Sunday 30 September 2012
2012 EMAs Live from the Red Carpet
Slingbox 350 and 500 show up unannounced in Best Buy, flaunt 1080p and built-in WiFi
You might say Dave Zatz just had a happy accident. While he was hunting for the as yet unofficial Logitech Harmony Touch in Best Buy, he discovered the Slingbox 350 and 500 -- two more living room gadgets that have yet to receive an official introduction. The placeshifting hubs both look to be major improvements over the aging Slingbox Pro HD and Solo, making 1080p streaming available as long as the connection is up to snuff. Those who spring for the 500 should also get long overdue support for WiFi without having to use a wireless bridge, although they may miss the Pro HD's ATSC tuner. Outside of the networking, Sling Media is making expansion its upsell angle: the 500 supports USB media sharing and HDMI, while the 350 has to make do with whatever can pipe through its component and composite jacks. Zatz was unfortunately foiled in an attempt to buy one of the new Slingboxes and couldn't get final pricing, but Best Buy's suggestion to try again around mid-October hints that we won't have long to wait for a much-needed upgrade to our remote TV viewing.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Slingbox 350 and 500 show up unannounced in Best Buy, flaunt 1080p and built-in WiFi originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ahead of Jewish holiday, HuffPost editor calls Sukkot ritual ?strange?
Ahead of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot (Tabernacles), a Huffington Post article refers to some of the holiday rituals as "weird" and "strange." This, of course, invites questions about which religious rituals aren't strange, when viewed from the outside? And is it really more helpful to talk about how strange a holiday may seem, rather than what all the symbolism means?
Paris: 2013 Chevrolet Spark gets refreshed for Europe
Filed under: Budget, Europe, Paris Motor Show, Hatchback, Chevrolet, GM
The Chevrolet Spark minicar may just now be hitting the big roads of the United States, but the car has already been on sale in other markets, including Europe, for a while. And because of that, the Euro-spec Spark has undergone a minor facelift for the 2013 model year, showing its slight nip/tuck here at the 2012 Paris Motor Show.
You'll have to look closely to spot the differences, but changes up front include redesigned headlamp and foglamp units, as well as a lower front grille that sweeps all the way across the underside of the bumper. Out back, the LED center brake lamp has been incorporated into the rear spoiler, and inside, storage has been improved thanks to a slightly redesigned center console.
In Europe, the Spark is offered with two tiny-displacement engine configurations: a 1.0-liter inline-four producing 68 horsepower or a 1.2-liter four with a whopping 82 hp on tap.
For the full list of enhancements, scroll down to read General Motors' press release.
Continue reading 2013 Chevrolet Spark gets refreshed for Europe
2013 Chevrolet Spark gets refreshed for Europe originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsSerious Collector Seeks Vintage 1963 Bob Dylan Newark, New Jersey Mosque Theater Concert Posters
LightSquared pitches new plans to FCC in attempt to end GPS interference hex
If you thought filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy was the final chapter in LightSquared's wireless network saga, you'd be wrong. Hedge-fund manager Philip Falcone is back at the FCC's doorstep with yet another proposal, which he hopes might snatch the maligned network from the jaws of GPS interference-related troubles. Two filings placed with the commission apparently outline plans to use its broadband network in a way that it believes won't interfere with GPS signals, along with the 5MHz of spectrum that are known not to cause any issues. Along with the proposed changes, LightSquared is reportedly set to ask for more time to have exclusive rights to propose a reorganization plan. If granted, this could finally mean some progress for the beleaguered project, but with investors worried that money being spent on this could be better-placed back in their pockets, Falcone will have everything crossed, while the FCC deliberates the situation.
Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Mobile
LightSquared pitches new plans to FCC in attempt to end GPS interference hex originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 05:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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DGA report shows few strides for female and minority TV directors
David Alfaro Siqueiros' 'America Tropical' awaits new unveiling
"America Tropical" must be Los Angeles' most famous invisible artwork.
Saturday 29 September 2012
Composer Andrew Norman's imagination has taken residence
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Inside his airy loft last week, Andrew Norman was nervous as he talked about his childhood and God. The 32-year-old composer, a finalist this year for the Pulitzer Prize in music, spoke in anxious halts and starts about his upbringing in "a strict religious environment" in Modesto, where his father is a pastor at an evangelical church.
?The Ultimate Fighter? pulls lowest ratings ever for premiere
Did you tune in to watch "The Ultimate Fighter" on Friday night? Probably not, according to ratings from cable shows on Friday night. 947,000 people tuned in to the show's two-hour debut that featured preliminary fights.
Those numbers are not good. It's the lowest-rated premiere in TUF history. In the last few seasons, ratings drop after the premiere that draws in viewers because there are so many fights.
[More UFC: Dana White's breakneck lifestyle not going to stop anytime soon, health be damned]
A few caveats to remember with this data:
-- The ratings listed are for 25-54 year-old adults. The UFC aims to bring in viewers who are male and between 18 and 34 years of age. These ratings leave out a major chunk of the UFC's demographic.
-- Nielsen ratings don't take into account time-shifted views, or watching via your DVR. Because of a trip out of town and NFL football, I didn't see the show until Monday morning. I doubt I'm alone in not watching the show live.
-- It also doesn't take into account online views, social media discussion during the show, or any of the other metrics that measure the buzz of a show. Young people don't watch television like their parents did, but Nielsen ratings have not caught up with those changes.
Still, Nielsen numbers are important to television executives, and these numbers won't make the fine people of FX happy.
Judging by coming attractions, this season will be no different than previous seasons. It will be filled with smack talk between coaches Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin, pranks in the house, tension between 16 men forced to live and train together for six weeks, and fights. There were exciting moments in the prelim fights, but it's hard to judge real talent in those fights because we know little about the competition level or preparation of the fighters.
Little was shown in the premiere that made me excited to tune in this week. Did you watch Friday, and do you plan to tune in again? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or Twitter.
NFL video from Yahoo! Sports:
Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
? Bears defender D.J. Moore goes off on Jay Cutler
? Yunel Escobar's eye black contained gay slur
? Tony Eury Jr., Danica Patrick's crew chief, now out at JR Motorsports
? Y! Finance: Five places to retire on Social Security alone
Is that Play-Doh in your Ear?
The Week in Design: Wretched Excess, Design for Boomerang Kids; Nothing is the Next Big Thing
A look back at the last week in August, where we get small, almost down to nothing.
Quinton Jackson out of UFC 153 bout with Glover Teixeira
UPDATE: Just hours after White shared the news about Jackson, he tweeted that Jose Aldo is also out of his UFC 153 bout.
Here we go again. UFC president Dana White just tweeted the news that Quinton Jackson was injured and is out of his UFC 153 fight with Glover Teixeira.
UFC 153 already has a new main event. Last week, former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar stepped in to fight Jose Aldo when Erik Koch was injured. Now, the co-main event fight is in jeopardy.
This bout was supposed to be the last on Jackson's contract, and his rocky relationship with the UFC indicated he would not be welcomed back with another contract. He is riding a two-fight losing streak and has ripped the UFC's matchmaking publicly.
Hopefully, the UFC will be able to find another opponent who will fight Teixeira in front of his home crowd. He has 16 straight wins, and debuted in the UFC with a destruction of Kyle Kingsbury in under two minutes.
It's the latest in a strong of fights that has had some sort of cancellation or change for the UFC. The main events of UFC 146, 147, 148 and 149 all changed at some point, and UFC 151 was cancelled after Dan Henderson was injured and Jon Jones turned down Chael Sonnen to replace the main event.
High speed chase suspect apparently suicides: Graphic video
The video may be deemed graphic by some viewers
Deal of the Day ? Dell XPS 15 (L521x) Core i7 Ivy Bridge Quad-core 1080p Laptop with Blu-ray
Friday 28 September 2012
Writers Guild donates nearly $1 million to Actors Fund
Destin Hotels Starting at Only $66 Per Night
Third pod of pilot whales driven into Taiji Cove
No Pesticides or Artificial Fertilizers
Francois Hollande unveils 75% super-tax in 2013 budget proposal
Tuesday 25 September 2012
Hilary Duff Responds to Weight Criticism: ?Say It To My Face!?
Less than four months after giving birth, Hilary Duff is forced to defend her post-baby body.
?I don?t care what people say,? Hilary tells In Touch about those who teased her after photos surfaced of the actress relaxing in a bikini with her son, Luca. ?Say it to my face!?
Hilary, who?s married to former hockey player Mike Comrie, says she?s been exercising a few days a week, pairing spin classes with private training. ?This is how it goes for most women ? the weight doesn?t fall off overnight,? she tells In Touch. ?I?m not back to where I want to be, but I?m not stressing it.?
Well, there?s one other person ? her husband, who reassures Hilary that she?s picture-perfect. ?Mike doesn?t care,? she says. ?Even during my pregnancy, he thought I was beautiful.?
Gold Medalist Competed While Pregnant
Monday 24 September 2012
Cross-cultural communiqu�: Drugging yourself in Japan
Latest on the new 'Sars-like' virus
Rumormill: Cheaper baby NSX back under consideration at Acura
Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Coupe, Performance, Acura, Honda, Rumormill
Back in the salad days before the financial upheaval of 2008, Honda's Acura division was reportedly planning to build not one, but two new NSX models. The first was/is the on again off again heir to the NSX throne (then a V10 rear-drive supercar, now the much ballyhooed hybrid all-wheel-drive affair revealed at January's Detroit Auto Show). The second was to be a smaller, less expensive version, creatively dubbed by Honda internals as the "Small NSX." Never let engineers name your pets, folks.
In any event, the Small NSX that was said to be cancelled before we even knew it existed is reportedly back on the table. Unnamed sources tell Motor Trend that the sports car will really be a scaled-back version of the NSX, too, with a mid-engine layout and potentially a version the same hybrid SH-AWD system.
It is really anyone's guess as to which corporate powertrain will offer motivation, should this baby NSX see the light of day, though turbocharging one of the company's four-cylinder mills seems like a good bet.
With the full-boat NSX still on track for a debut in 2015, expect to wait quite a while before the junior version is available - 2017 is a reasonable guess. When the car is ready, pending another once-in-a-lifetime financial system meltdown, we are told to expect sticker prices in the realm of $50,000 to $60,000.
Cheaper baby NSX back under consideration at Acura originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsEmmys 2012: 'Breaking Bad' Star Aaron Paul Can't Believe He Beat Costar for Win
"I cried in his arms; I said, 'This doesn't make sense to me that I'm on this stage and you're not,'" the actor said after defeating Giancarlo Esposito, who played meth mogul Gustavo Fring.
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Jon Jones reportedly asked Dana White to tell Chael Sonnen to stop calling him out
Before UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones turned down a fight with Chael Sonnen, the two engaged in a war of words. Sonnen called Jones out, Jones responded with, "If you're going to disrespect me out of nowhere, at least disrespect me to my face like a man. And you call me a punk, I'm more man than you'll ever be," and then Jones said he knew what he was doing all along.
Except, there are reports now that Jones was bothered by Sonnen not only calling out Jones here, but in the many things Sonnen said after Jones turned down their fights. He even reportedly asked UFC president Dana White to tell Sonnen to stop.
This isn't the first time Jones has been oddly bothered by what people have to say about him. After beating Quinton Jackson at UFC 135, the UFC brought Rashad Evans into the cage for the two to face off for their next fight. Jones was so bothered by the sight of his former friend in the cage that he ignored Evans' compliments on how he fought, and said Evans "ruined his night twice." Really? Jones had just beaten a former champion by submission, but the mere sight of Evans ruined what should have been a jubilant evening for him.
When Jones apologized for getting behind the wheel of a car while drunk, he lashed out again at his "haters" who tried to "kick him while he was down." After White announced the cancellation of UFC 151 and lashed out against Jones and his camp, Jones actually unfollowed his boss on Twitter.
For a millionaire professional athlete, Jones has a thin skin. He often appears more concerned with what his detractors think than his supporters.
It's an odd stance for someone of his level to take, because part of the job of being a famous athlete is dealing with people who don't like you. Look at the mentions of Twitter pages or Facebook pages for any pro athlete. They are being blamed for everything from fantasy team losses to ruining a fan's life. San Francisco 49er Kyle Williams received death threats after fumbling in a playoff game. It's not right that anyone should have to deal with such vitriol, but it's part of the fame game.
Jones has the skills, speed, reach, height and fight intelligence to stay at the top of the MMA world for a long, long time. He appears so far above his competition that the only person who can beat him is Jon Jones. Right now, he should be thinking about his fight with Vitor Belfort on Sept. 22, not be worried about what Sonnen has to say.
Georges St-Pierre says he?s medically cleared to fight
The UFC welterweight champion is now cleared to compete. Georges St-Pierre shared the good news on his Facebook page.
Yesterday was the final chapter of my Road to Recovery- I'm now medically cleared to compete in professional mixed martial arts! Big thanks to all my fans for the amazing support during those 9 long months of rehab- couldn't have done it without you.
St-Pierre tore his ACL while preparing for a bout with Carlos Condit. While GSP rehabbed, Condit fought Nick Diaz for the interim welterweight belt. Condit won with a tight decision. Since he was not given a chance to defend the interim belt, it turned out to be just a really shiny, kind of heavy reminder of Condit's No. 1 contender status.
The two are slated to fight at UFC 154 in Montreal. GSP's last fight was on April 30, 2011, against Jake Shields. By the time he fights on Nov. 17, St-Pierre will have had 572 days off between fights.
Will the time off affect GSP or will he pick up where he left off? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.
Texas Heart Institute celebrates 50 years, honors Dr. Denton Cooley
Sunday 23 September 2012
Top 10 Tech Stories This Week: The iPhone 5, the newest Kindle, super-efficient computers and more!
The hottest stories in Technology from the last week. Catch up quick!
Japan: China surveillance ships enter waters near disputed islands
Monday two Chinese marine surveillance ships entered what Japan
considers its territorial waters near disputed islands in the
East China Sea, in a move seen escalating tensions further
between the two countries.
Montgomery police evacuate due to leaking battery
Video: GM is building a better crash-test dummy
Filed under: Etc., Safety, Technology
Anyone can be an ordinary dummy, whereas being a good crash-test dummy takes work. A few things you probably didn't know: the official name for a crash-test dummy is "anthropomorphic test device" (ATD), General Motors "has a long history" designing ATDs, and the process is so specialized that there's even a Rear Impact Dummy Task Group.
GM is working with five other OEMs on the dummies that help ensure humans stay as safe as possible in car crashes. The latest advance is the second generation of the Biofidelic Rear Impact Dummy, or BioRID II, designed by engineers at Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden. It has a backbone with 24 simulated vertebrae (the same number we have in our real vertebral columns) to recreate natural seating positions and back and neck movement in rear collisions. The challenge now is to make sure that the BioRID II can "deliver repeatable, reproducible test results" from which the next advances in safety can be engineered.
That's where GM comes in. One of its award-winning engineers produced a rear-impact sled just for the purpose. To find out more about the secret life of ATDs, you'll want to check out the video and press release below.
Continue reading GM is building a better crash-test dummy
GM is building a better crash-test dummy originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsThe Week In Design: What's The Greenest Home in America? What is Design Anyways?
Its not just pretty pictures, there are some fundamental issues being discussed
