Paidpiper launched at Disrupt NY today, aiming to make your physical wallet, and presence, less necessary -- in a good way. Paidpiper aims to solve that problem with its consumer-facing app, Ok?d. Using Ok?d, you can walk into a store, snap a picture of a product, and send it to a friend, parent, employer, etc. and ask them to pay for it.
The promise of OpenMobile's Application Compatibility Layer is enticing: seamlessly run Android apps on another operating system as if it was meant to be there. Unfortunately for fans of Palm's last hurrah, the project's webOS port died with the HP Touchpad. That won't stop dedicated fans, however -- Phoenix International Communications plans to resurrect webOS ACL. Taking the project to Kickstarter, the team is showing an early build on an HP Touchpad, seamlessly running Android apps in cards alongside native webOS applications. Phoenix hopes that a functional ACL will reduce Touchpad owner's reliance on dual-booting Android, giving them the freedom to enjoy webOS without sacrificing functionality. The team is promising a relatively short development time, thanks to OpenMobile's early work, and hopes to deliver a consumer ready build in July. But first the Kickstarter campaign will need to meet its $35,000 goal. Interested in pitching in? Check out the Kickstarter link at the source.
New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) shoots against Boston Celtics forwards Paul Pierce (34) and Brandon Bass (30) during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Boston, Sunday, April 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) shoots against Boston Celtics forwards Paul Pierce (34) and Brandon Bass (30) during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Boston, Sunday, April 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, left, makes a move against the defense of Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Boston, Sunday, April 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Boston Celtics center Kevin Garnett, right, has words with New York Knicks' Kenyon Martin during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Boston, Sunday, April 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Boston Celtics center Kevin Garnett, second from left, pulls down an offensive rebound against New York Knicks forward Quentin Richardson (55), forward Kenyon Martin (3) and forward Steve Novak (16) during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Boston, Sunday, April 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce (34) drives between New York Knicks point guard Raymond Felton (2) and center Tyson Chandler (6) on his way to scoring a basket during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Boston, Sunday, April 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
BOSTON (AP) ? Jason Terry scored Boston's last nine points and the Celtics weathered a strong comeback by the New York Knicks, avoiding a sweep with a 97-90 overtime win on Sunday.
Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 29 points as they forced a fifth game in the series, but it was Terry who provided the finishing touches.
In Game 3, he had been elbowed by J.R. Smith, and the NBA suspended the Knicks guard for Sunday's game.
New York had tied the game 84-84 after trailing by 20 points early in the third quarter. It was 88-all before the Celtics regained control and took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Terry. Carmelo Anthony, who led the Knicks with 36 points, hit a short jumper, but Terry connected on a 15-footer with 50 seconds remaining for a 93-90 lead.
After Anthony missed a 3-pointer with 21 seconds to go, Terry was fouled and sank both free throws. He added a layup to close out the game.
But the Celtics still have a huge deficit in trying to become the first team to win after trailing a series 3-0.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in New York, where the Knicks can win their first playoff series in 13 years.
Jeff Green scored 26 points for the Celtics and Terry finished with 18.
The Celtics showed renewed energy early after being held below 80 points in each of the first three games. They led 54-35 at halftime and 59-39 three minutes into the third quarter before their recent second-half woes returned. In previous first halves, they scored just 25 points in Game 1 and 23 in Game 2. On Sunday, they were outscored 30-14 in the third quarter and led just 68-65 heading into the fourth.
Boston held a 65-51 lead when Anthony went to the bench with 3:35 remaining. The Knicks outscored the Celtics 14-3 the rest of the way behind 11 points from Felton and a 3-pointer from Iman Shumpert. Felton finished with 16 points in the quarter and 27 in the game.
The Knicks played the first half as if they had taken shooting lessons from the Celtics. New York hit just 28.9 percent of its shots (11 for 38) after Boston made only 39.5 percent of its attempts in the first three games.
The Celtics found their range from the start and connected on 51.3 percent (20 for 39).
Notes: The Knicks were 19-2 in their previous 21 games. The Celtics were 5-14 in their previous 19. ... For the Celtics, Garnett, Green and Brandon Bass each had four fouls five minutes into the third quarter. Bass committed his fifth with 5:10 left in the period and fouled out with 4:27 to go in the games. ... Anthony committed his fourth with 4:08 remaining in the third.
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) ? Icelanders were voting Saturday in a parliamentary election that could return to power the center-right parties that led the country into economic collapse five years ago ? and stall plans to join the European Union.
Polls show the Progressive and Independence parties, who oppose EU membership and are promising to ease economic austerity, leading the Social Democrat-Left-Green coalition that has governed Iceland during four years of crisis and uneven recovery.
"The government that many people thought was cleaning up the mess is getting severely punished for the last four years," said political analyst Egill Helgason. "I don't know whether they deserve it. In many ways I think not. But this is politics ? cruel."
Progressive Party chief Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and Independence Party leader Bjarni Benediktsson are the two most likely candidates for prime minister under the system of proportional representation used for elections to Iceland's 63-seat parliament, the Althingi.
The two parties governed Iceland for several decades, often in coalition, overseeing economic liberalization that spurred a banking and business boom ? until Iceland's economy crashed spectacularly during the 2008 credit crisis.
Despite being widely blamed for the meltdown, the Independents and Progressives say they are best placed to lead the economic recovery.
The Progressives are promising to write off some mortgage debt, taking money from foreign creditors. Benediktsson's Independence Party is offering lower taxes and the lifting of capital controls.
"We believe we can do a lot for indebted households, but our plan is not to do only that" Benediktsson said after casting his vote in a Reykjavik suburb.
"I think the only way out of the economic difficulties we've had is growing the economy, and we need to create new jobs, start new investments and we have a very strong plan to start doing that tomorrow."
A volcano-dotted North Atlantic nation with a population of just 320,000, Iceland went from economic wunderkind to financial basket case almost overnight when the credit crunch took hold in 2008.
In the first years of this century, Iceland's economy experienced a credit-fueled boom that saw its banking sector grow to nine times annual gross domestic product.
Then all three major commercial banks collapsed within a week of one another in October 2008. The value of the country's currency plummeted, while inflation and unemployment soared. Iceland was forced to seek bailouts from Europe and the International Monetary Fund.
A wave of protest ? dubbed the Saucepan Revolution after the pots and pans banged by demonstrators ? ended with the government blamed for the crisis replaced with a left-of-center alliance led by Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, which opened EU membership talks.
Since then, Iceland has in many ways made a strong recovery. Unemployment has fallen and the economy is growing.
But inflation remains naggingly high, and many Icelanders still struggle to repay home and car loans they took out ? often in foreign currencies whose value soared after the crash ? in the years of easy credit.
That leaves many voters swayed by politicians' promises of debt relief. But others fear a return to economic instability.
Dadi Ingolfsson, a 40-year-old computer scientist voting at Reykjavik City Hall, said "Icelanders have a short term memory."
"This is quite serious if it ends up the same way as it did five years ago," he said.
Polls close at 2200GMT (6 p.m. EDT), with full results expected early Sunday.
___
Associated Press writers David Mac Dougall in Reykjavik and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.
You know what a go-to-lunch wallet is if you’ve been reading here for a while. ?Tory Burch has a nice looking wristlet that would make a perfect go-to-lunch wallet – and a perfect gift for Mother’s Day. ?Unlike many smart phone accessories, the Robinson Smart Phone Wristlet isn’t designed specifically for any single phone; ?it [...]
As partygoers decend into DC for the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, TechCrunch wanted to remind the nation’s policy wonks of the startups that are keeping America on the cutting edge of innovation. So, we’re inviting proud geeks to party with us at the swanky new headquarters of startup incubator, 1776. On Friday, April 26th from 8pm-11pm, Aol founder Steve Case co-hosts the 1776 grand opening with patriotic-themed desserts, a full bar, and a (brief) thoughtful discussion on immigration, Internet taxes, and startups with Congressmen Darrell Issa and Joaquin Caster–after which there will be a rocking band and a lot of great friends who geek out over both open source and open government. It turns out that the technology industry is kind of the cool kid in the nation’s capitol. Word got out about the event before this announcement and it was so popular, we sold out of our initial round of 600 tickets in 48 hours. So, we’re opening up a few hundred more. Go to 1776.Eventbrite.com and sign up as quickly as you can or you’ll miss out. Thanks to Sponsors Steve and Jean Case, AT&T, and the Consumer Electronics Association.
Emojis not giving that missive the right oomph? A Facebook Messenger for Android update has brought stickers into that mix with characters like cats and aliens, lending your chat head conversation just the right dose of nuance. It popped up yesterday as a hidden feature, but now you can download the final version at Google Play (at the source) -- then, just click on the smiley icon in the text input box to start dropping the cute bombs.
Consider the shoe bomber, the underwear bomber, Manson, the guy known as BTK (for "bind, torture, kill"), the Fort Hood shooter, and those guys that raped girls in Connecticut and then burned down the house with them inside. There are enough awful people that we have no shortage of humans for medical experiments.
I would have no qualms about performing the experiments. We can implant wires into their brains, give them harmful drugs, whatever... Except for the Fort Hood s
Modified version of image from NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute
Water particles flow from Saturn's rings into the planet's atmosphere along magnetic field lines.
By Miriam Kramer Space.com
Astronomers using an observatory in Hawaii kicked off a month-long campaign to study the northern lights on Saturn study Sunday in a live webcast from Hawaii's iconic Keck Observatory.
During a three-hour webcast, scientists discussed everything from the ringed planet's atmosphere to new discoveries made about the gas giant in the last year. While speaking with the public via social media, the researchers also used the Keck Observatory to observe auroras on Saturn?to understand how the mysterious phenomenon works. The scientists weren't able to show live-video of the observations, but they did review some major Saturn discoveries during the webcast.
"Up until now, it's like we have been looking at the aurora in black and white ? and now we're trying to look in color," Tom Stallard, an astronomer at the University of Leicester who participated in the observations, said in a statement. "We're hoping to get much more depth to the observations we have taken ? filling in a far more complete picture of the aurora as a whole, rather than disconnected parts." [See Amazing Photos of Saturn's Rings]
The month-long campaign organized by astronomers from the University of Leicester in the U.K. brings together an international group of observers using the Cassini spacecraft in orbit around Saturn, the Hubble space telescope and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile. Over the course of the next month, scientists will take observations of the ringed beauty to understand its northern lights.
Yesterday, scientists were following up on their surprising finding that Saturn's rings cause it to "rain" on the planet. This "ring rain" on Saturnchanges the molecular composition of the planet's atmosphere, potentially creating its distinctive dark and light bands on the planet's face, the author of the study, James O'Donoghue, said.
NASA / JPL/ University of Leicester / University of Arizona
Composite image of Saturn shows the entire planet, including the rings as seen by NASA's Cassini spacecraft from the south. The green glow represents aurora lights.
The ring rain could be responsible for influencing the auroras of the planet. By using this observing time from Keck, the scientists are hoping to understand exactly what that influence could be.
"The weather wasn't great at that time," O'Donoghue said of the two hours it took them to make the ring rain discovery. These new measurements are going to focus on refining those results, O'Donoghue added.
Auroras on Earth are created when charged particles from the sun shoot toward the planet. The particles are trapped in Earth's magnetic field and are pulled into the planet's atmosphere, creating the brilliant light show at the poles.
This time of the Saturnian year is particularly important for observations of Saturn because the planet's seasons are shifting. The gas giant is about to enter into its seven-year-long spring, and scientists are hoping to observe the planet's new season from as many different angles as possible.
The Keck Observatory, located on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, houses two 33-foot (10 meters) telescopes that observe in both the optical and infrared range of light.
The Cassini spacecraft ? managed by NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency ? has been in orbit around Saturn since 2004 and is now on an extended mission that will last until at least 2017.
Follow Miriam Kramer?@mirikramer?and?Google+. Follow us?@Spacedotcom,?Facebook?and?Google+. Original article on?Space.com.
Copyright 2013 Space.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
After months and months of build-up, UFC 159 is (almost) here. The light heavyweight championship is on the line, along with other fights that have some animosity behind them. We want your picks, but we're doing things a little differently this time.
Go to Cagewriter's Facebook page and vote for who you think will win. Click on the fight for the poll that bout:
If you want your picks to show up on Cagewriter next to picks from Kevin Iole and me, write in the comments why you think your choice will win. On Friday, we'll run picks and results of the poll.
New material approach should increase solar cell efficiencyPublic release date: 23-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lane Martin lwmartin@illinois.edu 217-244-9162 University of Illinois College of Engineering
"When designing next generation solar energy conversion systems, we must first develop ways to more efficiently utilize the solar spectrum," explained Lane Martin, whose research group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has done just that.
"This is a fundamentally new way of approaching these matters," said Martin, who is an assistant professor of materials science and engineering (MatSE) at Illinois. "From these materials we can imagine carbon-neutral energy production of clean-burning fuels, waste water purification and remediation, and much more."
Martin's research group brought together aspects of condensed matter physics, semiconductor device engineering, and photochemistry to develop a new form of high-performance solar photocatalyst based on the combination of the TiO2 (titanium dioxide) and other "metallic" oxides that greatly enhance the visible light absorption and promote more efficient utilization of the solar spectrum for energy applications. Their paper, "Strong Visible-Light Absorption and Hot-Carrier Injection in TiO2/SrRuO3 Heterostructures," appears in the journal Advanced Energy Materials.
According to Martin, the primary feature limiting the performance of oxide-based photovoltaic and/or photocatalytic systems has traditionally been the poor absorption of visible light in these often wide band gap materials. One candidate oxide material for such applications is anatase TiO2, which is arguably the most widely-studied photocatalyst due to its chemical stability, non-toxicity, low-cost, and excellent band alignment to several oxidation-reduction reactions. As the backbone of dye-sensitized solar cells, however, the presence of a light-absorbing dye accounts for a large band gap which limits efficient usage of all but the UV portion of sunlight.
"We observed that the unusual electronic structure of SrRuO3 is also responsible for unexpected optical properties including high absorption across the visible spectrum and low reflection compared to traditional metals," stated Sungki Lee, the paper's first author. "By coupling this material to TiO2 we demonstrate enhanced visible light absorption and large photocatalytic activities."
"SrRuO3 is a correlated electron oxide which is known to possess metallic-like temperature dependence of its resistivity and itinerant ferromagnetism and for its widespread utility as a conducting electrode in oxide heterostructures," Lee added.
Referring to this material as a "metal," however, is likely inappropriate as the electronic structure and properties are derived from a combination of complex electronic density of states, electron correlations, and more.
Using a process called photo-excited hot-carrier injection from the SrRuO3 to the TiO2, the researchers created new heterostructures whose novel optical properties and the resulting high photoelectrochemical performance provide an interesting new approach that could advance the field of photocatalysis and further broaden the potential applications of other metallic oxides.
This work provides an exciting new approach to the challenge of designing visible-light photosensitive materials and has resulted in a provisional patent application. The work was primarily supported by the ongoing the International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER) program, a partnership between Kyushu University in Japan and the University of Illinois.
"The I2CNER project brings together some of the leading energy researchers from around the globe," explained I2CNER Director Petros Sofronis, who is also a professor in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at Illinois. "Results from Dr. Martin's research group and others demonstrate that I2CNER is not only an experiment on international collaboration. It is a concerted institutionalized effort to pursue green innovation and reduced CO2 emissions, as well as to advance fundamental science and develop science-based technological solutions for the reorganization of sustainable and environmentally friendly society."
###
Contact: Lane Martin, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 217/244-9162, lwmartin@illinois.edu
Petros Sofronis, director, International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research, 217/333-2636, sofronis@illinois.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
New material approach should increase solar cell efficiencyPublic release date: 23-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lane Martin lwmartin@illinois.edu 217-244-9162 University of Illinois College of Engineering
"When designing next generation solar energy conversion systems, we must first develop ways to more efficiently utilize the solar spectrum," explained Lane Martin, whose research group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has done just that.
"This is a fundamentally new way of approaching these matters," said Martin, who is an assistant professor of materials science and engineering (MatSE) at Illinois. "From these materials we can imagine carbon-neutral energy production of clean-burning fuels, waste water purification and remediation, and much more."
Martin's research group brought together aspects of condensed matter physics, semiconductor device engineering, and photochemistry to develop a new form of high-performance solar photocatalyst based on the combination of the TiO2 (titanium dioxide) and other "metallic" oxides that greatly enhance the visible light absorption and promote more efficient utilization of the solar spectrum for energy applications. Their paper, "Strong Visible-Light Absorption and Hot-Carrier Injection in TiO2/SrRuO3 Heterostructures," appears in the journal Advanced Energy Materials.
According to Martin, the primary feature limiting the performance of oxide-based photovoltaic and/or photocatalytic systems has traditionally been the poor absorption of visible light in these often wide band gap materials. One candidate oxide material for such applications is anatase TiO2, which is arguably the most widely-studied photocatalyst due to its chemical stability, non-toxicity, low-cost, and excellent band alignment to several oxidation-reduction reactions. As the backbone of dye-sensitized solar cells, however, the presence of a light-absorbing dye accounts for a large band gap which limits efficient usage of all but the UV portion of sunlight.
"We observed that the unusual electronic structure of SrRuO3 is also responsible for unexpected optical properties including high absorption across the visible spectrum and low reflection compared to traditional metals," stated Sungki Lee, the paper's first author. "By coupling this material to TiO2 we demonstrate enhanced visible light absorption and large photocatalytic activities."
"SrRuO3 is a correlated electron oxide which is known to possess metallic-like temperature dependence of its resistivity and itinerant ferromagnetism and for its widespread utility as a conducting electrode in oxide heterostructures," Lee added.
Referring to this material as a "metal," however, is likely inappropriate as the electronic structure and properties are derived from a combination of complex electronic density of states, electron correlations, and more.
Using a process called photo-excited hot-carrier injection from the SrRuO3 to the TiO2, the researchers created new heterostructures whose novel optical properties and the resulting high photoelectrochemical performance provide an interesting new approach that could advance the field of photocatalysis and further broaden the potential applications of other metallic oxides.
This work provides an exciting new approach to the challenge of designing visible-light photosensitive materials and has resulted in a provisional patent application. The work was primarily supported by the ongoing the International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER) program, a partnership between Kyushu University in Japan and the University of Illinois.
"The I2CNER project brings together some of the leading energy researchers from around the globe," explained I2CNER Director Petros Sofronis, who is also a professor in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at Illinois. "Results from Dr. Martin's research group and others demonstrate that I2CNER is not only an experiment on international collaboration. It is a concerted institutionalized effort to pursue green innovation and reduced CO2 emissions, as well as to advance fundamental science and develop science-based technological solutions for the reorganization of sustainable and environmentally friendly society."
###
Contact: Lane Martin, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 217/244-9162, lwmartin@illinois.edu
Petros Sofronis, director, International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research, 217/333-2636, sofronis@illinois.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The Internet Sales Tax Rush
Harry Reid and Wal-Mart hope nobody will notice their online revenue raid.
Every time Congress has taken a serious look at proposals to boost Internet sales taxes, it has rejected them. That's probably why pro-tax Senators are trying to rush through an online tax hike with as little consideration as possible.
As early as Monday, the Senate will vote on a bill that was introduced only last Tuesday. The text of this legislation, which would fundamentally change interstate commerce, only became available on the Library of Congress website over the weekend. And you thought ObamaCare was jammed through Nancy Pelosi's Democratic House in a hurry.
For Senators curious about what they're voting on, it is the same flawed proposal that Mike Enzi (R., Wyo.) introduced in February. It has been repackaged to qualify for a Senate rule that allows Majority Leader Harry Reid to bypass committee debate and bring it straight to the floor.
Mr. Enzi's Marketplace Fairness Act discriminates against Internet-based businesses by imposing burdens that it does not apply to brick-and-mortar companies. For the first time, online merchants would be forced to collect sales taxes for all of America's estimated 9,600 state and local taxing authorities.
New Hampshire, for example, has no sales tax, but a Granite State Web merchant would be forced to collect and remit sales taxes to all the governments that do. Small online sellers will therefore have to comply with tax laws created by distant governments in which they have no representation, and in places where they consume no local services.
Meanwhile, New Hampshire's brick-and-mortar retailers will bear no such burden. They will not be required to collect taxes on the many customers who drive across the Maine and Massachusetts borders to shop in New Hampshire. Bill sponsors say it would be too big a hassle to force traditional retailers to ask every walk-in customer where they live, but these Senators are happy to impose new obligations online.
The Enzi plan would require a centralized tax collector for each state or for a group of states that would gather both state and local levies from the online merchants. His office concedes that could still mean 27 or more different auditors of a Web-based business?which is better than 9,600 but hardly qualifies as simplicity.
The drivers of this rush to tax are Wal-Mart WMT -0.41% and other big retailers that can more easily absorb the costs of collection than can smaller competitors. Also supporting the bill is Internet giant Amazon, which coincidentally now sells its own tax compliance service to other merchants. Adding to the lobbying muscle are state and local governments. The politicians believe they'll collect tens of billions of dollars in taxes that are already owed by shoppers on remote sales but rarely paid.
So big business and big government are uniting to pursue their mutual interest in sticking it to the little guy. Any Internet seller with more than $1 million in annual sales would be forced to serve all of the nation's tax collectors. It's true that many small brick-and-mortar retailers in states with sales taxes support the Enzi bill. They say they're at a disadvantage as customers examine products in their showrooms and then go home to buy them tax-free. On the other hand, some customers use retail websites for research before buying at a local store.
But even if the goal is to "level the playing field" in favor of Main Street, it won't happen. Mr. Enzi cannot possibly force all the world's Internet businesses to collect local U.S. taxes. So instead of shifting sales from online to bricks-and-mortar, he might succeed in shifting them from U.S. online merchants to foreign ones.
This rush to tax is an attempt to overturn the Supreme Court's 1992 decision in Quill v. North Dakota that forcing businesses to collect and remit taxes to jurisdictions where they have no physical presence was too big a burden. Though that ruling applied to catalogs in the pre-Internet age, it established an important principle of cross-state tax accountability.
Congress does have the power to write new rules for interstate commerce. But for years even politicians who wanted to force remote sellers to collect taxes conceded that it would only work if states and localities dramatically simplified their tax systems. That has never happened. So now the tax collectors promise that software will figure out how every item is taxed in every town in America.
Perhaps software will flawlessly determine, for example, what is classified as candy for tax purposes and what is considered food in each jurisdiction. But the legislation itself contemplates confusion, as it spells out when a merchant is liable for errors and when a software vendor takes the blame. The way governments work, they'll penalize both merchants and the software vendors for mistakes.
Some of our conservative friends are backing this Internet tax raid as a way to raise revenue to avoid more state income-tax increases. More likely the new revenues will merely fund larger government. Republicans who are realists about government would be wiser to join Senators Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) and Kelly Ayotte (R., N.H.), who are leading the opposition.
Corpse Party: Blood Drive is heading to PS Vita, according to Famitsu. The game is said to be a continuation of Corpse Party: Book of Shadows? 8th chapter, entitled ?Blood Drive?. Fancy that.
Siliconera reports that the Famitsu details suggest the game will conclude the storyline of Heavenly Host Elementary School, is out this year in Japan and will be published by 5pb.
Famitsu?s story summary is as follows, ?Are the terrible events that occurred in the Shinozaki family, home to both Yoshie and Sachiko, an omen of a new tragedy? After Sachiko?s departure, Heavenly Host was thought to have collapsed. However, because of a master of a greater power, the power of its curse has expanded.
?Finally, the countless mysteries surrounding Heavenly Host Elementary School will be revealed. Will it be possible to bring back the friends cruelly killed within the school??!?
Interesting stuff. Are you keen on more Corpse Party? Let us know below.
Sony is quickly developing a reputation as the tinkerer's phone maker of choice: it took on responsibility for maintaining AOSP on the Xperia S even when Google couldn't. Today, it's proving that commitment to open software by releasing an Android 4.2.2-based AOSP build for one of its 2013 flagships, the Xperia Z. The initial public version is rough and has to go without proprietary camera and cellular drivers, although it does support Bluetooth, GPS, SD storage, WiFi and a host of sensors. Developers and other experimenters can grab the necessary code on GitHub; the rest of us can stick to marginally safer CyanogenMod nightlies.
A new Horse shed found under Pet Essentials / Horses, costs 0. It's meant to be used with conjunction with any of the?box stalls of Pets. This gives your horses a roof above their heads. Use cheat moveobjects on to place the shed over the box stall. Horse shed Enjoy Carlos
What does the political wrangling over a one-lane gravel road through 10 miles of a remote Alaskan wildlife refuge tell us about President Barack Obama?s influence with Congress? Plenty, as it turns out.
Inside the Beltway, reporters and political players have been consumed with trying to gauge the prospects for Obama's second-term agenda in light of his defeat in the fight over a bipartisan bill to enhance background checks of would-be gun buyers. Can he twist arms? Can he cut deals? Is Congress immune to his charms and his threats?
On Monday, the New York Times' analysis was that the president lacks ?an appetite for ruthless politics that instills fear in lawmakers.? Exhibit A, the Times said: Democratic Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska asked Obama to send newly minted Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to his home state to help get the road approved. Begich voted against the gun bill, but Jewell is still going. The rebellious senator still gets what he wants from the wobbly White House.
Case closed? Not so much. A closer look at Jewell?s trip also teaches a very different lesson, providing evidence of a president cutting deals with recalcitrant lawmakers to get what he wants. And then keeping his end of the bargain.
Did Begich press for Jewell's trip? Yes. But the real reason for her visit?and the reason Obama agreed to give the road project a second look despite fierce opposition from environmentalists (and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)?was a deal last month between the administration and Alaska's Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
Murkowski had vowed to block Jewell's confirmation by any means necessary unless the Interior Department reconsidered. The administration, eager to see the former REI executive confirmed, relented. Murkowski laid out the details of the arrangement in a Senate hearing and in a statement released on the same day as Begich's letter.
?Sally Jewell will have the privilege of going to King Cove and I will be right there with her. We'll have to find a time when the weather is best suited for travel?we may have to fly into Cold Bay and walk to King Cove,? Murkowski said in the statement.
Murkowski voted for Jewell's confirmation on April 10. She got what she wanted; the administration got what it wanted. If there was arm-twisting, the administration appears to have been the twistee. But the road's not built yet, Jewell is Interior secretary, and reports of the death of Obama's ability to work with Congress appear to have been greatly exaggerated.
Skimlinks, the platform which effectively gives publishers control over affiliate links and content monetization, has completed a growth financing round led by Greycroft Partners. Joining the round are Japan-based angel investors, Hiro Maeda and Ryota Matsuzaki, as well as Forum Foundry, a Texas-based network of blog and forum communities. The amount raised was undisclosed. Existing investors also participated in the round. The capital will be used to develop its content monetization platform and expand across the US, Asia, and Europe. In particular Skimlinks opens its Japanese site, although a full office is still in the works.
Paidpiper launched at Disrupt NY today, aiming to make your physical wallet, and presence, less necessary -- in a good way. Paidpiper aims to solve that problem with its consumer-facing app, Ok?d. Using Ok?d, you can walk into a store, snap a picture of a product, and send it to a friend, parent, employer, etc. and ask them to pay for it.
As partygoers decend into DC for the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, TechCrunch wanted to remind the nation’s policy wonks of the startups that are keeping America on the cutting edge of innovation. So, we’re inviting proud geeks to party with us at the swanky new headquarters of startup incubator, 1776. On Friday, April 26th from 8pm-11pm, Aol founder Steve Case co-hosts the 1776 grand opening with patriotic-themed desserts, a full bar, and a (brief) thoughtful discussion on immigration, Internet taxes, and startups with Congressmen Darrell Issa and Joaquin Caster–after which there will be a rocking band and a lot of great friends who geek out over both open source and open government. It turns out that the technology industry is kind of the cool kid in the nation’s capitol. Word got out about the event before this announcement and it was so popular, we sold out of our initial round of 600 tickets in 48 hours. So, we’re opening up a few hundred more. Go to 1776.Eventbrite.com and sign up as quickly as you can or you’ll miss out. Thanks to Sponsors Steve and Jean Case, AT&T, and the Consumer Electronics Association.
After months and months of build-up, UFC 159 is (almost) here. The light heavyweight championship is on the line, along with other fights that have some animosity behind them. We want your picks, but we're doing things a little differently this time.![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tz9GTH4NL9rM1Di81IEvFazpV7k45V7DxkdlcnvbpXCQILRXStIQAALcW2R9uRkGcLEksZTq1U0rBhYdrjVnnXLC75V1jpaJGsyIGUKpk=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 23-Apr-2013
Share ] 
