Monday, June 20, 2011

Zoho Docs 2.0 adds iPad support

zoho docs ipad
Zoho has offered an iOS app for a while now -- at least for the iPhone and iPod touch. Those of you who have been wanting to use the Zoho app on your iPad were out of luck, but that's no longer the case.

Zoho Docs 2.0 has landed in the App Store, and the most notable change is that it's now a universal app. Now you're able to take advantage of the app's mobile productivity powers on your larger iOS device. Retina display support has also been added, as have document sharing options -- which you can utilize in both the viewer and collaboration modes.

Just like the basic Zoho service, the app is available totally free of charge. Paid subscriptions get you additional storage space and start at $3 per month for professional use.

Zoho Docs 2.0 adds iPad support originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS F5 NETWORKS EPICOR SOFTWARE EMULEX EMS TECHNOLOGIES

Talkcast tonight, 10 PM EDT/7 PM PDT: Father's Day Edition!

Happy Father's Day! If you've made it through all the grilling and presentations of soap on a rope, join me for this week's Talkcast! We shall cover the news of the last week, including the grand debut of the unlocked iPhone and the possibility of the iPhone replacing the iPod touch. Of course, no Kelly-hosted episode is complete without a visit to my House of Crackpot Theories, and we'll do some rampant speculating on new hardware rumors as well.

Remember: If Kelly hosts the show, it means we have an aftershow! TUAWTF covers all manner of topics. Often silly, never recorded. Come share your stories of Dr Pepper cake and bad internet connections.

Your calls and questions help make the show the best it can be, otherwise I'm just talking to myself! To participate, you can use the browser-only Talkshoe client, the embedded Facebook app or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 PM EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (Viva free weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Blink or X-Lite SIP clients, basic instructions are here. (If you like Blink, the pro version is available in the Mac App Store.) Skype users with SkypeOut credit can call the main Talkshoe number; it's also a free call with the Google Voice browser plugin. Talk to you tonight!

Talkcast tonight, 10 PM EDT/7 PM PDT: Father's Day Edition! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 19 Jun 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

AMPHENOL ANIXTER INTERNATIONAL APPLE COMPUTER APPLIED MATERIALS ARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT

Why Not Tumblr

KDDI KLATENCOR KONINKLIJKE KPN LAM RESEARCH LIBERTY GLOBAL

Want To Run For President? The Quickest Way To Raise Money Is To Say Something Idiotic On Cable TV


Michele Bachmann

Today the Washington Post coined the term the 'money blurt' to describe what happens when politicians say unplanned, incredibly idiotic things, that subsequently go viral on the Internet and eventually become fundraising tools.

To wit: Michele Bachmann (naturally): "Shortly after accusing President Obama of having “anti-American views” during one cable-news appearance, for example, Bachmann took in nearly $1 million."

She is not alone.  WaPo also notes that heckler Joe Wilson who yelled 'you lie' at the president during his State of the Union address raised $2 million following his outburst.

The list goes on.  And of course, one might argue Sarah Palin's entire political career has been one big in-genius money blurt.

So if it seems like politicians are getting extra dumb and offensive in the next 12 months (hard to imagine...but still) it's not your imagination!  They are just trying to make money.  Just like the blogosphere.

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:



SATYAM COMPUTER SERVICES SES SHAW COMMUNICATIONS SIEMENS CDW

YouTube Live now streaming select partners in real time

Not content with limiting its dominance in streaming uploaded videos, YouTube is now ready to take on competitors like Justin.TV and Ustream. The new YouTube Live service is being rolled out to select YouTube partners and will enable real-time broadcasting. In its official announcement, Google states that "The goal is to provide thousands of partners with the capability to live stream from their channels in the months ahead."

You can check out live broadcasts at http://www.youtube.com/live, where you'll also find a schedule of upcoming episodes from beta partners like Revision3 and Destructoid. You're also able to subscribe to YouTube Live broadcasts -- which will ensure you're notified when a new episode is coming up.

YouTube Live now streaming select partners in real time originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

DIODES INORATED DIEBOLD DELL CYPRESS SEMICONDUCTOR ACCENTURE

Blog Post: La gente lleva ?amantes? en el bolsillo, muestra estudio de BBDO y Microsoft Advertising

BBDO Worldwide y Microsoft Advertising presentaron hoy los resultados de un estudio global presentado en el 58 Festival Internacional de la Creatividad Cannes Lions, en Cannes, Francia. El objetivo del estudio consiste en ayudar a los profesionales de la mercadotecnia a atraer a ?los siguientes mil millones de consumidores? al entender la relaci�n emocional de los consumidores con la televisi�n las computadoras y los dispositivos m�viles.

BBDO y Microsoft Corp. trabajaron con Ipsos, una compa��a global de investigaci�n, utilizando t�cnicas de proyecci�n, de interpretaci�n de im�genes y de an�lisis cuantitativo y cualitativo para recopilar las respuestas de la encuesta, que se realiz� a m�s de 1,500 consumidores en cinco pa�ses: Arabia Saudita, China, Estados Unidos, Reino Unido y Rusia.

A diferencia de otros estudios de publicidad digital multipantalla que emplean la medici�n, �ste asumi� una estrategia diferente: entender lo que sucede en la ?psique? de las personas y c�mo se relacionan e interact�an emocionalmente con cada pantalla a nivel personal. Se aplicaron los arquetipos junguianos para ayudar a dar una personalidad a cada dispositivo. El estudio presenta un impresionante perfil de similitudes y diferencias ?en todas las geograf�as, edades, demograf�as y pantallas? que aporta ideas y sugerencias publicitarias interesantes, lo que ayudar� a elaborar mensajes m�s atractivos y relevantes para las marcas.

6232_MarcBreseel_Simone_BondCannesLions_2011_41963701

Algunas de las conclusiones del estudio son:

El televisor es un viejo amigo confiable y entretenido? un compa�ero que se sienta c�moda y pasivamente en tu casa. Sin embargo, se observan diferencias entre los distintos pa�ses y grupos de edad, especialmente en Rusia y China, donde la televisi�n surgi� como algo que se deb�a usar con cautela, dado que era propiedad del estado

La PC es como un hermano mayor? alguien de qui�n aprender, a qui�n presumirle y con qui�n competir. Es mucho m�s confiable que el televisor, particularmente en los pa�ses orientales y entre los consumidores m�s j�venes, ya que pueden controlar y elegir el contenido en sus computadoras.

El dispositivo m�vil es como un ?nuevo amante?? el dispositivo m�s personal con el cual los usuarios tienen una relaci�n cercana. Quieren llevarlo consigo todo el tiempo. Es una relaci�n que apenas comienza y, como tal, abarca todos los grupos de edad y pa�ses debido a su ?novedad?. Las tablets son, de hecho, una especie de combinaci�n de las dem�s pantallas.

?Hemos cambiado la manera en que generalmente analizamos la efectividad de la publicidad en m�ltiples pantallas, pues vemos esas pantallas a trav�s de los ojos de un arquetipo?, dijo Marc Bresseel, vicepresidente de Mercadotecnia Global en Microsoft Advertising, y uno de los presentadores del estudio en Cannes. ?Esta investigaci�n demuestra la forma en que los consumidores se relacionan con los dispositivos que utilizan todos los d�as en maneras f�ciles de entender por los profesionales de la mercadotecnia y, en especial, por los creativos, lo que les permitir� ajustar sus mensajes de acuerdo a ello. Existe evidencia emp�rica que cuando un consumidor es m�s receptivo a un mensaje, ese mensaje ser� mucho m�s eficaz?.

Con base en los resultados del estudio, BBDO y Microsoft recomiendan lo siguiente:

Para que los mensajes m�viles sean eficaces, deben reconocer la naturaleza personal de este medio. Lo que funciona en la televisi�n o en otras pantallas no necesariamente funcionar� en los dispositivos m�viles. Los mensajes deben ser sumamente relevantes, significativos y �tiles. Asimismo, deben ser �ntimos, interesantes, discretos y hacer sentir al usuario que pertenece. Para los publicistas, el formato de la publicidad para las tablets necesita reflejar la ?personalidad? del dispositivo.

La publicidad en la PC puede ser particularmente adecuada para llegar a los consumidores m�s j�venes. No obstante, necesita ser algo de que lo cual se pueda aprender, compartir o alardear. Debe ense�ar, desafiar y apelar al esp�ritu competidor del usuario (Ej., incluir un componente de juego).

Nunca hubo un mejor momento para la publicidad en televisi�n. Ya sea que se vea en una pantalla de televisi�n, en una PC (utilizada como televisor) o en un Xbox, los p�blicos son receptivos y esperan que se les entretenga y divierta. La televisi�n es un medio poderoso, y los publicistas deben continuar produciendo anuncios para ella.

?Los arquetipos seguir�n evolucionando conforme los dispositivos se vuelvan m�s sofisticados y los p�blicos se hagan m�s viejos, m�s j�venes o m�s maduros?, dijo Simon Bond, Director Ejecutivo de Mercadotecnia en BBDO Norteam�rica y uno de los presentadores del estudio en Cannes. ?Lo importante es saber c�mo est� interactuando la gente con esas pantallas hoy, y no c�mo lo har� dentro de cinco a�os. Aunque algunos profesionales de la mercadotecnia pueden haber dominado las pantallas individuales, nadie las ha dominado todas. Por lo tanto, cuando la publicidad se optimice para esas pantallas, podr� atraer a ?los siguientes mil millones de consumidores?, especialmente en pa�ses como la India, donde existen m�s de 100 millones de usuarios de PC, o en China, donde hay el triple de usuarios m�viles?.

LIBERTY GLOBAL LM ERICSSON LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL MCAFEE MAXIMUS

The Bitcoin Trials Continue: Mt. Gox Exchange Collapses Due To Compromised Account

It seems that Bitcoin is experiencing the same fits and starts that any new currency undergoes early in its history. Though Bitcoin is 2 years old, the mainstream press discovered it much more recently, and since then, Bitcoin has experienced some schizophrenic volatility -- you can read Jon Evans' recent diagnosis here. Yet, absent from Evans' post is the very latest news out of the virtual currency market: Late this afternoon, Bitcoin suffered from another serious setback, as the network's most popular exchange, Mt. Gox, collapsed thanks to a hacked account. The unknown hacker(s) made an enormous sale of bitcoins from a compromised account, causing the price of the currency to fall from $17.5 to just pennies in a matter of minutes.

NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS MOTOROLA MOODYS MISCROSOFT OFFICE MICROSOFT

Blog Post: Top Ten Favorite PowerShell Tricks: Part 3

Working with Ranges, Dates, and Other Cool PowerShell Tricks

Summary: Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, concludes his three-part series about his top ten favorite Windows PowerShell tricks.

Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. I got a little carried away with my top ten list of Windows PowerShell tricks over the weekend. I had originally intended it to be only a Weekend Scripter series, but as I began writing about the tricks, I wanted to tell you WHY the tricks are my favorite tricks, and then I wanted to illustrate different things that show how to use the tricks. Before I knew it, I had run out of space. Rather than wait until next weekend to complete the series, I decided to run the blogs consecutively. So this is part three of my series about my top ten Windows PowerShell Tricks.

In the first blog, I talked about using the transcript feature, finding hidden objects, using Select to expand properties, and grouping items so they are dot accessible. In the second blog, I continued my discussion about the my top ten Windows PowerShell tricks by talking about using a square bracket to index into an array, using tab expansion, and using the List parameter with the Get-WmiObject cmdlet to find WMI classes.

Trick #8: Use the range operator

One of my favorite things to do is to create an array of 10 elements with the value of 1 through 10 in just five key strokes. Here is the code.

1..10

When I run this code, it creates an array of numbers, numbered consecutively 1 through 10. If I store these numbers into a variable, I can index into the array and retrieve the value of the elements. Remember that an array is zero based; and therefore, $a[5] returns the sixth item in the array. This is shown in the following image.

Image of command output

If I need to create an array of negative numbers, I use a minus in front of the numbers. This is shown here.

PS C:\> -1..-5

-1

-2

-3

-4

-5

I can reverse the order in which the numbers are created as shown here.

PS C:\> -5..-1

-5

-4

-3

-2

-1

PS C:\> 4..1

4

3

2

1

PS C:\>

There are times when I need to perform a command multiple times—for example, when refreshing Group Policy while waiting for replication to occur. In the following command, I call GPUpdate five times. I display a string to the Windows PowerShell console to let me know what pass has occurred and the time that pass ran. I also pause the script for ten seconds to wait between iterations of the command. The % character is an alias for the ForEach-Object cmdlet. The ; character is a command separator (it is an end-of-logical-line terminator). Therefore, the command inside the curly brackets is actually three separate commands.

1..5 | % { gpupdate ; "update $_ $(get-date)" ; sleep 10 }

When the command runs, the following output is produced on my system.

Image of command output

One day, I needed to create an array of letters. I thought I would try my range operator trick, and so I typed the command shown here.

A..Z

Unfortunately, the range operator does not work for letters, only for numbers. I then remembered the ASCII table, and so I modified the command a bit, and cast the numbers to characters. The revised command is shown here (remember the % symbol is an alias for the ForEach-Object cmdlet. The [char] casts the number to a System.Char .NET Framework type).

65..90 | % { [char]$_ }

These commands and their associated output are shown in the following image.

Image of command output

Trick # 9 Get-AllHelpExamples

I am certain that you are familiar with using the Get-Help cmdlet. I use the Get-Help cmdlet on a regular basis. I can find Help about any cmdlet or function by supplying the name of the cmdlet or function as an argument as shown here.

Get-Help Get-Service

One thing that is pretty cool is that I can also use an alias for the argument as shown here.

Get-Help gsv

If I need to see a complete list of Help for a particular cmdlet, I use the Full switched parameter. Because this will generate a lot of text, when I am in the Windows PowerShell console, I can pipe the results to the pager as shown here.

Get-Help gsv –full | more

The pager displays one page of text at a time, and halts with a More prompt. Pressing the space bar will cause it to advance to the next page of text. If I know that I will use the full display, I use the Help function. That’s right, Help is a function, not an alias. What the help function does is incorporate the pager. Therefore, the following two commands are equivalent.

Get-Help gsv –full | more

Help gsv -full 

One of my favorite tricks involves pairing the Get-Command cmdlet and the Get-Help cmdlet together. I get a list of all the cmdlets on a system, pipe them to the Get-Help cmdlet, and view the examples. It is rather cool. But, instead of calling Get-Help with the Examples parameter, I reference the MamlCommandHelpInfo object and retrieve the Examples property. It is cool. Here is the command I like to use.

Get-Command -CommandType cmdlet | % { (get-help $_.name).examples }

Trick #10 Converting WMI Dates

One of the things people like to complain about with WMI is the way that dates are displayed. I can agree with them…to an extent. An example of a WMI date is shown here. Note that the first four characters are the year, followed by two for the month and two for the day. If you hold your head sideways and squint, you might be able to read the date without too much problem.

PS C:\> (gwmi win32_operatingsystem).installdate

20110604220039.000000-240

So the format is a bit strange…that is not too bad. What is a real pain is that it is not a System.DateTime object, rather it is a plain old string. This makes calculations based on dates a bit cumbersome.

PS C:\> (gwmi win32_operatingsystem).installdate.gettype()

 

IsPublic IsSerial Name                                     BaseType

-------- -------- ----                                     --------

True     True     String                                   System.Object

In the old days, the Scripting Guys wrote a function that was included in the ScriptOMatic. This function would parse the string and convert it into some sort of intelligible format. In Windows XP, WMI introduced a method to convert the string into a date, but it was rather difficult to use, and most people did not know about it anyway—so they continued to use the Scripting Guys function.

When Windows PowerShell 1.0 came out, I was overjoyed to find the ConvertToDateTime method built onto the WMI object. For example, if I want to convert the install date into a regular date, I store the WMI object in a variable, and then call the ConvertToDateTime function while passing it the InstallDate property. This is shown here.

PS C:\> $os = gwmi win32_operatingsystem

PS C:\> $os.ConvertToDateTime($os.installDate)

 

Saturday, June 04, 2011 10:00:39 PM

More than just translating the date, it actually converts the object into a real System.DateTime object. This is shown here.

PS C:\> ($os.ConvertToDateTime($os.installDate)).gettype()

 

IsPublic IsSerial Name                                     BaseType

-------- -------- ----                                     --------

True     True     DateTime                                 System.ValueType

Because I have an actual DateTime object, I can use it to perform date calculations. For example, if I want to see how long the operating system has been installed, I pass InstallDate to the New-TimeSpan cmdlet as shown here.

PS C:\> new-Timespan $os.ConvertToDateTime($os.installDate)

 

Days              : 2

Hours             : 20

Minutes           : 51

Seconds           : 31

Milliseconds      : 174

Ticks             : 2478911740086

TotalDays         : 2.86911081028472

TotalHours        : 68.8586594468333

TotalMinutes      : 4131.51956681

TotalSeconds      : 247891.1740086

TotalMilliseconds : 247891174.0086

This concludes my top ten Windows PowerShell Tricks. This list is accurate as of today. I learn new things about Windows PowerShell every single day, and so this list is likely to change over time. If you happen to see me somewhere and you want an easy way to start a conversation, just ask me what cool things I have learned about Windows PowerShell recently. I guarantee that will get me talking—getting me to shut up, well, that is a different story.

I invite you to follow me on Twitter and Facebook. If you have any questions, send email to me at scripter@microsoft.com, or post your questions on the Official Scripting Guys Forum. See you tomorrow. Until then, peace.

Ed Wilson, Microsoft Scripting Guy

SKYWORKS SOLUTIONS SILICON LABORATORIES SI INTERNATIONAL SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY SCIENTIFIC GAMES

JailbreakMe 3.0 could be released today, hints at iPad [Updated]

Update: False alarm, folks. JailbreakMe 3.0 will not be released today. Stand down.

Razorainfly reports that Jailbreak Me, the browser-based jailbreak solution for iPhone, could be updated to version 3.0 today. Plus, a tantalizing iPad hint was briefly published earlier today.

An image at jailbreakme.com (as of this writing) depicts a ski slope and a sign warning of a black diamond, which denotes a difficult path in skiing parlance, and "PDF" further down the slope.

The "PDF" could refer to a PDF exploit used by the service last year, but that's speculation.

redsn0w posted an image that supposedly that appeared on jailbreakme.com early this morning, showing the iPad (below). There is little detail for now, but we'll monitor the site See update above.

JailbreakMe 3.0 could be released today, hints at iPad [Updated] originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

SALESFORCE COM SAIC ROCKWELL AUTOMATION RF MICRO DEVICES RED HAT

T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide caught in wild, looks darn sexy

T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide

Well, well. What have we here? It's the long-rumored T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide. And, boy howdy, does that look like a fine piece of smartphone, now that it's far less blurry than the last time it poked up its head.

Let's talk about what we can glean from the pics: There's the obvious four-row sliding keyboard. And we'd wager it's as good as any out there, given that it's made by HTC. Note that the "G" button remains, a holdover from the original keyboardless myTouch 4G. We could take it or leave it. (Leaning toward the latter.) Also note that in addition to the dedicated .com key, its alternate function is www. Nice!

It's also said to have an updated Espresso UI (Gingerbread, says TmoNews' source), but otherwise keeps the overall look and feel (including the heft) of the original myTouch 4G.

Still no word on when we'll officially see this guy. But it's already gone through the FCC, and it's likely in the hands of civilian testers now. So hopefully sooner rather than later. More pics are at the source link.

Source: TmoNews


DIRECTV GROUP ELPIDA MEMORY EMC FIDELITY NATIONAL INFORMATION SVCS FISERV

New software uses facial recognition to defend against prying eyes

Having the right programs and hardware to keep the information on your display safe from prying eyes is never a bad idea, and new software from Oculis Labs offers a very interesting take on how to do just that. It's called PrivateEye, and it utilizes facial recognition to automatically pixelate the contents of your display when you look away.

If you step away from your system and someone else decides to sit down and poke around, PrivateEye will present a confusing jumble of garbled text. It'll even notify you if someone tries to peek over your shoulder -- and display a picture of your peeping Tom, throw up an alert, or sound an alarm.

Check out the video embed after the break, and share your thoughts in the comments!

Continue reading New software uses facial recognition to defend against prying eyes

New software uses facial recognition to defend against prying eyes originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

KONINKLIJKE KPN LAM RESEARCH LIBERTY GLOBAL LM ERICSSON LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Google Chrome and Chromium add protection against malicious downloads

google chrome malicious download
Google Chrome already sports a number of security-minded features, from Incognito mode to a software sandbox which makes exploiting the browser a Herculean task. Now, Google has announced additional protection for Chromium and Chrome users.

Built upon the Safe Browsing API, the new feature introduces protection against malicious downloads. If a download link appears in the Safe Browsing blacklist, Chrome and Chromium will warn users against downloading -- a save button is still presented, of course, in case you're convinced a file is perfectly safe to download.

We'd like to see something a bit more eye-catching than the red warning icon -- like perhaps painting the entire bar red. Many of the people a feature like this aims to protect probably won't notice the icon or change in wording as they'll be focused on clicking the save button.

Google is initially making download protection available to Chrome dev channel users, and you'll likely see it in Canary and Chromium snapshot builds as well. After thorough testing, beta and stable users will be next in line.

Google Chrome and Chromium add protection against malicious downloads originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

TERADATA TELETECH HOLDINGS TECHNITROL TAKETWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE SYNTEL

Add a Windows 8 user tile to your Windows 7 taskbar

Now that Windows 8 images have begun leaking out, it's only a matter of time until developers start releasing mods for Windows 7 which mimic upcoming features. Over at Into Windows, they've spotted one such mod already.

In the earliest Windows 8 images, we saw Windows Live integration on the taskbar. In the far right corner, there's a user tile displayed. If you'd like to do the same on Windows 7, download Taskbar User Tile from DeviantArt user AngelWZR.

Once installed, your current picture will appear on the taskbar. Click it, and a menu appears which allows you to log off, switch users, and access the control panel. Right now, the mod only works if your taskbar is displayed on the bottom of your Windows desktop.

Add a Windows 8 user tile to your Windows 7 taskbar originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

INGRAM MICRO INFORMATICA INFOCUS ZORAN ZIONS BAN

This Week in Politics & Digital: The Confrontation Issue

It was a big week for big names in politics, as high-profile figures and organizations faced off against one another. U.S. Rep. Anthony Wiener,…

MOBILE TELESYSTEMS NANYA TECHNOLOGY NII HOLDINGS NIKON NINTENDO

Blog Post: In search of silence

I once had the good fortune to spend a day interviewing Gordon Hempton, a ‘sound tracker’ who is on a mission to find the quietest places on earth. It’s surprisingly hard to do: think of all the car traffic, airplane traffic and other manmade noises society produces. I remember walking with him along Rialto Beach on the wild Washington coast listening to the pounding of surf on rocks, while Hempton looked for optimum microphone placement to find a spot, just one spot, free of human interference.

In my travels, I’m always pleasantly surprised to find a silent corner of the world. When I find them, I savor them: sunrise on a remote caye in Belize, the bottom of the Grand Canyon, a high altitude camping sight. But really, should we have to go to extreme measures to find some peace and quiet? Sometimes, yes, but sometimes they are just a short walk up a forest path, or behind the walls of a museum in a big city. We sought out some of the quietest spots around the world – including many here in the U.S. – and share them with you in the new Bing Travel slideshow, In Search of Silence. (By the way, Gordon Hempton did find the quietest place in the United States, and we included it in the slideshow.)

Where are your favorite places to find peace and quiet? Tell us by leaving a comment below.

CDW CHINA MOBILE CISCO SYSTEMS COGNIZANT TECH SOLUTIONS COMCAST

Tablet LCD deliveries suggest big iPad delivery spike

Apple is facing the mother of all backlogs with the iPad 2, yet still producing enough tablets to be a major player in the tablet display market. Analysis released by Displaybank suggests Apple was responsible for the lion's share of 9.7-inch displays shipped in May.

Apple's two LCD suppliers, LG and Samsung, were responsible for 4.5 million of the 5.38 million tablet displays that flew off the production line in May. Most of these 9.7-inch displays were destined for the iPad as relatively few competing tablets use the 9.7-inch size. The only other high-profile tablet using a 9.7-inch screen is the upcoming HP Touchpad, but its production is still at a minimal level.

These numbers are only an estimate based on market analysis, but they do suggest iPad sales for the current quarter could be better than projected. Apple is expected to report its Q3 2011 earnings sometime in July.

Tablet LCD deliveries suggest big iPad delivery spike originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES INVENTEC KDDI KLATENCOR

Blog Post: Get high on vacation

There’s more than one way to get high on vacation. You can ascend physically, spiritually or even chemically as your adrenaline levels go through the roof.

Here at Bing Travel, we’ve picked 16 destinations that allow you to physically rise above it all, which can of course lead to other kinds of ethereal heights. Our new slide show, Get High on Vacation, gives you a chance to enjoy a virtual, earthbound visit before you ascend to a higher plain.

Take Meteora in central Greece, for example. Monks have lived in monasteries atop the 1,800-foot-high rocky outcroppings here since the ninth century. In 2004, I huffed and puffed my way up the stone stairs to reach the Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron. It is the oldest and largest monastery in Meteora and provides a dazzling view of the surrounding plain.

Years ago, I drove to the top of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, where silvery observatories have an unobstructed view of the cosmos. It is odd indeed to be able to drive up a volcano, and your body lets you know this the minute you step out of your vehicle. If you’re not lightheaded from the sudden rise to 13,796 feet, you will surely be breathless watching the giant shadow that Mauna Kea casts on the ocean at sunset.

Piz Gloria in Switzerland is another place to elevate. This revolving restaurant at 9,744 feet on Schilthorn Mountain near Mürren starred in the James Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” Bond skied down the mountain to escape from his arch enemy Blofeld, but I chose instead to simply enjoy the top-of-the-world view over the Swiss Alps.

What’s your favorite place to get high on vacation? Post a comment for other travelers below.

Robin Dalmas is a travel writer, editor and producer for Bing Travel. She is the former Travel Editor for MSNBC and looks forward to getting high again soon.

SKYWORKS SOLUTIONS SILICON LABORATORIES SI INTERNATIONAL SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY SCIENTIFIC GAMES

Facebook is preparing an iPad app

According to the New York Times, Facebook is finally making an official iPad app. While Facebook's iPhone app has been in the App Store from day one, it's been a long, long wait for an iPad version of the popular social networking site. When asked about the possibility of an iPad app last November, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg reportedly said such an app wasn't in the works because "The iPad isn't mobile."

It looks like that was an ephemeral "no" worthy of Steve Jobs. According to the Times, Facebook's iPad app has been in testing for nearly a year, and Zuckerberg himself has been closely involved in its development. People familiar with the app's development say its design is "slick" and well-optimized for the iPad's screen, and it includes photo/video uploading features tied directly to the iPad 2's built-in cameras.

Thus far, iPad users unsatisfied with the way Facebook's site functions on a touchscreen-based device have had to make do with third-party applications. I've been using Friendly for iPad, but I'm still curious to see how Facebook's official app turns out. As we heard earlier, Facebook is also planning an HTML5 application platform called "Project Spartan," but according to the Times' source, that is intended to "supplement" the iPad app rather than compete with it.

Like the iPhone app, Facebook for iPad will be free. It is expected to debut on the App Store within the next few weeks.

Facebook is preparing an iPad app originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

SUN MICROSYSTEMS STANDARD MICROSYSTEMS SRA INTERNATIONAL SPSS SPANSION

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Chocomize personalized chocolate: giveaway and discount code

chocomize
Okay, I know what you're thinking: chocolate on Download Squad? That's right! That's because Chocomize is one of the nerdiest ways to get chocolate online: it's a website where you customize your own bar using a multi-step process.

We've covered Chocomize before in our holiday gift guide, so when they reached out to us offering to do a giveaway, we really couldn't resist.

Chocomize is giving away ten gift certificates, each worth $50, for you to create your own customized chocolate. They sent us some pictures of their recent creations, which you can find in the gallery below.

Regardless of the giveaway, you can use the discount code switched to get 10% off any Chocomize order. The code is valid through April 20th - just in time for Easter!

To participate, simply leave a comment. Fine print is after the jump.

Continue reading Chocomize personalized chocolate: giveaway and discount code

Chocomize personalized chocolate: giveaway and discount code originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

DIRECTV GROUP ELPIDA MEMORY EMC FIDELITY NATIONAL INFORMATION SVCS FISERV

Hand Vacuum From The Future Fits Like a Glove [PICS]

The innards of vacuum cleaners are getting so small, you’ll soon be able to wear one around your wrist, with its business end enclosing…

INTUIT INTERSECTIONS INTERNATIONAL RECTIFIER INTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES (IBM)

American Banks vs. European Banks: A Fun Little Conspiracy Theory


As we wait for Europe’s big weekend to unfold, here is an interesting thought, as generated by back and forth comments on recent pieces.

In The Eurozone’s Wacky Plan, we noted the latest hail Mary hope of a “non-default default” — a way to roll over Greece without triggering a credit event, with attending invalidation (or temporary bypass) of CDS insurance payouts.

We also noted how this could be very bad news for European holders of CDS insurance (the guys who bought as a legit exposure hedge), as their PIIG debt would be de facto compromised by a non-default default, but their hedges left worthless.

So here’s where it gets interesting….

In O Risk Manager Where Art Thou, we noted the below via Kash Mansori / John Mauldin:

?Why have European and American financial institutions behaved so differently when it comes to the PIGs? Specifically, why have American firms been so willing to sell default insurance to the Europeans, though they have not bought much PIG debt? And conversely, why have the Europeans systematically been so eager to buy insurance for their PIG debt, even at the very high price such insurance now commands? In essence, European firms have been betting that a PIG default will happen sooner rather than later, while US firms have been betting that default would happen later or not at all.?

So the original, logical question would be:

If the above is true, why in the world are American banks selling credit default swaps (CDS) to their old continent counterparts?

Considering Europe is where the fire is — and European banks are the leveraged kindling — you would think hawking tons of fire insurance to the guys in the hot zone is not such a wise idea!

If accurate, what we have here is a sort of “AIG redux:” A dumb premium collector (in this case American banks), collecting pennies on the dollar, for timebomb insurance sold to insiders (European banks) who presumably know their own risks (and thus have good reason for buying).

This makes American banks the willful suckers. Unless…

Unless maybe the American banks were smart enough to figure out the CDS sales are actually low risk because Europe couldn’t afford to let a true “credit event” be triggered, in which case team USA is betting team Europe buyers would be screwed by an insurance clause override enacted on their own side???

How beautiful would that be: I sell you cheap disaster insurance, making me look like the rube, because you know that the bomb you are sitting on is probably going to off.

But in a Hitchcockian twist, you don’t know that I know that the guys on YOUR SIDE are going to try their damnedest to invalidate the contract.

It’s like the famous scene from The Princess Bride:

“Clearly I cannot choose the wine in front of you…”

Or maybe it’s the world’s highest stakes poker game, with taxpayers and citizens the clueless backers, once again, sharing in none of the spoils and all of the pain.

I don’t know what the American banks were thinking selling all that CDS insurance to Europe (if Mansori’s analysis is correct). But I can imagine some form of revamped AIG-style logic ran through their heads:

“This stuff can’t actually trigger. They can’t afford to let it. It’s a building that will never burn down, so we can go whole hog selling fire insurance on it.”

And they could be wrong, of course. If we get a “Lehman 2.0 event,” or if negotiations get hung up on some final third party snag, or if the ISDA rules that a “credit event” has occurred regardless of French and German protest, the AIG bet goes kablooey.

But in that case, the imperative of further U.S. bank bailout — systemic risk, remember! — still puts the reward to risk proposition in favor of a profitable gamble. Heads they win, tails taxpayers lose. Thanks Timmy! Thanks Ben!

Regardless of how things turn out, this whole song and dance is further evidence of how deeply Darwinian and moral-hazard prone the entire financial system is.

Give a mouse a cookie and he’ll want a glass of milk. Give a connected player an asymmetrical edge and he’ll figure out a way to exploit it to the max, even if that means putting the whole system at risk — or rather, ESPECIALLY if it means putting the whole system at risk, because such increases the prospect of bailout.

As Canada Bill Jones opined, “It’s immoral to let a sucker keep his money.” The banks appear to believe that axiom wholeheartedly, and the fish (taxpayers) don’t even know they are sitting at the table.

JS

Read more posts on Mercenary Trader �

Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »



QUEST SOFTWARE QUANTUM QLOGIC PROGRESS SOFTWARE PLANAR SYSTEMS

Farewell, Internet

DownloadSquad
Well, here we are. More than four years after launching, Switched and DownloadSquad are unfortunately being closed. I've been thrilled to work at these two sites that have expanded tech coverage beyond the usual gadgets and social networks to cooking, culture, design, art and more. It's been humbling to work with these incredibly dedicated and talented teams of writers, and it would have been impossible to do it without them.

Going forward, you'll still be able to get the best tech news coverage from Engadget, HuffingtonPost Tech, Joystiq and TUAW. While we're still working out some of the details, Switched and DownloadSquad will continue to live on the Web and be fully accessible via search. Understandably, our Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr presences will quiet down, but you can still follow the Switched and DownloadSquad writers on their personal accounts. Thanks for reading.

Farewell, Internet originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

TNS TIBCO SOFTWARE TIBCO SOFTWARE THQ TEXAS INSTRUMENTS