unharmed.

The fire commissioner, Douglas Randall, said he was directing traffic around the site of the crash when he saw family members arrive at the horrific scene.

“They were all meeting down the road at a family member’s house,” he said. “They were all hysterical.”

There were reportedly storms–including some with hail–in the area yesterday, but officials haven’t commented on whether that was a factor in the accident.