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Sunday, April 29, 2012
Refresh Roundup: week of April 23rd, 2012
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of April 23rd, 2012
Refresh Roundup: week of April 23rd, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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This Company Builds Some Of the Greatest Playgrounds On Earth [Image Cache]
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Saturday, April 28, 2012
PDA Alert! Mariah Carey & Nick Cannon Share a Kiss
Mariah Carey & Nick Cannon makeout in the street! Check out more pics of Hollywood's tightest twosomes
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Ellen Reads From Fifty Shades of Grey, is Mortified
The erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey is creating major buzz lately after the movie rights were optioned, sparking speculation over who will play its sexy leads.
Its content is so racy - often described as "mommy porn" - that it's hard to imagine Fifty Shades on film ... or even as an audiobook. Especially after this.
If you've read it, you know how awkward it would be to read some of the salacious scenes aloud. Which is why Ellen DeGeneres decided to demonstrate this.
The premise of this hilarious skit is that Ellen was asked to record the audiobook version of EL James' work. It starts out in familiar territory, but after that ...
Several big names, including Ian Somerhalder, have been rumored for the film, which has not yet cast leads for what will undoubtedly be highly sought-after roles.
Tell us who should play Christian and Anastasia by voting below ...
Which star do you think should play Christian?
Which star do you think should play Anastasia?
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Time Warner Cable is preparing for TWC TV IPTV streaming on Roku boxes
Time Warner Cable's TWC TV streaming TV service has already arrived on iOS and Android 4.0, so what's next? According to information we've received, the next stop should be connected TV platforms, starting with the popular Roku media streaming boxes. We already got a glimpse of TWC TV on an HDTV during CES 2012 when it was being demonstrated at the Panasonic and Samsung booths, and were told at the time that it could launch on "multiple platforms" later this year. While company personnel are currently being briefed on compatibility with Roku the launch could still be some time off, as previous preparations for rollouts like streaming to PCs came months ahead. We contacted reps for the company about the plan and received a "no comment" in response, so there's nothing in the way of official word just yet. Either way, if all you want to do is ditch the bulky cable box for a diminutive hockey puck, it seems like 2012 could finally be the year.
[Thanks, Anonymous]
Time Warner Cable is preparing for TWC TV IPTV streaming on Roku boxes originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The ?Don?t Be Tardy for the Wedding? star says viewers will be surprised by her ?beautiful? hair. Plus, Rosie O?Donnell picks a fight with Lindsay Lohan, and Beyonce is named the World?s Most Beautiful Woman. Get More celeb news and photos at http://www.ivillage.com/likesoryikes
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Friday, April 27, 2012
Apple working on 21,468 square-foot cafeteria in Cupertino, wants employees' chatter to be safe
How do you keep your employees chit chat from spilling the beans on your next one more thing? You force the beans to be served in an employee-only 21,468 square-foot cafeteria -- that's how. According to Mercury News, Apple just got the go-ahead from the Cupertino Planning Commission on its scheme to build a colossal two-story bistro exclusively for staff members. While the facility will be mainly used for eating purposes during lunch hours (11:30AM to 2PM, to be exact), it'll also accommodate meeting rooms and lounge areas. Apple's Director of Real Estate Facilities, Dan Whisenhunt, says the company needs to provide its people with a sense of security "without fear of competition sort of overhearing their conversations." Now, we can't help but wonder if it's going to look anything like that spaceship...
Apple working on 21,468 square-foot cafeteria in Cupertino, wants employees' chatter to be safe originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ultimate Batting Practice: Taking it to a New Level
Watching this guy take batting practice is a sight to behold.
A more than likely fake sight, but nevertheless, very cool!
Watch as he sets up a series of nets so that after hitting one ball, it ricochets back and lets him take another cut, which he ropes into the same spot, and so on. Add in another ball or two and you've got one impressive display of hitting. Or at least viral video fun.
The shortstop would catch all these easily in real life. Just saying.
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Thursday, April 26, 2012
Jennifer Aniston Doesn't Care About Brangelina Proposal
Don't expect Jennifer Aniston to make a public statement about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's engagement anytime soon!
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DIY 'Descriptive Camera' captures images, prints out prose
Have you ever wished that cameras could capture not only an image of the scene in front of them, but also describe it to you in plain English? Ok, what if it bypassed the whole "photo" thing and just spit out a slip of paper with words on it? Well, if you're still interested, the impressive Matt Richardson (of Make fame) has a project right up your alley. The Descriptive Camera is a relatively simple device really. A Logitech webcam is connected to a BeagleBone dev board, which is in turn plugged into a thermal printer from Adafruit. Obviously, the tech required to analyze a scene recognize the objects then convert that pile of pixels into a slice prose is outside of the budget and capability of your average DIY project. So Matt turned instead to Mechanical Turk, Amazon's marketplace for HITs or Human Intelligence Tasks. Images captured by the cam are uploaded via the BeagleBone, where an actual person describes what he or she sees and the resulting literature is printed out. For more details and images check out the source.
DIY 'Descriptive Camera' captures images, prints out prose originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Wednesday, April 25, 2012
ST-Ericsson to pass off application processor business to STM, cut 1,700 jobs
It's not every day that ST-Ericsson crosses our radar twice, but in addition to reportedly signing a deal with HTC for developing low-end handset chips, the company just announced its plans for a turnaround. The message? A heavier focus on SoCs for smartphones and tablets, along with a push for even more partnerships to develop those products. While that all sounds rosy, ST-Ericsson is also ceding its application processor business -- employees, R&D and all -- to STMicroelectronics. All told, between the loss of its application processor business and other reshuffling, the company expects to shed around 1,700 jobs -- and save about $320 million annually. Those bittersweet details and more await you in the press release after the break.
Continue reading ST-Ericsson to pass off application processor business to STM, cut 1,700 jobs
ST-Ericsson to pass off application processor business to STM, cut 1,700 jobs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Is Crowdfunding the Future of Small Business Investing? | RedState
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On today?s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss a potential takeover of American Airlines by US Airways, the JOBS Act, and whether Kickstarter?s crowdfunding method is the future of venture capital.
We?re brought to you as always by Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you?d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.
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Wasteland 2 Kickstarter ends with over $3m raised
Right Before Acquisition, Instagram Closed $50M At A $500M Valuation From Sequoia, Thrive, Greylock And Benchmark
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Tuesday, April 24, 2012
The Wanted Get Taste Of Top At Empire State Building
MT News joins the boy band on their visit to the New York landmark as part of a daylong trek to promote their first Stateside release.
By Jocelyn Vena
The Wanted at the Empire State Building
Photo: Derek Storm/ Splash News
NEW YORK — Following a quick break after their "Today" show performance to rest up for a very busy day, the five guys of the Wanted headed to the world-famous Empire State Building to continue their trek across Manhattan to promote their debut U.S. EP.
With New York City below them, the fivesome got their photos taken like any good tourists and joked about King Kong's infamous visit to the top of the New York landmark. They also chatted up the press about their upcoming EP, as well as their music video for "Chasing the Sun," which premieres on "MTV First," airing tonight at 7:53 p.m. on MTV.
Immediately following the MTV premiere, the fivesome are hanging around for an additional 30-minute live Q&A session with Sway Calloway on MTV.com. Fans can get in on the action by submitting video or text questions via MTV.com or @MTVNews on Twitter, using the hashtags #MTVFirst or #AskTheWanted. They will sit down with MTV News' Sway Calloway to debut the "Chasing the Sun" video and chat.
The Wanted are taking over the Big Apple! Stick with MTV News for updates and exclusive behind-the-scenes photos all day. We'll tag along with the guys on stops like the "Today" show and the Empire State Building before "MTV First: The Wanted" kicks off at 7:53 p.m. ET on MTV and MTV.com. Be sure to tune in for the premiere of the "Chasing the Sun" video and a 30-minute interview with the band!
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Monday, April 23, 2012
Paint Park (for PS Vita)
FourSquare, Netflix, and Twitter represent just a few of the free, fun downloadable programs in the PlayStation Vita's ($299, 4 stars) PS Store?Sony's own Paint Park (free) is now a member of that mix. Paint Park transforms the PS Vita's 5-inch OLED display into a sketchpad that lets you create doodles from scratch, mark up images taken with either of the PS Vita's cameras, and compete in ad-hoc drawing competitions with other Paint Park users that's an entertaining Draw Something alternative. I have a few niggles?such as the marker color selection being limited and the ability for players to vote for themselves in drawing matches, which may result in a high number of ties?but overall, Paint Park is a solid PS Vita app.
Grabbing the Paper and Markers
You can choose to "Paint Alone" or "Paint With Friends" upon launching Paint Park. I selected the former, which caused a dialog box to open that prompted me to "Enter A Room." I did, and encountered an all-white screen that moved me to think that the app froze or crashed. A dog-ear in the lower-right corner of the screen indicated that the blank screen was indeed the "canvas." Paint Park could use a more obvious "Start Drawing!" prompt to welcome users.?
Tapping the downward pointing triangle in the upper-right hand corner of the screen opens a menu containing a numerous options. I could undo strokes, delete a canvas, open a photo album to import images from my PS Vita, select one of four brush sizes, and choose a brush color. There are a dozen colors in total, but the range isn't as wide as I'd like; there's no true purple, but there are two blue and green hues. Also, I would like the ability to assign a color to individual markers to create a Crayola box of sorts; when you change the marker color, the color is change across all the brush sizes.
PlayStation Picaso
A finger is all you need to begin creating artwork. A magnifying glass appears onscreen to help you apply detail, but I had some difficulty coloring within lines and making fine edits due to my large fingers. I made a few quick doodles, including a very rudimentary Batman with the Gotham City skyline in the background (see slideshow).
One of the cooler features is the ability to incorporate real-world photos. Tapping the camera option on the menu lets you snap photos using either the PS Vita's front or rear-facing camera. You can then apply the markers to it as you would with a blank canvas. Flicking the dog-ear brings up a fresh canvas and saves your previous work to your memory card. Note: You'll need Sony's clunky Content Management software to download your creations off the PS Vita.
Take On Me
"Paint With Friends" lets five Paint Park users enter head-to-head competitions (in ad-hoc local wireless play) to see who can create the best art. A player creates a room in which the content is held, and a subject (such as "PCMag.com"?see slideshow), or just let Paint Park choose a topic for the participants. All involved have a limited amount of time to draw the topic or photo. All drawings and photos are displayed on-screen after the timer expires, and everyone has the opportunity to vote for the best image.
Unfortunately, you can vote for yourself, so there may come times when the match ends in a tie should the individual parties think they're truly the best (or just want to troll their friends). Several of my three-person contests ended in ties.
An Artistic Endeavor
Paint Park isn't a "must-have" PS Vita app, but it's one that comes in handy when you want to kill time in a waiting room or during a commute. For some laughs, gather a few PS Vita owning friends together and compete?just don't take the outcomes too seriously.
More Console Games Reviews:
??? Paint Park (for PS Vita)
??? Silent Hill HD Collection
??? Mass Effect 3
??? Journey
??? FIFA Soccer 12
?? more
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Carey Mulligan and Singer Marcus Mumford Get Married!
The actress and the Mumford & Sons frontman get hitched in England. See more stars who made their romances official
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Sunday, April 22, 2012
2012 KIA Rio EX 5-door Test Drive
For the past 2 weeks I’ve been lucky enough to test drive a new car. The first car was a 2012 Mazda Mazda 3 and this past week it was a KIA Rio EX 5-Door. I loved the KIA Optima I test drove last year, so I was excited to try the smaller, more?economical?Rio. Note: [...]
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Propellerhead Balance
You could say the market for USB audio interfaces is pretty saturated. Many of the most-popular models have been around for years, with fewer significant product introductions as of late. That makes it even more bold for Propellerhead?traditionally a software vendor?to step into the hardware ring. Fortunately, its new Balance interface ($449 direct) is worthy of the cause, as it looks like no other recording system out there. It turns out the Balance's execution stands up as well, although it's a bit pricey for what you get.
Design, Connections, and Front Panel
The chunky Balance measures 2.76 by 5.12 by 7.56 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.25 pounds. ?Its design is one of the Balance's best attributes, with its rubberized housing, cantered front panel, and extra-large, easy-to-read controls. The back panel contains two XLR microphone inputs, each with switchable 48-volt phantom power. You can also bypass those and use one of the three quarter-inch TRS input jacks corresponding to each channel, for Line 1, Line 2, Guitar, and a pad switch for taming hot signals. There are no stereo RCA or 3.5mm inputs or outputs; this is purely a professional-level interface.
For monitoring, a pair of quarter-inch output jacks let you hook up the Balance to an amplifier or a set of active studio monitor speakers. A quarter-inch headphone jack sits on the right side of the unit, right near the front?two headphone jacks would have been welcome at this price. And despite the Balance's good compliment of analog connectivity, there are no digital inputs, and no MIDI in or out, either.
The front panel is dominated by two massive volume knobs?one for the main outs, and one for the single headphone jack. Above that is a direct monitoring switch, which lets you monitor incoming recordings from a mic, guitar, or other instrument with zero latency. Two smaller knobs handle input levels for the left and right inputs; oddly, they click to specific settings, which shouldn't pose a problem in most cases, but doesn't afford as much granular control as I would have expected. There's also a clip safe light, and a useful, built-in meter and tuner button which pops up an appropriate window in Reason Essentials (more about that later). Two sets of three LEDs indicate signal, clipping status, recording status, and whether 48V phantom power is switched on. All controls and buttons engage and move with a precision feel.
Across the right side of the panel are two extra rows of four buttons, used to select the input mode for the jacks on the rear. This is strange, because typically you don't get this option, with all inputs being live as needed,?or software is used to make these adjustments. Propellerhead's design means you can hook up several pieces of gear to all of those rear-mounted inputs, such as two microphones, a guitar, a bass guitar, and a couple of synthesizers, and then switch between them using the front panel buttons. But even so, this is purely a two-channel recording interface, which is what makes it bizarre. There's no way to record signal from more than any two of those inputs simultaneously. This makes the Balance a rather expensive proposition, and puts it within just $150 of the incredible sounding (if Mac-only) two-channel Apogee Duet 2, as well as in the same ballpark as numerous interfaces that record four or even eight simultaneous channels?enough to record an entire band at once.
Reason Essentials Setup and Virtual Synths
With the Balance, Propellerhead bundles Reason Essentials, a cut-down version of the company's flagship Reason recording software that still provides most of the program's best features. The package works on either Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 (including 64-bit mode in Vista and 7), as well as on any multi-core Mac running OS X 10.6.3 or later. For this review, I tested the Balance and Reason Essentials on a 2.93GHz quad-core Mac Pro with 6GB RAM and OS X 10.7 (Lion).
Installation is fairly simple. I inserted the DVD, dragged the Reason Essentials folder onto the Mac, and then plugged the interface into a free USB port. When I fired up the Reason icon, it turns out it wasn't done yet, as it popped up a warning about installing Ignition Key software. It then began copying sound banks over from the DVD. While the full version of Reason now employs a USB dongle, Reason Essentials uses the Balance as the dongle?disconnect the interface, and you can no longer use the software.
If you're willing to get a little creative, Reason Essentials includes enough power to handle many recording needs. It still gives you unlimited audio and instrument tracks, the new ReGroove mixer, and 1.45GB (rather than 2.5GB) of sound bank content. You get Propellerhead's venerable Subtractor synth and NN-XT sampler, but not the Malstrom, Neptune, or Thor synthesizers. On top of those, you still get a live sampling editor and ID-8 songwriter's toolbox, the Matrix pattern sequencer, the Combinator, the MClass mastering suite and master bus compressor, and a variety of basic effects boxes, including a reverb, Line 6-powered guitar and bass amps, a chorus and flanger, a digital delay, and the Scream 4 distortion box.
The new arrange window is a little tough to work with. It's not as flexible as a digital audio workstation like Pro Tools, because it's still designed like a vertically scrolling equipment rack. In today's world of widescreen desktop monitors with fewer vertical pixels, the UI looks oddly stretched out, with little room to see the virtual gear once the arrange and mixer windows are in place.
Testing, Sound Quality, and Conclusions
In a series of recording and playback tests, I had problems with the Balance. The headphone jack sounded full, warm, and loud, and recordings came through reasonably clean using a Rode NT-1A large condenser microphone, with the Balance's 48-volt phantom power engaged. Using the default settings, I experienced 8ms latency on the way in, and 6ms on the way out, which was fine for playing drum tracks live using an M-Audio Keystation 49e keyboard. I was also able to flip on a reverb and record vocals while hearing it; in doing so, I heard some minor comb filtering, but it was easily usable?and this was without direct monitoring, which you can always engage for zero latency monitoring.
The default sound banks are versatile across the board, with plenty of synth pads, leads, multitimbral workstation-like sounds, and even dozens of sampled reverbs. If you keep in mind that many of these sound modules date back to the first version of Reason from more than 10 years ago, it's still a good sound set, and more than you'd ever get with, say, a workstation keyboard synthesizer from Korg or Roland 10 years ago.
Propellerhead is targeting a niche customer with the Balance: One who wants ultra-clean sound quality, plenty of connections, and tight integration with Reason, but that also doesn't need to record, say, more than one musician simultaneously most of the time. If that's you, it's tough to go wrong with the Balance. But if you want an interface with a lower price and a smaller footprint, the M-Audio Fast Track ($149.99, 4 stars) will get you most of the way there for less than half the cost, although you're giving up all of the extra connectivity and separate main and headphone volume knobs. Otherwise, a number of interfaces with eight microphone inputs, such as the 16-channel/4-out Tascam US-1800 ($399.99), give you more flexible recording power for the same or less money than the Balance.
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FHFA Speeds up Short Sale Process as Existing ... - RealEstate.com
New Measures Could Boost Short Sales
If you?ve been considering buying a house through short sale ? where the lender agrees to sell a home for less than what is owed ? but are intimidated by the process, here?s some good news.
The long, arduous wait for short sales may get shorter.
According to a new rule by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, lenders are required to respond to short sale requests within 30 days. The rule also requires that borrowers be notified about the lenders? decision on the sale within 60 days. If lenders take more than 30 days to respond, they have to provide weekly updates to the buyers.
The new changes are expected to boost sales by encouraging buyers now discouraged by the short sale process. Currently, because of bureaucracy, it takes forever for lenders to retrieve permission from the borrower to short sale a property in trouble. Meanwhile interested buyers are left hanging on a decision.
Last year, the Ocean County Register reported a California Association of?Realtors? survey that showed that 67 percent of respondents were unsatisfied with the approval process of short sales. Real estate agents also said that four out of every 10 short sale transactions fail because of unresponsive lenders.
?FHFA and the enterprises are committed to enhancing the short sales and deeds-in-lieu process as additional tools to prevent foreclosure, keep homes occupied and help maintain stable communities,? said FHFA Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco in a release. ?These timeline and borrower communication announcements set minimum standards and provide clear expectations regarding these important foreclosure alternatives.?
The changes should provide a new bump to the housing market. In terms of the market, short sales are better than foreclosures for borrowers, lenders and the neighborhoods. Hopefully, FHFA?s intervention will ensure more distressed homes finding new owners through the short sale process rather than the ignominy of facing foreclosure.
Short Sales are Up
Even before the new rules were announced, there was some positive news from the short sale segment.
Short sales were up 33 percent in January when compared to the same year ago period, according to RealtyTrac. The market research firm also said that February numbers are expected to be encouraging. Lenders are more open these days to doing short sales because they are less harmful for the neighborhood and the lending institutions than foreclosures. Foreclosures, however, still continue to surpass short sales, but the tide seems to be turning, according to RealtyTrac.
More short sales ?is mostly a good thing,? ?said Ira Rheingold of the National Association of Consumer Advocates to the USA Today. The only concern, he said, ?is that homeowners may have to short sell after being denied loan modifications that would have enabled them to stay in homes.
Existing Home Sales Slide
Just when there?s talk about a housing market recovery comes some gloomy news from the National Association of Realtors?.
Sale of previously occupied homes in March fell 2.6 percent to a 4.48 million annual rate, signalling that the real estate market continues to be unpredictable. In February, that number was at 4.6 million, and economists in a Bloomberg News survey were expecting an increase to 4.61 million.
Even with the decline, home sales averaged 4.57 million homes in the first quarter. That?s ?the strongest showing since the second quarter of 2010, according to Bloomberg.
Strict lending practices, foreclosures and dwindling home values continue to impede home sales which in turn dampens the market?s recovery. There are some positive signs though. The median price of existing homes climbed 2.5 percent from $160,600 to $163,8000. Also, the number of first-time buyers, a demographic considered crucial for the market?s recovery, rose to 33 percent of all purchases last month. Homes facing foreclosure also declined at 29 percent of sales, compared to 34 percent the previous month, while home supply fell 1.3 percent in March to 2.37 million. A decline in supply helps stabilize prices while encouraging sellers to put up more homes for sale.
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