Iraq Violence: Bomb Blasts Kill 9, Wound Dozens Around Baghdad

BAGHDAD (AP) — Police say a series of bombs around Iraq’s capital have killed nine people and wounded more than 40.

The deadliest strike came at dawn Thursday in the Sunni city of Taji, just north of Baghdad. Officials say two cars blew up outside a government office, damaging nearby homes and killing five people and wounding 18.

A few hours later, a police patrol hit a roadside bomb in a Shiite neighborhood in southern Baghdad. Police and hospital officials said one person was killed and six wounded.

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BlueStacks AppPlayer for Mac puts Android apps on OS X

Running Android apps on your MacBook is now a possibility, with virtualization specialist BlueStacks bringing its clever software to Apple’s OS X. The tool – initially vaunted as a “Parallels for Android” – has been available on Windows for some time now, but BlueStacks now supports 17 Android apps on OS X including popular newsreader app Pulse.

Seventeen isn’t a lot compared to how many apps there are currently available in the Android Market, but BlueStacks says more are in the pipeline. Meanwhile the company has thrown open its doors to developers, taking pre-interest for porting, which should boost the selection.

BlueStacks has inked deals with HalfBrick, Evernote, Droidhen, COM2US, Creative Mobile and others, and something they’re talking about is high-resolution graphics to suit the latest Retina Display Macs. The company is also positioning AppPlayer as a way of “breaking open the Apple ecosystem” though, given OS X has always been more flexible with third-party software, that’s a little disingenuous.

The BlueStacks AppPlayer for Mac is currently an alpha release – which could mean bugs – and is a free download. If the company plays to form, it’s likely to eventually release a more comprehensive version with paid-app support as a premium product later on.


BlueStacks AppPlayer for Mac puts Android apps on OS X is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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VESA’s Mobility DisplayPort standard links smartphones to PC displays, jabs MHL

VESA's Mobility DisplayPort standard links smartphones to PC displays, jabs MHL

If you own a modern Android smartphone, there’s a reasonable chance you’re familiar with MHL for video out to a TV. The format saves the trouble of adding an extra port, but it’s really only intended for HDMI-based destinations and occasionally runs into compatibility issues. VESA is hoping to settle all that with its newly available Mobility DisplayPort standard, or MyDP. Existing micro-USB ports will still serve as the output, but you’ll have the option of plugging into DVI or VGA displays with the right adapter, in addition to HDMI and full-size DisplayPort. Picture connecting to an older projector and you’ll see why that might make sense. The new spec will charge up your device like with MHL, but it also has about 1Mbps of bandwidth for input, such as keyboards and trackpads in some future lapdock. Video still tops out at 1080p and 60Hz, so there’s no hooking into a 4K display here. The real advantage, for many, is simply in having a broadly-adopted standard in the first place: VESA backing sees 180 companies tacitly endorsing the idea, producing a big improvement over the patchwork results that we’ve seen from MHL’s much smaller alliance. The chief obstacle is the wait for the first smartphones, Ultrabooks and tablets with MyDP, which could be months or more away.

Continue reading VESA’s Mobility DisplayPort standard links smartphones to PC displays, jabs MHL

VESA’s Mobility DisplayPort standard links smartphones to PC displays, jabs MHL originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 03:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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‘America’s Got Talent’: Howard Stern Fights For One Contestant As The Top 48 Is Revealed

For his first season as a judge on “America’s Got Talent” (Wed., 8 p.m. ET on NBC), Howard Stern proved passionate and very serious about the talent he supported. He even went to the mat for one of his favorites, begging the other judges to save street performer Turf. He went so far as to ask it as a personal favor in honor of it being his first year, he was so connected with Turf.

By the end of the episode, Las Vegas Week was over and the Top 48 stood revealed. Among them, in an emotional moment, was Turf. Howard Stern played with him a little bit before finally revealing that he’d made it to the live shows. It was an emotional moment for both the performer and the judges.

Check out a complete list of the Top 48 contenders here, and then tune in next week for the start of the “America’s Got Talent” live shows, Monday at 8:30 p.m .ET and Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

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Google publishes “Hangouts in Air” Project Glass video

We already told you that Google’s Project Glass was shown at the Google I/O keynote today where the company revealed further details of the device. But if there’s one thing that mesmerized us during the event, it’s the video demo of Project Glass that Google co-founder Sergey Brin presented to us while explaining the capabilities of the device. Some gutsy guys in the video were skydiving, doing bicycle stunts, and rapelling down the building while wearing Project Glasses.

But unfortunately, not everyone got the chance to watch the thrilling video. Thankfully, Google published a video of Project Glass a few hours ago showing the highlights of the stunt. Sergey Brin said that he wanted to share the one-of-a-kind demo for all of you guys to enjoy. The video is about 2 minutes long and it features We Were Promised Jetpacks’ Quiet Little Voices song. And oh, there’s also another rough video of the epic moment during Sergey’s keynote speech this morning. You can check it out here.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google’s Project Glass gets detailed further, Google’s Project Glass trackpad patented ,

Ubiquitous nanotubes could reboot Edison-era nickel-iron battery technology

nanotubes-edison-nickel-iron-batteryBack in the 1920s, Thomas Edison’s dream of an electric automobile was ultimately foiled by those meddling petroleum engines. But thanks to nanotube research from Stanford University, one legacy from that era may regain some glory: nickel-iron batteries. It turns out that carbon nanotubes doped with nickel and iron crystals can top up the normally slow-charging cells in a matter of minutes — according to the scientists, that’s almost 1,000 times faster than in the past. Although the batteries couldn’t power your Volt or Prius due to a lack of energy density, they could give an extra jolt to their lithium-ion siblings for quicker starts and regenerative braking. The researchers are working on improving stability to allow more charging cycles, but it might be an extra in-your-face for Edison if it pans out.

Ubiquitous nanotubes could reboot Edison-era nickel-iron battery technology originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 02:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Genius EasyPen M610XA Drawing Tablet

Genius EasyPen M610XA Drawing Tablet

The Genius EasyPen M610XA drawing tablet is now available in the US and Canada. The new drawing tablet provides a 6-inch by 10-inch working area, a 4000 LPI resolution and a report rate per second (RPS) of 200. The Genius EasyPen M610XA is equipped with a stylus that provides up to 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity. There are also four quick buttons for Undo, Eraser, Zoom In, and Zoom Out functions. The gadget connects to your computer via a USB port. The Genius EasyPen M610XA drawing tablet retails for $169.99. [Slashgear]

Lois Tarter: Ritualize Your Divorce

During my first year post divorce, I tried to come up with a ritual to cover every painful moment. Time flew by quickly as I did the rituals and, in the end, I had a better understanding of myself.
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New Zealand Court Declares January Megaupload Seizures Illegal, a Coup for Kim DotCom [Megaupload]

New Zealand’s National Business Review and TVNZ are reporting, says The Register, that the January seizures the the Coatesville mansion of Megaupload kingpin Kim DotCom were illegal and as such are therefor invalid in court. More »

Huff TV: Arianna And Barbara Walters Remember Nora Ephron On ‘Piers Morgan Tonight’

Arianna appeared on “Piers Morgan Tonight” with “The View’s” Barbara Walters on Wednesday evening to share their memories of writer-director Nora Ephron, who died on Tuesday.

“She was a champion of women,” Arianna said of Ephron, who was a HuffPost Editor at Large. “She really believed that women could do anything at any time.”

Both Arianna and Walters spoke of Ephron’s thoughtfulness and wit. Having known about her illness for six years, Ephron “wrote in a funny way, but a touching way, about death,” Walters remembered.

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