Category: News

  • The Disappeared by Kim Echlin

    One Halloween night when Anne Greves is 16, she goes with older friends to a jazz club and falls in love for the first time in her young life. Serey is an older man, already in his 20s, a musician, who has already lived too hard a young life. He is in Canada to further his studies in mathematics from his native Cambodia, the only member of his family to escape the genocide at hands of the vicious Khmer Rouge. Initially, love is enough for Anne and Serey, and they are caught up only in each other. Anne leaves her widowed father who shuns her new lover, admonishing her for being so young and foolish.

    But the ghosts of his family call Serey home, and he must return to find out what has happened to them. Anne is devastated, growing more despondent when she does not hear from him. Eleven years later, Anne travels to Phnom Penh, convinced that she saw Serey in a television report. Now fluent in Khmer, Anne meets a local driver, Mau, who eventually, remarkably leads her to Serey. Their reunion is overwhelming with both intense loss and joy. But it cannot last and Serey becomes one of the may millions of “disappeared.” But in her utter grief – how ironically, tragically fitting her name is Greves – Anne cannot, will not ever let Serey go.

    Through the tragic love story of two lost souls, Kim Echlin adds an urgent human dimension to the unbearable numbers of history’s inhumanity. The Cambodian genocide of the late 1970s which claimed some two million lives – collateral damage is far too much about the innocent victims – looms large in Echlin’s searing book that attempts to give names and faces to the far too many that disappeared, and the few who tried to survive with some semblance of humanity intact.

    Readers: Adult

    Published: 2010

  • Tube amplifier-shaped USB speaker

    usb_speaker

    Tube or valve amplifiers are electronic amplifiers that make use of vacuum tubes to boost the power of a signal. They’ve been around for decades, and some audio freaks still love the sound they help to produce. And they look kind of pretty, too. Reason enough for Hanwha Japan to come up with the US-0498 [JP], a PC speaker that looks like a tube amplifier (but isn’t one).

    Connect the simple 38mm speaker to your Windows PC (Windows XP/Vista/7) via USB 2.0 and you’ll get 0.35W×2ch sound with 45db max. It needs two USB ports. The four tubes will start lighting up in blue when the music goes on.

    usb_speaker_2

    Sized at 125x 98x 80mm (weight: 220g), the speaker is available in black or silver and costs $25. It’s Japan-only, so you might want to contact import/export specialists Japan Trend Shop, Geek Stuff 4 U or Rinkya if you’re interested in getting one.


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  • Ten Minutes of Nexus One Footage to Tease You

    When it comes to showing a Nexus One getting put through the paces,  the following video is the best footage we’ve come across so far.  While it’s not high definition by any means, it’s still better than anything else we’ve suffered through these last few weeks.  The ten minute clip shows the user messing with animated wallpapers (very cool), the camera, gallery, weather (neato), maps, and the browser.  The response  and overall speed of the Nexus One seems to be downright incredible. 

    One of these days, they’ll get around to a better music player.  Right guys?

    Source: DroidDog


  • Australian Climate Extremes – Trend Maps – 1960 to 2009

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    Reference: Commonwealth of Australia. Australian Bureau of Meteorology http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/change/extremes/trendmaps.cgi?map=TN90&period=1960

    Images are located at Commonwealth of Australia. Australian Bureau of Meteorology http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/change/extremes/trendmaps.cgi?map=TN90&period=1960 The images were issued January 28, 2010. Image Permission: This work is copyrighted and unlicensed. However, it is believed that the use of this work to illustrate the subject in question, Where no free equivalent is available or could be created that would adequately give the same information, on Interlinked Challenges, hosted on servers in the United States by Michigan State University, qualifies as fair use under United States copyright law.

  • Sony Vaio T makes a comeback, and this time it’s a CULV with major battery life

    The previously phased out 11.1-inch Sony Vaio T has shown back up over at Sony Style Japan. The good news is that this time, it’s a Windows 7 CULV on the inside, even if it looks the same on the outside. The new Vaio Ts come with processor options including a dual core 1.2GHz Celeron SU2300, a 1.4GHz dual core Core 2 Duo SU9400, or a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo SU9600, and they boast Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics, plus 4GB or 8GB of RAM, an up to 512GB SSD or 500GBhard drive. There’s also optional extras like Blu Ray, 802.11n WiFi, a fingerprint scanner, and digital TV tuner. The laptop’s life is rated at about 11 hours when equipped with the standard battery, or 17 with the large capacity. So far, we’ve only seen these bad boys in Japan, where they’re retailing for ¥129,800 (that’s around $1400).

    Sony Vaio T makes a comeback, and this time it’s a CULV with major battery life originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Jobless Claims Fall, Beat Expectations

    pinkslip tbi

    And the last big jobs number of the year is a good one.

    Initial jobless claims fell to 432,000 from 454,000, beating expectations of 460,000.

    Stock futures are modestly in the green ahead of what wil be a very light and quiet trading day.

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  • Court Holds iPod Blameless for Hearing Loss [Voices]

    By Ben Worthen, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

    A lawsuit that blamed Apple Inc.’s iPod music player for causing hearing loss fell on deaf ears at a federal appeals court.

    The lawsuit, which was originally filed in 2006, argued that because iPods don’t come with a decibel meter that lets users know how much noise the device is producing, consumers don’t understand the potential damage they could be causing themselves by listening to loud music for long periods of time. It also claimed that the earbuds that come with the iPod increase the risk that damage could occur because they are designed to be placed inside the ear.

    In dismissing an appeal in the case Wednesday, a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals called the claims “obvious” and said that a reasonable person could easily avoid hearing loss by turning the volume down.

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  • Mac 101: Stop the iPhone from opening iPhoto

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    More Mac 101, tips and tricks for novice Mac users.

    I love iPhoto. I use it for most of my photo editing. The thing I don’t like about iPhoto is how it opens each and every time I connect my iPhone to my Mac. What strikes my as plain silly is that, since the introduction of the iPhone two and a half years ago, Apple has not built in an option in the iTunes iPhone status window to disable the automatic iPhoto launch every time you plug in your iPhone.

    If you want to take control of this behavior, and you’d prefer to stick with Apple’s built-in tools (rather than take advantage of the free and easy Cameras prefpane) there is good news: there’s a simple way to disable this ‘feature’ and it doesn’t involve command line stuff. Even better, it isn’t an “all or nothing” solution – eg: you can still have iPhoto automatically open when you connect your camera, but not have it open when you connect your iPhone. Aron mentioned this approach a few months ago but I thought it would be helpful to walk through it in detail.

    It should be noted that this solution only works on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. If you are running 10.5 or earlier, you’ll have to use one of the solutions noted above; we recommend the free Cameras preference pane as a quick fix.

    You’ll see the image above is of iPhoto’s preferences. You may think the option of disabling iPhone auto-open is in there, but it’s not. To stop the iPhone from opening iPhoto you actually need to launch the Image Capture application.

    Step 1: Launch Image Capture (Applications>Image Capture). If your iPhone isn’t plugged in already, plug it in to the USB port on your Mac. It should then show up in the devices source list.

    Step 2: Make sure you have the iPhone selected in the source list. When you do, you should see any photos you have on the iPhone appear in the right-hand column of the Image Capture application.

    Step 3: At the bottom of the source list, you’ll see your iPhone’s name then, below that, you’ll see the words “Connecting this iPhone opens:” and a drop-down menu. Select “No application”. Now close the Image Capture app and you’re done. No more iPhone opening up iPhoto, but your other cameras will still auto-launch iPhoto when they are connected!

    TUAWMac 101: Stop the iPhone from opening iPhoto originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • The first 5 apps to download to your new BlackBerry

    Over this past week, I’ve answered more BlackBerry questions than ever before. Plenty of friends and family members got BlackBerry devices for the holidays, and many of them need help with basic functions. Thankfully, those who ask by email get a link to one of our many useful articles. Those who ask in person get the universal sign for “give it to me.” Over at Pocket-lint, Stuart Miles goes over another important aspect of your new BlackBerry: what applications do you get first? Stuart has some good ideas, but I’d like to add my own take. The major difference is that he’s in the UK, while I’m in the States, so there might be a nuanced change here or there. Anyway, here’s my list vs. Stuart’s.

    (more…)

  • Kia and Microsoft set to debut UVO at CES, leave us wondering for now

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    Kia and Microsoft set to debut UVO at CES, we wonder what it is
    When you think Microsoft car technology you think SYNC, right? Perfectly natural, since it’s the only place Redmond’s bits and bytes have made much of an impact on the automotive scene. But SYNC is just Ford’s flavor of Microsoft’s Windows Embedded Technologies — naturally with plenty of customizations and functionality on top. It’s not an exclusive partnership and we’ve known for some time now that Hyundai and Kia were next in line to get some love from Washington. Kia’s time has come, with the company set to launch UVO at CES next week. The only question now is: What exactly is it?

    We spoke with representatives from Microsoft and Kia on Wednesday, where they unveiled the UVO name, explained as being short for “your voice.” Because of that we expect there will be a strong focus on speech recognition in this system, but beyond that it’s anyone’s guess what the latest automotive infotainment system will be packing — those same representatives were tight-lipped about the details. Naturally we expect it’ll be generally similar to Ford’s SYNC, but Kia is a very different sort of company than the one Henry built, so surely a much fresher look and feel is in store at the very least.

    Ford recently announced that it would be letting outside developers augment SYNC’s functionality, and after the amazing success of Apple’s App Store it’d be a shame if Kia didn’t support the booming app market from the start (just think of all the telemetry systems a developer could build with access to vehicle sensor data and a three-axis accelerometer). All will be unveiled at next week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where Ford will be similarly showing off its latest SYNC revisions. Which infotainment system will reign supreme? We can’t wait to find out.

    [Source: Kia, Microsoft]

    Kia and Microsoft set to debut UVO at CES, leave us wondering for now originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Chinet Paper Plates are Compostable

    chinete logoI am always on the lookout for something GREEN to write about … the advertising on some Chinet products caught my eye.

    While at my local Costco last night I saw some interesting information info on Chinet plates … they are now compostable !!

    "Preserving natural resources for future generations iCompostings important to us, and to our extended family, which includes you. So, start to finish, we pursue sustainable practices, from using recycled materials to produce our disposable tableware products to reducing the amount of energy we use and waste we create to make them. "

    They have "how to do it" instructions for composting their plates along with other compostable material …  LINK

     

     Chinet is made by Huhtamaki  Americas

     

    Via: Chinet  LINK

  • Motorola’s 4.3-Inch ‘Mirage’ Headed for China

    Motorola seems to be really swinging for the fences with their Android handsets.  Take a look at the rumored Mirage (or Shadow) for a glimpse as to what the handset maker is up to now.  A BGR tipster has passed along some specs to this device which is said to be headed to China.

    We’re waiting on a better link from BGR so we can try our hand at translating, but here’s what’s rumored so far…

    • Codenamed Mirage or Shadow
    • 4.3-inch 800×484 display
    • HDMI port
    • 8 megapixel camera
    • 1080p video playback
    • 9.0mm thick!

    We can’t imagine the Shadow name sticking around as T-Mobile and HTC already locked that one up a few years back.  We’re going to go out on a limb and guess something in the 600MHz/512 memory ballpark for this one.  We’ll be sure to pass along anything we come across!

    Popular Posts That You Might Enjoy!


  • Top stories on Thrive: 2009

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    What a whirlwind of a year. Since launching this blog in July, we’ve had more than 230,000 visitors, many of whom have left thought-provoking comments on our posts.

    We’ve enjoyed bringing you personal stories and expert insight about current pediatric health topics, and we hope you continue reading us in 2010.

    What were our readers most interested in this year? Our most widely read stories range from a video series about defeating a milk allergy to a news report about the discredited Baby Einstein videos. Did you miss any of our most popular posts? We revisit them below.

    • H1N1 was by far the most popular topic on Thrive. We posted 44 different articles on the subject. Our most read H1N1 blog asked the question, “Should my child get the swine flu (H1N1) shot?” This post triggered an outpouring of reader comments, from both hesitant parents weighing the pros and cons, and vocal vaccine proponents. To see a complete list of Thrive’s H1N1 stories, click here.
    • This heartbreaking story written by a mother about her daughter and shaken baby syndrome was a wake-up call for us all. Readers were both sympathetic to her plight and also outraged; a sensitive topic, this post received a lot of passionate feedback.
    • Brett Nasuti, an 11-year-old Children’s patient, was born allergic to 15 foods. Thrive readers got to tag along as he went through a milk exposure desensitization trial to cure his milk allergy—the first of its kind in the country— by watching this video series. Will Brett ever get to eat pizza and drink milk with his cookies? Watch the first of Brett’s video series here.
    • One mother tells the shocking story of how strep throat attacked her child’s brain, causing symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder.  Many other parents wrote in to Thrive, saying they had experienced the same thing. It’s a scary story, but by sharing, this family helped others feel like they weren’t so alone.
    • We also talked a lot about epilepsy this year. We recently shared the video and first-person story of a young woman whose seizures are being controlled by a novel brain stimulation technique. We also heard from neurologist Frances Jensen, whose work studying the causes and potential treatments of epilepsy was featured in a 60 Minutes story.

    Is there anything we didn’t cover this year that you’d like us to? Please let us know!

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  • HTC HD2 to get Windows Mobile 7 — Nothing Else

    It is amazing how much advance product information leaks out over social networks like Twitter. Recently, the HTC Russia team tweeted that the HD2 will be getting upgraded to Windows Mobile 7 next year when it is available. This hasn’t been confirmed by HTC, but the tweets went onto mention that the HD2 is the only HTC phone currently available that will get the upgrade. I’ll have to take this on good faith, as it is definitely a rumor and especially since I don’t read Russian.


  • Volvo S60 Painting by Blind Artist Sets eBay Record

    The painting made by the blind Turkish artist Esref Armagan depicting the new Volvo S60 was recently put up for grabs on eBay Canada. The unique painting finally sold for 3,050 dollars, the highest price an art piece is sold for on eBay for the benefit of a charity, with the proceeds going to a Canadian charity, the World Blind Union.

    "We were really surprised that a dealership from our own Volvo Network bought the painting", says Lukas Dohle, head of Live Communication … (read more)

  • Couple donates $1m for nursing program

    Wellesley residents Burton and Gloria Rose recently presented Hebrew SeniorLife with a $1 million gift to support its Nursing Career Development Program, which allows certified nursing assistants who work for Hebrew SeniorLife to become licensed practical nurses…

    Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, offers senior housing, health care, research, and education programs…

    Read more here The Boston Globe

  • Piccolo Grande: Stretch-limo Vespa?

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    A stretch-limo Vespa may still garner a fist to the face, but this attention-grabbing idea is better than the last flash of brilliance Vespa South Africa Managing Director Andy Reid put into action. That plan involved fake parking tickets being placed guerrilla-style on large vehicles to drive the point about Vespa’s fuel efficient image.

    If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em seems to be the latest modus operandi. Aimed square at the blingy-glam heart of the public at large, a custom Vespa “stretch limo” has been whipped up to generate publicity. Vespa calls it a family car on two wheels and intimates that children will dig going to school on it. Maybe the going part. Other glitterati-friendly uses abound: be the designated driver and still park outside the front door (didn’t know that was a problem?), make friends and drag them home, all in one swift, conjoined-twin-motorscooter motion. The reality is more likely that this thing is a dog to ride. It’s akin to surfing a pipeline while standing at the very front of your longboard on your tiptoes. Now that would certainly get your attention, now wouldn’t it? Exactly. Hat tip to Robin!

    [Source: Motoring.co.za via Neatorama]

    Piccolo Grande: Stretch-limo Vespa? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Atieva Picks Up $7M for Battery Tech

    Atieva, an early-stage developer of battery packs for plug-in cars, secured just over $7 million in financing this week, according to an SEC filing. The startup’s backers now include Beijing’s China Environment Fund III and Venrock Associates, a venture capital firm that Atieva sales and marketing chief Mike Harrigan told us in May had previously […]


  • Measuring on a Large Scale

    Carl Zeiss recently set up the largest MMZ G gantry measuring machine in Oberndorf. This highly accurate coordinate measuring machine has a measuring range of 5 x 11 x 3.5 meters. It is used to measure ship engines.

    MMZ G coordinate measuring machines can accommodate parts on the ground or on a clamping plate. Special loading systems considerably reduce downtimes. Together with CAD-based CALYPSO® measuring software, VAST® technology from Carl Zeiss optimizes measuring processes. It can deliver form, size and position information, and also determine the roundness of parts in a single measuring run. The performance of VAST navigator during the form measurement of parts with deep-laying features is practically unparalleled. The highly accurate VAST gold active scanning probe permits the use of extensions up to 1000 mm, enabling measurement of deep-lying geometric elements. Therefore, this scanning technology is ideal for complex part geometries and automated CNC measuring runs.

    The flexible modular system of the MMZ G line enables full customization. On the largest model, the linear measuring uncertainty MPEE is no more than 7+L/250 µm. The Z-axis ram has featured an optical ram protection system since 2009. If an object enters the detection area of the light barriers, the measuring machine stops immediately.

    Thanks to these and many additional features, the MMZ G line from Carl Zeiss is the best choice when large parts have to be measured reliably and very accurately. In addition to ship engines, these include components for printing machines and wind turbines.

  • Work table for sound equipment

    Day 365. Phew. I made it.

    It’s been a good but exhausting year for me. Working solo from home is not as easy as I thought. But still, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve learnt lots running my own freelance writing business. Mainly, how not to be so hung up on work. Ha. To realise that other things are just as important as the next paycheck. Getting my health and fitness back on track, strengthening ties that matter, getting enough sleep … they are easy to overlook when a deadline looms.

    Anyways, a woman needs to pamper herself so I will be packing my bags and stretching my legs over at Siem Reap, Cambodia. For a change, I’d usher in the year with a good dose of peace, serenity, and hopefully, a fine flute of champagne. Aaah, sipping the bubbly while my eyes feast on the sight of the sun setting over the famed Angkor Wat. A perfect end to a year well spent.

    But before I scoot, thank you for sticking with me through the years. For sending in your hacks, for commenting, for cheering me on, for feedback, for constructive criticisms, for writing to me with your funny Ikea stories, for sponsoring this blog, for making Ikeahacker happen. Big hugs and kisses.

    With that, I give you the last hack of 2009. This one’s from Magda of Montreal who sends in her husband’s handsome desk hack.

    “Here is another Ikea hack made by my two handymen (my husband and my father) and designed by my mom. We needed a work table for my husband, who is a Mac lover and also a sound designer, so he has tons of cables and some weird machines to do sounds. Our house is really small and we don’t have a room for all that stuff. So we just made a great working space in our family room. It was really cheap since I’m a queen of our Ikea store “as is” section.

    The top of this table is made with a headboard of a white Malm bed  (found at “as is” section for $10 Canadian!) As you can see on the top (right corner) we drilled a rectangular hole to fit one of my hubby’s weird machine.

    The leg is made from an Akurum basic kitchen cabinet. With some shelving inside we were able to hide all our electronic stuff, such as a printer, camera and all the cables needed by my husband. The inside shelf for the printer is a sliding one just to make it easier to print.

    Just to make it more appealing in design we placed an Imperativ stainless steel wallpanel (also found in “as is” section) at the front and an Antonius shoe rack (yes, an “as is” item also..) at the back, just to have easy access to our computer and to ensure some ventilation for all the electronic equipment.

    The work space , front view.

    Sliding shelf for the printer with the stainless steel wall panel on the front part of the kitchen cabinet.

    The back panel made of the shoe rack and installed on the back side of the kitchen cabinet (leg of our work station)

    Top of the work station with my hubby’s weird machine installed in the rectangular hole made especially for it.

    Some additional views…