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Obama: US needs better math, science education (AP) : Technet |
- Obama: US needs better math, science education (AP)
- China web users call for 'Jasmine Revolution' (AFP)
- Space weather could wreak havoc in gadget-driven world (AFP)
- China's Huawei 'in London Underground phones bid' (AFP)
- Best Celebrity Twitter Pictures (The Daily Beast)
- Smaller iPad 3 (bigger iPod Touch?) to get Retina display, says analyst (Digital Trends)
- Libya cuts off Internet service: network monitor (Reuters)
- 40 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed (Mashable)
- 10 Fascinating YouTube Facts That May Surprise You (Mashable)
- VIPorbit App Redefines iPhone Productivity (PC World)
| Obama: US needs better math, science education (AP) Posted: 19 Feb 2011 04:22 PM PST WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says improving math and science education is essential to helping the U.S. compete globally, and he wants the private sector to get involved in making it happen. Obama recorded his weekly radio and Internet address during a visit this past week to Intel Corp. outside of Portland, Ore. He praised the company for making a 10-year, $200 million commitment to promote math and science education — and held it up as an example of how corporate America can make money at the same time it builds the country. "Companies like Intel are proving that we can compete — that instead of just being a nation that buys what's made overseas, we can make things in America and sell them around the globe," Obama said. "Winning this competition depends on the ingenuity and creativity of our private sector. . But it's also going to depend on what we do as a nation to make America the best place on earth to do business." Obama's West Coast swing, which also included a dinner with big names in California's Silicon Valley, was part of his push to promote a budget proposal that increases spending on education, research and development and high-speed Internet, while cutting other areas. Republicans newly in control of the House are pushing much deeper cuts and resisting new spending. The GOP is also taking Obama to task for avoiding significant changes to the biggest budget busters: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. In the Republicans' weekly radio address, Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., trumpeted the GOP's push to cut $60 billion from the current fiscal year budget and promised a 2012 budget proposal that, unlike Obama's, offers "real entitlement reform." "Our reforms will focus both on saving these programs for current and future generations of Americans and on getting our debt under control and our economy growing," Price said. "By taking critical steps forward now, we can fulfill the mission of health and retirement security for all Americans without making changes for those in or near retirement." |
| China web users call for 'Jasmine Revolution' (AFP) Posted: 19 Feb 2011 07:25 PM PST BEIJING (AFP) – Postings circulating on the Internet have called on disgruntled Chinese to gather on Sunday in public places in 13 major cities to mark the "Jasmine Revolution" spreading through the Middle East. The calls have apparently led the Chinese government to censor postings containing the word "jasmine" in an attempt to quell any potential unrest. "We welcome... laid off workers and victims of forced evictions to participate in demonstrations, shout slogans and seek freedom, democracy and political reform to end 'one party rule'," one posting said. The postings, many of which appeared to have originated on overseas websites run by exiled Chinese political activists, called for protests in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and 10 other major Chinese cities. Protesters were urged to shout slogans including "we want food to eat," "we want work," we want housing," "we want justice," "long live freedom," and "long live democracy." Chinese authorities have sought to restrict media reports on the recent political turmoil that began in Tunisia as the "Jasmine Revolution" and spread to Egypt and throughout the Middle East. Unemployment and rising prices have been key factors linked to the unrest that has also spread to Bahrain, Yemen, Algeria and Libya. Searches Sunday for "jasmine" on China's Twitter-like micro-blog Weibo ended without results, while messages on the popular Baidu search engine said that due to laws and regulations such results were unavailable. Some Chinese Internet search pages listed "jasmine" postings but links to them were blocked. The Chinese government has expended tremendous resources to police the Internet and block anti-government postings and other politically sensitive material with a system known as the "Great Firewall of China." In a speech given Saturday, Chinese President Hu Jintao acknowledged growing social unrest and urged the ruling Communist Party to better safeguard stability while also ordering strengthened controls over "virtual society" or the Internet. "It is necessary to strengthen and improve a mechanism for safeguarding the rights and interests of the people," Xinhua news agency quoted Hu as saying. A key to achieve the goal is to "solve prominent problems which might harm the harmony and stability of the society... safeguard people's rights and interests, promote social justice, and sustain sound social order." |
| Space weather could wreak havoc in gadget-driven world (AFP) Posted: 19 Feb 2011 05:49 PM PST WASHINGTON (AFP) – A geomagnetic space storm sparked by a solar eruption like the one that flared toward Earth Tuesday is bound to strike again and could wreak havoc across the gadget-happy modern world, experts say. Contemporary society is increasingly vulnerable to space weather because of our dependence on satellite systems for synchronizing computers, navigational systems, telecommunications networks and other electronic devices. A potent solar storm could disrupt these technologies, scorch satellites, crash stock markets and cause power outages that last weeks or months, experts said Saturday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting. The situation will only get more dire because the solar cycle is heading into a period of more intense activity in the coming 11 years. "This is not a matter of if, it is simply a matter of when and how big," said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrator Jane Lubchenco. "The last time we had a maximum in the solar cycle, about 10 years ago, the world was a very different place. Cell phones are now ubiquitous; they were certainly around (before) but we didn't rely on them for so many different things," she said. "Many things that we take for granted today are so much more prone to the process of space weather than was the case in the last solar maximum." The experts admitted that currently, little that can be done to predict such a storm, much less shield the world's electrical grid by doing anything other shutting off power to some of the vulnerable areas until the danger passes. "Please don't panic," said Stephan Lechner, director of the European Commission Joint Research Center, drawing laughter from the scientists and journalists in the audience. "Overreaction will make the situation worse." The root of the world's vulnerability in the modern age is global positioning systems, or GPS devices, that provide navigational help but also serve as time synchronizers for computer networks and electronic equipment, he said. "GPS helped and created a new dependency," said Lechner, noting that the technology's influence extends to aerospace and defense, digital broadcast, financial services and government agencies. In Europe alone, there are 200 separate telecommunication operators, and "nothing is standardized," he said. "We are far from understanding all the implications here," he said. World governments are hurrying to work on strategies for cooperation and information sharing ahead of the next anticipated storm, though forecasters admit they are not sure when that may occur. "Actually we cannot tell if there is going to be a big storm six months from now but we can tell when conditions are ripe for a storm to take place," said the European Space Agency's Juha-Pekka Luntama. On Tuesday at 0156 GMT, a huge solar eruption, the strongest in about five years, sent a torrent of charged plasma particles hurtling toward the Earth at a speed of 560 miles (900 kilometers) per second. The force of the Class X flash, the most powerful of all solar events, lit up auroras and disrupted some radio communications, but the effects were largely confined to the northern latitudes. "Actually it turned out that we were well protected this time. The magnetic fields were aligned parallel so not much happened," said Luntama. "In another case things might have been different." Space storms are not new. The first recorded major solar flare was recorded by British astronomer Richard Carrington in 1859. Other solar geomagnetic storms have been observed in recent decades. One huge solar flare in 1972 cut off long-distance telephone communication in the midwestern state of Illinois, NASA said. Another similar flare in 1989 "provoked geomagnetic storms that disrupted electric power transmission" and caused blackouts across the Canadian province of Quebec, the US space agency said. A panel of NASA-assembled scientists issued a report in 2009 that said a powerful solar flare could overwhelm high-voltage transformers with electrical currents and short-circuit energy grids. Such a catastrophic event could cost the United States alone up to two trillion dollars in repairs in the first year -- and it could take up to 10 years to fully recover, the report said. |
| China's Huawei 'in London Underground phones bid' (AFP) Posted: 19 Feb 2011 07:44 PM PST LONDON (AFP) – Chinese technology giant Huawei is offering to install for free a mobile phone network worth £50 million on the London Underground train system in time for the 2012 Olympics, a report said Sunday. Huawei is presenting the offer -- worth the equivalent of $80 million -- as a gift from one Olympic host nation to another, reported the Sunday Times newspaper, without citing its sources. The company would reportedly install mobile transmitters along the ceilings of tunnels so that travellers can make and receive calls for the first time while underground. Mobile operators including Vodafone and O2 have agreed to pay for the installation work, while Huawei hopes to earn income in maintenance fees, according to the report. Transport for London (TfL), the official body responsible for the transport system in the capital, said talks had started on fitting a mobile network on the underground but did not confirm Huawei's involvement. "Transport for London and the Mayor of London are currently in discussion with mobile phone operators and other suppliers about the potential provision of mobile phone services on the deep Tube network," said a spokesman. But lawmaker Patrick Mercer, of the Conservative party, warned allowing a Chinese firm to provide the network could pose a security risk. "It has been proven that a proportion of the cyberattacks on this country come from China," he told the Sunday Times. "I wonder when the eyes of the world are upon us whether there is sense in using a Chinese firm to install a sensitive mobile network." Huawei, founded 23 years ago by Ren Zhengfei, a former People's Liberation Army engineer, has long rejected accusations that it has ties to the Chinese military. It insists it is owned by its employees and that Ren, its chief executive, has less than a two percent stake in the company. Huawei's technology is used to build mobile phone networks around the world and its consumer products include smart phones that run on Google's Android platform and technology to connect laptops to the Internet using 3G networks. |
| Best Celebrity Twitter Pictures (The Daily Beast) Posted: 19 Feb 2011 05:42 PM PST |
| Smaller iPad 3 (bigger iPod Touch?) to get Retina display, says analyst (Digital Trends) Posted: 19 Feb 2011 11:20 AM PST
The second-generation iPad hasn't yet been announced. But already, rumored details of an "iPad 3″ have begun circulating. The speculation continues today, with Apple Insider reporting that the iPad 3 will be smaller than the current 9.7-inch iPad — and could even be considered a "larger iPod touch." The new device, says a "connected industry expert," will also sport a high-resolution "Retina" display, similar to the screen of the iPhone 4. Apple Insider's informant is none other than Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who correctly predicted last May that the iPhone 4 would sport the 960×640 resolution Retina display and come loaded with twice the RAM of the iPad. According to Kuo's most recent prediction, the iPad 3 will have a screen with double the resolution — 2048×1536 — of the current iPad. It was originally rumored that the iPad 2 would get the Retina display upgrade. But subsequent reports indicated that the yet-to-be-confirmed second-generation device will come with a display that is thinner than the original iPad, but which has the same 1024×768 resolution. This, Kuo told Apple Insider last month, is "because of limited manufacturing yield rates," which make it impossible for screen producers to meet Apple's demands in time for the iPad 2′s release. All that said, the iPad 3 might not actually be an “iPad†Whatever it's called, the device's arrival appears imminent. Kuo has confirmed that a device, sized between the current iPad and the 3.5-inch iPhone and running Apple's iOS operating system, is in the works, with a release date in the second half of 2011. Czech site SuperApple reported Friday that a similar-sounding device, with a screen around six inches, is on its way. As always, stay posted, because these types of rumors — even from accurate sources like Kuo — are subject to change at any moment. In the mean time, check out everything we know about the iPad 2, so far. |
| Libya cuts off Internet service: network monitor (Reuters) Posted: 19 Feb 2011 06:50 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Internet service has been cut off in Libya for a second consecutive day as protesters step up demonstrations against longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, a U.S. company that monitors Internet traffic said on Saturday. Massachusetts-based Arbor Networks said data collected from 30 Internet providers around the world showed that online traffic in and out of Libya was disconnected abruptly at 7:15 p.m. EST on Friday after two partial interruptions earlier that day. Internet traffic returned several hours later at reduced levels only to drop off completely again at 4:55 p.m. EST on Saturday, according to the Arbor data. Dozens of protesters were killed in clashes with Libyan security forces in the eastern city of Benghazi on Saturday, a witness said, in the worst unrest in Gaddafi's four decades in power. The Internet has been used in recent weeks by anti-government protesters in North Africa and the Middle East to help coordinate their demonstrations. Egyptian authorities cut Internet service for a few days during a revolt that succeeded last week in toppling Hosni Mubarak after 30 years in power. (Reporting by Deena Beasley; Editing by Eric Beech) |
| 40 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed (Mashable) Posted: 19 Feb 2011 08:14 AM PST The long winter is almost over and as the weather gets ever better we at Mashable are hard at work bring you a list of tools and resources for your digital life. Here you'll find stories on how a computer beat Jeopardy champions, pics of the latest toys from this year's New York Toy Fair, and a load of hands-on demos and impressions from the Mobile World Congress. Looking for even more social media resources? This guide appears every weekend, and you can check out all the lists-gone-by here any time.
Editors' Picks
Social Media
Tech & Mobile
Business
Image courtesy of Webtreats etc. |
| 10 Fascinating YouTube Facts That May Surprise You (Mashable) Posted: 19 Feb 2011 02:32 AM PST YouTube is huge. Humongous, even. More video content is uploaded to YouTube in a 60 day period than the three major U.S. television networks created in 60 years. The average YouTube user spends between 15 and 25 minutes a day on the site, but how much do we know about the world's largest video sharing website? Do you know what the most watched YouTube clip is? Can you name all three founders? Do you know how many times per minute a YouTube link is tweeted? There is a ton of interesting data, info and stats to be learned about YouTube -- we've delved deep to find 10 fascinating facts. Have a read and let us know which ones you didn't know in the comments below.
1. PayPal's Role in YouTube's Creation
YouTube was created by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim in 2005. The three founders knew each other from working together at another Internet start up, PayPal. In fact, Hurley designed the PayPal logo after reading a Wired article about the online payment company and e-mailing the startup in search of a job. YouTube was initially funded by bonuses received following the eBay buy-out of PayPal. You could argue that if there was no PayPal, there would be no YouTube.
2. YouTube's Origins as a Dating Site
The founding trio didn't come up with the YouTube concept straight away. Legend has it that YouTube began life as a video dating site dubbed "Tune In Hook Up," said to be influenced by HotorNot. The three ultimately decided not to go that route. The inspiration for YouTube as we know it today is credited to two different events. The first was Karim's inability to find footage online of Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction," and the second when Hurley and Chen were unable to share video footage of a dinner party due to e-mail attachment limitations.
3. YouTube Caused Problems For Utube
The domain name YouTube.com was registered on Valentine's Day in 2005. This, however, caused a huge misunderstanding for Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment based in Perrysburg, Ohio. Its company domain, "utube.com," was overwhelmed with traffic from people that tried to spell the video site's name phonetically. The manufacturing company sued YouTube claiming its business was damaged by the video site, but the claims were dismissed. Nowadays, it seems Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment has bowed to the inevitable -- its business site has been moved to utubeonline.com and the original utube.com is a video-themed landing page for bad spellers.
4. The First Ever YouTube Video
The first video to ever be uploaded to YouTube isn't a classic by any means. Shot by Yakov Lapitsky at the San Diego Zoo it shows co-founder Jawed Karim in front of the elephant enclosure going on about long trunks. It has, nonetheless, racked up a very healthy 4,282,497 views since its online debut on April 23, 2005.
5. The First Rickroll
The first instance of a "Rickroll" appeared on YouTube way back in 2007. Apparently, it is the evolution of a 4chan prank that originally "duckrolled" users via links that led to a duck on wheels. Now a classic in its own right, the Rickroll has become what must be the most common online practical joke. Back in 2008, at the height of the phenomenon, a SurveyUSA poll suggested over 18 million U.S. adults had been Rickrolled -- perhaps more, given that Rick Astley himself participated in a mass-Rickrolling in that year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Although Rickrolling has perhaps now had its day, we imagine that figure has easily doubled.
6. YouTube's Annual April Fools Pranks
For the last three years YouTube has pranked its millions of users every April Fools Day. The first was a classic -- every video on the site's homepage was actually a Rickroll. In 2009 YouTube turned the site upside down and in 2010 an attempt to reduce bandwidth costs saw a "TEXTp" mode introduced, which translated colors in the videos into text. We can't wait to see what YouTube has in store for 2011.
7. Some Jaw-Dropping YouTube Statistics
As of February 2011, YouTube has 490 million unique users worldwide per month, who rack up an estimated 92 billion page views each month. We spend around 2.9 billion hours on YouTube in a month -- over 325,000 years. And those stats are just for the main YouTube website -- they don't incorporate embedded videos or video watched on mobile devices.
8. YouTube's Social Stats
Social media-related YouTube stats are just as impressive. YouTube says that on average there are more than 400 tweets per minute containing a YouTube link. Meanwhile, over on Facebook over 150 years worth of YouTube videos are watched every single day.
9. The Most Viewed, Liked and Favorited Video
Not counting music videos (which due to licensing restrictions are often shown only in the U.S. on YouTube), the most viewed video of all time is the classic "Charlie bit my finger," with an astounding 282,151,886 (at the time of writing). When you include music videos from the U.S.-only VEVO site, then the crown goes to Justin Beiber, whose "Baby" video has over 466 million views and counting. Did you know you can view the "YouTube Charts" at any time to see continually updated info about what's popular?
10. The YouTube "Snake" Easter Egg Game
YouTube has a fun Easter egg that will let you play a Snake-esque game within the video window. The clip above will give you a demo, but it's simple to execute if you're keen to try it out. Head over to YouTube, click on a recent video from any category, pause it and then hit the left and up arrow keys at the same time. Enjoy!
More Fun Facts from Mashable:- 10 Fun Facts You Didn't Know About Google - 10 Fascinating Facts You Didn't Know About Apple - 10 Fun Microsoft Facts You Might Not Know - 10 Fascinating Facebook Facts - 10 Entertaining eBay Facts You Might Not Know Image courtesy of codenamecueball |
| VIPorbit App Redefines iPhone Productivity (PC World) Posted: 19 Feb 2011 10:57 AM PST The Apple iPhone revolutionized smartphones and ushered in a whole new era of mobile productivity. That said, there is still ample room for improvement. There are thousands of business tools and apps available for the iPhone, but none of them redefines mobile productivity the way VIPorbit does. This app is a game changer. Techies and salespeople who have been around for a while are probably familiar with ACT!. Originally launched in 1987, ACT! essentially created contact manager and customer relationship software. The company was bought by Symantec in 1993, then sold off in 1999 and was eventually bought by Sage, which still develops the ACT! software. claims it is coming soon. In the meantime, Mike Muhney--co-developer of the original ACT! software--was frustrated with the one dimensional contact management offered by Apple's iOS, so he got to work and created VIPorbit. A VIPorbit press release explains, "VIPorbit manages all the information about your relationships, so you can deal with more people, most effectively. In VIPorbit, contacts and calendar are seamlessly integrated, for instant and easy communication, scheduling and automated activity tracking, including a chronology of calls, meetings, to-do's and notes." "For the first time, millions of iPhone users will have access to a powerful yet easy to use solution that helps them manage and build relationships," said Muhney. "We're delivering an unprecedented level of functionality on an anytime/anywhere platform at an incredible value." The VIPorbit app provides comprehensive contact and calendar management, as well as six customizable fields to keep track of the contact information that is important to you. You can also instantly connect with a contact--by phone, e-mail, SMS text, Twitter, or Facebook--with a simple tap. If you are missing information, such as the Twitter handle, for a contact the respective icon will be grayed out. But, if you tap it VIPorbit provides an opportunity for you to add the information. What really sets VIPorbit apart, though, and makes it such a valuable tool, is the concept of "orbits". Think of an orbit as a sphere of influence. Basically, it is a way to group your contacts. But, what makes it more powerful is the fact that a contact can exist in multiple orbits, and that you can instantly see which other contacts share those orbits. The initial setup of VIPorbit will take some time--making sure you have all of the data entered, creating the orbits, and assigning users to their respective orbits--but it is a worthwhile investment of time and effort to be more productive from that point on. The app costs $10 which may seem high by Apple App Store price standards, but compared with the benefits it provides the $10 is a relatively small investment. VIPorbit also provides a service called Backup My Stuff which syncs your entire VIPorbit database to the cloud. The service costs $50 per year, but that isn't much compared to what you will lose if your iPhone is lost or stolen and you don't have the data backed up. Besides, you probably spent that much on Starbucks last month without blinking. If you want your iPhone to be a real mobile productivity tool, check out VIPorbit. |
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