At one point or another it is inevitable that you will experience an unexpected crisis that interferes with your career as an independent contractor. In a less serious scenario, you may lose your cell phone, kill your laptop or just come down with a 24-hour virus. But, in a total disaster, you might …
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A Crisis Plan for Contract Workers: 8 Career-Saving Steps
Waterloo, Ia. Waterloo police have asked the military for advice in disposing of a suspected bomb found in a former munitions plant.
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Waterloo police seek advice on bomb disposal
Microsoft has apparently scuppered plans to allow PC and Xbox 360 gamers to take each other on, using the company’s LIVE service to connect titles available for both platforms. According to Rahul Sood , CTO of HP’s gaming business, the Microsoft project was intended to promote PC gaming, but canned after testing showed those using PCs consistently bested their console counterparts. That wasn’t just because they were better players in general – in fact, according to the rumors Sood has heard, Microsoft purposefully selected mediocre PC gamers to take on “the best console gamers” – but because of the extra accuracy involved when using a PC and mouse versus a console controller.
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LIVE Xbox 360 versus PC tournament plans canned by Microsoft?
Apparently Microsoft is set on giving a Windows Phone 7 handset to their entire 90,000+ workforce around the globe according to a recent Twitter retweet of a Microsoft employee, which would no doubt give Windows Phone 7 a good boost at the start. According to Chris Ziegler of Engadget , the retweet of the Windows Phone 7 handout was tweeted by Microsoft guru, @maryjofoley , with the retweet saying…” 90K down… just under 30 million to go: RT @simchabe: Woot.
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Windows Phone 7 Handset for Every Microsoft Employee
Netflix are promising an update to their PS3 streaming client sometime within the next three months, complete with a new UI that’s loaded onto the console rather than requiring a disc as with the current implementation. That’s just one part of the company’s attempt to take on the Hulu Plus challenge; according to NewTeeVee , Netflix are seeing slowing DVD subscriber growth as more users turn to streaming. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings puts that down, in part, to an increase in TV content. “In terms of streaming content, we are rapidly expanding our TV shows available for streaming and since our last call we have added thousands of TV episodes from new deals with Fox, MTV Networks and Warner Television
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Netflix PS3 disc-free update coming; Hulu Plus is “a direct competitor”
Mouse Computer is now offering 2 New powerful desktop with super fast loading time. Including the Business Oriented Lm-i720-RB and Gaming oriented LITTLEGEAR i710PA5, our 2 computer can announce just 22.84 second from a cold boot to a complete usable state (Time tested on the Lm-i720-RB). In order to achieve such nice results, Mouse Computer hand-picked some of the best component possible and still being able to be affordable
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Mouse computer new Super Fast Desktop Now on sales
The world of the mobile arena lawsuit seems to be a never ending battleground with company suing company left right and centre, and the latest of these to come to light is with Droid smartphone maker Motorola. According to a Nilay Patel article over on Engadget , Motorola has filed a lawsuit against several ex-employees and Hauwei for conspiring to steal Motorola wireless trade secrets and other tech covering a period of years beginning back in 2001. Apparently originally the lawsuit was filed back in 2008 against a firm called Lemko and 4 former Motorola engineers with Motorola claiming they conspired to pinch wireless technology trade secrets. However after deeper investigation Motorola has decided to file the new lawsuit which was filed on the 16th of July and names 9 more ex-employees along with Huawei and alleges they planed to steal plans for Motorola’s SC300, a 3G base station.
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Motorola Sues Ex-workers and Hauwei over Trade Secrets Theft
Mobile photography could get a shot in the arm thanks to the combined efforts of Stanford University researchers and Nokia Research, who have pushed a new open-source digital photography platform out the door. FCam – or “Frankencamera” – is initially available for the Nokia N900 , and unlocks high-end functionality like RAW image capture, full manual controls and low-light imagery through combining multiple shots of varying ISO and exposure settings. FCamera is an example camera application that uses FCam libraries and drivers. It is released in source code to serve as a starting point for programmers to create their own camera applications. Low-light Assistant helps in situations where there is not enough light to avoid the choice between a quick exposure that will look sharp, but dark and noisy, and a long exposure that will have enough light, but likely be blurry.
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FCam adds RAW and HDR capture to Nokia N900
Qualcomm may still be storming ahead with their Snapdragon mobile chipsets and wireless modules, but poor old FLO TV isn’t bringing home the bacon. The mobile TV service – which hasn’t won much in the way of industry admiration – is struggling to gain traction, and Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs has admitted that the company is in early discussions with others with regards a potential sale. “It will get done in the next year but I don’t think I can be much more specific than that” Jacobs revealed during the Qualcomm financial results call, declining to mention who might be interested in FLO TV but saying there had been “a lot of interesting discussions.” Unlike data-based TV streaming, which uses carriers’ 3G connections, FLO TV uses its own chunk of the wireless spectrum; that means more control over the distribution, but it also adds extra expense. [ via mocoNews] Relevant Entries on SlashGear FCC 700MHz Auction – the full results, no loose chaff Qualcomm in legal hotspot in Germany over “Smartbook” Qualcomm MSM7x30 smartphone chipsets break new ground in mobile web and multimedia PS3-quality mobile gaming in next 5 years predict Qualcomm Qualcomm FLO TV Personal TV hoping to push digital broadcasts?
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FLO TV up for sale as Qualcomm look to cut loose mobile TV
Well, I don’t know about you, but it seems that our Korean friends are ditching good old High-tech in order to move back to the “roots”. With yesterday’s 2G LG-SV400 phone from LG it is the turn to Pantech and Sky to introduce another 2G Phone, the IM-S640S, with a DMB TV Tuner, a 3Mpix Camera and a Wooden and metallic casing.
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Sky and Pantech releases their latest 2G Wood phone in Korea
Stanford University and Nokia Research Center in Palo Alto have released an open-source digital photography platform called FCam (short for “Frankencamera”) for the Nokia N900 . Developed as a part of Stanford’s Camera 2.0 project , it allows developers to create new capabilities for digital cameras to “overcome some of the shortcomings of their devices or create interesting new types of imagery.” Right from the bat, the researchers have created a series of photo apps for the platform, some of which will be available as free downloads: FCamera – an example camera app that uses FCam libraries and drivers. Low-light Assistant – helps in situations where there is not enough light around. It captures two images in rapid succession and then automatically combines them, resulting in a photo that is both bright and sharp.
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Stanford University and Nokia Research Center in Palo Alto unveil FCam camera API
You can’t accuse Microsoft employees of not drinking the Kool-Aid, or at least their employer making sure there are plenty of jugs of it about. According to a senior marketing manager at Microsoft, every employee will be getting a Windows Phone 7 handset. “Woot. Every single microsoft employee will get a windows phone 7 #mgx #yam #smminds” Charl Lee-Pierce [ @simchabe ] We’ve already heard that there is plenty of variety when it comes to smartphones at Microsoft, with many staff harboring a soft-spot for the iPhone despite the fact that the company will now only reimburse service fees for those using a home-grown device. Still, we reckon there’ll be a few more contented people when the Windows Phone 7 boxes arrive; check out our technical preview for more details.
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Microsoft starting the Windows Phone 7 love at home
AirWayChat is a real-time chat directly from your mobile phone. AirWayChat function s: – New user registration – Chat rooms – Public and Private messages – Smilies – User profiles with photo galleries – Sending private photos to other participants – Sending voice messages to other participant Continue reading: AirWayChat – Mobile Chat App
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AirWayChat – Mobile Chat App
Flipboard is a new application for the iPad that is designed to deliver you Facebook, Twitter and news in a magazine style layout, so basically it is like a personal magazine. You can see what it is like in the video below, and it can be customized to deliver content from Twitter and Facebook. Flipboard brings the timeless layout of print media to social media. No more scrolling through long lists of posts and links. No more jumping back and forth between websites
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Flipboard iPad App
Texas-based InNova Patent Licensing LLC has filed a broad lawsuit against thirty-six defendants accusing them of infringement upon an email spam patent that was granted to InNova founder Robert Uomini. The patent describes a method of identifying incoming email as spam by using external context information obtained from the sender and according to Christopher Banys, lead counsel for InNova, it is “one of the building blocks for all email communications”. The thirty-six defendants are a motley crew and include technology giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo, RIM, and HP, retail giants like JCPenney Co., food manufacturers such as Frito-lay and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc, and finance stalwarts including JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Company
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InNova Patent Licensing LLC files infringement lawsuit against thirty-six companies over email spam patent
I came across a report by a blogger in Japan about a curious problem some iPhone users are having there. It seems that in come cases, iPhones on the Softbank network fall prey to a bug (undocumented feature?) when updating to iOS 4 which spikes 3G data connections. You can make phone calls normally, and websurf via WiFi…but no net access or email via Softbank’s network. It seems that the update erases a certain profile needed for Softbank to recognize the phone on its data network, therefore preventing a connection. What’s more, it only seems to do that if the phone in question has been jailbroken in the past, even though it has the proper Apple sanctioned ROM installed currently
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Strange Bug on Japanese iPhones
LPF10M01, is Onkyo latest gadget, and nope sorry this is not a “audio” related product nor a notebook, but interestingly a Digital Picture frame. Now what’s quite interesting in this Digital Picture frame, beside the usual photo and video features, and its nice 10.1” WSVGA resolution, is the choice made by Onkyo to add an HDMI input port, allowing you to not only plug your camcorder, camera to your digital picture frame and enjoy photo or video stored in them, but also to plug your good old …
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Onkyo’s new gadget is an HDMI 10.1 Digital Picture Frame
Earlier in the week we told you that Facebook was about to reach 500 million users worldwide , yesterday Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook at reached their latest milestone. To celebrate the 500 million Facebook users, Facebook are launching a new feature called Facebook stories, which will allow users to share a story on how Facebook has made an impact on their lives.
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Facebook Now Has 500 Million Users
A company called New Potato Technologies has created the iPhone dock pictured above. They call the product an “appcessory,” as it’s coupled with an app that detects Jackpot Slots iPhone Dock and runs the famous one-armed bandit on the device (iPhone or iPod Touch)
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Jackpot Slots turns your iPhone into one-armed bandit
According to the documents found on the Federal Communications Commission’s website, a new Motorola phone (WX404) is heading to Cricket Wireless or MetroPCS. We’re not sure which of the two carriers will be adding the QWERTY keyboard-equipped candybar to its portfolio, but without a doubt we’ll know that in the next couple of weeks. In addition to the mentioned keyboard, the Motorola WX404 also rocks Bluetooth connectivity, tri-band (850/1700/1900 MHz) CDMA radio, some camera, headset jack, media player and a microSD memory card slot, while Qualcomm’s BREW platform is running the show.
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CDMA-based Motorola WX404 caught on FCC on its way to Cricket or MetroPCS
Verizon Wireless announced that its mobile app store, V CAST Apps, is now available on select BlackBerry smartphones, including the BlackBerry Bold 9650, Storm2 9550, Curve 8530 and Tour 9630. Moreover, during the next couple of weeks, the service will be rolled out to more RIM-made devices like the Storm 9530 and Curve 8330
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Verizon’s V CAST Apps now available on select BlackBerry models