WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has declared federal emergencies in areas of Louisiana and Mississippi hit hard by Isaac, moving to speed federal aid and recovery efforts to the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast.
Obama signed the orders late Wednesday covering 35 parishes in Louisiana and 34 counties in Mississippi.
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Emergency services are embracing technology as new ways to investigate, send alerts and receive reports of crises. And now, the Japanese are looking at social networks to support communication in disaster scenarios, especially when traditional services fail. The local Fire and Disaster Management Agency put together a panel discussion on just that topic, with representatives attending from the likes of Twitter, Yahoo, Mixi and NHN Japan, as well as various government and emergency bodies. The talk was motivated, in part, by the March tsunami, when the internet was the sole means of information for some, and with initiatives like Google’s Person Finder playing a role in the aftermath. Any formal implementation of the ideas discussed is probably a long way off, and this is the first of three planned meets to hash it out. In the meantime, however, Twitter’s Japanese blog posted some suggestions on how their network could be used in emergencies — we just hope they won’t be needed anytime soon.
Filed under: Internet
Japan considers using social networks in disaster situations originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 01:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The international military coalition in Afghanistan says two international service members have been killed in a helicopter crash in the country’s south.
NATO forces said in a statement that they had no reports of enemy activity in the area where the helicopter crashed Thursday.
The statement does not provide further details on the incident nor the nationality of the dead. At least 54 international service members have been killed in Afghanistan so far this month.
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Google has rolled out a new Search update for Android, and it includes a handful of new features for Google Now. This means that if you’re not running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, you’re going to have to sit this one out, sadly. Those who are running Android 4.1 will probably want to give this update a look, as it adds a few interesting features.
There are three new features to note in this Google Now update: for starters, users can now find showtime information for movies playing near them through Now. Support for emergency messages has been added in this update as well, giving you severe weather warnings and other emergency alerts right on your Now page. This will undoubtedly come in handy for the more turbulent areas of the world, and it could potentially save a few lives, so it’s good to have it along.
The third feature Google has added gives users the ability to “follow” their favorite sports teams. In all, users can choose from “140 soccer, football, hockey and baseball teams to follow in real time,” unfortunately Google’s lineup only features professional teams for now – college fans will have to wait. Still, with the kickoff to the NFL season just around the corner and the NHL and NBA seasons not far behind, this feature is definitely one that will garner some excitement.
As an added bonus, Google has also included support for users in Korea with this latest update, and you can snag it now from the Google Play Store. So there you have it – one of Android 4.1′s more compelling aspects just got a little better. Sure, there aren’t a ton of new features to be found in this new update, but the ones it does add are important and/or awesome. Be sure to have a look at our story timeline below to find out more about Google Search and Google Now!
[via Google]
Google Now update brings emergency alerts to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
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We know Jeff Bezos & Co. have some sort of intriguing announcement planned for next week, but while we wait for that to take place, you might want to update your iOS-friendly Kindle application. Amazon just pushed out version 3.2 of the reading app and it’s loaded with a slew of new features, including adjustable margins for your “preferred reading experience,” rapid highlights to let users mark passages within their content, as well as improved brightness controls that, in theory, should make the overall viewing experience a tad bit better. Meanwhile, “Print Replica Textbooks” have been enhanced with fresh highlighting traits and an all-new notebook feature to save bookmarks, notes and images. The Kindle update can be snagged now from the App Store directly from any Cupertino-made slab, or you could always click on the source link below — your choice.
Filed under: Software
Kindle for iOS updated with rapid highlights, adjustable margins and more originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 01:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
NCsoft has issued advice to players of Guild Wars 2 to be “vigilant on receiving emails related to game accounts,” this coming after ArenaNet confirmed that there has been a bunch of hacked Guild Wars 2 accounts. This bit of news is rather surprising considering how Guild Wars 2 was up and running just a day ago, although there were those who pre-booked the game and had a 3-day headstart over the rest of the crowd. Over the weekend, a group of players resorted to airing their grievances on different online forums that their Guild Wars 2 account appeared to have been compromised.
There were some who experienced missing items, while others had it worse – being locked out of the game completely, and this is not even due to you being Iranian with a World of Warcraft account. So far, ArenaNEt’s support team have responded to some individual emails, one of them stating, “You are correct, your account was hacked. Thank you for submitting a ticket — that will expedite the process! (And I’m sorry that happened to you.)”
It seemed that there is a possibility of these hacked accounts being accessed by gold sellers, according to ArenaNet, with no firm confirmation on how widespread the hacking problem had become.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: USB Video Out via Windows Phone 7, Guild Wars 2 live and running,
The video above might shed some light on the possibility, however remote, of a 21-megapixel Nokia Lumia shooter. Of course, this is just a theory that is pulled out from the air as the video itself is 21 seconds long, and Phi being the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet, with 21 being very close to half of the number 41, which is actually the amount of megapixels that the Nokia 808 Pureview packs in, although others might dismiss that as inaccurate. Needless to say, a 21-megapixel camera sensor would result in a slimmer form factor for the handset, which might see Nokia rolling out a more aesthetically pleasing Pureview smartphone. What do you think of this particular rumor – do you bite on the possibilities of a 21-megapixel Nokia Lumia, or are we just grasping at straws over here?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Nokia 808 PureView gets May release date, Nokia Lumia PureView: Actual leak or mere concept?,
Thanks to a bunch of passionate and dedicated developers at XDA, here we are with a video above that depicts the wonders of experiencing USB Video Out for the Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system. It does seem to work in a butter smooth manner that is nothing short of impressive, but the setup process can be said to be quite the hassle since you will need a custom ROM installed beforehand that includes the special video out package. Not only that, you will also have to call upon the help of custom drivers, manually installing them on your computer in the process which could be a slight annoyance if you are running on a copy of 64-bit Windows 7.
Folks who do not know how to flash custom ROMs will just have to sit out on this particular feature, while others with the technical know how and intestinal fortitude would find this to be a neat trick to have up your sleeve, especially when you want to perform presentations right from your smartphone, or to play back recorded video on the spot.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Windows Phone 7 smartphones get tethering hack, Windows Phone Marketplace app-security cracked,
NEW ORLEANS — Isaac’s whistling winds lashed this city and the storm dumped nearly a foot of rain on its darkened and desolate streets, but the system of levee pumps, walls and gates appeared to withstand one of the stiffest challenges yet. To the north and south, though, people had to be evacuated or rescued as Isaac lingered over Louisiana.
The rain fell almost constantly for more than a day, flooding neighborhoods in a rural part of the state and as far away as Mississippi. Officials had to respond quickly because the waters were rising fast – even as Isaac meandered slowly northward Thursday on a path toward Arkansas.
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As expected, Samsung has launched the Galaxy Note 2, which is even larger than the original Galaxy Note. Many didn’t think that this was possible to make it larger, but Samsung did, and they have pushed the concept of the Galaxy Note phone to the next level.
First, the design is beautiful, and although it comes in two colors, I have to admit that I like the pearl white version better. In many ways, it looks like the first Galaxy Note, but with some traits of the Galaxy S3 as well. The combination of both designs yields a winner here. Beyond the appearance, there are three things that have been improved by quite a bit. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Samsung Galaxy Note 2 officially announced, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update headed for Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 10.1 ‘very soon’,
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