The editor-in-chief of RottenTomatoes.com, a website that lets readers rate movies, predicts “The King’s Speech” will win for best drama at the Golden Globes on Sunday while “The Tourist” — starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp — will take home the co
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The Tunisian government is in upheaval after weeks of violent protests over high unemployment and skyrocketing food prices. Al-Jazeera reported that the prime minister had taken the reins of government after President Ben Ali left the country. —JCL Al-Jazeera English: Tunisia’s long-standing president has left the country amid violent protests and the prime minister has taken over control of the government. “Since the president [Zine El Abidine Ben Ali] is temporarily unable to exercise his duties, it has been decided that the prime minister will exercise temporarily the [presidential] duties,” Mohammed Ghannouchi, the Tunisian prime minister, said on state television. Ghannouchi is now the interim president. He cited chapter 56 of the Tunisian constitution as the article by which he was assuming power. Maltese air traffic controllers have told Al Jazeera that Ben Ali is bound for Paris, though the Maltese government has denied any knowledge of Ben Ali’s plane having stopped in Malta after having left Tunis. Read more Related Entries January 13, 2011 White House Mum on Palin’s Latest Words January 13, 2011 WikiLeaks Exposes the Danger of Pakistan’s Nukes
Continue reading …Apple nears ten billion downloads in App Store, should hit it without Verizon’s help
January 14, 2011 No Comment
For whatever reason, Apple has a thing with ten billion. The outfit served up its ten billionth iTune right around this time last year, and more importantly, served its one billionth app in April of 2009 . In just 1.5 years, the company has seen that figure soar nearly tenfold, which is impressive no matter how you slice it. Of course, we’re quite curious to know if this includes duplicate downloads, app updates and just free or paid apps, but regardless, there’s no question that Cupertino (and quite a few developers) are raking it in. Of course, the explosion of the iPad certainly helped boost the download frequency, and if we had to guess, we’d say it’ll take even less time to double up this milestone. You know, once next month happens . Oh, and if you get lucky enough, you could score a $10,000 iTunes gift card if you just so happen to download the ten billionth app — make sure it’s a good one . [Thanks, Ali] Apple nears ten billion downloads in App Store, should hit it without Verizon’s help originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has officially been placed under investigation for allegedly paying for sex with a 17-year-old girl, providing even more fodder against the scandal-addicted Italian executive. While some may think paying for sex with underage women is bad enough, Berlusconi defended himself with the off-putting, “As always, I work without interruption and if occasionally I happen to look a beautiful girl in the face, it’s better to like beautiful girls than to be gay.” —JCL The Guardian: Silvio Berlusconi has been formally placed under investigation on suspicion of paying for sex with a 17-year old girl, according to a statement issued today by prosecutors in Milan. He was further accused of abusing his position as Italy’s prime minister by bringing pressure to bear on the police to cover up his alleged relationship with the girl, who was working as a prostitute. The two alleged offences carry sentences totalling 15 years in jail. The statement said Berlusconi, who has not been charged, had been invited to present himself for questioning. The prosecutors said he had been formally made a suspect on 21 December, but the news only broke today on the website of the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. Read more Related Entries January 13, 2011 White House Mum on Palin’s Latest Words January 13, 2011 WikiLeaks Exposes the Danger of Pakistan’s Nukes
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enlarge First of all, this isn’t my idea. It’s my oldest son’s, and he told me about it a few years ago when he was trying to figure out a way he could make money. (Did I mention the kid is a genius? If you use this idea, you owe him.) He said it made more sense to sidestep the entire gun control controversy and instead pass state laws that require anyone who owns a gun to carry insurance. If they have risk factors (like teenagers in the house), their rates go up. If one of their kids sneaks a gun out of the house and gets caught, or uses it to commit a crime, the insurance gets canceled for some meaningful period of time — say, 10 years. And if someone steals your gun and you don’t report it in a 24-hour window of you finding out, your insurance is suspended. If you have a rifle and it’s only used for hunting, low rates. If you have a Glock and you carry it in an open-carry town or state, your rates will be very high — because odds are so much higher that innocent bystanders may get caught in a shootout. Homeowners could be required to carry gun insurance as long as they’re still paying on a mortgage, because a gun accident or misuse could result in a large legal judgment against the house. Oh yeah, and you have to buy coverage for each gun you own. I think it has real possibilities. What do you think?
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Perhaps if there was some sort of Brundlefly-style gadget mix-up five years ago, the outcome would look like this: an HTC Hermes jammed inside a GameBoy Advance housing. This prototype, presented by Windows Phone Hacker, features some fun changes that make it feel more like your beloved handheld gaming console, and less like your dated Windows Mobile Pocket PC, including a startup GIF animation of the original GameBoy Advance boot screen, custom software that keeps the OS in landscape mode, and custom notifications and ringtones from the Mario games. Also included is PocketGBA emulator for playing GameBoy Advance ROMs on the phone itself. Of course, this is just the beginning of the project: we look forward to seeing a version where the buttons work! In the meantime, check out the thing in action after the break. [Thanks, Juan] Continue reading GameBoy Advance Phone caught in the wild (by the guy who built it) GameBoy Advance Phone caught in the wild (by the guy who built it) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Chris Gaida is a celebrity escort—no, not the kind of escort Charlie Sheen favors , the kind that gets paid to squire celebs down the red carpet. “He’s reliable and fast and trustworthy,” says Queen Latifah’s executive assistant, and “he’s not bad-looking either.” An escort’s job is to make sure…
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Photo: biofriendly , CC Reducing Air Pollution The last diesel bus in the 2,228 vehicle fleet of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) was recently retired, making Metro the first major transit agency in the world to operate only “alternative” fuel buses. They now have 2,221 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses, one electric, and six gasoline-electric hybrid buses. … Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …CO2 Levels Could Rise to Concentrations Unseen in 30 Million Years by 2100
January 14, 2011 No Comment
image: Wikipedia Now this is really a pretty shocking projection, but one which is by no means certain provided we take action now to change course from our business-as-usual levels of greenhouse gas emissions : New research from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (h/t
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Among the student body at Frayser High School in Memphis, some 90 girls are pregnant or have already had a baby this school year. That statistic has school officials scrambling to prevent unwanted pregnancies. (Jan. 14)
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