Category: News

Google doodles are beginning to be a regular fixture on the search engine’s homepage, but there probably aren’t that many people complaining. Making its eleventh appearance in a row, the New Year’s doodle didn’t fail to show up on January 1 marking the start of 2010, a year in which Google has plenty to look forward to. The doodle is one of Google’s best, but it didn’t take long for it to out-do itself with a great celebration of Isaac Newton’s birthday today.

The New Years doodle is one of the best in the series and, thankfully, does away with the furry animals and centers on the actual event, the New Year. It features a familiar sight, the night sky lit up by fireworks, which also make up the two ‘Os’ in the company’s name and a clock tower showing 12 o’clock. The cute part is how 2010 is written using the elements of the drawing, a recurring theme for the Google doodles. The ‘2’ is easy enough to make out, then the two faces of the clock make up the ‘0’ and the ‘1’ and the final ‘0’ is actually a very jovial moon.

But Google wasn’t done with the New Year surprises. As the most enthusiastic Google followers already know, the company has been running a countdown on the homepage, counting the seconds until 2010. It was hidden by default and only showed up if the user clicked in the “I’m feeling lucky” button without entering any search terms.

Once the countdown reached zero though, it was promptly replaced by fireworks and a “Happy Ne… (read more)

Eco Factor: Solar-powered electronic gadget charger.

The Solar Mobile Charger is a multipurpose gadget charging device that harvests clean energy from the sun to charge portable electronic devices, including cellphones, GPS units, PMPs and even digicams. The device features a 2500mAh built-in lithium battery that stores solar energy for later use.

(more…)

photo credit: mastrobiggo

“A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged; it is the skin of a living thought, and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

One Word

It’s the dawn of a new year.  A time to start fresh.  To review the past and look toward the future.

“I want to lose weight.”

” I will spend more time with my family.”

“I intend to eat healthy every day.”

New Year’s Resolutions.   Grand plans to start the year anew.  Statements that touch upon some area in our life that we’re not completely happy with.  Ever done them – made New Year’s resolutions?  Just like the spike in gym memberships in January of each year – followed by the decline in February, New Year’s resolutions typically fade quickly as our daily lives takes us to where we’ve always been.

Last year, I was inspired by a much different approach to New Year’s resolutions – a concept by singer/song writer/blogger Christine Kane.  The idea – to come up with one word to focus on.

The idea – that this one word will connect with us at a much deeper level, and inspire us to make it become part of our daily life.  That it will BE part of our true fabric.  And in being part of us at a much deeper level, this word will be a guide toward the life we desire, toward doing the things that are in alignment with what this word means to us.

One word.  For 2009, the word I chose was COURAGE.  And in many amazing ways, that one word manifested itself in my life. 

2010

My word.

SPLASH!

Note:  If you’re having trouble viewing this, click here.

SPLASH – what does that mean to me?

As I spent some time thinking about what word really connected with me – my thoughts kept coming back to three words: adventure, action, and fun.  I bounced back and forth – which one to really encompass this new year?  Choosing one, felt like I was neglecting something else in me.

SPLASH!

It embodies all of these:  adventure, action, and fun.

Taking action and jumping in – SPLASH!

Having fun – SPLASH!

Seeing the adventure that comes in all of life's moments – SPLASH!

This is about not only the big SPLASHES in life, it's really about embracing all of life's moments – big and small and everything in between – and seeing that jumping in is really a beautiful part of life.  And as much as this is about embracing life in a very physical sense, for me this also means jumping in to my own internal thoughts as well.  Being with those thoughts that I have bouncing around in my head and in my heart – and taking the time to SPLASH around with them, to not ignore these thoughts in the normal-ness of daily life.

In everything that this upcoming year holds, I am ready to SPLASH around with it all!

SPLASH!

Your Turn
What would you choose for a word to focus on?    This year, 2010, has many great possibilities in store for each one of you – may you find  much meaning in all that is to come in the next twelve months!

There are lots of ways to entice the ladies to bed, but offering them a spin on your Millennium Falcon bed is probably not one of them. One crazed Star Wars fan actually built such a bed, which is scarily accurate to the original space craft piloted by a young Harrison Ford.

The front of the Millennium Falcon bed features two working headlights. A string of LED lights surrounding the bed/spaceship just adds to the romantic ambiance, don’t you think? And as a special touch, this special fan has topped the bed with a pillow shaped like a radar dish.

[via OhGizmo]

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This cake is so intriguing! We love the crispy topping with spicy cake underneath. This plus a cute teapot and clever calendar in today’s Delicious Links.

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Good catch by Louis Gray, who keeps on monitoring the Twitter-made list of Twitter team members with hawk eyes. Starting today at the new Twitter offices in San Francisco are no less than 10 new staff members in a variety of roles.

The biggest fish Twitter caught is likely Bakari Brock, a former attorney at Kilpatrick Stockton who has served as Corporate Counsel for YouTube and Google since September 2007. Listed as specialties on the man’s LinkedIn profile: “negotiation and drafting of music, video and software licenses; and counseling on copyright, ecommerce, and general policy issues.”

His recruitment hints at Twitter preparing a proper content distribution play, which would clearly require some serious in-house legal talent.

Brock brings heaps of field experience to the startup, and it’ll be interesting to see what his negotiation skill set and no doubt extensive professional network prove to be worth for Twitter. Also joining Twitter from the Mountain View company’s legal team is Anthony Wang, former attorney at Latham & Watkins and Managing Counsel for Google since May 2005.

It’s not only Google losing key staff to Twitter, though. Gray also tracked these people, who are likely starting at Twitter today:

– Paul Soals (ex-IT Support Engineer at Bebo and previously with Apple)
– Nancy Broden (ex-Director of User Experience at Qik)
– Florian Leibert (ex-Platform Engineer Data Services at Ning)
– Jinen Kamdar (ex-Group Product Manager at Ning)
– Edward Ceaser (ex-developer at TiVo)
– Dmitriy Ryaboy (ex-Software Engineer at Cloudera and previously at Ask.com)
– John Sirois (ex-Software Engineer at VMware and Google before that)
– Jane Huang (ex-Software Engineer at 23andMe)

Including these 10 persons, the list of Twitter team members now counts 156 people, although we should note the company also adds freelance workers to it. Other recent hires recently made by Twitter included the Mixer Labs team (through acquisition), Raptr’s Kevin Cheng and Yahoo’s Utkarsh Srivastava.

Curious to see what the new year will bring for Twitter.

(Picture from Flickr / Mags_cat)

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In the world of Xtreme sport, there are many individuals who have performed countless daring feats beyond the pale, but none have been doing ridiculously dangerous things for the very first time, and pulling them off, as long and as consistently as Travis Pastrana. On New Years Eve, Pastrana pulled off the world’s longest car jump at the Red Bull: New Year. No Limits Party (where else), in Long Beach California. Not only did he break the existing mark of 171 feet, he set a new world record of 269 feet, extending the world record by 43%. After being the first to attempt a backflip jump on a motorcycle in competition, Pastrana was beaten to achieving the feat but has since been the first to achieve a front flip, the first to achieve a double backflip, not to mention being the first person to jump out of a plane without a parachute, B.A.S.E. jump into the Grand Canyon off a motorcycle and the first (and quite possibly the only) person to ever backflip a kid’s tricycle. He’s also won national motocross and car rallying titles. Travis, we salute you! ..

Tags: Red Bull,
Travis Pastrana

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Sold: One virtual space station for $330,000 in real money. It may sound insane, but the buyers and sellers here clearly believe there’s gold in the virtual world of Planet Calypso.

The virtual space station was built by The First Planet Company, a part of MindArk, a Swedish online virtual world maker that operates the Project Entropia Universe, which includes Planet Calypso. A player going by the name of Buzz “Erik” Lightyear paid 3.3 million Project Entropia Dollars for the Crystal Palace, a fully functional space station. Project Entropia Dollars can be exchanged for real money at an exchange rate of 10 to 1.

The purchase isn’t without precedent, as noted by Fatfoogoo’s blog. In 2004, David Storey paid $26,500 for a plot of undeveloped land in Project Entropia. And in 2005, Jon Jacobs spent $100,000 on a virtual night club inside Project Entropia. There’s some real investor speculation going on here, backed by real money. We’ve noted that MindArk’s central bank has been officially sanctioned by the government of Sweden.

The 10-year-old Entropia platform has been developed over the past decade at a cost of $40 million. It was launched in 2003. The Planet Calypso world within the universe has been generating a profit since 2004 and has more than 820,000 registered users in 200 countries. The user-to-user transactions within Entropia Universe exceeded $420 million in 2008.

This may be another indicator of the rise of the virtual goods business model, where players play an online game for free but pay for the digital objects inside it. Players can buy and sell goods inside the worlds, giving them a chance to make real money. Hence, Lightyear’s purchase might not look so crazy a few years from now, if the Project Entropia Universe continues to grow. Lightyear, if he so chooses, can operate a business on the space station, which is depicted in the video below.

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This just in: Mariah Carey is a diva…..and in related news, bears $h!t in the woods. Mariah reportedly took divahood to new heights after demanding nothing less than royal treatment in while performing a series of her hits during a show at the Borgata Resort in Atlantic City last month.

The hitmaking songbird has seen her chart fortunes fade with the release of her most recent LP, Memoirs of An Imperfect Album — of course, that didn’t stop MC from making “a ton of requests” regarding her hotel suite and ordering a total of 10 carts carry all her luggage. Mariah, 39, is further accused of terrorizing stagehands with frequent requests for retouches to her hair and makeup and even had them hand her a glass of bubbly in front of the soldout crowd.

“Do they expect me to stand up for the whole show? They call me a diva… because I am,” a stunned concertgoer

Eco Factor: Low-emission car to run on a hybrid engine.

Mercedes-Benz is planning to launch the next S-Class with a plug-in hybrid model. The car will also see improvements in its weight and aerodynamic properties, which coupled with the hybrid drivetrain, allow the vehicle to boast a fuel efficiency of 80mpg and emit less than 100g/km of CO2.

(more…)

Although Jenson Button has been revealed as Lewis Hamilton’s new teammate at McLaren Mercedes in over a month now, the two haven’t actually met each other at Woking. Although this was supposed to be Great Britain’s dream team in the Formula One championship, the relationship between the two big guns is yet to start off.

When asked about how he gets along with his new teammate – considering he had a very good relationship with his former colleague Heikki Kovalainen – Hamilton admit… (read more)

Katy Perry capped off a holiday excursion to India with a henna tattoo. The singer uploaded a pic of her new body art on her Twitter page.

The “I Kissed a Girl” crooner had her wrist and hand colored as part of her New Year’s celebrations with boyfriend Russell Brand. The henna motif has been carefully crafted to avoid her inked tattoo, which reads “Jesus.”

“I’m typing this with one hand… Isn’t it lovely? It’s Henna!” the brunette excitedly Tweeted.

Katy also visited the Taj Mahal while in India. She even TwitPic’d a flick of herself and the comedian cuddling in front of the 17th century Mughal monument, joking: “He built this for me!”

Racing Dynamics has joined the precocious league of tuners which already propose a tuning package for the upcoming 2011 F10 BMW 5 Series, as bimmertoday reports.

The Racing Dynamics view of the next 5 series includes both technical and visual modifications. The base tuned model, the 535i, now called the R35 will be 34% more powerful than the factory version, producing 410 HP, and will offer an M5 rivaling torque figure of 530 Nm (383.5 lb-ft). One result of all that extra grunt wi… (read more)

When it comes to shopping, Lindsay Lohan is a real show-stopper.

The Mean Girls actress nearly caused a stampede in New York City last month after hundreds of fans spotted her doing some late Christmas shopping with sister, Ali, and mom, Dina, at Intermix in Manhattan.

“They had to close down the store because of overcrowding. Hundreds of people lined the windows to watch her pick out her favorite items,” a spywitness dished to The New York Post.

Speaking of fashion, despite a critcally-panned debut, Lindsay is set to launch her next collection for French fashion house Ungaro.

With many older people living alone and more than 180,000 saying they have gone for a whole week without speaking to friends, family or neighbours, Care Service Minister Phil Hope is asking the public to make a New Year’s resolution to visit older neighbours more often.

Social interaction can protect older people’s mental health, helping to do their shopping will prevent falls and injury and keeping an eye on their health will stop them developing serious health problems and ending up in hospital.

Figures show:

Over a million people over 65 feel trapped in their own homes.

More than 180,000 have gone for a whole week without speaking to friends, neighbours or family.

Nearly half of all older people (about 4.6 million) consider the television as their main form of company.

More than 50 per cent of over 75s live on their own.

Phil Hope said:

“Many older people live alone. For some that’s a choice, for others it means they feel isolated. We are a very caring nation so I’m asking people to make a resolution to look in on their older neighbours more often, to help them with shopping or to simply pop in for a chat.

“Our major aim for the New Year is to build on the care that’s embedded in our society. We’ll be creating a National Care Service which everyone will be able to rely on when they get older.”

The Government is already driving forward measure towards making our system of care simpler, fairer and more affordable including helping people to be more independent.

There are many ways to find out about volunteering opportunities:

For more information about volunteering and how to get involved visit

http://www.volunteering.org.uk/IWantToVolunteer

You can also visit Volunteer Centres, which act as a “Job Centres” for volunteers. They can tell you what voluntary work is available locally and put you in touch with local organisations. You can also discuss with them what you want to do and get advice.

With over 300 Volunteer Centres across England, there is a Volunteer Centre in most areas. Visit our Volunteer Centre finder on our website for details of one near you.

You can also look up your nearest Volunteer Centre in the phone directory under ‘V’ or phone Volunteering England on 0845 305 6979.

There is also an internet database of UK local volunteering opportunities that you can search at www.do-it.org.uk .

Justin Davis Smith, Chief Executive of Volunteering England, the volunteer development agency, added:

“Spending a few hours with an elderly person can make a big difference to their quality of life and getting involved with volunteering is easier than you might think.

“You can volunteer informally by visiting an elderly friend or neighbour or if you don’t know anyone, you could choose to volunteer through a befriending project in your local area. To find out what opportunities are available in your area, get in touch with your local Volunteer Centre.”

For further information, please contact Department of Health press office on 020 7210 5221.