Mark Zuckerberg 'Likes' Facebook SNL Skit - TechCrunch

After this weekend’s Saturday Night Live/Facebook double header, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a Hulu link on his Facebook profile pointing to his faux guest appearance on “Weekend Update,” with the status “Andy Samberg plays me on SNL. I’m a big Andy Samberg fan so I thought this was funny.”

While having a sense of humor is pretty much a necessity if you are at the forefront of pop culture (and yes a top grossing Hollywood movie about you currently in theaters as well as not one but two skits about your company on SNL is pretty much that), I think it’s particularly funny that Zuckerberg found the following lines funny.

“So Mark you went and saw The Social Network? Don’t be ridiculous, I’m 26 I stole it online.”

“I had three friends, because parents count. Do turtles count? No. Okay then, just the three.”

“I invented Facebook Seth, I didn’t invent getting successful to meet girls. I guarantee that the first thing the guy who invented the wheel did was roll up over some ladies … We’re men, we use what we’ve got.”

“I went on Oprah and I donated 100 million dollars to the Newark school system … Of course I did that to look good after the movie! What does it matter, it was a 100 million dollars, that’s hoverboard money!”

“I may not like what it says but its a really good movie.”

“Sean Parker gets Justin friggin Timberlake and I get Jesse Eisenberg. It’s like, hey we’re making a movie about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Steve you’re going to be played by Brad Pitt and Bill you’re going to played by a cardboard box with glasses on it.”

“My one regret for Facebook is ‘poking.’ Poking is creepy and lame and getting an email that your dad poked you is an enormous bummer.”

Well, maybe Zuckerberg didn’t find all of it funny, as he does expresses some confusion about the “hoverboard money” part, which former Facebook Senior Platform Manager and current Path co-founder Dave Morin found “definitely clutch” (Kimberly Parker helpfully explains). But hopefully Zuckerberg’s appreciation of the skit means we will see a less annoying alternative to poking in the near future.

Side note: Mad props to Paul Jeffries for his “Ali G Pitches A VC” reference, which is funnier than both the SNL skits combined. And apologies to our foreign readers for the Hulu embeds.

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Love can ease pain, say brain researchers - BBC News

13 October 2010 Last updated at 20:29 ET Researchers believe love can act as a painkiller Love hurts, at least according to many a romantic songwriter, but it may also help ease pain, US scientists suggest.

Brain scans suggest many of the areas normally involved in pain response are also activated by amorous thoughts.

Stanford University researchers gave 15 students mild doses of pain, while checking if they were distracted by gazing at photos of their beloved.

The study focused on people early in a romance, journal PLoS One reported, so the "drug of love" may wear off.

The scientists who carried out the experiment used "functional magnetic resonance imaging" (fMRI) to measure activity in real-time in different parts of the brain.

It has been known for some time that strong feelings of love are linked to intense activity in several different brain regions.

These include areas linked to the brain chemical dopamine, which produces the brain's feel-good state following certain stimulants - from eating sweets to taking cocaine.

"Light up"

The Stanford University researchers had noticed that when we feel pain, some of the same areas "light up" on the scans - and wondered whether one might affect the other.

They recruited a dozen students who were all in the first nine months of a relationship, defined as "the first phase of intense love".

Each was asked to bring in a picture of the object of their affection and photos of what they deemed an equally attractive acquaintance.

Continue reading the main story

It's important to recognise that people who feel alone and depressed may have very low pain thresholds, whereas the reverse can be true for people who feel secure and cared for”

End Quote Professor Paul Gilbert University of Derby While their brains were scanned, they were shown these pictures, while a computer controlled heat pad placed in the palm of their hand was set up to cause them mild pain.

They found that viewing the picture of their beloved reduced perceptions of pain much more than looking at the image of the acquaintance.

Dr Jarred Younger, one of the researchers involved, said that the "love-induced analgesia" appeared to involve more primitive functions of the brain, working in a similar way to opioid painkillers.

"One of the key sites is the nucleus accumbens, a key reward addiction centre for opioids, cocaine and other drugs of abuse.

"The region tells the brain that you really need to keep doing this."

Professor Paul Gilbert, a neuropsychologist from the University of Derby, said that the relationship between emotional states and the perception of pain was clear.

He said: "One example is a footballer who has suffered quite a painful injury, but who is able to continue playing because of his emotionally charged state."

He added that while the effect noticed by the Stanford researchers might only be short-lived in the early stages of a love affair, it may well be replaced by something similar later in a relationship, with a sense of comfort and wellbeing generating the release of endorphins.

"It's important to recognise that people who feel alone and depressed may have very low pain thresholds, whereas the reverse can be true for people who feel secure and cared for.

"This may well be an issue for the health service, as patients are sometimes rushed through the system, and perhaps there isn't this focus on caring that might have existed once."

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Thrilling Chilean miners rescue was made for TV - USA Today

Thrilling Chilean miners rescue was made for TV It was like a moon landing or the Super Bowl or the most gripping reality TV show you've ever seen. The rescue of 33 miners from what had seemed like their tomb below the Chilean desert was the culmination of a mythic tale of death and resurrection that briefly unified the world in awed delight.After 69 days — longer than some real-life reality TV shows — viewers were transfixed by a rolling climax of happy reunions.

In an age accustomed to made-for-cable TV stories, "this was another level," says Rich Hanley, a journalism professor at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. "You didn't need to speak English or Spanish to understand what you were seeing."

The story had elements that make for engrossing viewing or reading: men trapped underground; their anxious waiting families; a passionate nation; a resourceful, international rescue team. As it ended, there were laughs, hugs, tears and prayers.

The rescue inspired those who work below ground and those who've worked far above it. Leroy Chiao, a former NASA astronaut who flew on three space shuttle flights, was impressed by the miners' teamwork and how they tried to improve their lives more than 2,000 feet underground, "which keeps your mind from going places you don't want it to go."

At the other extreme was Ken Reinhart, a safety manager for Con Edison in New York City, who has inspected tunnels 10 stories underground. He felt a kinship with the miners: "It's something you always think about. Anyone who's ever been on an elevator lift that malfunctions knows a little bit of that feeling. It hits you, how far underground you are."

About 8.5 million viewers watched coverage of the first rescue late Tuesday on the three major cable networks, compared with an average audience for the preceding three hours of 6.2 million. CNN doubled its audience at 11 p.m. ET.

Actor Michael Caine was "watching the happiest moment I've ever seen on TV," according to his Twitter feed. "Miracles do happen," tweeted pop singer Justin Bieber. David Blaine, the showman who in 1999 was entombed in an underground plastic box for seven days, told CNN the miners' survival was "absolutely mind-blowing."

In New York, Chilean-born restaurant manager Jaime Rodriguez felt pride in his native land. Watching on his computer as the first miner surfaced, he says, "I cried a little bit." Seeing them emerge as if from death, "I felt a little like I was born again."

The story had these classic elements:

A great story line

Mine rescues are a staple of cable TV news. This was something else: Never had so many been trapped so low for so long and emerged alive.

"They were trapped underground, in a place like hell itself — claustrophobic, dark, fetid — and they come up like they were resurrected," says Robert Thompson, a professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University. "Western civilization doesn't come up with stories much better."

"The story was building for 69 days," Hanley says. "Will they make it? We were all waiting for that capsule to come up."

A big story early in the TV cable news era was the rescue of "Baby Jessica" McClure after the toddler fell into a well in Midland, Texas, in 1987. She was pulled up an 8-inch-wide casing after 58 hours. "This was Baby Jessica times 33," Thompson says.

Suspense

Although the rescue team had taken elaborate precautions, the result was not pre-ordained. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, a miner like his father and grandfather, calls it "a rare blessing when the earth gives back up those that it has trapped."

Davitt McAteer, former director of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, says a claustrophobic miner could have moved violently during the ascent and jammed the capsule; the cable could have snagged; or the rig pulling the cable could have overheated.

"You can be good and you can be lucky. And they've been good and lucky," he says.

In such cases, things can go either way.

In 2002, nine miners were rescued after being trapped underground for 78 hours at the Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, Pa. Coming less than a year after the 9/11 attacks, the miners' survival seemed like a national morale boost.

In 2006, a coal mine explosion at Sago, W.Va., trapped 13 miners for nearly two days. Although many news organizations — relying on incorrect, unofficial information — reported that 12 survivors had been found alive, only one survived.

And this year, on April 5, 29 miners were killed at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in Montcoal, W.Va., the worst accident of its kind in the U.S. in 40 years. One of the two survivors was Stanley Stewart, who was watching the Chile drama on television.

He cheered the miners' rescue but feared for their recovery. "After the initial joy they'll have some issues they'll have to deal with," he told CNN. "Flashbacks ... nightmares. They'll still need help."

He said he spoke from experience: "The best part of me's still up on that mountain. I want me back."

Good news in a time of bad

"We have a good-news deficit in this world," says Kitty Thurmer, 56, of Washington, D.C., for whom the mine rescue evoked America's pride in the moon landing in 1969. "This is a human, tactile event we can share electronically. It's a shared joy."

Had the accident occurred in the United States, its coverage might have been different — characterized by discussion of possible mining company infractions or government regulatory failings. But the Chilean news media focused on the positive.

"This was in sharp relief to things like the response to (Hurricane) Katrina, or to political attack ads," Hanley says.

The cast of characters

The miners included some memorable personalities. "Super Mario" Sepulveda was the second miner to emerge. His shouts were heard even before the capsule rose above the surface, and he bounded out of the lift and thrust a fist upward like a boxer. He hugged his wife and handed out souvenir rocks from the mine to laughing rescuers.

Yonni Barrios, dubbed "Dr. House," had paramedic training that allowed him to help care for his fellow miners. He's also known for his complicated personal life; his wife and his mistress had met while waiting at the mine site.

Omar Reygadas, an electrician who helped organize life underground, became a great-grandfather for the fourth time a month after the mine collapse.

Mario Gomez, at 63 the oldest of the men and a miner since age 12, dropped to his knees after he emerged from the Phoenix capsule, bowed his head in prayer and clutched the Chilean flag.

They were men to whom anyone with a father or brother or son could relate.

"I have kids," said Nina Snow, 35, a mother of three from Potomac, Md., who watched on a huge TV screen outside the Chilean Embassy in Washington. A tear ran down her cheek. "If anything happened to my husband — it's so amazing " she said. Beyond that, she couldn't find the words.

Chilean pride

The crisis united Chile. Its pride was infectious.

Arturo Fermandois, Chile's ambassador to the U.S., says his nation was proud of the technical and professional prowess demonstrated in the rescue. "This rescue was led by a team formed entirely by Chileans," he says. "The engineers, the miners and most of the technology is Chilean."

The crisis was an opportunity, he says, "a window to show the world the quality of Chileans. Sometimes it's difficult to show how good Chileans are, how good are our professionals."

No one represented the country better than the miners, he says: "When we found them after 17 days, we found them in good condition because they were able to organize themselves. They managed not to eat all the food, and in a peaceful way."

Exceptional media access

Viewers were able to see live video from within the mine, and shots of miners' relatives, including children, before and during the reunions.

Juan Carlos Troncoso, a manager at a Chilean TV station broadcasting the rescue, says the Chilean government granted the news media access that seemed unusual by U.S. standards.

Troncoso's wife, Soledad Urzua, on vacation with him in Washington, said the Chilean public demanded it: "We, the public, wanted to know their daily lives, how they eat, how they're living day to day. In Chile, it's always like that. When there's an earthquake, people want to know."

Hanley says the coverage reflected Chilean President Sebastian Piñera's background in television. "You would not have seen this kind of access in China," which has been plagued by mine deaths, he adds. "There might have been just one feed, and it might have been delayed or edited."

An engineering feat

"It was a triumph of engineering and can-do," says Hanley. And it had an American angle. The rescue operation included a driller operator from Denver and a team from Berlin, Pa., that built and managed the piston-driven hammers that pounded the hole through quartz and silica.

Yet even after the last miner was lifted to safety, the drama's ending was unwritten. Having survived below, how would the 33 fare above?

There will be contracts for book and movie deals, job offers, personal appearances and speaking engagements — all of which could bring them previously unfathomable riches.

"Before being heroes, they are victims," University of Santiago psychologist Sergio Gonzalez told the Associated Press. "These people who are coming out of the bottom of the mine are different people ... and their families are, too."

Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more.

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GOP Accelerates, but Bumps Remain - New York Times

By nearly every indication, Republicans stand to make big gains in the midterms and could sweep dozens of Democrats out of the House. With less than three weeks to go, there are only a limited set of variables and last-minute imponderables that could substantially alter the course of the election and give Democrats a better chance of holding off possible Republican control of the House and near parity or better in the Senate.

Democrats, while throwing in the towel in a few places, note that some of their vulnerable candidates are running close or ahead in polls, giving them hope that their firewall will hold. Yet if they are to retain the House and Senate, Democrats need help on multiple fronts and from Republicans themselves, who must still avoid serious mistakes, misjudgments and a sense of complacency if they intend to occupy the speaker’s office.

THE VETTING CHALLENGE Among the lingering questions remaining for Republicans is whether their many untested and unvetted challengers can navigate the next few weeks without an embarrassing disclosure, public gaffe or brutal debate slip-up as voters focus more closely on the battle for Congress.

New revelations of a candidate who occasionally dressed up as a Nazi officer and the high-profile filing of a sexual harassment lawsuit against another already have Republicans pessimistic about their chances for two Democratic seats in Ohio they had hoped to swipe from Democrats.

Similar episodes could take more seats off the table and also hurt Republican hopefuls elsewhere by reinforcing an overarching Democratic theme that Republicans are unqualified and not ready to govern. Many Republicans remember how the late fall House page scandal dashed their chances of holding the House in 2006.

THROW THEM ALL OUT Another unpleasant thought nagging at Republicans is that more of their own incumbents than believed could be at risk from voters eager to toss out established politicians of both parties, not just majority Democrats. In the House takeover years of 1994 by Republicans and 2006 by Democrats, no incumbent of either triumphant party lost.

Democrats say they believe they can pick off four or five Republican seats and perhaps more, increasing the overall number of seats Republicans would need to claim a majority and conceivably making the difference between majority and minority.

Republicans say they expect surprises on Nov. 2, but not enough to change the overall outcome since they predict some Democrats will be caught unaware as well.

“I fully expect that we will wake up after Election Day and have lost an incumbent or two or a seat that we didn’t expect and so will they,” said Carl Forti, a former top aide at the National Republican Congressional Committee who is serving as political director at the advocacy group American Crossroads.

THE OTHER CHOICE The rise of the Tea Party and other activist groups, while generally a boon to Republicans this year, is also threatening to limit the party’s gains as Election Day looms. Third-party candidates who refused to make way for Republican hopefuls could siphon voters away from them and throw some close races to Democrats in places like Virginia, Florida and Colorado.

FIRING UP THE BASE As for Democrats, they still have some ways to influence the outcome. President Obama is set to begin a coast-to-coast campaign swing on Friday in hopes of rallying the voters who flocked to Democrats in 2008 and closing the enthusiasm gap that has favored Republicans this year.

Democrats also have a get-out-the-vote effort that even Republicans acknowledge is superior, though they say its benefits will be limited in a year when Republican voters are already so highly motivated that they need no prodding to vote.

David Plouffe, a political adviser to the Democratic National Committee who ran Mr. Obama’s campaign two years ago, acknowledged the difficult headwinds facing the party and its candidates for the House, Senate and governor. But he said a well-organized turnout operation and a closer inspection of Republican candidates could cause many races to tighten.

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Christine O'Donnell: How'd she do? - CNN

Republican Christine O'Donnell and Democrat Chris Coons face off in a debate Wednesday.O'Donnell, Coons face off in first debateO'Donnell has largely avoided the national mediaShe came across as aggressive, but stumbled on a question about Supreme Court casesImmediate reaction form the blogosphere was mixed

Washington (CNN) -- Before Wednesday's Delaware Senate debate, the bulk of what people knew about Republican candidate Christine O'Donnell came from clips from a talk show from the 1990s.

In the month since O'Donnell rocked the political world with her upset win over Rep. Mike Castle in the Republican primary, she's dominated headlines despite avoiding the national media.

Wednesday's debate, co-moderated by CNN's Wolf Blitzer and longtime Delaware news anchor Nancy Karibjanian, could prove to be make or break for O'Donnell's Senate bid. She and Democrat Chris Coons are vying to fill the seat held for nearly four decades by now-Vice President Joe Biden

The debate gave O'Donnell an opportunity to reintroduce herself to voters, define her views and chip away at the 19-point deficit she must overcome to defeat Coons. It also provided a chance to do the opposite.

O'Donnell and Coons focused largely on the economy and national issues during their 90-minute exchange.

Updates from Delaware

O'Donnell threw rocks at Coons throughout the debate, while he tried to paint her answers as frivolous and unintelligible.

"Coons can can barely contain his disdain for his opponent," noted Gloria Borger, a senior political analyst for CNN.

The debate produced a few humorous moments, such as when Coons said O'Donnell's well-publicized statements that she dabbled in witchcraft and questioned evolution theory were distractions instead of a substantive campaign issue.

"You're just jealous that you weren't on Saturday Night Live," O'Donnell said, referring to the comedy show's satirical skit about her.

"I'm dying to see who's going to play me," Coons responded with a smile.

The debate was tense and O'Donnell was feisty -- until a flub near the end.

O'Donnell was tripped up by the same question that caused problems for then-VP candidate Sarah Palin in her interview with Katie Couric about Supreme Court decisions.

Asked if she could name a recent Supreme Court case she disagreed with, O'Donnell said "can you give me a specific one?"

O'Donnell was unable to provide a case, but said decisions she disagreed with would be posted on her website.

While the forum was one of the most anticipated events of the campaign season, not everyone was as captivated.

"Even if I lived in [Delaware] I wouldn't watch. I already know about this woman to question everything she has done. Her ethics and character leave a lot to be desired," commented CNN reader Marie MD.

Commenter Laverne planned to tune in for the entertainment. "Anybody in their right mind will be able to tell right away if she is truly knowledgeable of the topics," the reader said.

Immediate reaction from the blogosphere was also mixed.

The Conservative Journal said the debate "didn't have a clear cut winner as far as who answered better," but it predicted O'Donnell would benefit most in the aftermath.

The blog gave credit to both candidates for substantive answers, but was turned off by Coons "snide retorts."

The left-leaning blog Talking Points Memo said that while O'Donnell may have mastered her talking points, she "had a tough time this evening with some basic questions about issues she'd face if she is elected to the Senate."

How do you think she did? Did O'Donnell win or lose votes based on her performance?

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Apple Hosting Mac-Themed Event Oct. 20 - eWeek

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By: Nicholas Kolakowski
2010-10-13
Article Rating: / 1

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Apple has sent media invites to a ?Back to the Mac? event at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters Oct. 20, igniting the rampant speculation that accompanies most of the company?s announcements. According to the invite, attendees will get a glimpse of ?the next major version of Mac OS X.?

The invite also includes the partial image of a lion?s face, peeking through an apple-shaped cutout in a brushed-aluminum pane. Does that mean Apple?s chosen ?Lion? as the next code-name for Mac OS X 10.7? Considering the company?s affinity for pairing big-cat names to each successive version of its operating system?most recently Leopard and Snow Leopard?that would come as no surprise.

The blogosphere is already alight with suggestions that Apple could use the event to debut a refreshed line of Macs. The company has largely focused on its mobile products, including the iPhone and iPad, for much of 2010. In any case, Apple will most likely remain tight-lipped about its announcements until the event itself.

Apple?s last big event took place Sept. 1, when the company debuted new iPods and a revamped Apple TV along with a number of services, including a social network devoted to music. Around that time, the company also introduced iOS 4.1, with a number of bug fixes, and announced iOS 4.2 for the iPad. Those mobile operating-system updates included a Games Center and wireless printing. 

Apple sold 3.47 million Macs during the third fiscal quarter of 2010, a 33 percent increase from the year-ago quarter. However, its sales of desktops and laptops paled in comparison to the 8.4 million iPhones and 9.41 million iPads shipped during that same period. Much of the discussion during Apple?s July 20 earnings call focused on the iPhone 4, whose antenna problems attracted a fair bit of controversy over the summer.

Since last year, Apple has made a number of updates to Mac OS X 10.6, also known as ?Snow Leopard.? Those improvements have included security and application tweaks. Some pundits assumed Snow Leopard?s August 2009 ship date, and $29 sticker-price for Intel-based Macs already running Leopard, was Apple?s attempt to steal some thunder from Microsoft?s ramp-up to the release of Windows 7.

According to Net Applications, the various editions of Windows hold 91.08 percent of the operating-system market, followed by Mac with 5.03 percent. That represents a slight decline from November 2009, when Mac held 5.12 percent of the market. 

 



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First lady stumps for 'handsome' Giannoulias - Chicago Tribune

First Lady Michelle Obama offered a personal character reference Wednesday for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, whose integrity is under attack from Republican opponents.

On her first day on the campaign trail since 2008, Obama told about 250 donors at the University Club that Giannoulias has maintained high ethical standards both as state treasurer and candidate.

Obama noted that the president had praised Giannoulias' character.

"I know that he will be a phenomenal U.S. senator. I am proud of him. We have seen him grow. He is always pushing to the next level, and he is doing it with grace and dignity," Obama said.

Giannoulias has faced questions about his role as a senior loan officer at his family's failed Broadway Bank when it made loans to convicted felons. In addition, the GOP has targeted him with campaign ads accusing him of misleading investors about the losses in a college savings program overseen by the treasurer's office. Giannoulias has said he did nothing wrong in either case.

Obama spent most of her speech touting health care reform, tax cuts, access to education and a laundry list of the president's achievements, rather than Giannoulias. But she described the Senate race as a key to ensuring the president's promise of change will become a reality.

"My husband can't do this alone," said Obama, who drew laughter when she referred to Giannoulias as a "handsome young man."

Obama did not mention Republicans, including Giannoulias' GOP opponent, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk.

Giannoulias introduced the first lady as "someone I love dearly."

Obama was also in Chicago for a separate fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which raised money for incumbent U.S. Reps. Bill Foster and Debbie Halvorson and for Dan Seals, who is seeking Kirk's North Shore congressional seat.

A Giannoulias spokesman did not immediately have figures on how much Wednesday's event raised.

oavila@tribune.com

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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls for 9/11 investigation - Telegraph.co.uk

Speaking at a late night rally, he said: “I announce that the formation of an independent and neutral team to examine the facts and discover the truth of the September 11 events is the demand of all the peoples of the region and the world.”

Earlier in the day, thousands held up flowers and Iranian flags as Mr Ahmedinejad waved through the open roof of an armoured car that carried him through the Shia Muslim strongholds of south Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

Hizbollah, Iran's local ally, mobilised its followers to throw rice and slaughter camels as the motorcade passed by.

It was, however, a welcome that ran just one street deep and normal life – bereft of Iranian flags – continued yards away from the old airport road used by the Iranian leader to reach a summit with his Lebanese counterpart, Michel Sleiman.

Maura Connelly, the US ambassador, expressed misgivings about the impact of the Iranian leader's visit and newspapers reported that America had unveiled a $22 million (£13.8 million) package of military aid to strengthen the Lebanese security forces.

"There is a concern we share with the countries in the region that Iran is not playing a helpful role in the region in terms of stability", she said.

Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, cautioned Mr Ahmadinejad to avoid statements that would inflame tensions in Lebanon.

Mr Ahmadinejad's trip comes amid tension over an international tribunal for those implicated in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. Hizbollah has demanded the government withdraw from the tribunal, believing it will seek to prosecute its members.

The Iranian leader took the opportunity during his trip to lash out at Israel following talks with Mr Sleiman.

"We fully support the resistance of the Lebanese people against the Zionist regime," he said. "Lebanon is not only a source of pride for the Lebanese but for the region because Lebanon has changed the balance of power in favour of the people of the region."

More friction is expected today (Thurs) when Mr Ahmedinejad travels to Lebanese border towns targeted in the 2006 war that killed more than 1,000 people. Hizbollah has used hundred of millions of dollars donated by Iran for reconstruction of the south and residents expressed gratitude to the Iranian leader. Mahmoud Darwish, a 50-year old local who turned out for Mr Ahmadinejad said: "He helped us rebuild Lebanon. If he hadn't, our houses would still be destroyed and we would still be living in tents."

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Medal of Honor Review - PSX Extreme

More Game Info (Print This Article)

Graphics:

 8.2

Gameplay:

 8.4

Sound:

 9.1

Control:

 8.5

Replay Value:

 8.0

Online Gameplay:

 8.9

Overall Rating:       8.6

Publisher:

EA

Developer:

EA Los Angeles/DICE

Number Of Players:

1-24

Genre:

FPS

Release Date:

October 12, 2010

Maybe for the first time in first-person shooter history, many critics have misunderstood the aim of a particular production due to unfamiliarity and flat-out ignorance. This isn’t a slight against other reviewers; we all have to admit to deficiencies in knowledge that may hamper our ability to accurately judge a particular video game. In the future, I fear games will get so realistic, unless one is a true-blue expert on the subject, he or she won’t be fit to issue an accurate, reliable review. As developer Danger Close tapped the military and real Tier 1 operators for Medal of Honor, I felt I should do the same. I know a few people who have participated in the war on terror so I felt inclined to fire a few questions in their direction. As it turns out, and after playing a game I couldn’t help but enjoy, I’ve concluded that, despite the technical shortcomings (which are certainly a hindrance), this is an authentic experience that deserves its just due.

First up, we deal with an aspect of the game that doesn’t require any of the aforementioned real-world knowledge: the graphics. The visual presentation here is a bit odd, in that one minute, you’ll be impressed and even amazed at the detail, coloring, shading and special effects and the next…well, you’ll see a goat that has no face and black blotches where eyes and nose should be. The nighttime scenes aren’t anything special and the cut-scenes feature plastic-y character design, but during the day, one can’t help but become immersed in the intense, atmospheric proceedings. The designers spent a lot of time meticulously designing many elements of the environment, including seemingly trivial things like mounds of rocks and stubby trees. I still don’t think there's enough colorful “oomph” behind some of the explosive effects and one can’t deny some of the clipping, hitches and other problems, but the graphics do suffice.

The sound does more than suffice, as it’s the highlight of the game. Speaking of developer effort, Danger Close went out of their way to grab a ton of diverse and realistic radio chatter; you don’t often hear the same thing too many times, and both orders and sarcastic comments (which aren’t overdone) greatly enhance the game’s appeal. The soundtrack is great, too, as it kicks up during important parts when you’re advancing towards another battle, and tails off just a bit to let the focus sit squarely on the confrontation at hand. The effects are also top-notch; each weapon has a very distinct sound and everything from the yells of the Taliban – and your allies – to the whistle of bullets and ammo impact, is pretty awesome. The technical deficiency of the game rears its ugly head and can cause the sound to cut out completely at times, and there are a few balance issues. But still, this is about as good as you could hope for.

Based on what I’ve been told, modern warfare and especially the war on terror can be described as follows: 99% waiting around, 1% sheer terror. Of course, that doesn’t work for a video game. Therefore, Danger Close needed to reverse that ratio and create an experience that features the most intense, out-of-control, nightmarish scenarios the Army Rangers, Marines and Tier 1 Operators might encounter. This addresses the first flaw I’ve seen mentioned in different reviews: that Medal of Honor’s ceaseless action isn’t realistic and starts to feel too much like a “shooting gallery” of sorts. Firstly, you’re not following the actions of one particular individual and one particular group of soldiers. In fact, you will step into quite a few pairs of boots, and that includes being a helicopter gunner, sniper, and infantry invader. Sometimes it’s just you and a buddy; other times, there are multiple allies. Furthermore, as I understand it, fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan is much like this-

There’s little rhyme or reason to such a war. This isn’t the Revolutionary War or even World War II, where one encounters giant battlegrounds often planned down to the smallest detail. No, it’s about chasing random fighters through the rocks; it’s about constantly dealing with surprises; it’s about pitched battles centered in very small hot zones. This is what we have in Medal of Honor. Here, we have a series of situations and events that let you see what the bravest of the brave must contend with, and the variety, pacing and balance keeps you interested throughout. The point I’m trying to make is this- according to information I’ve been given, which is admittedly second-hand but better than third or fourth-hand via media, MoH will ring true to those who have really experienced the war on terror. I think too many people are missing this, and expected something different.

The controls are mostly tight and reliable and I’m actually very, very impressed with the hit detection. This is a facet of some shooters that simply falls flat or isn’t quite so reliable but in this game, just about every bullet that was supposed to hit something does, and weapons are realistically accurate (or inaccurate, as the case may be). Zooming in with the L1 button increases accuracy and yet, the shotgun can only be relied upon in close quarters, where it really can be relied upon. Your enemies won’t only aim at you and they won’t always hit their target. A few too many bullets will put you down, which is appropriate, and cover will protect you, but will often start to crumble if you stick around too long. Even vehicle control is pretty good, although it’s hardly refined and can be touchy.

As for AI, your allies are better than your foes. Your targets will sometimes do cool things like slide into cover but after that, they just sort of wait to get nailed. This is one of the bigger downfalls of the game and, along with the technical problems, keeps it from being an elite title. But your friends will take down plenty of targets and even though you’re often jammed into tight spaces, they don’t seem to hinder you too often. I never once died because I tried to strafe or hide and got stuck next to an ally. But really, the enemy should’ve flanked or acted a bit more human-like, and it can sometimes be difficult to know where to go next. This is another problem that’s well-documented but honesty, I think this complaint is due to two things: 1. someone who tries to move too quickly and doesn’t listen to the issued commands and 2. going off on your own and confusing the game.

Granted, that last one shouldn’t happen at all. The game should be able to adapt to your movements, no matter how ill-advised they may be. But if you stick to your allies, do what you’re told, go where you’re supposed to go, and execute as you’re asked to execute, everything will usually progress quickly and smoothly. And you know what else? All of that stuff – i.e., following orders – is kinda important. In other words, if you approach each mission as a soldier would approach it, you likely won’t encounter many of the snafus that do indeed infect the basic structure. We have to remember this. I’m not giving those snafus a free pass but I’m trying to keep the spirit of the experience at the forefront because I believe it’s crucial and may even be unique to this particular FPS. Thing is, the atmosphere never fails us. The sound, action, well-designed landscapes and continually fresh feel keep us on the edge of our seats. I’m sorry, but are we supposed to ignore all that?

It’s true that we have an incomplete graphical presentation (with great highs but disappointing lows). It’s true that the game almost froze on me once, and can hitch and glitch during transitional periods (although I never saw it during firefights). It’s true that the campaign is short (perhaps only 5 hours or so). It’s true that the story is disjointed and the characters are too faceless. But let’s look at this another way; in my eyes, the right way. In war, you simply trust the person by your side; you don’t really care about his past. I don’t care what Dusty’s favorite color is. I don’t care if he has a deep, dark secret. I only care that he tells me what to do and when, and that I execute correctly. When I jump from one view of the war on terror to the next, I’m immediately plunged into something intense and new; it ranges widely from all-out insanity, like desperately trying to stay alive until air support arrives, to quiet, stealthy missions, to marking targets from afar with some serious firepower.

Oh, and let’s not forget the fantastic multiplayer, which strikes a nice chord; it’s like a blend of Call of Duty and Battlefield: Bad Company; it forces you to think a bit more and react quickly, and although the maps are too similar to one another, the experience is ultimately quite rewarding. You definitely need to take time to master each individual weapon and the combination of strategy and fast-paced, white-knuckle action is excellent. This alone ramped up my final score of 8.3 to 8.6, if you’re wondering. The bottom line is that I believe this is a shockingly reliable virtual incarnation of what actually happened over there, although I’m sure there’s a wee bit of exaggeration involved for the sake of drama. It has its shortcomings, which are obvious. But what is also obvious – to me, anyway – is that a Tier 1 Operator will probably look at this and go, “yeah, that’s about right.” And that’s fine by me.

The Good: Atmosphere always rocks. Sound is utterly fantastic. Balance, pacing and variety is top-notch. Multiplayer awesomeoness. Attention to detail in terms of realism, presentation, audio, and war-like situations, is much appreciated.

The Bad: Short campaign. Technical problems, including clipping, screen tearing and outright glitching. Questionable enemy AI.

The Ugly: That freakin’ mutated alien goat. What the hell was that, anyway?

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Gates Foundation Launches $20M Grant for Online Ed - PC Magazine

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Monday announced a $20 million grant program to improve college graduation rates via technology, which will probably be oriented around online education and learning programs.

Next year, the focus will be expanded to K-12 programs, Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft and the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said in a conference call.

The initiative, first disclosed last week, will be known as the Next-Generation Learning Challenges, a $20 million "funding round" of grants that will be handed out in grants ranging from $250,000 to $750,000. The request period will run until Nov. 19; the winners will be announced by March 31, the foundation said.

Gates, the world's richest man announced his intent to donate $3 billion to improve education over five years in 2008, after leaving Microsoft that same year. He formed the his foundation with his wife, Melinda, in 2006.

Since then, the Gates foundation has worked to attack the fundamental problems plaguing society, including medecine, agriculture, and hygiene. In 2009, Gates pointed to technology as the way out of the recession plaguing the U.S. economy.

"Education is the biggest priority for our foundation here in the United States," Gates said in a conference call Monday afternoon. "We think it's the most important thing for the future of the country," he said.

Gates said that the goal was to develop more effective methods for education, and that the primary means was by tapping into the most effective educators and sharing that knowledge with others. The most effective way, he said, was through online education, where "it was pretty clear," Gates said, that pairing world-class lecturers with the ability for a student to move at his or own pace, acceessing the material online at any time, any place, would be the most effective.

"It seems like there are some incredible possibilities," Gates said.

Meanwhile, online education is taking off; in the fall 2008 term, 4.6 million students took at least one online course, a 17 percent increase, according to the most recent report by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. About 66 percent of the institutions polled by the Sloan consortium reported increased demand for new online courses, with 73 percent seeing increased demand for existing online courses and programs.

But many of those, in Gates' words, are "not fantastic," with not a strong commitment to the breadth and depth of coursework other institutions offer. "But we feel sure there are some real gems even beyond what we can even point out ourselves," Gates added.

The Gates foundation has put together a team, working with Carnegie Mellon, to try and identify these new opportunities, Gates said. He identified the Khan Academy and the University of Central Florida as two leaders in bringing education to a broader audience via the use of online videos. But making a course interactive take a lot of extra effort, he said.

Gates said he envisioned a future where a very motivated student could complete nearly all of her coursework online, while another might require a blend of face-to-face and online interaction. Schools will also need to balance the online coursework with in-person coursework, all against a backdrop of rising tuition.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has an annual trust endowment of $33 billion and paid out $3 billion in grants during 2009. In June of 2009, Gates urged the world's wealthiest to donate heavily to charity. In July 2010, Gates, investor Warren Buffett and others of the world's wealthiest launched the Giving Pledge, an invitation the wealthiest individuals and families in America to commit to giving the majority of their wealth to charity.

Because of the relatively small size of the grants, both in comparison to the amount the charity gives annually and the size of the online education market, Gates characterized the foundation's role as a "catalytic" one, "getting in on the front edge of online learning," he said.

View the original article here

DC school reform will survive Rhee, if parents stay involved - Washington Post

One mom, in her school drop-off uniform of sweats and no makeup, did a happy dance under the oak trees, fingers wiggling in the crisp, morning air when I told her the news.

Another, with equally snazzy dress except for an added dash of breakfast smeared on her sleeve, went the other way: "I should put the house on the market and move to Montgomery County."

This sums up how divided the District is about the news that yes, Superman has officially left the city. Michelle A. Rhee is outta here.

"The thought of not being in this role anymore is heartbreaking. To put it mildly," Rhee said at a news conference Wednesday morning at the Mayflower Hotel, announcing the end of her tempestuous, three-year tenure as D.C. schools chancellor.

Heartbreaking for her, sure.

But for parents?

Puh-leeze.

It is unconscionable to give one person so much power over our children's futures.

School reform is bigger than Michelle Rhee, no matter how much attention she got from her ardent admirers in the media and the Obama administration.

She said it herself at the news conference when she explained the "mutual decision" between her and presumptive Mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray that led to her resignation: "In short, we have agreed - together - that the best way to keep the reforms going is for this reformer to step aside."

It is no longer relevant or useful to categorize Rhee as good or evil. That's a serious waste of energy, and smart people know it's not that simple.

Change had to come to D.C. schools. It is no secret that some of our schools have long been shamefully ineffective for the thousands of kids stuck attending them.

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Obama Signs NASA Bill, Could Add Extra Shuttle Flight - PC Magazine

President Barack Obama signed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 on Monday, giving an additional flight to the space shuttle fleet before it is retired.

"It is important bipartisan legislation that charts a new course for space exploration, science, technology development, and aeronautics," NASA administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.

On top of the extra trip, the act extends the life of the international space station until at least 2020. It authorizes $58.4 billion for NASA programs over the next three years, although the specifics of how and where the funds will be used have yet to be determined. The allocation will also speed up the development of a heavy-lift rocket, expected in 2011,it will go toward commercial space programs, and it will help earth science education programs.

The bill was passed by the Senate in August and by the House last week. President Obama's signature on it signifies the end of months of debate over the future of NASA.

"We have been given a new path in space that will enable our country to develop greater capabilities, transforming the state of the art in aerospace technologies," Bolden continued. "We will continue to maintain and expand vital partnerships around the world. It will help us retool for the industries and jobs of the future that will be vital for long-term economic growth and national security."

According to a CNN blog post, the two remaining space shuttle missions are slated for this November and February, and the extra launch would likely lift off in June of 2011.

View the original article here

Bankers Ignored Signs of Trouble on Foreclosures - New York Times

At Citigroup and GMAC, dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on home foreclosures was outsourced to frazzled workers who sometimes tossed the paperwork into the garbage.

And at Litton Loan Servicing, an arm of Goldman Sachs, employees processed foreclosure documents so quickly that they barely had time to see what they were signing.

“I don’t know the ins and outs of the loan,” a Litton employee said in a deposition last year. “I’m not a loan officer.”

As the furor grows over lenders’ efforts to sidestep legal rules in their zeal to reclaim homes from delinquent borrowers, these and other banks insist that they have been overwhelmed by the housing collapse.

But interviews with bank employees, executives and federal regulators suggest that this mess was years in the making and came as little surprise to industry insiders and government officials. The issue gained new urgency on Wednesday, when all 50 state attorneys general announced that they would investigate foreclosure practices. That news came on the same day that JPMorgan Chase acknowledged that it had not used the nation’s largest electronic mortgage tracking system, MERS, since 2008.

That system has been faulted for losing documents and other sloppy practices.

The root of today’s problems goes back to the boom years, when home prices were soaring and banks pursued profit while paying less attention to the business of mortgage servicing, or collecting and processing monthly payments from homeowners.

Banks spent billions of dollars in the good times to build vast mortgage machines that made new loans, bundled them into securities and sold those investments worldwide. Lowly servicing became an afterthought. Even after the housing bubble began to burst, many of these operations languished with inadequate staffing and outmoded technology, despite warnings from regulators.

When borrowers began to default in droves, banks found themselves in a never-ending game of catch-up, unable to devote enough manpower to modify, or ease the terms of, loans to millions of customers on the verge of losing their homes. Now banks are ill-equipped to deal the foreclosure process.

“We waited and waited and waited for wide-scale loan modifications,” said Sheila C. Bair, the chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, one of the first government officials to call on the industry to take action. “They never owned up to all the problems leading to the mortgage crisis. They have always downplayed it.”

In recent weeks, revelations that mortgage servicers failed to accurately document the seizure and sale of tens of thousands of homes have caused a public uproar and prompted lenders like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Ally Bank, which is owned by GMAC, to halt foreclosures in many states.

Even before the political outcry, many of the banks shifted employees into their mortgage servicing units and beefed up hiring. Wells Fargo, for instance, has nearly doubled the number of workers in its mortgage modification unit over the last year, to about 17,000, while Citigroup added some 2,000 employees since 2007, bringing the total to 5,000.

“We believe we responded appropriately to staff up to meet the increased volume,” said Mark Rodgers, a spokesman for Citigroup.

Some industry executives add that they’re committed to helping homeowners but concede they were slow to ramp up. “In hindsight, we were all slow to jump on the issue,” said Michael J. Heid, co-president of at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. “When you think about what it costs to add 10,000 people, that is a substantial investment in time and money along with the computers, training and system changes involved.”

Other officials say as foreclosures were beginning to spike as early as 2007, no one could have imagined how rapidly they would reach their current level. About 11.5 percent of borrowers are in default today, up from 5.7 percent from two years earlier.

“The systems were not ever that great to begin with, but you didn’t have that much strain on them,” said Jim Miller, who previously oversaw the mortgage servicing units for troubled borrowers at Citigroup, Chase and Capitol One. “I don’t think anybody anticipated this thing getting as bad as it did.”

Almost overnight, what had been a factorylike business that relied on workers with high school educations to process monthly payments needed to come up with a custom-made operation that could solve the problems of individual homeowners. Gregory Hebner, the president of the MOS Group, a California loan modification company that works closely with service companies, likened it to transforming McDonald’s into a gourmet eatery. “You are already in chase mode, and you never catch up,” he said.

To make matters worse, the banks had few financial incentives to invest in their servicing operations, several former executives said. A mortgage generates an annual fee equal to only about 0.25 percent of the loan’s total value, or about $500 a year on a typical $200,000 mortgage. That revenue evaporates once a loan becomes delinquent, while the cost of a foreclosure can easily reach $2,500 and devour the meager profits generated from handling healthy loans.

“Investment in people, training, and technology — all that costs them a lot of money, and they have no incentive to staff up,” said Taj Bindra, who oversaw Washington Mutual’s large mortgage servicing unit from 2004 to 2006.

And even when banks did begin hiring to deal with the avalanche of defaults, they often turned to workers with minimal qualifications or work experience, employees a former JPMorgan executive characterized as the “Burger King kids.” In many cases, the banks outsourced their foreclosure operations to law firms like that of David J. Stern, of Florida, which served clients like Citigroup, GMAC and others. Mr. Stern hired outsourcing firms in Guam and the Philippines to help.

The result was chaos, said Tammie Lou Kapusta, a former employee of Mr. Stern’s who was deposed by the Florida attorney general’s office last month. “The girls would come out on the floor not knowing what they were doing,” she said. “Mortgages would get placed in different files. They would get thrown out. There was just no real organization when it came to the original documents.”

Citigroup and GMAC say they are no longer giving any new work to Mr. Stern’s firm.

In some cases, even steps that were supposed to ease the situation, like the federal program aimed at helping homeowners modify their mortgages to reduce what they owed, had actually contributed to the mess. Loan servicing companies complain that bureaucratic requirements are constantly changed by Washington, forcing them to overhaul an already byzantine process that involves nearly 250 steps.

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Awaiting the Next Step on Policy on Gay Service - New York Times

Judge Virginia A. Phillips of Federal District Court issued a sweeping injunction on Tuesday that called on the military to stop enforcing the policy, and to “suspend and discontinue” any investigations or proceedings to dismiss service members under it.

While the Department of Justice is expected to appeal the decision, department officials would not confirm or deny that an appeal was on the way.

The administration has argued that Congress, not the courts, should change the law, because legislation could provide a more orderly process.

That point was telegraphed in comments delivered on Wednesday by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. In his first public statement since the judge’s ruling, he said changing the policy would have “enormous consequences.”

“I feel very strongly that this is an action that needs to be taken by the Congress, and that it is an action that requires careful preparation and a lot of training,” Mr. Gates said as he flew to Brussels for a meeting of NATO ministers.

He noted that the Pentagon was conducting a review of the policy, due in December. “Legislation should be informed by the review that we have under way,” he said.

Questions about President Obama’s response to the court ruling dominated the daily White House briefing with reporters on Wednesday. Mr. Obama has long opposed the policy, yet he now leads the government, which typically appeals to defend laws under challenge.

“The president strongly believes that this policy is unjust, that it is detrimental to our national security, and that it discriminates against those who are willing to die for their country,” said Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary. “And the president strongly believes that it’s time for this policy to end.”

“The bottom line is this is a policy that is going to end,” Mr. Gibbs added. “It’s not whether it will end, but the process by which it will end.”

Opponents of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law anticipated an imminent filing of an appeal.

Robin McGehee, co-founder and director of GetEqual, a civil rights group in Washington for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, said such an action from the government would be “yet another shocking lack of leadership from the White House on issues of equality.”

If the government does appeal, it would probably ask higher courts to keep Judge Phillips’s injunction from taking effect during the appeals process, which could reach the United States Supreme Court.

That is a process that Log Cabin Republicans, the group that brought the suit, is willing to pursue, said Christian A. Berle, the group’s acting executive director.

The group “remains committed to defending this ruling and defending the rights of all service members — in the Ninth Circuit, and to the United States Supreme Court, if necessary.”

At the same time, he said, the group has also asked Congress to repeal the law.

“Log Cabin Republicans prefers whatever solution will end this policy the quickest,” he said.

Thom Shanker contributed reporting from Brussels, and Jackie Calmes from Washington.

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Approved: Apple's 'Anti-Sexting' Software Patent - Tom's Guide

Approved: Apple's 'Anti-Sexting' Software Patent Tom's Guide, Tech for real life Gadgets Home Web Life Gadgets Software Style Downloads Shopping Tech Support Forums Tom’s Hardware Tom’s Games Sign Up |Sign In Gadgets News Articles Ads Tom's Guide> Gadgets > Smart Phones > News Smartphones > Approved: Apple's 'Anti-Sexting' Software Patent Approved: Apple's 'Anti-Sexting' Software Patent 10:40 PM - October 13, 2010 - By Jane McEntegart - Source : Tom's Guide US

Apple has just been awarded a patent for what people are already calling 'anti-sexting' software.

Kids these days and their cell phones -- you just never know what they're talking about with their friends. Fear not, Apple can help you! TechCrunch reports that the Cupertino, California-based company has just been awarded a patent for a "text-based communication control for personal communication device." The patent description claims that there is "no way to monitor and control text communications to make them user appropriate," and goes on to give children sending and receiving messages with objectionable language as an example.

"Users such as children may send or receive messages (intentionally or not) with parentally objectionable language," it reads.

The software would allow parents to implement parental controls that evaluate whether or not the message in question contains only approved words. If an unauthorized word is detected, it can be omitted from the message, and the application could alert the user or a designated third party to the presence of the unauthorized text. The application may require the user to replace the unauthorized text with words that are allowed, or it may automatically delete the offending words. A third option is that the application would just delete the entire message.

However, despite it being easy to assume that anti-porn Apple's main goal for this software is to help parents prevent kids from swearing or telling each other all about their naughty, hormone-induced urges, it seems the company is also aiming to improve language education.

The abstract for the filing says that although some incoming or outcoming messages could be blocked if they contain "forbidden content," parental controls also make it possible for the phone to require certain text be present in messages. The company goes on to give the example that you could require a certain number of Spanish words per day to be included in emails if your child is learning Spanish.

Check out full details of the patent here.

Source: TechCrunch

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Send* The email addresses collected via this form are not recorded on our servers and are only used for the sending request Sony Reveals Google TV New Product Line-upApple 'Back to Mac' Event Hints at OS X 'Lion'Spotted: Palm Pre 2, Which Could Hit Next MonthSoon Mac Users Can Sync Windows Phones TooFCC Cracking Down on Cellphone ''Bill Shock''LG Launching World's Largest 3D TVGoogle Will Gladly Help Fight Piracy... for a FeeBlizzard Banning SC2 Single-Player Cheaters Too?Google Improves Map Images Using ''Kite View''Porsche Car Chase Ensues Because of PlayStationDeleted Facebook Pics Still There 16 Months Later Featured topics Apple Here Comes Windows Phone 7 Web Site Redesign: Dos and Don’ts The New Xbox 360 Dashboard Latest Apple News Approved: Apple's 'Anti-Sexting' Software Patent Apple 'Back to Mac' Event Hints at OS X... Soon Mac Users Can Sync Windows Phones Too FCC Cracking Down on Cellphone ''Bill... iPhone 4 Glass Breaking 82% More Than on 3GS Latest Apple reviews Apple Vs. Everyone Else: The Top 4 iPad Alternatives Apple iPod Retrospective Take Your iPad To College How To: Turn A Netbook Into A Hackintosh Will iTunes 10 Bring 10 Companies Down? Comments Read the comments on the forums Show comments: By defaultAllGood ratingsPoor ratings   zerapio10/14/2010 4:51 AMHide-1+Can it return the message to the sender if it's written in ALL CAPS? If so sign me up!

Lekko10/14/2010 4:55 AMHide-3+Considering how kids spell these days, that software is going to have to work really really hard to catch stuff.

nukemaster10/14/2010 4:57 AMHide-2+Yay, now any phone company that wants to implement a filter will have to pay apple.

keczapifrytki10/14/2010 5:07 AMHide-0+In other news, 11 year old kids know more swear words than their clueless parents regardless of the censorship imposed on their lives.

eric_son10/14/2010 5:11 AMHide-1+I like the idea...

However, I think this will just encourage the kids to invent their own language where the offending words are masked inside plain old non-offensive words.

zachary k10/14/2010 5:23 AMHide-0+Quote : "text-based communication control for personal communication device."
so that covers sex-based ascii art. wonder when they will move on to media file-based communication.

BBS user10/14/2010 5:25 AMHide-0+How in the hell could Apple get a patent approved on this. There is prior art on text based keyword / bad language filtering from way back in the BBS text chat days. The US PTO doesn't have a clue and just doesn't do the research before approving these bogus patents. I guess Apple now gets to sue anyone who puts a bad language filter into their smart phone?

jdevoy10/14/2010 5:29 AMHide-0+These big companies are just falling over themselves to patent every idea they can come up with, no matter how stupid or obvious...or with how much prior art.

DEZigns33310/14/2010 5:32 AMHide-0+It's censoring software. It's not about sexting, it's for censoring conversations by government agencies like China and UAE.
But your mom can use it too.

ccobrachoppergirl10/14/2010 5:38 AMHide-0+Yes, that's right, condition citizens to be censored from an early age. They'll be great subservient tools for the police state. As if they aren't already, ripped away from the family and schooled in slavery conditions to state mandated education. None of them had a vote as to whether they have to go to school or not, none of them get paid for a darn bit of work they do at school, and none of them have any free time with homework spilling into all the rest of their lives. Why let them have freedom of speach as well.

frostyfireball10/14/2010 5:44 AMHide-0+This is rediculous and there better be a way to trun it off if it's ever implemented. Honestly, who wants this BS except overprotective parents and the likes of jobs. I don't want some software telling what i can or can't say.

the_krasno10/14/2010 5:45 AMHide-0+Answer: use 1337 H4X0|2 M4D SKILZZZZ

People can always circumvent these sort of BS, teenagers are very crafty for the credit people give them.

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Google on new path, developing self-driving cars - Computerworld

Computerworld - Picture sitting in your car, maneuvering through busy downtown traffic while talking on your phone or sending a few texts.

This isn't a scene of illegal texting or phone use. Why not? Because the car in this scenario is driving itself, leaving the passengers inside free to use their mobile phones. (In Google's ideal scenario, you'd be talking on an Android phone.)

This is Google's image of the future. The company known best for its search engine announced this past weekend that its engineers are working on developing technology for cars that can drive themselves. Autonomous cars may be a bit far afield from Google's normal work in search, browsers, operating systems and maps, but the company is looking to head down a new road.

"Our automated cars, manned by trained operators, just drove from our Mountain View campus to our Santa Monica office and on to Hollywood Boulevard," wrote Sebastian Thrun, a distinguished software engineer at Google, in a Saturday blog post. "They've driven down Lombard Street, crossed the Golden Gate bridge, navigated the Pacific Coast Highway, and even made it all the way around Lake Tahoe. All in all, our self-driving cars have logged over 140,000 miles. We think this is a first in robotics research."

Thrun also noted that the cars use video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to virtually "see" other cars and the basic traffic flow. The company that introduced Google Maps and Google Earth also used mapping technology to navigate the roadways, and it took advantage of Google's massive data centers to hold and process all of this information.

While the autonomous cars were on the road, they were occupied by a "trained safety driver," as well as a software engineer who could monitor the vehicle's software operations.

"We've always been optimistic about technology's ability to advance society, which is why we have pushed so hard to improve the capabilities of self-driving cars beyond where they are today," Thrun wrote. "While this project is very much in the experimental stage, it provides a glimpse of what transportation might look like in the future thanks to advanced computer science. And that future is very exciting."

So why would Google, a company whose name is a verb for Internet searching, set its sights on autonomous vehicles?

One reason is because it can, said Ray Valdes, an analyst at research firm Gartner.

"The long answer is that likely there are multiple reasons," Valdes said. "This may have been an offshoot of the Street View mapping in Google Maps, and that took on a life of its own. Probably the project was not killed because it is cool, had support of senior management, and there is some potential reward further down the road, so to speak."

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Microsoft, Facebook Introduce New Social Search Features - eWeek

Microsoft and Facebook are partnering on a set of new social-search features accessible via Bing. The features will also activate for Web results on Facebook, which are powered by Bing.

One new feature, Liked Results, displays the Websites and links ?liked? by a Facebook user?s friends. If you search in Bing for ?Halo: Reach,? for example, your friends? Facebook profile images will appear next to certain results. ?So, you can lean on friends to figure out the best Websites for your search,? reads an Oct. 13 note on The Facebook Blog.  

The other new feature, Facebook Profile Search, factors into searches for specific people. In response to a search request for a particular name?e.g., ?John Smith??Bing will now leverage a user?s Facebook connections to deliver more relevant results. ?Those with whom you have mutual friends will now show up first,? reads The Facebook Blog note. ?Bing is also making more prominent the ability to add these people as friends on Facebook directly from Bing.?

The tighter partnership between Facebook and Bing is unsurprising, given Microsoft?s $240 million investment for a 1.6 percent stake in the social network. During an Oct. 13 presentation, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared onstage with Microsoft executives to talk through the background and details of the deeper search integration. 

?We?re hard-wired so that information about people is the most interesting information we track in the world,? Zuckerberg told the audience.

Microsoft likely hopes that the new layer of Facebook data will help Bing in its continuing battle against Google, which recently added real-time search results in a bid to streamline its service. Analytics firms give Bing around 27-30 percent of the U.S. search-engine market, once Bing?s powering of Yahoo?s backend search is taken into account, while Google occupies between 65-71 percent. 

?We think it?s time for a real, robust, persistent social signal,? Satya Nadella, senior vice president of Microsoft?s Online Services Division, wrote in an Oct. 13 posting on the Bing Community blog. ?Facebook has led a transformation of the Internet already. It has reached and passed 500 million members, and the amount of content created inside Facebook each day is staggering.?

The new social-search features are scheduled to roll out in the U.S. over the next few weeks.

?What?s most exciting to us at Bing is the evolution of this new signal, based on something more than just pattern recognition or keyword matching,? Nadella wrote in that blog posting. ?This new signal will allow us to do a better and more comprehensive job predicting what resources and content are most relevant to you because, in addition to all the other signals we use, other people you trust have found them interesting.?

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Sony Reveals Google TV New Product Line-up - Tom's Guide

Google TV is supposed to be available before winter hits and with the cold creeping in, Google's partners are busy showing off their Google TV wares.

Yesterday Sony held a press conference in New York City and revealed its range of Google TV hardware. The company debuted everything from a $400 Set-top box-cum-Blu-ray player to a $1,400 HDTV.

The cheapest TV Sony unveiled yesterday was a $599 and is the 24-inch NSX-24GT1. Next is the 32-inch class NSX-32GT1 for $799.99 and then the 40-inch NSX-40GT1 clocks in at just under $999.99. The most expensive model is the 46-inch NSX-46GT1, which costs $1,399.99. All four models feature built-in WiFi, four HDMI inputs and four USB inputs, an Intel CPU, and Google TV built-in. All but the cheapest in the line feature an Edge LED backlight display. The $599 model packs a CCFL backlight design. All come bundled with Sony's new RF QWERTY keypad remote with integrated optical mouse.

Completing Sony's Internet TV line is the company's Blu-ray player ($399), which features Blu-ray Disc playback capability (obviously) and comes with Google TV built-in, an Intel CPU, one HDMI input, one HDMI output, four USB inputs, built-in WiFi and that same RF QWERTY keypad remote.

Google TV allows users to browse the web, as well as search for content across your TV and the internet. It's based on Google's Android OS and uses the Chrome browser. The platform also allows you to download applications to your TV via the Android marketplace. All of Sony's TVs will come with Netflix, CNBC, Napster, Pandora and Sony Qriocity VOD pre-installed.

Sony's Google TV line will hit its outlets by this weekend and should hit Best Buy before the month is out.

Logitech also began sending out shipping notifications for its Logitech Revue set-top box. Those who pre-ordered last week can expect their Revue to ship on October 21.

Source: Sony

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How and Why You'd Use Windows Phone 7 With A Mac - Wired News

One of the major advantages of Windows Phone 7 is its tight integration with Microsoft’s other devices and software. In a terse statement, Microsoft let Mac users know they can eventually expect a light version: “Later in 2010 Microsoft will make a public beta available of a tool that allows Windows Phone 7 to sync select content with Mac computers.”

The “tool” will probably be a version of the Zune desktop software, if a Microsoft UK marketing head early tweet is any indication: “ANNOUNCEMENT: I’m glad to confirm that Mac users would be able to use Zune on their Macs to sync with #WP7… More details soon.”

This makes sense for Microsoft: not only have they always made software for Macs (notably Office), you’d never want to put too many limitations on what PCs you can use with a post-PC handheld. Imagine if Apple had kept the iPod and iTunes Mac-only. Or if the Zune had never included support for Macs. (Wait, that second one actually happened.)

But why would a Mac user want to use a WP7 phone — particularly when the iPhone works so well with a Mac? Basically, it’s the same reason a Mac user might pick an Android phone over an iPhone. Either you like the physical phone better, or (more often) you’re more tied into Google’s or Microsoft’s software than you are to Apple’s.

Here are some scenarios where that might be true.

You’re a heavy user of Microsoft Office. Windows Phone 7 has the full Office suite built-in. iPhone’s Office offerings aren’t as strong; it’s a little better for iPad, but not that much.

Windows Office 2011 for Mac is coming at the end of the month, and it’s the best, most-interoperable Office suite available for the Mac. It’s also finally bringing a real Outlook application, not the baby Outlook they called Entourage. (Entourage the application provided the exact opposite experience of the TV show Entourage.) By default, iPhone on the Mac syncs with iCal, Address Book, and Mail; a phone that synced with Outlook could be a huge upgrade.

This is where the lack of OneNote on Office 2011 for Mac really bothers me; it’s WP7’s Office showpiece, very smartly implemented on the handset and nearly completely useless to Office users on Macs.

You’re also a heavy user of Windows Live. Android users love their experience with Gmail, Google Docs, etc. Some of my friends who don’t love Windows love Windows Live, preferring it over Google’s cloud apps and Apple’s MobileMe. Office 2011 and WP7 are both extremely well-integrated with Windows Live. iPhone and Android aren’t. You’re a gamer who loves Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. Apple may have a set-top box, but it doesn’t play games. The iPhone offers a lot of good casual games for handheld, but WP7 will too. If you have a Google TV, it’ll be better with your Android phone; if you have an Xbox 360, it’ll be better with a WP7 phone.

The whole industry is moving towards greater interoperability between computers, handhelds and set-top boxes. The Xbox – WP7 combo will be one of the most versatile handheld-to-boxtop media combinations available. Add a Mac to the mix, rig it to stream content to your Xbox and that’s a pretty powerful power trio. Particularly if you don’t care about buying movies and renting TV shows through iTunes, which is the only advantage an Apple TV would offer.

In the tech world, Mac users are stereotyped as Apple evangelists and/or fanboys, people who’ve bought into the ecosystem from top to bottom. But think about your average student with a MacBook, or your parents you convinced to buy an iMac. They are usually agnostic about this stuff.

Most Mac users probably don’t think long and hard about Apple’s long-term peripheral strategy, or whether Android’s lack of hardware standards will cause them problems down the line. They use Office on their Macs, use PCs at work, play Xbox in their living room and want to buy the phone they like on the carrier they use for a price they can afford. They bought their Macs for the same reason.

The last piece of this puzzle is really how well Windows Phone 7 and the Mac will be able to talk to each other. History bears this out: for a long time, Blackberry desktop software on PC was fantastic, but the version for the Mac wasn’t anywhere close. In my case, it eventually drove me away from the Blackberry and towards the iPhone.

If Microsoft decides that it doesn’t really need to give Mac users anything more than the bare minimum, or that they can capture more value by trying to pull WP7 buyers to the PC platform, then it won’t work. They’ll keep their current customers and add value within their existing ecosystem.

But if Microsoft begins to see their world as one that doesn’t have to be centered around the PC, where they can make great software and compelling experiences for all platforms, and shift more of their institutional weight towards the cloud and the living room, then even Mac users might have to take a long hard look at those new phones.

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