Wednesday, 19 June 2013

iOS 7 Review: The search for innovation amid renovation (video)


Credit: Boy Genius Report

iOS 7 is a major rethink of the interface. Not all users are impressed.

http://bgr.com/2013/06/18/ios-7-review-features-innovation/

Hidden features (video)

http://bgr.com/2013/06/18/ios-7-secret-settings-video/ / cell mobile smartphone smart phone  iPhone iPod iPad Apple Apple unveiled vision future computing Internet erupted feud users fawning redesigned software  Jony Ive company panned Apple fans interface features were instantly overshadowed controversial new design brilliant push forward tragedy knee-jerk reactions future devices created longtime users blindsided bold new look Design Apple’s hardware gorgeous unparalleled software beautiful rivals catch new product development notebooks sleek tablets striking stunning matched surpassed rivals longtime Apple fans look and feel interfaces /

Tuesday, 18 June 2013

Charles Saatchi "admits Nigella Lawson assault"


Notice distortion of the throat, & the fist (bottom centre).
Credit: The Mirror, UK

“To emphasise my point” — what was the point?  That a man doesn't assault a woman?

And is it possible to have an, "intense debate about the children", & a, "playful tiff", at the same time?

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/charles-saatchi-admits-nigella-lawson-assault-1.1433060 / assault strangle choke throat celebrity cook Nigella Lawson Charles Saatchi Art collector Charles Saatchi admit admitted assaulting his wife Nigella Lawson argument outside London restaurant accepted a caution assault police station yesterday afternoon statement last night Metropolitan Police refused name him Officers Community Safety Unit Westminster aware Sunday People article published Sunday 16th June carried out investigation  afternoon Monday 17th June 70-year-old man voluntarily attended central London police station accepted caution for assault photographs published Sunday People  show Mr. Mr Saatchi grabbing wife around throat images which yesterday said were the result playful tiff former advertising executive  holding broadcaster cook neck to emphasise my point discussed family London’s Evening Standard admitted pictures which his wife appears grimace grimacing holds her outside Scott’s in Mayfair, looked horrific sitting outside a restaurant having an intense debate about the children held Nigella’s neck repeatedly while attempting to emphasise my point was no grip it was a playful tiff horrific drastic violent tears psychopath /

Ford: Regenerative braking has saved 100 million gallons of gasolene


Credit: Ford/ Green Car Reports

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1084850_ford-regenerative-braking-has-saved-100-million-gallons-of-gas

One of the most interesting aspects of the above article is the high %age of kinetic energy recovery Ford is claiming.


Credit: Holden/ Cars Guide

General Motors has made broadly similar claims for the Volt:

http://myholdenvolt.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/how-much-petrol-gasoline-are-volt_22.html

http://myholdenvolt.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/chevy-volt-owners-exceed-100-million.html / hybrid serial parallel battery LiIon lithium ion charge recharge EV electric vehicle car automobile plug in plug-in  regen regenerative dynamic brakes braking brake kinetic energy heat friction convert conversion General Motors Chev Chevy Chevrolet Holden /

Fertility cues make women more attractive — maybe it's the voice, or the hip-to-waist ratio, or symmetry, or ...

Studies of tips earned by lap dancers indicate men are more attracted to women who are ovulating, i.e. most fertile.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/07/03/3537847.htm#.Ub-XNP1hiSM

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/magazine/09lapdance.html?_r=0 / ovulate ovulation ovulating majority men  pretty subtle subset sensitive gentlemen gentlemen's clubs dimly lit serve alcohol play music loudly male clients 20 and 60 years age evening $20 bills club's ATM relax relaxing drinkies drink drinks wear very little perfume shaved all over many have breast implants heavy physical demands lap dancing aerobic resistance weight training fit lean 18 lap dancers Albuquerque New Mexico volunteered paid only $30 volunteering. Two 2 month two-month course study performed 296 shifts five hours long 5,300 lap dances Seven taking oral contraceptive pill 11 normal menstrual cycles average age 27 years lapdancing six years dance dancing dancer paid salary club only income tips earn their money they appear  more sexually attractive than the other rival dancers working the same shift and by doing the emotional labour counterfeiting intimacy with male club patrons perform a few stage dances every 90 minutes advertise themselves small tips one to five dollars usually only from the men seated closest to the stage 10 per cent of their earnings advertise advertised advertising presence attractiveness availability lap dancer walking around asking the men  wanted lap dance real money three minute three-minute lap dances normal menstrual cycles ovulated earned more money the pill results showed clear difference within or across the menstrual cycle lap dancer was menstruating per shift not fertile infertile either she earned more fertile part of the menstrual cycle ovulating she earned the greatest sum of money separate study women woman woman's voice her fertility Dr. Dr Pipitone colleagues recorded 51 women reading numbers one and 10 four during menstrual cycle peak fertility time at ovulation record recordings rated 34 men 32 women attractiveness attractive change in attractiveness over the month taking hormonal contraceptives the pill definite peak attractiveness women at their most fertile ovulation female larynx voice box influenced by female sex hormones studies claim around ovulation women show definite increase verbal fluency creativity  facial attractiveness soft tissue body symmetry waist-to-hip ratio shrinks slimmer more attractive waist combined child-bearing hips stimulate a man's deep instincts father children Ovulating women are also supposed to smell more attractive evidence human mate guarding mate-guarding behaviour harem lionesses most fertile ring her more often random times technically described higher proprietariness attentiveness and vigilance /

Monday, 17 June 2013

Stephen Hawking: Humans must escape Earth or perish


Credit: NASA

Escape Earth?  What does that even mean?

Take a look at the image of the Moon's surface.  Notice the craters.  They are the scars of impacts from fast moving objects in a range of sizes.  Every planet in the Solar System has been impacted in a similar way.

So where are the craters on Earth?  Most of them have been obliterated by erosion.  A few survive, the best preserved is Meteor Crater in Arizona.


Credit: Al S/ Yelp

Not quite so obvious is the meteor crater in the Gulf of Mexico.  Evidence points to debris thrown high into the atmosphere by the impact being responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs.

A similar impact today would be a disaster for humanity.

http://www.dvice.com/2013-4-15/stephen-hawking-humans-must-escape-earth-or-perish / acclaimed British scientist Stephen Hawking urgent call continuation space exploration programs programme program beyond Earth live next millennium species extinct space humanity Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles proponent space exploration planet Earth continue to support human life population finite resources planet Earth growing exponentially,  technical ability change environment genetic code  selfish aggressive instincts survival advantage avoid disaster next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million Hawking our only chance of long-term survival spread out into space space exploration global financial crisis major spending cuts NASA NASA’s budget planetary science cut $300 million exploration prediction Kepler mission discovering scores potentially habitable planets new technology fusion powered fusion-powered rockets rocket journey planets stars /

Sunday, 16 June 2013

Outstanding mistakes of all time

For those whose English history is just a little shaky, the, "smouldering baker's oven in Pudding Lane," (business premises of one Thomas Farriner (or Farynor)), mentioned in the linked article, was the starting point of the Great Fire of London.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-22902556 / newsworthy errors stumble annals of time favourites history news mistakes be human error err experienced connoisseurs bish blunder exemplify example exemplifying absurd quote Puck the Bard A Midsummer Night's Dream Lord, what fools these mortals be German bank clerk fell asleep mid transfer 62.40 euros finger transferring 222,222,222.222 euros cemetery in Kalamazoo, Michigan couple being buried Together for Ever Flt Lt Ben Plank, of the Red Arrows red white blue smoke maximum impact least harm simplest of errors more consequence Eve apple Trojans Greek gift Trojan horse Light Brigade wrong valley Neville Chamberlain piece of paper Decca Records executive The Beatles guitar groups are on the way out Canadian escape danger nuclear war emigrated Falkland Islands Falklands Argentine invasion Mr Homer Simpson Springfield USA Laurel Hardy Billy Bunter moving pictures Harry Warner Warner Bros 1927 Who the hell wants to hear actors talk /

Saturday, 15 June 2013

How important is your privacy?

Windows
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2041044/how-to-protect-your-pc-from-prism.html

OS X
http://www.macworld.com.au/help/how-to-encrypt-your-email-98432/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WWDC+wrap-up+Macs+in+business+Group+Test+Multi-room+audio+and+much+much+more&utm_content=WWDC+wrap-up+Macs+in+business+Group+Test+Multi-room+audio+and+much+much+more+CID_8d9795981e5b2e1f59213e3ba178128b&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=Find%20out#.UbvlGRBhiK2 / Windows OS X PV Mac Macintosg US U.S. USA U.S.A. United States Amaerica government spy spying emails email searches search Skype calls electronic communications Americans programme program PRISM reports Web AOL Apple Facebook Google Microsoft Skype PalTalk Yahoo YouTube participated perhaps unwittingly Dropbox report NSA National Security Agency direct access servers owned companies deny denial denied unaware NSA’s spying simply turned a blind eye The Guardian The Washington Post data covered email video voice chat video photos voice-over-IP voice over IP VoIP chats file transfers social networking details data report accurate government listen in on virtually electronic communication national security fight domestic terrorism government intrusion deeply distrusted advice no guarantee tips your PC PRISM proof belief  security world resources attacker secrets hack hacker hacking hacked unearthed Arab Spring movement U.S. government political uncertainty encrypting personal communications liberate Avoid using popular Web services Microsoft Bing Google search engines DuckDuckGo site track or store your searches store anonymized searches improve results some degree of confidence tracked online Post Guardian program is expanding ditch ditching ditched Gmail Hotmail account deleting accounts sites laying low skipping around services Mapquest for maps stop social networking person to person person-to-person communications Web www World Wide Web surfing Chrome, Internet Explorer Safari Firefox Opera PCWorld review Tor browser slow anonymous browsing Internet ditch your smartphone Apple Google Microsoft monitored safest avoid being tracked services your location providing better search results services BlackBerry company acceded to requests allow foreign governments access to its data paranoiacs ditch feature phones amount of information captured much smaller encryption communication communicate communicating  electronically electronic conversations encrypt hard drive existing files Alex Castle TrueCrypt tools secure securing your files monitor monitoring encryption protection connection your email provider messages stored cached archived email messages use using secure email service Internet accessed theoretically anyone Silent Circle pretty good protection public key protection encryption PGP creator Paul Zimmermann profess offer secure voice email voice communications dedicated connections between subscribed devices virtual private network VPN encrypted tunnel to another server which then acts as an agent on your behalf Eric Geier performance latency to funnel communications back forth solutions servers based European Union EU security layered upon the encryption applied other solutions communications private hotspot IP address location sniff your PC Preston Gralla story nailing down older apps block malware anti malware ant-malware antimalware solutions tested Trojan worm sneaks defence defense secure password knot passphrase 1Password LastPass Schneier scheme passphrase random words phrases easily guessed dictionary word /