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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

In Texas schools, a picture's worth 1,000 calories (AP) : Technet

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In Texas schools, a picture's worth 1,000 calories (AP) : Technet

In Texas schools, a picture's worth 1,000 calories (AP)

Posted: 11 May 2011 07:40 PM PDT

By PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press Paul J. Weber, Associated Press – 1 hr 49 mins ago

SAN ANTONIO – Smile, schoolchildren. You're on calorie camera.

Health officials trying to reduce obesity and improve eating habits at five San Antonio elementary schools unveiled a $2 million research project Wednesday that will photograph students' lunch trays before they sit down to eat and later take a snapshot of the leftovers.

A computer program then analyzes the photos to identify every piece of food on the plate — right down to how many ounces are left in that lump of mashed potatoes — and calculates the number of calories each student scarfed down.

The project, funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, is the first of its kind in the nation. The cameras, about the size of pocket flashlights, point only toward the trays and don't photograph the students. Researchers say about 90 percent of parents gave permission to record every morsel of food their child eats.

"We're trying to be as passive as possible. The kids know they're being monitored," said Dr. Roger Echon, who works for the San Antonio-based Social & Health Research Center, and who is building the food-recognition program.

Here's how it works: Each lunch tray gets a bar code sticker to identify a student. After the children load up their plates down the line — cole slaw or green beans? french fries or fruit? — a camera above the cashier takes a picture of each tray.

When lunch is over and the plates are returned to the kitchen, another camera takes a snapshot of what's left. Echon's program then analyzes the before and after photos to calculate calories consumed and the values of 128 other nutrients. It identifies foods by measuring size, shape, color and density.

Parents will receive the data for their children, and researchers hope eating habits at home will change once moms and dads see what their kids are choosing in school. The data also will be used to study what foods children are likely to choose and how much they're eating.

Nine-year-old Aaliyah Haley went through the lunch line at W.W. White Elementary with cheesy enchiladas, Spanish rice, fat-free chocolate milk and an apple. Two cameras, one pointed directly down and another about tray-level, photographed her food before she sat down to eat.

"I liked it. It's good food that was good for me," Haley said.

Just how healthy it was researchers don't know yet. Echon is still developing the program and expects to spend the first year of the four-year grant fine-tuning the equipment. By the 2012-13 school year, the Social Health & Research Center plans to have a prototype in place.

Echon has already made some changes to the project. Echon learned that mashed potatoes served on some campuses are lumpier than those served on others. The program now accounts for consistencies and texture.

The database already includes about 7,500 different varieties of food. Echon said he started from scratch because there was no other food-recognition software to build upon. He insisted on creating technology to record meals because asking 8-year-olds to remember what they ate and write it down is seldom accurate.

Researches selected poor, minority campuses where obesity rates and diabetes risk are higher. Among those is White Elementary, which is just off a busy interstate highway on the city's poor east side, on a street dotted with fast-food restaurants and taquerias.

In Bexar County, where the five pilot schools are located, 33 percent of children living in poverty are obese.

Researchers warn that obesity is not always the result of children eating too many calories. A previous study by the nonprofit center reported that 44 percent of children studied consumed calories below daily minimum requirements, but nearly one-third were still obese. Seven percent screened positive for type 2 diabetes.

Mark Davis, the school's principal, said getting consent from parents hasn't been a problem. He suspects the small number of parents who withhold consent don't understand the project, perhaps thinking it limits what their child can eat at school.

"Nothing in the program says they can't have something," Davis said. "It just says we're tracking what it is."

Review: For smartphones, what's too big or small? (AP)

Posted: 11 May 2011 02:10 PM PDT

By RACHEL METZ, AP Technology Writer Rachel Metz, Ap Technology Writer – Wed May 11, 5:10 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – With scores of smartphones available, one obvious way for them to stand out is with size. Two new phones take that to extremes: HP's tiny Veer 4G and Samsung's massive Infuse 4G.

Both have the foundations of good smartphones, including great operating software and the ability to run on AT&T's high-speed "4G" network. But their sizes present some major weaknesses, too.

Spending some time testing these phones made it clear that size does matter. Picking a phone that's too large or too small can make the experience dismal.

I started on the smaller end of the spectrum with the pint-sized Veer, which comes in black or white and is cuter than a cache of cat videos on YouTube.

Styled like a mini version of its bigger sibling, the Pre, the Veer is about the size of a stack of credit cards with a bright 2.6-inch screen on top. The screen slides up to reveal a small keyboard. Its battery is rated for a not-so-generous maximum of five hours of talk time, and it includes 8 gigabytes of storage. It costs $99 with a two-year service contract with AT&T.

The Veer is so tiny that it doesn't even have a built-in headphone jack, a standard smartphone feature that must have seemed too big to cram into its little package.

Instead, its magnetic charging port doubles as a connector for a headphone adapter, which is included. I kept worrying that I'd lose the adapter — until I realized I could just stick it on the fridge.

The Veer uses the webOS operating software, which was developed by Palm before Hewlett-Packard Co. bought it last year. The webOS is clean, intuitive and smartly designed. You can see open applications as little "cards" that you can slide across the screen, tap to enlarge or flick to dismiss. There's also a search feature for quickly searching data stored on the phone and on the Internet.

The Veer's tiny screen, however, made my hands feel enormous, which they aren't for someone who is barely 5'3". I also felt clumsy holding the phone, especially with the keyboard closed, as it felt too small for my hand. Like a slippery bar of soap, it almost flew out of my hands several times as I tried to slide open the keyboard. Calls sounded OK, but it was weird holding such a tiny nugget of a phone up to my ear.

The phone includes access to HP's App Catalog, which has Foursquare, Facebook and some other popular apps you'd find on the iPhone or a phone running Google Inc.'s Android software. There are only about 6,000 apps in all, though, so the selection is much slimmer than iPhone's or Android's. You won't find an app for eBay or the "Words With Friends" game here.

The Veer seems most well-suited for "snacking." You'll be fine looking up a restaurant, checking email, updating Twitter or any other simple task.

But trying to use it extensively for a single task is difficult and not worth the trouble. Although Web pages looked sharp on the screen and videos streamed well over AT&T's "4G" network, I didn't really want to read full news articles or watch clips on such an itty-bitty screen. My fingers felt cramped on the tiny keyboard, so I didn't have the patience to send extensive messages.

While the Veer is too small, in some ways the Infuse is too big. This Frankenphone has a brilliant 4.5-inch display, more massive than nearly every other smartphone on the market. It made a great media player, but it felt awkward to make calls on since it is so wide and tall.

Typing on its large virtual keyboard was often error-free, though sometimes uncomfortable because the phone felt so large in my hands.

It's not big all over: The phone is a bit thicker than an iPhone, which seems pretty thin given its enormous display. And it's fairly light, too, at 4.9 ounces, which is just a fraction of an ounce bigger than Apple's device.

The phone is fast. It opened apps quickly and responded well to my taps on the screen. Over AT&T's 4G network, it was fine at streaming videos and loading webpages. The Infuse is rated for up to eight hours of talk time, so there should be plenty of juice for checking emails, updating Facebook and making calls (which sounded decent).

It's probably best at playing videos, which I really enjoyed doing on the Infuse because its screen is so sharp and big. More so than many smartphones, the display seems appropriate for watching TV episodes or even full-length films (which you can rent or buy from the built-in Samsung Media Hub).

One cool perk: It includes an HDMI adapter, which fits into its charging port so you can connect the phone to your high-definition TV with an HDMI cable and watch videos on the larger screen. The adapter also has a charging port on it, so you can charge your phone simultaneously.

The Infuse's 8-megapixel camera is good, though I sometimes had trouble focusing it. It had a bright flash and a number of adjustable settings. You can always add a camera app from the Android Market if you want more options such as color filters. There's also a much lower-resolution camera on the front for taking photos or videos.

The Infuse has 16 GB of internal memory and 2 GB more on a microSD card. It costs $200 with a two-year AT&T contract. The phone runs version 2.2 of Google Inc.'s Android software, which is available on plenty of other devices but isn't the latest version for smartphones.

I'm a fan of compact electronics, and I'm a sucker for a big, bright touch screen. But these phones both felt too extreme for me.

When it comes to smartphone sizes, I'll stick with a medium for now, though.

Cisco to cut costs and jobs as profits stall (AP)

Posted: 11 May 2011 04:19 PM PDT

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson, Ap Technology Writer – Wed May 11, 7:19 pm ET

NEW YORK – Cisco Systems Inc., the world's largest maker of computer networking gear, said Wednesday that it's set to eliminate thousands of jobs as part of cost-cutting moves to get profits growing again.

Cisco's sales rebounded from the recession, but then started stalling in the middle of last year. In the past few months, CEO John Chambers has signaled that he's accepting long-standing criticism that the company is trying to compete in too many markets. He has vowed to radically simplify the company.

The company is still troubled: On Wednesday, it gave a financial forecast for the current quarter that was well below analyst expectations.

Chambers now wants to cut annual expenses by $1 billion, or about 6 percent. He didn't say how many jobs he's aiming to eliminate, mainly through an early retirement program. If the percentage is similar to the cut in expenses, it could amount to 4,000 to 5,000 of the company's 73,400 employees.

Cisco last embarked on a belt-tightening program two years ago in the depth of the recession. The goal then was also to shave $1 billion of annual expenses, which it did by cutting travel, freezing hiring and instituting a similar early retirement program. It lost 2,000 employees before it started hiring again.

This time, the cost cuts are meant to address long-term challenges, not a short dip in the economy. The company may also sell or close underperforming units, Chambers said, much like a month ago when it announced it was killing the Flip Video camcorder, a product line it bought just two years earlier. The move was part of a partial pullback from the consumer market, which Cisco has tried to court for years.

Another problem area is network switches, Cisco's largest single product segment, where competition is quickly driving down prices. Cisco's revenue from the segment fell 9 percent in the quarter. Chambers said the company is introducing new products quickly to fight back.

Cisco has a long history as a growth company, befitting its position as the leading provider of the equipment that powers the Internet. That also means expectations for it are high, and Chambers has held on to a long-term goal of 12 percent to 17 percent annual revenue growth through the recession and its aftermath. On Wednesday, he said that goal is "not reflective of the environment," and he'll provide a new target in September.

"We know what we have to do. We have a clear game plan," Chambers told analysts on a conference call. "We've had to make big changes before, and each time we've made these changes, we've emerged even stronger."

For the fiscal third quarter, which ended April 30, Cisco said net income declined nearly 18 percent to $1.8 billion, or 33 cents per share. That compared with earnings of $2.2 billion, or 37 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding the cost of stock-based compensation and some amortization and asset impairments, earnings were 42 cents per share, unchanged from last year. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 37 cents per share on that basis.

Sales rose 5 percent to $10.9 billion, matching analyst expectations.

This year's third quarter was one week shorter than last year's.

For the current quarter, Cisco expects earnings of 37 cents to 39 cents per share, while analysts were expecting 42 cents per share. It expects revenue to be unchanged from last year or up to 2 percent higher, while analysts were looking for a 7 percent increase.

Cisco expects the early retirement program to result in pretax charges of $500 million to $1.1 billion in the quarter.

Cisco shares fell 53 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $17.25 in extended trading. The stock lost 1 cent to close at $17.78 in the regular session.

Photography Tips: What is depth of field? (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 11 May 2011 07:06 PM PDT

By Tecca tecca – 2 hrs 35 mins ago

Depth of field refers to the area of an image before and beyond the actual focus point that appears acceptably sharp. We've discussed it a little as it relates to aperture, but there's a bit more to the story than that.

Deeper into depth of field
Depth of field is one of the most versatile tools in a photographer's arsenal. By adjusting this one aspect, you can completely change the look of an image.

In portraiture, for example, it's generally a good idea to use a narrow depth of field, so that only your subject is clear and sharp. This draws the viewer's attention to your subject, letting it command the entire image. In the image of the teacup and teapot, you'll notice that only the teapot is in focus — the cup in front and the background behind it are blurred. The quality of blur in an image is called bokeh.

In landscape photography, on the other hand, it's frequently important to use as wide a depth of field as possible, so that landmarks both close to the photographer and farther away will be sharp and in focus. A nice, wide depth of field allows photographic tricks such as the age-old "holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa" photo, in which the illusion is achieved through having both the person close to the camera and the tower farther away appear in focus.

Let's do some math!
Okay, just kidding. Don't panic, I won't subject you to the math behind depth of field, but if you're really interested, Wikipedia's depth of field article has more formulas and numbers than you can shake a tripod at.

Here's the Cliff's Notes version. Depth of field is affected by three things: aperture/f-stop, lens focal length, and subject distance.

Aperture and depth of field
As we discussed last week, the aperture is the opening in your camera's lens that controls how much light gets through to the camera sensor. The aperture or f-stop number (usually written as f/number) is a ratio of the size of the aperture opening relative to the focal length of the lens.

The important thing to remember is that a larger aperture means a smaller depth of field, and a smaller aperture means a larger depth of field. Yes, that's completely backwards from what you might expect.

Lens size and depth of field
Another thing that affects depth of field is the focal length of your lens. This is really tied into aperture as well, but it's important enough to get its own paragraph. Again, this is somewhat backwards from what logic might suggest at first glance: Basically, the longer your lens, the smaller your depth of field, and vice versa.

For example, if you're using a 55mm lens at an aperture of f/8, you will have a very wide depth of field. If you're using a 200mm lens at the same aperture, your depth of field would be much smaller. The picture of the woman standing in the window was taken with an aperture of f/8 at a focal length of only 18mm, and as you can see, the entire visual depth of the image is more or less in focus. This is an example of a short focal length with a wide aperture.

Subject distance and depth of field
The final issue that affects depth of field is the distance from the camera to the subject. The general rule is that the farther away you are from the subject being photographed, the larger the possible depth of field will be, and vice versa.

It's fairly easy to illustrate this point. From where you're seated, focus your eyes on something in the middle distance, about 20" away. While focusing on this item, you'll probably see that other things some distance in front and behind it are also in focus. Now focus on an upper corner of your monitor, and notice how blurry everything behind it gets.

This is the effect of distance on depth of field. It's also why it's generally possible to get very wide depth of field in landscape photography and very narrow depth of field in macro photography.

Experiment
It's a common refrain in photography: Just experiment until you get it! Depth of field is very fun to play around with, but there are, as they say, a lot of moving parts. Figuring out exactly how all those parts fit together takes time and practice. It's well worth your time to spend an afternoon playing around with lenses of several different focal lengths to see how various settings affect the resulting images.

As always, the rules of photography are meant to be broken. Once you learn how to manipulate them to your advantage, try turning things on their head and breaking the rules a bit. Take a portrait with a huge depth of field. Photograph a landscape where only the smallest area is in focus. Experiment!

Post by Katherine Gray

[Image credits: K. Gray, Andy Hay]

More from Tecca:

Video: How to get a refund for paid apps in Android (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 11 May 2011 05:38 PM PDT

By Barb Dybwad barb Dybwad – Wed May 11, 8:38 pm ET


It's Android week here at Tecca, in honor of Google's annual I/O developer conference. For those of you Android fans out there, we hope you caught yesterday's tip on how to save battery life with selective syncing. Today we're going to look at how to get a refund for paid apps from the Android Market.

The major caveat with this tip is that you only have a 15 minute window in which to receive a refund for paid Android apps. But armed with this information, you have a way to test out paid apps on your wishlist that may not have a free or trial version.

If you already know all about this tip, why not pass this on to the new Android owner in your life? And if you have any requests for something you'd like Just Show Me to cover, please let us know in the comments!

More from Tecca:

Startup Tweets You Offers Based On Where You Check In (Mashable)

Posted: 11 May 2011 04:04 PM PDT

Sarah Kessler Sarah Kessler – Wed May 11, 7:04 pm ET

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. Name: Local Response

[More from Mashable: Get Hired With Help From Your Social Network Friends]

Quick Pitch: Local Response tweets deals to customers based on where they check in.

Genius Idea: Scanning Twitter for location-revealing checkins from Foursquare, Foodspotting, Instagram and other services.

[More from Mashable: Get Your 15 Seconds of Fame With Viddy, An Instagram For Video]

While your friends might not care about the photo of your lunch you just blasted to their Twitter feeds, it could be valuable information to the restaurant where you're eating. The latest wave of social networks document, photograph and broadcast your every move, opening an unprecedented opportunity for small businesses and big brands alike to target consumers based on their whereabouts and activities.

Local Response wants to help businesses collect and respond to their customers' public posts. The platform scans Twitter for explicit checkins to locations, like on Foursquare, as well as natural language that indicates location (ex. "I'm going to..."), and responds with Twitter @mentions on behalf of businesses. Messages most often include a coupon or offer in a bit.ly link.

In other words, when customers check into a store on Foursquare, the store can send them a coupon while they are there. If customers tweet a photo through Instragram from a competing store, they might get the same coupon.


So far, the platform's @mentions have a 25% to 40% click-through rate -- not bad when compared to the .08% click-through rate for banner ads on social networks, estimated by digital advertising agency MediaMind.

"The consumer has already publicly expressed a relationship," explains Local Response president and Media6Degrees co-founder Kathy Leake. "The messages are also highly contextual."

Local Response grew out of Buzzd, a location-based city guide that founder Nihal Mehta started in 2007. Verizon Ventures and Charles River led a $1.5 million round to finance the pivot, which switched the re-branded company's focus from competing with Foursquare-like services to capitalizing on the data that they provide.

On Monday, the company launched a platform for brands in addition to its existing small business self-service platform. Coca-Cola, a major department store and a major mobile carrier have already signed on.

Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

China's web spin doctors spread Beijing's message (AFP)

Posted: 11 May 2011 09:03 PM PDT

by Pascale Trouillaud Pascale Trouillaud – 38 mins ago

BEIJING (AFP) – China, which employs an army of censors to police the Internet, has also deployed legions of "web commentators" to get the government's message out -- in a crafty but effective way.

With nearly half a billion people surfing the net in China, more than half of them using microblogs, the Internet has quickly become a vital forum for debate in the world's most populous country -- and a major sounding board.

That fact has obviously registered with the country's Communist leaders, who pay careful attention to the conversations that unfold online despite the heavy government restrictions on what can and cannot be discussed in cyberspace.

Enter the "web commentators" who, either anonymously or using pseudonyms, spread politically correct arguments -- many of them for money. Who are these high-tech propaganda wizards, infiltrating blogs, news sites and chat rooms?

"It is very mysterious... these people don't talk to the media! Everyone is just guessing," Jeremy Goldkorn, editor of the China media website Danwei.org, told AFP.

For high-profile independent Chinese blogger Li Ming, the army of pro-government web commentators must number "at least in the tens of thousands".

Renaud de Spens, a Beijing-based expert on the Chinese Internet, told AFP that most of them were likely students "doing a basic cut-and-paste job" -- a mindless task, "just like if they took jobs in telemarketing".

Some of those students are trying to improve their chances of gaining a coveted party membership.

But the group of web spin doctors also includes civil servants and employees of state-owned firms -- and even retirees and housewives keen to support the party line.

De Spens notes that the system is far from centralised.

"The provinces, cities, districts and work units all rally their own small armies to infiltrate the Internet in a subtle way," he said.

In 2010, the Global Times reported that Gansu province alone was looking to recruit 650 full-time web commentators "to guide public opinion on controversial issues".

Amnesty International secretary-general Salil Shetty in March warned that countries like China and Iran were investing "considerable resources into pro-government blogs" in an effort to cement state power.

About five years ago, when blogs first took off in China, the country saw its first "wu mao" (50 cents) -- net commentators paid by the message to spread the official party line.

But according to De Spens, they were progressively replaced by a new breed of online government workers -- who are more subtle and more effective.

"It certainly seems that they have gotten more sophisticated," Bill Bishop, co-founder of the news site MarketWatch.com who now blogs about the Internet in China, told AFP.

"They have been doing this for years. They have been very good at learning how to use the Internet."

Instead of posting simple slogans such as "Long live our leaders" or "Long live the party", the web commentators develop detailed, rational arguments.

On the crisis in Libya, they have published comments slamming the hypocrisy of the West in launching air strikes against the regime of Moamer Kadhafi -- a campaign opposed by Beijing -- saying they are only interested in oil.

"There is a subliminal effect -- the message gets into people's heads, even the dissidents, especially the arguments that make sense," De Spens said.

Other recent hot topics include the US raid that resulted in the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, China's efforts to build an aircraft carrier, equal opportunity in education, food safety and vegetable prices.

On Sina Weibo -- China's answer to Twitter, which is officially blocked on the mainland -- the pro-government netizens are working on tainting the reputation of detained artist and activist Ai Weiwei.

Web commentators "are paid based on the number of comments they post, and they can also get a bonus if one of their posts is named one of the most popular on the site," Li explained.

Experts are divided on the overall effectiveness of the massive web operation.

"On the main hot topics, three days into the debate, only the propaganda remains online," creating a "false general opinion" which the great majority of web users will blindly follow, De Spens said.

"That is the major success of Chinese propaganda."

But Goldkorn counters that Chinese web users are "quite savvy... they tend not to trust anyone."

"When there are large numbers of comments that are toeing a government line, it certainly makes it more difficult for people who disagree to have their voice heard above the noise," he nevertheless acknowledged.

The operation does have an unfortunate downside for the leadership -- independent pro-government web users are often accused of being "wu mao", a term that has become an insult.

Facebook 'planking' craze under fire in Australia (AFP)

Posted: 11 May 2011 08:15 PM PDT

– 1 hr 25 mins ago

BRISBANE, Australia (AFP) – An Internet craze known as "planking" has come under fire from authorities in Australia after the arrest of a man for sprawling on a police car.

Planking involves someone lying flat on their stomach in unusual and sometimes dangerous situations, with photographs of their exploits shared through social media sites.

Facebook page Planking Australia currently has almost 10,000 fans and hundreds of photos of people lying on train tracks, escalators, fire hydrants, motorbikes, and other objects.

The craze, though, has landed one 20-year-old in court in Queensland state after he was allegedly found "planking" on a police car Wednesday and charged with being on police equipment without lawful excuse.

Sergeant Matthew Russell, of Gladstone police, told the Brisbane Courier-Mail newspaper that planking could be dangerous, and practitioners may find themselves facing criminal charges.

"While we appreciate the activity is light-hearted fun, putting yourself and others at risk and breaking the law will not be tolerated," he said.

"The activity is potentially dangerous, as proponents of the movement try to out-do each other by planking on structures and in precarious positions, putting themselves and others at risk of harm."

He said offenders caught in dangerous situations could be charged with Unauthorised High Risk Activity.

Planker Michael Brannon defended the so-called sport and accused police of overreacting.

"Bloody ridiculous if you ask me, just a bit of harmless fun and they are wasting their time on this instead of catching (criminals)," he wrote on Facebook.

Android Can Make Your Garden Grow (PC World)

Posted: 11 May 2011 05:33 PM PDT

Ginny Mies Ginny Mies – Wed May 11, 8:33 pm ET

We've seen Android-powered phones, tablets, netbooks, TVs, and even robots--but did you know that Android can be used to grow gardens? I mean, it makes sense since the little green guy literally does have a green thumb. All jokes aside, a Japanese company called Brilliant Service was showing off a very cool concept at Google I/O called Farmbox.

"In the future, we predict plant factories will make their way to regular households as home electric appliances," Brilliant Service announces on its Website. "Farmbox is that very factory."

The hardware--known as Plant Factories--are computer-controlled boxes that provide lighting, water temperature, air temperature, nutrients and oxygen gas to your plants. Each plant box has a blue LED light as well as red LED light, which, according to Farmbox, can be used to control the taste or the growth rate of your plant!

When your phone is hooked up to the Farmbox, the Farmbox app (which isn't currently available in the Android App Market) will automatically document your basil's growth data. For example, you can record the number of times you water it, the temperature you keep it at and whether you give it any food. That data is uploaded automatically to a cloud-based service that will store that information for your amazing homegrown basil. If one of your friends comes over, tries your amazing basil, and wants to grow it in their own home, they can obtain your information from the app. Or, say you've always wanted to grow orchids, but have no idea how to, you can find another person's successful orchid growing plan.

Urban farming is all the rage in the move toward more sustainable food so I can see something like Farmbox having a lot of potential. They definitely need a better Website, however, and probably some English-speaking PR people to help them spread the word. The good news is that Farmbox was completely sold out of SDK kits by the time I visited them on the second day at Google I/O so apparently, a lot of people thought the idea was cool!

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Android at Google I/O and what it means for iPhone (Appolicious)

Posted: 11 May 2011 05:00 PM PDT

Twitter releases new mobile web app (Digital Trends)

Posted: 11 May 2011 06:21 PM PDT

Trevor Mogg Trevor Mogg – Wed May 11, 9:21 pm ET

mobile twitterThe folks at Twitter have been hard at work developing a new interface for mobile browsers – and today the San Francisco company began to roll it out.

Announcing the new version on its blog on Wednesday, the company said, "This web app allows us to provide a high-quality and consistent Twitter experience on high-end touchscreen devices – whether or not an official Twitter application is available."

The post continues: "It was built from the ground up for smartphones and tablets, which have more advanced browsers that support the latest web technologies, including HTML5."

The new app replaces the previous rather cumbersome version with an interface that closely resembles the iPhone app – by that we mean, for example, the introduction of icons for @mentions, messages, stream and search – something the old mobile browser lacked. In the case of the new mobile web interface, however, the icons are at the top, not the bottom. Android users will be more familiar with the icons-on-top look.

The designers of the new interface say they have made something quick to use – quick to scroll through the timeline, quick to move between tabs and quick to compose tweets  – although we think that rather depends on your typing prowess. The blog post says that the new interface "takes advantage of capabilities that high-end device browsers offer, such as touch gestures and a large screen. And it's simple – it's easy-to-use and has the features you'd expect from a Twitter application, including your timeline, @mentions, messages that you can read in conversation view, search, trending topics, lists, and more."

The new application for mobile browsers is being rolled out gradually, so don't be surprised if it's not showing up on your mobile device right this minute. Twitter says it is releasing it "to a small percentage of users on iPhone, iPod touch, and Android smartphones, and we'll be rolling it out to additional folks with those devices in the coming weeks." In the meantime, the old mobile interface will remain available to users.

Will the Google Chromebook Replace Your Laptop? (PC World)

Posted: 11 May 2011 02:50 PM PDT

Tony Bradley Tony Bradley – Wed May 11, 5:50 pm ET

Google spent much of the second day of the Google I/O event focused on the Chrome OS and the unveiling the upcoming Chromebook computers. The Web-centric netbooks are an ambitious attempt to fundamentally change the way people compute, and could possibly replace your traditional laptop...if you let it.

First, a little background on Chrome OS and the upcoming Chromebooks. The Chrome OS--not to be confused with Google's Chrome Web browser--is an operating system developed by Google. The premise of Chrome OS is to deliver a completely Web-centric experience free from the processing overhead, security issues, and general annoyances that plague traditional PCs, especially Windows PCs.

entertaining video clip which begins by explaining that the Chromebook is not a laptop. It is also not a computer, really. The Chromebook--according to Google--doesn't just "have" the Web, it "is" the Web.There is no desktop. There are no locally-installed applications. You simply do everything you need to do on the Web, using a portable netbook-like device that boots almost instantly.

On The Official Google Blog, Google explains that Chromebooks boot up in seconds, rather than minutes. It claims that automatic updates mean that your Chromebook will get faster over time (admittedly, I don't understand how to connect those dots). The Chromebook can go all day on a single charge, and optional 3G connectivity means you can get online from virtually anywhere.

In Video: Google Chromebooks to Arrive in June

The post states, "Your apps, games, photos, music, movies and documents will be accessible wherever you are and you won't need to worry about losing your computer or forgetting to back up files." That may be true, but it assumes that you have fully-embraced Google and all things Web. Obviously, if you keep your photos on a portable USB drive connected to your Windows 7 desktop, accessing them from your Chromebook will be problematic.

If you look at what Microsoft is doing by integrating Internet Explorer 9 into Windows 7 and essentially extending the desktop to include the Web, you will see that Google and Microsoft are actually pursuing essentially the same goal, but from opposite directions. Microsoft is trying to build a bridge from the traditional Windows/Office model to integrate seamlessly with the Web, while Google is trying to take its Web-based tools and experience and deliver them in a more PC-like format. Both approaches recognize that the Web has advantages as an application and productivity platform. Google is farther along in embracing and delivering the Web, though.

Although it is true to an extent that you can choose to abandon the traditional desktop and software model and work completely from the cloud with a device like the Chromebook and the Chrome OS, it is also true that you could just as easily choose to use those Web-based tools and services from a traditional Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux laptop, and maintain the added benefit that you can also install software locally and do other things you might not be able to do with a Chromebook.

The Chromebook looks compelling, and Google's vision for the future of mobile computing is intriguing, but Chromebooks won't be replacing laptops any time soon.

What the Microsoft-Skype deal means to the mobile phone and app industries (Appolicious)

Posted: 11 May 2011 03:00 PM PDT

AT&T, T-Mobile defend deal (Investor's Business Daily)

Posted: 11 May 2011 03:03 PM PDT

– Wed May 11, 6:03 pm ET

The CEOs for the two telecom companies told a Senate antitrust subcommittee that their $39 bil merger would benefit consumers and not stifle innovation. If federal regulators approve the acquisition, AT&T (NYSE:T - News)and its rival, Verizon Wireless, would handle about 80% of U.S. wireless customers. AT&T said the merger would allow the company to improve services, handle more data traffic and bring mobile Internet to more consumers than it could do on its own. AT&T shares fell 1% to 31.38.

Pink Floyd in race against time to reissue albums (Reuters)

Posted: 11 May 2011 08:58 PM PDT

By Dean Goodman Dean Goodman – 43 mins ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The mammoth CD reissue program undertaken by Pink Floyd is an acknowledgment that the era of physical CDs and lavish artwork is coming to an end, as fans increasingly opt to download music digitally, drummer Nick Mason said on Wednesday.

Two years after the Beatles unveiled a similar program, the British progressive rock band is reissuing digitally remastered versions of all 14 of its studio albums, both individually and as a boxed set on September 26.

But Pink Floyd is doing something the Beatles never did, to the disappointment of Fab Four fans. Three albums will also be reissued with plenty of rarities in multi-disc versions. Revised and expanded artwork was a heavy priority for a band with a history of visual innovation.

"There is a slight sense that we are coming to the end of the period where people will buy the physical record with all the packaging and the information and so on," Mason, 67, told Reuters at the Hollywood outpost of the band's EMI Records label.

"I think it's really important to try and have a last go at that, because if we do end up just downloading everything from now on it would be a shame if there wasn't on record all that good artwork and the things that went with it."

The band's 1973 smash "The Dark Side of the Moon," one of the biggest selling albums of all time, will additionally come out on six- and two-disc configurations.

Exact details of the contents were not available, but EMI previewed several previously unreleased tracks including a fast-tempo live version of "Money," and an early mix of "The Great Gig in the Sky" without the soaring vocals of session singer Clare Torry.

Mason was particularly proud of a track he assumed had been lost to history, a version of the title track from 1975's "Wish You Were Here," featuring French jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli.

It dates from sessions at London's Abbey Road studios, Pink Floyd's primary recording base, when Grappelli and fellow violinist Yehudi Menuhin were working down the hallway.

"They came to say hello, which was delightful," Mason recalled. "Someone plucked up the courage to ask them both if they'd like to play something on the record. Stephane absolutely was up for it and I think Yehudi would have liked to, but he's not an improviser and I think he just felt he couldn't do it."

The band opted not to use that version, although Mason in hindsight considers it an unfortunate decision. The two deluxe versions of "Wish You Were Here," available in five- and two-disc configurations, will be released on November 7.

The third disc to get the special treatment is the 1979 double album "The Wall," a semi-autobiographical concept work masterminded by former singer/bassist Roger Waters.

EMI previewed an early version of the hit single "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)" featuring different lyrics. Waters' opening couplet goes "We don't need your adulation, we don't need your starry gaze," instead of "We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control" from the final version.

The band will issue seven- and three-disc versions of "The Wall" in February. Expanded versions of its other albums are in the works, as is a DVD documentary about the making of "Wish You Were Here."

While there are no plans for a tour -- singer/guitarist David Gilmour has firmly quashed any speculation of that over the years -- but Mason said he hoped the three surviving members might reunite for a charity performance, as they did in London in 2005.

That show marked Waters' first appearance with the band since he angrily left in 1985.

Tensions have eased somewhat between Waters and his former bandmates, and he was fully involved in the reissue program. Indeed, Mason said he planned to attend the London stop of Waters "The Wall" world tour on Thursday.

(Editing by Christopher Wilson)

Switch to ARM may make cents (Investor's Business Daily)

Posted: 11 May 2011 03:03 PM PDT

– Wed May 11, 6:03 pm ET

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - News) will likely be the first PC maker to switch from Intel (NASDAQ:INTC - News) processors to chips designed by ARM Holdings (NASDAQ:ARMH - News), Barclays Capital said in a note to investors. "Those (ARM's) chips might cut processor cost by a third, which would save $25 per PC, 5% of the total cost of the machine," Barclays said. While Apple uses Intel in its Macs, its iPhone and iPad software is seen as compatible with ARM chips.

DOJ antitrust settlement with Microsoft to expire (AP)

Posted: 11 May 2011 04:34 PM PDT

By JOELLE TESSLER, AP Technology Writer Joelle Tessler, Ap Technology Writer – Wed May 11, 7:34 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The technology industry advances at lightning speed. So perhaps it's no surprise that the expiration of the Justice Department's historic antitrust settlement with software giant Microsoft is passing with little fanfare Thursday.

In an age of Apple iPhones, Google Web searches and Facebook friends, Microsoft Corp.'s control over the computer desktop through its Windows operating system might seem like last decade's monopoly.

But in a statement released Wednesday, the Justice Department said it believes the landmark case that it and 19 state attorneys general brought against Microsoft in 1998 helped open the computer industry to greater competition and innovation across the technology sector. The government credits a settlement reached after years of courtroom battles with creating market conditions that have allowed all sorts of new products and services — from mobile devices to cloud computing — to challenge Microsoft's powerful Windows computing platform.

At the heart of the Justice Department's case against Microsoft were charges that the company was using its monopoly control over the Windows operating system to extend its dominance into other markets, including the market for Web browsers. Among other things, the government charged that Microsoft violated antitrust law by requiring computer makers to use its Internet Explorer browser as a condition of licensing Windows, by prohibiting consumers and computer makers from removing the Internet Explorer browser from the Windows operating system and by preventing outside software programs from working with Windows.

The final settlement, which has been in effect since 2002, prohibited the company from engaging in such behavior. This has allowed software products such as Web browsers, media players and instant messaging software to flourish, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

For its part, Microsoft said it is happy to put the case behind it. "Our experience has changed us and shaped how we view our responsibility to the industry," the company said in a statement.

WINS Patch Is Especially Important for Server 2003 (NewsFactor)

Posted: 11 May 2011 10:40 AM PDT

Jennifer LeClaire, newsfactor.com Jennifer Leclaire, newsfactor.com – Wed May 11, 1:40 pm ET

Microsoft on Tuesday issued two security bulletins to fix three vulnerabilities. Microsoft only rated one critical, but security experts said there are serious issues at hand -- especially with the WINS vulnerability.

Specifically, a server-side issue might make the WINS vulnerability appealing to attackers. Joshua Talbot, security intelligence manager at Symantec Security Response, said that means an attacker wouldn't have to trick a user into doing anything. All a hacker would have to do is find a server running the vulnerable service and send that machine a malicious string of data.

"This is a more serious issue on Windows Server 2003 than Server 2008," Talbot said. "At its heart, this is a memory-corruption issue. In-built protections such as DEP and ASLR in Server 2008 will probably keep most attackers from achieving a complete takeover. However, a complete system compromise appears to be more likely on Server 2003, which lacks the ASLR protection."

False Sense of Security?

Don't let the small number of patches this month give you a false sense of security, warned Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle. He said IT teams should be just as diligent this month as they were for last month's gigantic patch. As he sees it, the most important patch this month is the WINS bulletin. Microsoft is downplaying the bug, he said, but there is potential here for remote code execution.

"WINS is a network-aware application that does not require authentication, and many enterprises require WINS on their networks," Storms said. "Taken together, these factors mean that a lot of enterprises will find their internal network servers vulnerable to a remote code bug. Initially, most attackers will probably only trigger a DOS event, but finding the remote-code exploit won't be far behind."

Skype and Mac Attacks

Microsoft products weren't the only ones to get attention on Patch Tuesday.

Other issues include a new zero-day vulnerability reported by VUPNEN for Google Chrome that bypasses the sandboxing as well as ASLR/DEP protections without executing a kernel vulnerability, noted Paul Henry, forensic and security analyst at Lumension. The exploit has been described as "very sophisticated" and works on all Windows systems 32/64 bit.

"Also, we learned that Skype issued a patch for a security hole in its Skype 5 client for Mac. The discovered vulnerability would have allowed potential hackers to build a self-replicating worm targeting Mac OS X," Henry said. "With yesterday's acquisition news, it seems we'll be hearing about patches from Skype on the second Tuesday of the month from now on."

The Skype patch further validates Henry's belief that Apple is poised to become the Achilles heel of the enterprise. Anyone that thinks they have a "security by obscurity" advantage is mistaken, he stressed.

"You are no longer safe simply because you use an Apple product," Henry said. "The recent discovery of a DIY Crimeware tool kit that specifically targets Macs and a new fake AV called Mac Defender that specifically targets Mac OS X is much more than 'writing on the wall' that Apple products have finally gotten the attention of the bad guys -- it is a flashing neon sign with a loud clanging bell."
at 9:51 PM

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