Blog - Extinctions 'n' Extensions

European startups helping you make the most of SXSW

It?s that time of year where it seems like everyone is in Austin, Texas for SXSWi (I write, jealously, from a sofa in the north of England).

Plenty of startups are looking to make their mark at the festival, and many European companies have flown across the Atlantic hoping to get noticed.

If you?re lucky enough to be there, here are three European startups aiming to help you make the most of SXSW.

Work out who you should meet at SXSW


London?s Rummble unveiled its Rummble Labs platform this week (our coverage here). As a demo of this social recommendation technology, it?s launched Rummble Tweet Labs for SXSW.

?We?re pulling in 100% of tweets that mention SXSW, #sxsw and 600 session hashtags via Gnip (exclusive providers of Twitter?s firehose for research and data analysis),? explains the company?s Alex Housley. ?The more you tweet about SXSW, the more relevant the recommendations become. It?s also possible to search for any keyword or hashtag to find the most relevant people.?

Tracking down the people it suggests is made easy with Qwerly integration that pulls in all the social network links it can find for each user, and you have the option to tweet out an introduction straight from the site. Housley says that today the ability to introduce two other people to each other will be added.

Help build a league of the best SXSW speakers

French startup Balloon, which offers an app to make conferences more interactive, has launched Rate My Speaker. This site lets you enter the name of a conference speaker, or a conference hashtag, and then, er? rate the speaker!

Marks are out of five stars, and speakers are organised into the conferences they?re taking part in for easy browsing. As SXSW proceeds, the idea is that a league will build up of the most popular speakers, helping you work out the best people to catch along the way.

Maximise your networking on the flight home

When it comes to flying home, it makes sense to try logging your flight numbers with Planely. This Denmark-based service (one of our Ten European startups to watch in 2011) lets you discover other people traveling on the same plane as you and those who will be at the airport at the same time.

It?s potentially a great way of connecting with others and just ahead of SXSW, Tripit integration was added to automatically import your flights logged there. On my most recent trip, I ended up getting invited to an event as a direct result of using Planely.

Know of any more European startups making looking to enhance your SXSW experience? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feeds | Amazon WordPress PluginHud 1 Settlement Statement

Source: http://thenextweb.com/eu/2011/03/12/european-startups-helping-you-make-the-most-of-sxsw/

david nelson the chipmunks seattle public schools worldstarhiphop the game season 4 episode 1 freddie mitchell simon chipmunk lebron james twitter jimmer fredette thomas tew rum

80 Seconds of Warning for Tokyo

Residents of Tokyo likely had about 80 seconds of warning before a devastating quake rumbled through the city after striking 373 kilometers away, off Japan's northeast coast, thanks to a new early warning system. But tsunami alerts take longer to generate, giving just minutes of warning before the waves first struck the coast?a reflection of the differing technologies needed to detect earthquakes and calculate their impacts, researchers say.

Japan has the world's most advanced earthquake early-warning system, with more than 1,000 seismographs scattered over the country. Collectively, they detect tremors and allow for brief advance warnings not only to vulnerable sectors like railroads and utilities?so they can slow down high-speed trains and shut off gas lines?but also to the public via television, Internet and text-message. "This hits probably what I would consider the best prepared country in the world for earth quake preparedness," says Stephane Rondenay, a geophysicist at MIT.

The seismographs detect the first evidence of a quake?P-waves, which have short wavelengths and generally do little damage?and calculate the location of the epicenter. The longer-wavelength and far more damaging S-waves come next, usually within seconds. 

The quake struck at 5:46 GMT. It would have taken about ten seconds for sensors to detect enough signals to conclude the quake was serious and issue the alerts. Since the more damaging secondary waves travel at 4 kilometers per second, it would have taken them about 90 seconds to travel the 373 kilometers to Tokyo, Rondenay says.

While the systems can only furnish warnings from a few seconds to a minute or two before serious shaking starts, this can be enough time for people to take cover, stop performing surgery in a hospital, exit an elevator, or pull over to the side of the road. Countries including Taiwan and Mexico are implementing similar systems, and California has been researching a warning system. A Stanford University research effort, called Quake-Catcher Network, aimed at using data from accelerometers in laptop computers to detect shaking.

Tsunami warnings take longer to generate.  The Japanese government issued a local tsunami warning three minutes after the quake struck, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, run by NOAA, issued its regional warning nine minutes after the quake struck, or at 5:55 GMT. These longer response times were a reflection of heavier computation requirements. NOAA must determine whether the quake happened in an ocean basin, the likely deformation of the ocean floor, and what kind of motion was created by the quake, Rondenay says. Too many false alarms would weaken faith in the system, and warnings issued too quickly would not have good data about arrival times in various regions, he added. "A lot more parameters have to be taken into account," he says.

Fortunately, while tsunamis are fast, they are not as fast-moving as the earthquakes themselves.  Tsunamis travel as fast as jet aircraft in deep water, where they are spread over a far deeper water column and make for smaller and very gradual waves at the surface. They slow down and produce higher waves in shallower water. Residents of the hardest-hit areas likely only had 15 minutes of warning, though Tokyo would have had at least 40 minutes of warning.

Japan may also have benefited from structural improvements made since the devastating Kobe earthquake in 1995. "My sense is that buildings behaved pretty well. More and more buildings now are being made with dissipation devices," that absorb tremors, said Eduardo Kausel, an engineering professor at MIT who specializes in seismic engineering. "The Japanese learned a hard lesson in Kobe and were embarrassed by the level of damage, so they have tried to correct most of the known defects in the intervening years.  But no matter what you do, you will have damage. There is uncertainty in earthquake engineering."

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feeds | Amazon WordPress PluginHud 1 Settlement Statement

Source: http://feeds.technologyreview.com/click.phdo?i=73de319e146a2f45b3dfc4e5c2bace0d

david nelson the chipmunks seattle public schools worldstarhiphop the game season 4 episode 1 freddie mitchell simon chipmunk lebron james twitter jimmer fredette thomas tew rum

Blog - Extinctions 'n' Extensions

Same-Sex Marriage Bill Falls Short in Maryland

The speaker of Maryland?s Democratic-controlled House of Delegates, Michael E. Busch, said that the bill, the Civil Marriage Protection Act, had fallen short of the 71 votes required for passage and that Democrats had decided to withdraw it instead of holding a vote that would fail.

?This is a distance run, not a sprint,? Mr. Busch said. ?We?ll come back next year and take a strong look at it.?

The withdrawal capped a tumultuous few weeks, which began with the bill?s sponsors saying that its passage was all but assured and that Maryland would soon become the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage.

But the closer the bill got to a final vote, the bumpier its path became. One of its co-sponsors, Delegate Tiffany T. Alston, a freshman Democrat from Prince George?s County, had withdrawn her support, apparently bowing to pressure from her constituency, which contains a powerful religious community.

Two national groups that oppose same-sex marriage, the National Organization for Marriage and the Family Research Council, both highlighted African-American and religious opponents of the bill as central to its defeat.

?Particular thanks must go to the African-American pastors, church members and delegates who spoke out against the attempted hijacking of the concept of ?civil rights,? ? the Family Research Council said in a statement.

Democrats hold 98 of the House?s 141 seats, more than enough to overcome near-total Republican opposition, but ultimately about a third of all Democrats opposed it.

?Without the intelligence and cooperation of the Democrats who also wanted this bill to be defeated, today?s victory would have been much more difficult,? said Don H. Dwyer Jr., a Republican delegate.

The National Organization for Marriage said that it would spend part of the $1 million it had pledged to spend in Maryland to support Democrats who went against the bill, and to oppose the lone Republican who voted for it, Senator Allan Kittleman.

During the debate, Democrats gave some of the most impassioned opposition.

?I submit there is a cancer growing on the political process here,? said Emmett C. Burns, a delegate from Baltimore. Same-sex marriage violates natural law, he said, adding, ?It does not create a family but a naturally sterile union.?

But the bill?s supporters ? including six of the House?s seven openly gay delegates ? offered deeply personal and sometimes tearful speeches that drew applause and standing ovations.

?I?ve heard that somehow, I am less than natural, I am less than human, I am less than,? said Luke H. Clippinger, Democrat of Baltimore. ?I am here today to claim to this house that I am not less than.?

Anne R. Kaiser, Democrat of Montgomery County, spoke of how coming out had affected her mother.

?She did what so many mothers do, when she heard I was gay,? she said. ?She cried at first, and then she told me she loved me, and then she made me lunch.?

Heather Mizeur, also a Democrat of Montgomery County, said the speeches helped, even if the bill did not pass.

The bill?s supporters would settle for no less than full marriage rights, as are legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia. A Democrat?s proposal to make the bill about civil unions instead of marriage failed.

?The law walks. It doesn?t run,? said Michael A. McDermott, a Republican who supported the civil union alternative. ?You need to take it a step at a time.?

When asked how he was feeling after the session, Mr. Clippinger said, ?Tired, but not broken.?

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feeds | Amazon WordPress PluginHud 1 Settlement Statement

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=a05da468458ca569ce8c84a69bab435c

david nelson the chipmunks seattle public schools worldstarhiphop the game season 4 episode 1 freddie mitchell simon chipmunk lebron james twitter jimmer fredette thomas tew rum

Union Bill Is Law, but Debate Is Far From Over

Democrats and union leaders, emboldened by the huge outpouring of protesters who have rallied for weeks at the Capitol to oppose what they called a politically motivated effort to weaken unions, pledged to redouble their political, legal and legislative efforts to block measures that the governor had described as necessary to balance the budget.

Recall petitions continued to circulate against legislators from both parties. A lawsuit was filed challenging the unusual legislative maneuvering that preceded the bill?s passage. And Democratic leaders ? despite holding minorities in both chambers ? promised to revisit the legislation in the debate on the coming budget bill by introducing a series of amendments to undo provisions they consider damaging.

The new law was originally part of Mr. Walker?s comprehensive ?budget repair bill,? but was extracted as a separate piece of legislation late on Wednesday in order to secure passage. The original budget bill was blocked when 14 Senate Democrats decamped for Illinois, depriving the Senate of the quorum needed to pass fiscal legislation.

The bill on collective bargaining, however, could be voted on with fewer senators, in this case Republicans only, and it passed, 18 to 1. The Assembly, overwhelmingly Republican, passed it on Thursday.

The new law weakens unions representing public sector employees by limiting bargaining to wages, restricting raises to inflation, increasing the amount employees pay for health insurance and pensions, and giving union members the right not to pay dues. It also requires unions to hold annual votes to determine if workers still want to belong. The law exempts firefighters and law enforcement personnel.

After a ceremonial bill-signing during which chants of ?shame, shame? could be heard from the protesters packing the Capitol?s hallways, Mr. Walker praised Republicans for their efforts. He said the law would allow state and local government to better address budgetary challenges and noted that earlier in the day he canceled layoff notices for 1,500 state employees. The governor said the law would survive all challenges.

Though both Democratic and Republican leaders professed a desire to return to work, it was unclear if lawmakers would take a scheduled break, or when the rest of the budget repair bill would be brought to a vote. ?There are a lot of decisions that have to be made and a lot of talks that need to happen between the two sides,? said Andrew Welhouse, a spokesman for the Senate majority leader.

And there are still obstacles. The law does not take effect until it is published, and Secretary of State Doug La Follette, a Democrat, said he planned on waiting the full 10 days before doing so. ?As fast as this was pushed through, as controversial as it has been, I think it?s only prudent,? he said.

Officials from Dane County, which encompasses Madison, went to court seeking an emergency injunction to prevent the law from taking effect, alleging violations of open meeting laws and quorum requirements. The judge denied the motion and scheduled a hearing for Wednesday.

The Dane County district attorney is also investigating the open meetings allegations.

As the day wound down, preparations continued for what union officials said would be a huge rally on Saturday, featuring the return to the Capitol of the 14 Democratic state senators who spent more than three weeks hiding out in Illinois to deprive the Republican majority of a quorum.

?It?s the beginning,? said Robert Jauch, one of the senators, after returning to the state. ?Today becomes the first day in the effort to restore these rights.?

Monica Davey contributed reporting.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feeds | Amazon WordPress PluginHud 1 Settlement Statement

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=a213ad2ca1a8612298d6c63b88b79646

scelestious stephanie seymour and son david nelson the chipmunks seattle public schools worldstarhiphop the game season 4 episode 1 freddie mitchell simon chipmunk lebron james twitter

Simply Organic HD: A beautiful iPad app for organic foodies

Over the last few years we?ve been subjected to a slew of alarming documentaries that explore the poisons in both produce and meat. It?s something that many of us don?t worry too much about but, it?s hard to ignore the data. And although there are arguments on both sides, choosing to go organic may dramatically reduce the toxins your ingesting ? some say it even tastes better.

While any recipe can be tweaked to suit an organic lifestyle, the following app for the iPad specifically focuses on healthy organic dishes.

Simply Organic HD is an elegant digital cookbook that offers high-gloss photography and recipes sorted in a variety of delicious categories. There?s a huge collection of recipes including entrees, beverages, soups and dishes from different parts of the world; Mediterranean, Mexican, Indian, Italian, Cajun and Chinese.

Simply Organic

Why It?s Cool

The user interface is beautiful and it gives users a great deal of control over how the recipes are organized; by name, rating, preparation time or cook time. Each recipe contains in-depth information and nutritional facts coupled with the option to share the recipe via email. It also includes a must-have feature for any recipe app: the option to add any ingredient to a shopping list that can be exported to email.

Using this app is a much cooler experience than flipping through the traditional-style cookbooks. For starters, foodies can use a recipe spin wheel to discover random recipes within any of the categories. Secondly, this cookbook can save you money on organic products through printable coupons offered within the app. The only miss here is leaving out a feature to send the recipes to social networks.

Simply Organic

The Bottom Line:

Simply Organic is a must-have cookbook for advocates of organic food or anyone interested in eating healthy. I?ve personally not attempted any of the recipes yet but the dishes look amazing and there?s lots to choose from. Simply Organic is available for free in the app store.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feeds | Amazon WordPress PluginHud 1 Settlement Statement

Source: http://thenextweb.com/apps/2011/03/12/simply-organic-hd-a-beautiful-ipad-app-for-organic-foodies/

issaquah school district the game tv show lasso of truth terrence j most popular thanksgiving side dish the game bet lights out nyc school closings scelestious stephanie seymour and son

Quicksilver, the greatest mac app of all time, is back.

Quicksilver might not be so familiar to new mac users but just a couple of years ago the app was considered a must for any new mac.

Originally developed by Blacktree developer ?Alcor?, it was built to speed up day to day tasks like emailing, launching apps and file manipulation but it soon grew to do far more. Eventually the development of the app was open sourced and code shifted over to GitHub.

Unfortunately Quicksilver saw minimal updates and finally when the app wasn?t updated to run on Snow Leopard, many left to adopt competing apps like Alfred and LaunchBar. The app was eventually updated but still seemingly being left to grow stale despite being, at least in my opinion, better than any alternative out there. Why? I explain here but briefly: its plugins are generally of a superior quality, its truly lightweight, navigation is instinctive (after a little practice) and above all else; ?dragging-and-dropping? items in and out of the app is genuinely a priceless feature (you?ll need to try the app for yourself to understand and appreciate that particular feature?s value).

At the end of 2010, a new website QSApp.com was launched, committed to bringing together all of Quicksilver?s scattered builds, plugins and support groups. A number of developers have been actively working on the site and the app itself and one of the people involved, Patrick Robertson, emailed in to tell us a little more about its progress.

?At the moment, the main thing we?re working on is getting Quicksilver to be more user friendly. It?s always been a scary/daunting application to start off with, and we want to make it easier; nicer website, less bugs, auto update etc.

At least 5 devs have been actively working on Quicksilver, and maintaining it for Leopard, Snow Leopard. Quicksilver still works on Lion 10.7, so it?s going to be around for a while?

But it?s not just bug fixes Robertson assures us, more features have been added such as ?exclude file types? in catalog searches, lots and lots of localisation (mainly German and French), optimisations for Leopard and Snow Leopard, start of 64 bit support and more.

Of course Quicksilver?s features are mainly reliant on developers specifically building plugins for it. Fortunately there are a mass of existing plugins that run perfectly well with Quicksilver?s current release and new plugins are actively being developed.

Whereas in the past it was left to search engines like Google to find and discover new plugins, now Quicksilver has its own plugins repo making it easy to find plugins for the app. Robertson says that people are still working on plugins for Quicksilver, such as my 1Password Quicksilver plugin, Rob?s Viscosity plugin and Remote Hosts plugin as well as updated iCal, Cyberduck, Core Support and Social Bookmarks plugins. Themes are another enticing aspect to Quicksilver. The design of the app can change dramatically depending on the theme chosen and a number of them can be found in the the same plugins repository.

So what now for Quicksilver?

Robertson says ?All in all, lots of coding is still happening for QS, and more importantly people are helping out on the support front in the Google Groups, and Philip on twitter (@LoveQuicksilver), so it should be easier than ever for people to switch to QS for the first time and pick it up.?

Lets hope so because after all these years, it?s still the app I install first on any new computer and without any hesitation, the greatest Mac app of all time.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feeds | Amazon WordPress PluginHud 1 Settlement Statement

Source: http://thenextweb.com/apple/2011/03/12/quicksilver-the-greatest-mac-app-of-all-time-is-back/

most popular thanksgiving side dish the game bet lights out nyc school closings scelestious stephanie seymour and son david nelson the chipmunks seattle public schools worldstarhiphop

Stereolizer: A retro-style audio recorder and radio for the iPad

If you grew up in the 80s or earlier, you?ll likely remember making mixtapes from the radio. Today, the advances in technology have eliminated the need to record using analog tapes but for those of us who miss the old-school process, there?s a way to fill the void.

Stereolizer brings users over 10,000 web radio stations from across the globe and through its retro-style interface, users can create vintage mixtapes from any of the streaming channels.

The user interface sports a sleek-looking 80s style 3-piece stereo equipped with a radio receiver, amp and tape deck. Similar to turning the dials on a real-life system, Stereolizer?s digital stereo enables users to change radio stations and utilize the built-in tape deck controls; record, rewind, stop and fast-forward. It has even included the appropriate sound effects you?ll remember from ejecting a tape ?it?s a nostalgic experience.

Stereolizer

Radio stations can be browsed by country or in alphabetical order and can be saved to a preset button allowing users to quickly access their favourite stations from the stereo. The numerous stations should keep audiophiles busy for hours, and the ability to flip through thousands of radio stations worldwide is extremely interesting if you?re fascinated by music.

What It?s Cool:

There are a myriad of apps capable of streaming radio stations but Stereolizer is unique in both design and for its ability to record audio. The tape deck is always loaded with a fresh tape so if you hear something awesome, audio can be recorded easily. It will store and save your tape stash and as an added plus, it will additionally post a handwritten label on each tape after you?ve included a title. Recording your own audio tape is also possible within the tape deck using the iPad?s built-in microphone.

Stereolizer has gone all out in design and there is definitely something extra fun about playing digital music on a vintage stereo.

What We Didn?t like:

The only obvious drawback is within the sharing feature. While Stereolizer does offer Twitter and Facebook buttons on the stereo, it merely posts the name of the radio station with a link to the app ?no title of the song or preview of the track.

The Bottom Line:

Stereolizer is a solid, beautiful iPad app for jamming to tunes, recording audio and discovering world music. The app is available for $1.99 in the app store.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feeds | Amazon WordPress PluginHud 1 Settlement Statement

Source: http://thenextweb.com/apps/2011/03/12/stereolizer-a-retro-style-audio-recorder-and-radio-for-the-ipad/

scelestious stephanie seymour and son david nelson the chipmunks seattle public schools worldstarhiphop the game season 4 episode 1 freddie mitchell simon chipmunk lebron james twitter

Massive quake halts Japanese tech, automotive production

A massive earthquake and subsequent tsunamis struck Japan today, devastating property and killing hundreds. The 8.9-magnitude quake hit 230 miles east of Tokyo and is the largest the country has seen in over a century. Tsunamis rose up to 33 feet tall. The disaster left many technology companies scrambling in the wake. Although the amount of damage is still unknown, many firms have reported their initial losses.

Sony evacuated six factories in the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan. At least one facility that manufacturers Blu-ray discs and magnetic tapes was flooded. Panasonic's three-year-old EV Energy manufacturing plant in Sendai is believed to have been leveled. Several employees at Panasonic's three factories in Miyagi and Fukushimi have sustained minor injuries, according to a company spokesperson.

Sharp, Sanyo, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and many other companies have ceased operations in various locations and begun damage assessments. At least one Honda employee was killed after a wall collapsed at a research and development center in Tochigi, while 30 others were injured. Samsung and Canon were more fortunate than others as both say the disaster will have little to no effect on production.


The full extent of damage won't be recognized for weeks or longer. Outside of property losses and fatalities, the impact of halting output could be enormous, causing worldwide shortages in the automotive and other industries. Shares for Toyota and Sony have fallen 2.43% and 2.36% on the New York Stock Exchange as traders buy put options in case of a prolonged shutdown in automotive production.

Our sincerest condolences go out to all those affected by the catastrophe. If you'd like to pitch in, you can text "REDCROSS" to 90999 (30333 for Canadians) to donate $10 to the Red Cross. PayPal has also launched a relief effort allowing users to freely send money to any US 501(c)(3) and Canada Revenue Agency registered charities raising funds to aid Japan. This will last from today through April 10, 2011.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feeds | Amazon WordPress PluginHud 1 Settlement Statement

Source: http://www.techspot.com/news/42787-massive-quake-halts-japanese-tech-automotive-production.html

jimmer fredette thomas tew rum issaquah school district the game tv show lasso of truth terrence j most popular thanksgiving side dish the game bet lights out nyc school closings