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Archive for the ‘Space’ Category

Astronomers have found the farthest supernova ever detected - a giant star that ripped apart around 11 billion years ago.

July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 38 : 31 , Share it, No Comments

Weather could delay shuttle launch

Stormy weather could delay this weekend's launch of the space shuttle Endeavour.

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Scientists capture supernovae

Astronomers have spotted the most distant and oldest star explosions yet in the universe.

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Nasa poised for third shuttle launch try

Countdown clocks resumed ticking at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in preparation for Nasa's third attempt to launch space shuttle Endeavour on a construction mission to the ISS.

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China chooses first female astronaut

China could launch its first woman into space as early as 2012, reports state media.

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Archive for the ‘Environment’ Category

Agencies outline Mars initiative

The US and European space agencies launch an initiative that could lead to joint missions to explore the Red Planet.

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Study pinpoints UK wind hotspots

An Energy Saving Trust study identifies the 'best and worst' locations in the UK for domestic small-scale wind turbines.

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'15-year high' for rhino poaching

Rhino poaching around the world is set to reach a 15-year high as demand for the animals' horns grows, conservation groups warn.

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Ban criticises G8 climate efforts

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon criticises G8 nations for not going far enough to combat climate change.

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A glimpse of ancient dying stars

Snapshots of the most distant supernovae known to astronomy, which exploded 11 billion years ago, have been revealed.

July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 43 : 34 , Share it, No Comments

Archive for the ‘Gadgets’ Category

iPhone 3GS Upstream Speed Limited to 384Kbps [Smartphones]

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.While the iPhone 3GS got a download speed boost—to 7.2Mbps—it didn't get any upload power-up, according to PC World: Its upstream speed is limited by its hardware to 384Kbps. But don't get out the torches and pitchforks yet.

Most GSM-based cellphones suffer the same problem: No matter how fast they are at download, they will upload at only 384Kbps, or less, as you can see in our iPhone 3GS network test. This is because the hardware doesn't support the HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access) standard, created by Nokia—the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) refers to this standard as Enhanced Uplink.

Some would say that this is not needed because Enhanced Uplink—which runs at 1.4 and 1.9Mbps—is not supported by AT&T yet, but in Europe there are networks that already support this standard. I would imagine that users of the popular JesusPhone would love to upload their photos and videos to Facebook and YouTube as fast as possible.

On the other side, with AT&T still struggling to get 7.2Mbps off the ground and most of the other networks having problems and slowdowns everywhere, I would be happy if they all just managed to actually deliver their advertised download speeds. [PC World]

July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 32 : 24 , Share it, No Comments

Pegboard Device Sinks Carpal Tunnel's Battleship [Health]

A pegboard device developed by bioengineering students from Rice University aims to better diagnose and evaluate carpal tunnel syndrome by restraining the hand and analyzing movements with a customized PDA.

In a five-minute test, a doctor uses pegs to isolate a patient's individual fingers. "You wouldn't think it works as well as it does, but once you are pegged in, you can't move anything but the finger we want you to," Miller said. A loop is fitted around the finger, and when the patient moves it, the amount of force generated is measured. "PRIME gets the peak force," Xu said. "Then the doctor can create a patient-specific file with all your information, time-stamped, and record every single measurement.".

Apparently, most of the tests for carpal tunnel are subjective—so improving accuracy and providing detailed patient-specific information will be helpful for sufferers in the future. It's a good thing too, because in this line of work I will need all the help I can get. [Medgadget via Boing Boing Gadgets]

July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 32 : 24 , Share it, No Comments

Amazon Wireless Aims To Make Cellphone Shopping Easier [Amazon]

For many of us, cellphone shopping really means choosing between the major smartphone brands—but for those of us looking at a broader range of devices and plans, Amazon has developed a new site to help make the process easier.

Amazon Wireless offers services like:

•Easy shopping for cell phones and service wireless plans without rebate hassles
•Shopping by carrier, phone feature, price, color and brand
•The ability to purchase a phone and take advantage of upgrade benefits
•Free Two-Day Shipping on a broad selection of phones from AT&T and Verizon Wireless
•Bestseller lists, detailed product descriptions and customer reviews.

The site currently offers a selection of around 130 phones (it's in beta), but right off the bat the fact that carriers are limited to AT&T and Verizon really limits the usefulness of the service. Still, it is another resource worth checking out if you are shopping around. [Amazon Wireless]

July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 32 : 24 , Share it, No Comments

Gadget Deals of the Day [Dealzmodo]

Summer moving sluggishly? Dealzmodo here to save you with amazing deals on movies and games! The awesome Metal Gear Solid collection going for $20! Evil Dead 2 for $13? Who's laughing now Ash? Dealzmodo is! Happy thirsty Thursday everyone!

Computers and Peripherals:
• 17" Dell Vostro 1720 Intel Core 2 Duo T6670 2.2GHZ LED-Backlit Laptop 3GB RAM 320GB for $659 plus free shipping (normally $947).
• 15.6" Lenovo G550 Dual Core Laptop with 4GB DDR3 RAM 320GB HDD for $499 plus free shipping (normally $699 - use coupon code USPG5502BU).
• 15.6" Acer AS5516-5474 AMD Athlon 64 Processor TF-20 Laptop for $299.99 (normally $387).
• 15.4" Dell Vostro 1520 Intel Core 2 Duo T6670 Wide Screen WXGA LED Display Laptop for $589 plus free shipping (normally $650).
• 10.1" Acer Aspire One LCD 1.6GHz Netbook (Refurbished) for $259.99 (normally $349.95).
• 23" Dell S2309W Widescreen LCD Monitor for $149.99 plus free shipping (normally $239.99).
• 20" Samsung 2033SW Widescreen LCD Monitor for $95.00 plus free shipping (normally $169).
• 1TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.B Internal SATA Hard Drive for $65.99 plus free shipping (normally $89.99 - use this rebate form).
• Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard for $73.99 plus free shipping (normally $89.99).

Personal Portables:
• Amazon Kindle (Latest Generation) for $299 (normally $359).
• 8GB Creative Vado HD 720p High-Def Pocket Video Camcorder for $129.99 plus free shipping (normally $159.99).
• Canon DC310 DVD Camcorder with 37X Optical Zoom (Refurbished) for $119.99 (normally $999.99).
• 10MP Pentax E60 Digital Camera $89.99 plus free shipping (normally $200).

Miscellaneous:
• Family Guy Talking Stewie and Brian for $10 plus free shipping (normally $20).
• Unlimited Skype Calls within US & Canada for $2.50 per month (normally $2.95).

Hobomodo:
• 1-Year of Dog's Life Magazine for $0.
• Huggies Pure and Natural for $0.
• Screening of "Food Inc" for $0.
• Screening of "I Love You, Beth Cooper" for $0 (limited - valid today only).
• Arby's Roast Burger coupon (with Soft Drink Purchase) for $0.
• "Braided Cellophane" by Tobacco MP3 download for $0.
• "Fireflies" by Chris Garneau MP3 download for $0.
• JellyCar on iPhone for $0.

If a deal looks too good to be true, investigate the store and see if it's a good, reputable place to buy. Safe shopping!

[Thanks TechDealDigger, Fat Wallet, DealNews, GamerHotline, SlickDeals, Cheap College Gamers, CheapStingyBargains and TechBargains.]

July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 32 : 24 , Share it, No Comments

The Seven Types of Employees You Meet at Best Buy [Satire]

Have you ever noticed that no matter which Best Buy you go into, you end up seeing the same people working there? That's because there are seven types of people that work at every single Best Buy, with no exceptions.

A little known fact about me is that I worked at Best Buy for a couple of years in high school before getting fired for badly, badly abusing the employee discount system. But while there I learned a lot about the types of people that work in such an establishment, and I've noticed the same people in other Best Buys that I've been to since. So here are my list of the seven types of people you'll find there, from a former employee's perspective.

Next time you go to Best Buy, be on the lookout. I promise you'll see at least a couple of these characters.

Illustrations by Dan Meth

Want to ditch this gallery format and see everything on one page? Click here.

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.

Car Audio Thug
You'll find this guy in the car audio department. He's got a big plug earring in each ear, some form of facial hair out of a late-90's R&B video and tattoos on his forearms. He tears into the parking lot every day, tires squealing, bass blasting, in a late-model Civic that he's dumped thousands of dollars into. You suspect that if he didn't have a job selling car stereos, he'd be stealing them.

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.

Marginally Cute Customer Service Girl
This girl works at the customer service desk or as a cashier. She's maybe 17 years old and is kind of cute, but only when compared to the chubby piles of sadness she's surrounded with. Because of this, she's constantly hit on/sexually harassed by the guys who stock CDs and DVDs. She manages to take this in stride somehow and is almost infuriatingly perky and chipper. The chances of her having hooked up with the car audio thug are very high.

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.

Grizzled Old Home Theater/Computer Sales Lifer
This guy has seen some shit. He's a refugee from Lechmere or Tweeter or some other now-defunct retail outlet. He knows the most about the products he sells, which is why all the part-time high school employees send customers with actual questions his way. He's got an air of resigned acceptance about his life, and while he's all-business with customers, he's got no filter with fellow employees. He tells inappropriate jokes and talks vulgarly about the managers behind their back. He has a strictly regimented cigarette break every 2.5 hours that he never, ever misses.

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.

Pervy Geek Squad Guy
This guy searches every computer that's in for service for porn, collecting everything he finds on an external HDD that he keeps in the back. He talks in graphic terms about what he'd do to women who he sees enter the store, but when he talks to them he's totally professional. You suspect that he pleasures himself behind the plastic curtains, but you don't want to confirm this. He's got a level 80 World of Warcraft character. Somehow, he and the grizzled old sales guy are buddies and eat lunch together.

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.

Sad Department Manager
This guy went to college then, after graduation, moved back home with his parents to save money. He ended up getting a job at Best Buy while he "figured stuff out." It's 10 years later and he still lives in the town he went to high school in, is balding, gained 15 pounds and is the manager of the digital cameras department. He's perfectly adequate at his job, but talking to him for more than 5 minutes just makes you so damned sad.

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.

Slick Careerist Manager
This guy wants to go right to the top. He runs team meetings, irons his blue polos, and gets a hard-on when talking about accessory sales and service-plan attach rates. He's climbing the ladder with everything he's got, and he spews corporate nonsense with the passion of a true believer. You've never seen him have an actual human interaction with someone, and you wonder if he even has any furniture in his apartment. He may be a robot.

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.

Terrifying Loss-Prevention Guy
This guy is either an ex-con, an ex-cop or a vet. He is jacked yet forced to wear a yellow polo shirt, which creates a false sense of levity when dealing with him. He may seem friendly on the outside, but if you cross him he will snap your neck. He legitimately thinks that it's unfair that Best Buy security guys aren't allowed to carry sidearms. He has so much rage bottled up inside him that you know to just say hello and smile and otherwise steer clear.

July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 32 : 24 , Share it, No Comments

Archive for the ‘Programming’ Category

Generic Features of Java 6

Java technology is both a high-level, object-oriented programming language and a software platform. Java technology is based on the concept of a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) -- a translator between the language and the underlying software and hardware. All implementations of the platform emulate the JVM, enabling Java programs to run on any system with a suitable JVM. Java 6 focuses on platform stability, performance and diagnostics.

July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 25 : 51 , Share it, No Comments

jMaki, a lightweight client/server framework

jMaki is a lightweight client/server framework for creating JavaScript centric Web 2.0 applications using CSS layouts, widgets widget model, client services such as publish/subscribe events to tie widgets together, JavaScript action handlers, and a generic proxy to interact with external RESTful web services. While jMaki abstracts much of the JavaScript and CSS by providing defaults for widgets, the JavaScript widgets and CSS are made easily accessible so they may be customized by a designer or page developer. jMaki focuses on the aspects of delivering JavaScript to the client allowing the JavaScript to communicate to various server-technologies including PHP, Java (JSP/JSF), and Phobos in a server-technology neutral way.

July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 25 : 51 , Share it, No Comments

Java Application Testing Tools

Many organizations are surprised to find that it is more expensive to do testing using tools. In order to gain benefits from testing tools, careful thought must be given for which tests you want to use tools and to the tool being chosen.

July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 25 : 51 , Share it, No Comments

Web Application Testing Tools - Open Source

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Groovy 1.0 Released

The Groovy project released Groovy 1.0, An agile dynamic language for the Java Platform with many features that are inspired by languages like Python, Ruby and Smalltalk, making them available to Java developers using a Java-like syntax. The final 1.0 version of the language contains significant changes from earlier Groovy implementations, such as a new meta-object protocol, an improved type coercion mechanism, and a new closure syntax.

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Archive for the ‘Gaming’ Category

Command & Conquer 4 Announced

Command & Conquer 4 (PC)
Conclusion to popular RTS franchise to be released in 2010.

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Dissidia Final Fantasy Video

Dissidia Final Fantasy (PSP)
Even with a small stature, this hero can save the world.

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Alien Breed Evolving

Alien Breed Evolution (X360)
Team17 has more than Worms in the pipeline.

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Brutal Legend Video

Brütal Legend (X360)
Check out the hilarious Jack Black in the 4th installment of Brutal Thoughts.

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Brutal Legend Video

Brütal Legend (PS3)
Check out the hilarious Jack Black in the 4th installment of Brutal Thoughts.

July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 50 : 11 , Share it, No Comments

Archive for the ‘Tech Biz’ Category

Live from London: The Europas Awards

The Europas, the tech startup awards from TechCrunch Europe, will be streamed live from this post from 6pm tonight London time/GMT (10am SF, 1pm NYC). We'll kick off with a startup pitch competition, followed by a panel of some of the leading lights in tech consisting of: our own Sarah Lacy, Jolicloud founder Tariq Krim, MyDeco's Brent Hoberman and Michael Birch, co-founder of Bebo. The actual announcement of The Europas winners will be from around 8.30pm GMT onwards. he winners will be announce first on TechCrunch Europe (RSS and Twitter). After that, well, a huge party. Over 300 people are attending from all over the European tech scene. Our streaming partner is TechFluff.tv. If you couldn't get to the awards, if you're somewhere in Europe working on your own startup, then tonight raise a glass, put the projector screen on in the bar and have your very own Europas awards with us. We salute you.

July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 07 : 20 , Share it, No Comments

OneRiot Real-Time Search API Now Open To All

picture-1718 For some, it’s useful to go to OneRiot to search for links being tweeted or dugg in real-time. But for a lot of people it’s better if the sites and services they’re already using have the functionality built-in. That’s OneRiot’s intention in opening up its API to the public today.

The site’s API, which has been in use with selected partners for several weeks, will give third-party developers a chance to bake the results right into their sites or apps. One of the big developers that has already been using it is Microsoft, which has a version of its web browser, IE 8, with OneRiot built-in.

Another partner that has been using the API is the desktop social messaging client Nambu. You can imagine that a lot of the clients that offer Twitter functionality may also want to offer real-time link search capabilities, which OneRiot’s API will be perfect for.

Here are four of the main options that OneRiot will offer with the API:

OneRiot CEO, Kimbal Musk, will be participating in our Real-Time Stream CrunchUp this Friday.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 07 : 20 , Share it, No Comments

Twitter CRM Service, CoTweet, Raises Series A Funding; Launches Public Beta.

cotweet-logo

CoTweet, the web based Twitter collaboration platform for businesses, has announced a Series A round of funding totaling $1.1 million. The investors are Baseline Ventures, Founders Fund, First Round Capital, SV Angel, Maples Investments and Freestyle Capital.

CoTweet helps companies and brands, like Whole Foods, Microsoft, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and the City of San Francisco’s 311 manage their Twitter accounts as a marketing channel. CoTweet makes it easy to manage multiple accounts and supports group access to the same acounts, so a marketing team can split up Tweeting duties among themselves but still keep a unified public voice on Twitter.

CoTweet also launched into public beta today — meaning anyone can now sign up for the service. Previously, CoTweet was an invite-only service, with invites being hard to snag.

Finally, CoTweet has announced that it has integrated directly with Bit.ly, enabling CoTweet users to access the real-time click tracking and analytics from the URL shortening service. CoTweet launched in 2008, and is based in San Francisco.

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CoTweet

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July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 07 : 20 , Share it, No Comments

SuperFan Combines Social Gaming With Fan Worship

There has never been a better time to be a “fan” online. Whether it be via Facebook, MySpace, or even through fan-based social networks like TopFans, fandom on the web is taking off now that fans have more ways of expressing themselves. Just look at the recently deceased Michael Jackson, whose Facebook page now has close to 8 million fans, surpassing the fan count of Barack Obama’s Facebook page (6.4 million fans). SuperFan is a new way for people to express their loyalty and admiration for a show, movie, celeb, professional athlete or politician. SuperFan is a social gaming network where users build their network around who and what their fans of and compete with other fans to become the top fan.

Users of the network can become Fans of all their “Faves,” which include everything from ABC’s show Grey’s Anatomy to tennis star Roger Federer. Fans tag their Faves and can then use credits (via a virtual currency) to become the “SuperFan,” which gives them special privileges in controlling the favorite item or person’s profile. The network has enabled a bidding system to motivates fans to prove they are the number one fan.

Fans can earn points as they contributing more to the site. The credits can then be used to send virtual gifts, posting site-wide messages, customizing profiles with skins and colors and becoming the ultimate “SuperFan.” Fans can also create, take and share quizzes about their Faves, create and post to blogs on their homepages, and create battles (posted to the community) between Faves to drive traffic to the their respective pages (think Angelina vs. Jen). Users are also given a compatibility score with other fans on the site, that recommends friends to you base on your mutual Faves.

SuperFan is the brainchild of the co-founder of Tickle (which was bought by Monster Worldwide for $100 million in 2004), Rick Marini. Marini says SuperFan will make money mainly through e-commerce (via virtual currency sales), advertising and afilliate campaigns (SuperFan has partnerships in place with iTunes, Amazon, TicketMaster, StubHub, ThumbPlay to sell products and tickets.) Board members include founder of F*cked Company and AdBrite Philip Kaplan and Napster founder Shawn Fanning.

SuperFan is a innovative and engaging way for users to express their “inner fan” but I worry about how site will amass actual users when many people are already using Facebook and MySpace as fan hubs. Marini says that the site has implemented integration with Twitter and Facebook Connect to allows users to publish news onto their other social network sites, and also possibly catch the attention of potential fans at the same time. Still, MySpace, especially when it comes to music, and Facebook have a relative monopoly when it comes to combining fans with social networks. But Marini counters that on Facebook anyone can create a fan page for a celeb, show, athlete etc, creating sometimes hundreds of pages for one person or item and distorting the ultimate fan experience. Users often don’t know which page is the official one. With SuperFan, all “Fave” pages are pre-set and monitored so fans cannot create new pages but only add to them.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 07 : 20 , Share it, No Comments

Office 2010 Promo Video Promises Action, Excitement, Explosions

Office Team Lead: We need something really cool to make people excited about Office 2010. Some Office Programmer Guy: Can we call Google to hint at ChromeOS to take the heat off of us when we launch on Monday? OTL: Already done. We need a video. SOPG: What should it include? A little run-through of the program? Sort of a screencast that folks can watch and understand and then maybe get excited about Office 2010? Maybe we can put some Feist in there? Make it really minimalistic? OTL: No. We need an action movie.

July 9th, 2009 , 15 : 07 : 20 , Share it, No Comments

Archive for the ‘Space’ Category

Apollo Sites Spotted by Lunar Scout

For stubborn folks who still believe the Apollo astronauts never landed on the moon, NASA has new images — definitive proof — that clearly show the Apollo 11 lander that carried the first astronauts to the lunar surface 40 years ago.

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