Ice was blamed for dozens of crashes across the southern US Wednesday night. (Dec. 16)
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Google’s famous penchant for keeping things in beta doesn’t seem to have changed lately, as the company’s App Inventor for Android is still keeping its Greek lettering, but at least access has now been opened up for everyone to enjoy. The switch from private to public beta isn’t the most significant thing in the world — up until now you just had to ask for an invite to get one — but we’re sure amateur Android coders and experimenters will appreciate not having to go through that extra step. The App Inventor’s sitting in Google Labs right this minute, waiting for you to magic up (no coding skills required!) a finely crafted solution to modern living of your own. Hit the source link to get your mouse pointer dirty. Google App Inventor opens up access to everyone, clings on to beta tag originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 05:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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A White House review of the mess in Afghanistan will reportedly declare that some modest progress has been made toward the administration’s goals (vague and illogical though they may be), despite widespread skepticism and the most allied casualties since the start of the war in 2001. Reuters: A White House review of President Barack Obama’s Afghanistan war strategy being released on Thursday will report that foreign forces are making headway against the Taliban but that hefty challenges remain. The review, which the administration has indicated will not result in major strategy changes, is expected to cite hurdles including the need to strengthen Afghan governance and goading Pakistan to eliminate insurgent safe havens. Read more Related Entries December 15, 2010 Obama Makes Nice with Business Bigwigs December 15, 2010 Accused WikiLeaker Bradley Manning’s Torture by Isolation
Continue reading …Bing 2.0 brings better Facebook integration and the impressive Streetside to iPhone (video)
December 16, 2010 No Comment
Microsoft just released — or should we say, Apple just approved — version 2.0 of the Bing search app for iOS devices. In addition to several other new features including integrated Facebook Likes on search results (really!?) and in-app checkins to Facebook and Foursquare, Bing now comes packing Streetside, something that first blew us away as Street Slide when it was still in the labs at Microsoft Research. Unlike Google’s Streetview that requires a lot of forward- and back-clicking and turning in order to get a feel for a location, Streetslide provides a more comprehensive view of the shops and businesses in an area by letting you strafe down the sidewalk while zooming in and out of the buildings located on each side of the street. We took it for a brief spin (literally) and came away impressed. You won’t find Streetside implemented for all locations yet (for example, San Francisco’s Make-out Room was found on Streetside but the Slanted Door restaurant wasn’t) but they do seem to have large swaths of major cities covered based on our brief testing of Chicago, Seattle, New York, and San Francisco. Sorry, nothing yet in London and Amsterdam but maybe you’ll have better success searching your own neighborhoods. See the full list of what’s new after the break in addition to a Streetside demo from Bing’s architect “Blaze.” Unfortunately, we’re not seeing the impressive Panaroma feature he mentions in this release. Continue reading Bing 2.0 brings better Facebook integration and the impressive Streetside to iPhone (video) Bing 2.0 brings better Facebook integration and the impressive Streetside to iPhone (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 05:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Last year 95 percent of France’s civil unions (known as pactes civil de solidarit
Continue reading …Not Made in China, Designer Guillem Ferran Proves a Point with Products Made from Used Pallets (Photos)
December 16, 2010 No Comment
VII, a table. Image Credit: Guillem Ferran Here is a series of objects with the unusual label “not made in China”. The Catalan designer Guillem Ferran, whose Where Memory Used To Sit chair collection, Distendido and La Pell leather project we wrote about before, made it his mission to make objects from used pallets locally in Spain. Ferran … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Lebanese radio station gives interpretation of evening blast, accompanied by Israeli over-flights
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Talk about a Grinch: Police say someone trying to steal copper wire burned down the city of Birmingham’s 35-foot-tall Christmas tree in the middle of a city park. (Dec. 15)
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House of Representatives unanimously decides to remind Obama it supports Israel, passes motion saying US will not recognize Palestinian state declared without Israel’s approval, veto UN resolution to this effect if it is brought forth
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While the controversial (and deadly) use of combat drones certainly shows no signs of abatement, the Air Force has announced that a recent purchase of 268 Predators will be its last. The vehicles, manufactured by General Atomics, should be in the hands of the military by early next year. For its part, the USAF will apparently switch to purchasing Reaper drones — which can carry a wide variety of armaments, including Sidewinder or Hellfire missiles and laser-guided bombs. We just hope that they aren’t using the unencrypted video feeds that made Predators so easy to monitor. USAF to receive the last of its Predator drones in early 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 02:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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