It’s a good business model, sure. I mean you’ve got a captive audience, which any infomercial host would kill for. But what’s with actually killing them? Pretty sure murdering your marketing base is going to hurt sales and next quarter’s growth. More »
Outrage. Pain. Speculation. These were the sentiments shared by many online communities last week during the bombings at the Boston Marathon and subsequent manhunt. But while other online communities battled and knit-picked over the validity of under-sourced details, we saw kindness, a spirit of generosity and a ton of Boston pride across the HuffPost community.
On April 16, we reported that Provo, Utah would be the next city graced with Google Fiber, followed by a piece last week on its purchase of iProvo, the city’s ailing fiber network. The sale was reported to have taken place for $1, but had to wait on a final okay from the Provo Municipal Council. Such approval was given today, but not without stipulations.
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, the deal will go through for the purchase price of $1, addition to being sealed with Google’s agreement to a variety of conditions. For its part, Google agrees to upgrade the iProvo network and ensure that all the homes in the city have access to it. For the first seven years, Google also agrees to provide all iProvo homes with free 5-megabit service, and to provide 25 schools and other public institutions with free gigabit service. The network will also be leased to Provo by Google without charge for 15 years.
As such, the citizens of Provo will enjoy free Internet service, but will be paying off the $39 million price tag for the fiber network over the next 12 years in the form of tax dollars. Taking interest into account, that works out to a little over $3 million per year in payments towards the bond. On top of this, Provo is also going to shell out $722,000 towards equipment that allows for continued gigabit use of the network by government operations.
Another half a million will be spent by Provo city under the agreement, a requirement by Google that will go towards paying a firm to locate all the buried fiber optic cables. Reportedly, the company responsible for the network’s installation failed to properly maintain records on where all of the cables were laid. This marks the first time Google Fiber will be using an existing network.
[via Salt Lake Tribune]
Google gets iProvo purchase approval is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
It was earlier this morning when we first brought you word that there is a possible new Call of Duty title that is known as Ghosts which appeared online (or at least, its box art did), where it was duly removed shortly afterwards, where that act lent further credence that Call of Duty: Ghosts is very real, and is obviously on its way to the mass market. Well, looks like there might be a new Halo title in the pipeline as it appeared on a Tesco listing online, which surely caused many Halo fanboys to sit up, take notice, and raise quite an uproar via online channels.
Hence, it is nice to see Microsoft’s online firefighting team squash all rumors of an upcoming Halo title by issuing a statement, saying, “This listing is not indicative of a Halo product launch. We have no news to share of future Halo titles.”
So much for the unannounced Halo title with a suggestion of it making its way to the Xbox 360 later this year. With Halo 4 having launched last November, it might be a while before we see an actual Halo edition sometime down the road.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: PlayStation 4 DualShock 4 Controller Gets Highlighted In New Video, Skyrim Legendary Edition Coming June 4 To PC, Xbox 360, PS3, 
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Psychopaths are unable to show empathy toward others because their brains aren’t wired to do so, according to a new study in JAMA Psychiatry.
Researchers from the University of Chicago used brain imaging technology to find that psychopaths have less activation in certain parts of the brain and high activation in other parts of the brain, compared with people who are not psychopaths, in response to scenarios of people being purposely hurt.
Scientific American provides a good definition of a psychopath:
Buffalo is releasing a 3TB external HDD “HD-AVSV3.0U3/V” in the beginning of May, which the company says is particularly recommended for use with Panasonic’s VIERA TVs and DIGA DVD and Blu-ray disc recorders.
USB3.0 compliant “HD-AVSV3.0U3/V” allows you to record 3 TV programs simultaneously when it is connected to Panasonic’s USB3.0 compliant DIGA blue-ray disk recorder.
It’s only 12cm wide so it is extremely portable.
Price: ¥31,080 (including tax)
Size: 120 × 40 × 200mm
Weight: 900g
Estimated recording time: 374 hours for Digital terrestrial broadcasting, 265 hours for BS digital broadcasting
A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty Hi-Yo Silver! In New York City on Wednesday evening, Disney unveiled 20 minutes of footage from Gore Verbinski’s upcoming summer blockbuster “The Lone Ranger,” starring Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the title law enforcer.
“I’m excited to be here and show it to you,” producer Jerry Bruckheimer told an audience that included journalists, industry workers and two “Lone Ranger” co-stars: Hammer and Ruth Wilson. “What you’re about to see is still very rough,” Bruckheimer continued, before showing two extended sequences from the film’s first act. “You’re getting in our kitchen before it’s fully cooked. We’re very confident about what we’re showing you, otherwise we wouldn’t be showing it to you.”
Bruckheimer stood in for Verbinski, who is still “working very hard trying to finish the movie,” according to the producer. Disney is set to release “The Lone Ranger” on July 3, less than three months from now. “It’s always a labor of love and you don’t want to give it up, so he’s not giving it up for a while,” Bruckheimer noted.
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Studies have shown yoga to be beneficial for both physical and mental health, but the biological mechanisms for why have been poorly understood — until now. New research from the University of Oslo has determined that yoga practices can have an almost immediate impact on gene expression, particularly in immune cells.
From previous research , we know that yoga is linked to not only lower stress levels, but also bone health, reduced back pain, relief from depression, and lower risk factors for heart disease, among other health benefits. However, the means by which these positive effects are enacted have been poorly understood.
The Norwegian study, published this month in the journal PLOS ONE, has found genetic evidence of yoga’s impact on the immune system. In the study, researchers examined 10 participants who underwent a week-long yoga retreat where they did meditation, yogic postures and yogic breathing exercises. Examining the participants’ blood before and after four-hour yoga sessions showed that the yoga practice changed the expression of 111 genes in circulating immune cells. In contrast, music and walking-based relaxation changed the expression of 38 genes.
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One thing for sure in the past few days would be this – HTC and Nokia cannot be the best of friends. It simply is not possible, as Nokia has brought HTC to task for using a microphone part which was originally meant for exclusive use in Nokia smartphones only, no thanks to an oversight by the folks over at STM Microelectronics who surprisingly enough in this day and age, has interpreted the contract that they signed with the Finnish smartphone manufacturer totally off the charts. Well, HTC has to source for a new microphone from someone else to include in their future HTC Ones that roll off the production line, but thankfully, this latest Nokia vs HTC patent claim case in Germany has been thrown out of the court, which gives HTC some breathing space in the meantime.
Basically, the District Court of Mannheim, Germany, dismissed a patent claim which focuses on the way an Android smartphone accesses the Internet through the Google Play Store. It so happens to be disguised as a straight shot at HTC, where in essence, it is targeting Google’s Android platform. This so happens to be a significant win for Google as well as other manufacturers who rely on similar architecture with their Android devices.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Nokia Unveiling New Lumia On May 14, Hear Alexander Graham Bell’s Voice From An 1885 Recording, 
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I would like to take a moment and apologize for anything snarky I’ve said about slow plots and poor writing and lack of suspense and surprise. Lies, lies, and more confessions are to come, guys.
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