MC2 Post 1597 Teen's Invention could Charge your Phone in 20 seconds

From:  http://www.nbcnews.com

Link:  http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/teens-invention-could-charge-your-phone-20-seconds-1C9977955

TinyURL:   http://tinyurl.com/aqovoyb

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Building Xbox One: An Inside Look at 

Microsoft's Play for the

Next Generation of Gaming

The engineers in Microsoft's windowless next-gen Xbox silicon lab are rattled. And understandably so. We're in their office, after all, and we have a mess of cameras in the one place you're not allowed to have cameras (or even cellphones). We're obviously outsiders on Microsoft's multi-building, security-heavy Mountain View campus, especially given our quartet of esteemed escorts: Todd Holmdahl, Ilan Spillinger, Nick Baker and Greg Williams. These four gentlemen are leading the charge on both Microsoft's next big thing and, perhaps more importantly, a major effort to internalize silicon architecture at the traditionally software-focused megacorp.

Link:   http://www.engadget.com/

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MC2 Post 1596 ‘Doctor Who’ Season 7.5 Premiere Date Set

WHO Is What and What Is a WHO?

From:  http://screenrant.com

It’s odd that showrunner Stephen Moffat – previously known for his meticulous set-up of season-long dramatic arcs – is going to take the series in such a new direction midway through season 7. However, it may be that Moffat is playing a larger game than it first appears. When Doctor Who returns to TV on Saturday, March 30th, he might actually be taking steps toward a mega-milestone set to take place later this year: Doctor Who‘s 50th Anniversary Special.

Link:  http://screenrant.com/doctor-who-season-7-part-2-premiere-date-50-anniversary-doctors-reunion/

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/bjl6upf

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The OTHER WHO

 

RT Explores the Art of Horton Hears A Who

Blue Sky's Chris Wedge and Mike Thurmeier take RT through the movie.

From:   http://www.rottentomatoes.com

Link:   http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/horton-hears-a-who2008/news/1714540/rt_explores_the_art_of_horton_hears_a_who/

TinyURL:   http://tinyurl.com/be9hpc7

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British Explorer Holds First Ever Video Call 

on Mount Everest

British mountaineer Daniel Hughes has made the first ever live video call from a smartphone at the peak on Mount Everest.

As The Verge notes, the call isn’t the first from the world’s highest peak, but it is the first video call made using a smartphone.

Hughes, who undertook the climb, made the call from the top of the world using an HTC One as part of his fund-raising efforts the Comic Relief charity. Speaking to the BBC, he said: “as you can see, this is the world’s first live video call, never been done before, from the rooftop of the world.”

From:   http://memeburn.com
 

Link:  http://memeburn.com/2013/05/british-explorer-holds-first-ever-video-call-on-mount-everest/

TinyURL:   http://tinyurl.com/m3j4ult

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MC2 Post 1595 Skype's Ominous Link Checking

From:   http://www.h-online.com

Our discovery that URLs sent through Skype are then visited by Microsoft has caused quite a stir. A little more information has now emerged and leads to even more questions.

Link:  http://www.h-online.com/security/features/Skype-s-ominous-link-checking-facts-and-speculation-1865629.html

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/bfrmq5l

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How to Hack a Smart TV

From:   http://marcoramilli.blogspot.it
 
 

Link:   http://marcoramilli.blogspot.it/2013/05/firmware-hacking-samsung-smart-tv-turn.html
 

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/adepoct

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Javascript,  Ruby,  JSON and JQuery 

How-to Apps, That Teach You Stuff...



Not up to speed on the latest spaghetti letter noodles of

programming acronyms --- Not to Worry ---



How to add Another Value to the existing JSON Object in 

Ruby on Eails and Javascript?

From:   http://stackoverflow.com
   

Link:   http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14336963/how-to-add-another-value-to-the-existing-json-object-in-ruby-on-rails-and-javasc

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/bgp4kjx

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MC2 Post 1594 Linux Users Have a Choice: 8 Linux Desktop Environments

From:   http://www.howtogeek.com

There’s no one true desktop environment for Linux. Unlike competing operating systems like Windows, Linux users have a choice of many different desktop environments, all with their own styles and strengths.

You can install one of these desktop environments after installing your Linux distribution and switch between desktop environments from the login screen. You can also choose to install a Linux distribution that comes with the desktop environment. For example, you can get Ubuntu in many different flavors.

Link:  http://www.howtogeek.com/163154/linux-users-have-a-choice-8-linux-desktop-environments/

TinyURL:   http://tinyurl.com/a49p7y7

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Unity
Gnome
KDE
Xfce
Cinnamon
Mate
LXCE

Xmonad and More

This isn’t a complete list — not by a long shot. There are many more niche desktop environments and window managers you could use, including Xmonad, a tiling window manager. Tiling window managers attempt to make your life easier by automatically arranging windows in tiles on your screen, saving you the trouble of dragging them around and allowing you to quickly rearrange them with keyboard shortcuts.

It’s a good example of just how different from each other Linux desktop environments can be.

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MC2 Post 1593 Three Essential Security Add-Ons for Firefox, Chrome and IE

The free extensions for Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Internet Explorer thwart trackers, block ads (in Firefox and Chrome), and rate the safety of links before you click them: Ghostery, Adblock Plus, and Web of Trust, respectively.

From:   http://howto.cnet.com

Link:  http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57583082-285/three-essential-security-add-ons-for-firefox-chrome-and-ie/?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Workers%27Edge

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/a6n4pha

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Big Data Analytics

‘Excel killer’ Tableau Software ups its IPO price to $31

From:   http://venturebeat.com 
 

Link:   http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/16/excel-killer-tableau-software-prices-upsized-ipo/
 

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/ahpko3s

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AOL vs. Netflix:

The Entire Internet in One Simple Chart

Dialup out, broadband in. It doesn’t get more clear than this.

 


From:   http://www.splatf.com
   

Link:   http://www.splatf.com/2013/05/aol-netflix-chart/

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/cfeuh52

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Smartphones going from Flat to Shapeshifting

Link:  http://gigaom.com/2013/04/28/smartphones-evolving-from-flat-to-flex-with-new-shapeshifting-prototypes/

TinyURL:   http://tinyurl.com/cwtonov

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MC2 Post 1592 30+ Web-Based Alternatives to Traditional Desktop Apps

for Chromebooks and PCs

From:   http://www.howtogeek.com

Link:  http://www.howtogeek.com/163162/30-web-based-alternatives-to-traditional-desktop-apps-for-chromebooks-and-pcs/

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/bfkol9r

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Office  Alternative:

Google DOCS and Office Web Apps

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Productivity:

Calendaring:

Google Calendar,  Windows 8-style Calendar app.

Tasks:

Remember the Milk and Any Do.

Notes:

Evernote, Simple Note and Google Keep.

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MC2 Post 1591 Google Maps Out a New Kind of Search

From:  the 3 Hour Google  I/O Keynote

Google Maps Redesigned with Improved Search and Tablet UI

An errant leak this morning gave us a pretty good idea that Google Maps was getting revamped in time for I/O, so this announcement comes as no huge surprise. Mountain View just pulled back the curtain on the next major release of  Maps for desktops while offering up an advance look Android and iOS.

Link:  http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/15/google-maps-redesign/

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/bj2wgvg

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Google Launches new Google+ Hangouts Platform and 

Mobile apps with Focus on Conversations

From:   http://www.engadget.com
 

Link:   http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/15/google-hangouts-redesign/

TinyURL:   http://tinyurl.com/ct4qath

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From:  
 

Link: 


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MC2 Post 1590 Jumping into Data Analysis with PYTHON

Or Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks 

with powerful Open Source Software

Likelihood Analysis with Python from Fermi 

Science Support Center

From:   http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov

Link:  http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc/data/analysis/scitools/python_tutorial.html

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/c5bc9ug

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Do a Google Image search for 'Atari Breakout' and 

Let the Rest of your Day Disappear

From:   http://www.nbcnews.com

Always looking for new opportunities to turn its mammoth search engine and associated features into interactive and exceedingly distracting Easter eggs, Google 

has put on another show in honor of the 37th birthday of Atari's classic video game "Breakout."

Just try typing "Atari Breakout" into Google's image search. Instead of getting the usual cluster of high- and low-resolution images of the retro paddle-based game, the screen then transforms all the images into tiny bricks for you to destroy in a game Google is calling "Image Breakout."

 

Link:   http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/do-google-image-search-atari-breakout-let-rest-your-day-1C9909479

TinyURL:   http://tinyurl.com/cxwwkxv

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MC2 Post 1589 Lightweight Dark Matter Get Even Stronger

From:   http://www.newscientist.com

And you wonder why we're losing students in hard science...

 

Like Luke told Yoda: "That's Impossible!" 

Wingman.

A strange light is shining near the centre of the Milky Way, and evidence is mounting that it is the spark of lightweight dark matter meeting a violent end. At the same time, a suite of sensitive detectors deep underground is seeing hints of similar particles.

Dark matter is thought to make up roughly 80 per cent of the matter in the universe. But aside from its gravitational tug on regular matter, the substance has proven tough to detect, and many of its fundamental properties remain unknown. 

Link:  http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23527-hints-of-lightweight-dark-matter-get-even-stronger.html

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/d8kocku

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Commercial 'Quantum Computer'  leaves PC in the Dust

From:   http://www.newscientist.com
 

 

Link:   http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23519-commercial-quantum-computer-leaves-pc-in-the-dust.html?cmpid=RSS|NSNS|2012-GLOBAL|online-news

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/bpjha94

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Quantum Trick offers Source for Mystery 

Cosmic Magnets

From:   http://www.newscientist.com
 

Link:  http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23526-quantum-trick-offers-source-for-mystery-cosmic-magnets.html

TinyURL:   http://tinyurl.com/c234em6

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MC2 Post 1588 Blender 2_67 released with Freestyle and 3D Printing Toolbox

From:   http://libregraphicsworld.org

Link:   http://libregraphicsworld.org/blog/entry/blender-2.67

TinyURL:   http://tinyurl.com/bwkg3ev

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Cycles rendering engine finally got Subsurface Scattering shader that makes it possible to create materials like wax, marble, or skin. The shader is somewhat simplistic and can be executed on CPU only for now.

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Raspberry PI:

A New Looking Glass Moment for Wingman

Inside: A New Raspberry PI

for Wingman.

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MC2 Post 1587 14-Year-Old Discovers iPad Smart Cover Magnets Can Shut Off Implanted Defibrillators

Gee, that smarts.   Ouch!

From:   http://www.macrumors.com

 A fourteen-year-old has discovered that the tiny magnets inside the iPad can inadvertently shut off implanted defibrillators if the device is left on the chest, such as might happen if the user falls asleep with the iPad lying on them.

Gianna Chien made the discovery as part of a science fair project that didn't win first place, but she will be presenting her findings to 8,000 doctors at a meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society in Denver, reports Bloomberg.

Link:  http://www.macrumors.com/2013/05/09/14-year-old-discovers-ipad-smart-cover-magnets-can-shut-off-pacemakers/

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/csv2goe

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Python-Accelerating PyPy 2.0 for x86 released

The developers of PyPy, an alternative Python 2.x implementation with a just-in-time compiler that's "almost a drop-in replacement for CPython 2.7", have announced the release of PyPy 2.0. According to the developers' benchmarking site PyPy 2.0 is around 5.71 times faster than CPython 2.7.3.

PyPy 2.0, is code-named "Einstein Sandwich".

From:   http://www.h-online.com

 

Link:    http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Python-accelerating-PyPy-2-0-for-x86-released-1860629.html

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/brn89nq

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Blender 2.67 Renders Cartoons

For about 2 years, the Blender open source 3D modelling package has included Cycles, a render engine that uses path tracing. This engine can be used to produce photorealistic images with little effort. 

Until now, those who wanted to render a graphical or cartoon-like image for a 3D model had to use Blender's internal render engine for such Non-Photorealistic Rendering (NPR). However, this engine is quite old and doesn't always produce convincing results. 

 
The new version 2.67 of Blender closes the gap by offering the Freestyle cartoon render engine. Freestyle uses 3D geometry to calculate lines that can either be used on their own or combined with the surface rendering results from other engines.

From:  http://www.h-online.com

 

Version 2.67 includes a special 3D Printing Toolbox for preparing 3D prints; this add-on offers a useful collection of tools for analysing surface meshes and objects.

Link:  http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Blender-2-67-renders-cartoons-1859432.html

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/d5px776

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MC2 Post 1586 Microsoft's Most Profitable Mobile OS -- Android

To some, Windows 8 is a marketplace failure. But its flop has been nothing compared to Microsoft's problems in getting anyone to use its Windows Phone operating systems. You don't need to worry about Microsoft's bottom line though.

 
Thanks to its Android patent agreements, Microsoft may be making as much as $8 per Android device. This could give Microsoft as much as $3.4 billion in 2013 from Android sales.


From:   http://www.zdnet.com

Link:  http://www.zdnet.com/microsofts-most-profitable-mobile-operating-system-android-7000015094/

TinyURL:  http://tinyurl.com/butw7wz

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Guess Qhat?  There's No Windows in the Space Station.

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To the Space Station and Beyond with Linux


NASA has decided to drop Windows from the laptops on the International Space Station (ISS) in favor of Linux, and the first humanoid robot in space, R2, really is powered by Linux.


From:   http://www.zdnet.com

Specifically, the ISS astronauts will be using computers running Debian 6.

Earlier, some of the on-board computers had been using Scientific Linux, a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) clone. While not the newest version of Debian, Debian 7 has just been released, Debian is nothing if not well-tested and reliable.

 

Link:   http://www.zdnet.com/to-the-space-station-and-beyond-with-linux-7000014958/

TinyURL:   http://tinyurl.com/cutdwte

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Lady Teenage Coder Fixes Your Twitter 

So No One Can Spoil 

Game of Thrones For You Again

From:   http://www.tor.com



What's more impressive about Jennie's story is the hackathon she entered had 80 additional competitors... and all of the other contestants who finished their projects and competed against her were male.


In fact, most of the other contestants were working in groups to code their programs, while Jennie Lamere created hers solo in ten hours. That's 150 lines of code, for a program she conceived the night before the competition, executed in ten hours.

 
And she is only 17 years old. She won in the subcategory “best use of sync-to-broadcast” and then won “best in show,” beating out professional developers sent by the event's sponsors.
 

Link:  http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/05/lady-teenage-coder-fixes-your-twitter-so-no-one-can-spoil-game-of-thrones-for-you-again

TinyURL:   http://tinyurl.com/cyxkp5x

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