Unbelievably, against all odds and better judgment, we are able to independently confirm that Microsoft’s short-lived Kin One and Kin Two are coming back for an encore performance on Verizon, possibly as soon as this quarter — but it won’t quite be the same product you remember from earlier this year. The phones were famously bashed for the unrealistic plan pricing model that put them head-to-head with actual, full-fledged smartphones — despite the fact that the devices were targeted squarely at tweens, teens, and twentysomethings — and we’re hearing that the revised phones will be totally, completely debundled from data services. Data-centric features like the Loop “are out,” we’re told — but the good news is that you’ll still be able to use one of the product’s most redeeming qualities, Zune Pass , over WiFi if you’re not signed up for a proper data plan. Of course, the value proposition of a Kin without… well, without its only value proposition is questionable at best, so we’re thinking this might just be a way to clear huge backlogs of hardware inventory before pulling the plug on the program. Seriously, who wants a Kin without the unlimited photo uploads? Confirmed: Kin One and Two are returning to Verizon. Wait, what? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 20:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, has warned that his group will “cut off the hand” of anyone who tries to arrest members of his Shia movement
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We gotta say, the last time we were this excited about hardware hacking For The Greater Good was when people started using the Wiimote for all sorts of awesome projects . Kinect is naturally a lot more complicated, but there’s also a lot of potential here, and we can’t wait to see what people come up with. Florian Echtler took that open source driver and hooked the Kinect into his own multitouch UI “TISCH” software library (which actually supports the Wiimote as an input already, funny enough). The result is a bit of MS Surface -style multitouch picture shuffling and zooming, but it uses full body tracking instead of touchscreen input, of course. The self-effacing Florian had this to say in the video description: “I thought I’d get the mandatory picture-browsing stuff done so it’s out of the way and everybody can focus on more interesting things.” You’re still a hero in our book, man. Always a hero. Feeling left out on all these Kinect shenanigans because you’re rocking a Mac? Well, libfreenect has also now been ported over to OS X by Theo Watson (who sounds unenthused about his accomplishment in the video embedded after the break). Also: once you’re done admiring your IR-rendered visage on your shiny Apple-built hardware, scrounge yourself up a working Linux box. All the cool people are doing it. Continue reading Hacked Kinect taught to work as multitouch interface Hacked Kinect taught to work as multitouch interface originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 20:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …WaPo Buries, NYT Print Edition Ignores Govt. Investigation Finding Obama White House Edited BP Oil Spill Report
November 12, 2010 No Comment
During the Bush administration, the media made much of political appointees supposedly editing and otherwise interfering with the integrity of the work of career federal government scientists, particularly on studies pertaining to global warming/climate change. Well now the Associated Press is reporting that an inspector general's report from the Interior Department released yesterday found that the Obama White House “edited a drilling safety report in a way that made it falsely appear that scientists and experts backed the administration's six-month moratorium on new deep-water drilling. ” (emphasis mine) Additionally, “Obama's energy adviser, Carol Browner, mischaracterized on national TV a government analysis about where the oil went, saying it showed most of the oil was 'gone.'” In fact, “[t]he report said it could still be there,” AP's Dina Cappiello noted. Cappiello's story was buried on page A27 of today's Washington Post, but at least the paper covered the story. A Nexis search for “BP” mentions in the November 11 paper turned two hits from the New York Times, but neither story was about the inspector general's report. read more
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Director Edgar Wright says his film, ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’ is picking up new fans now that it’s out on Blu-ray and DVD. (Nov. 11)
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Iraq’s president gave Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki the nod to form the next government after an eight-month deadlock, but a dramatic walkout from parliament by his Sunni rivals cast doubt on a power-sharing deal. (Nov. 11)
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The FDA has approved Egrifta, administered by daily injection, for the treatment of HIV lipodystrophy — fat accumulation that is a side effect of AIDS drugs.
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We happen to like our existing Xbox 360 controller, squeaky triggers and all, and though we’re eagerly awaiting an improved D-pad it hadn’t really occurred to us that some might prefer an overhaul. N-Control, however, has done just that with this insane lever-filled shell, which wraps around the gamepad to provide simultaneous control over a host of inputs at once. The idea is that you’ll never need to take your thumbs off the analog sticks to swap weapons or reload, because you’ll just flick one of those weighted levers instead. You’ll also apparently gain a split-second advantage over opponents on the draw since the contraption constantly applies tension to each of the controller’s triggers, making them easier to press. For $60, the Avenger even comes with a tripod, which could be a good move on the company’s part — it looks like you might need one to hold the beast up. Video after the break. Continue reading N-Control Avenger gives your Xbox 360 controller hair triggers (video) N-Control Avenger gives your Xbox 360 controller hair triggers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 19:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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By G.W. Schulz, CIR By G.W. Schulz Everyone from employers to the Department of Homeland Security is monitoring social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, raising questions about how standards enforcing privacy online can withstand the rush of data about you and everyone else that courses through the Internet. Related Entries November 11, 2010 Obama Blinks on Tax Cuts for the Rich November 11, 2010 The Elites Are Having a Tea Party
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