US government will declassify Yahoo documents and court decision by September

DNP US government will declassify Yahoo FISA documents by September

Earlier this month, the US government was put in the hot seat with regards to the Justice Department’s 2008 battle with Yahoo over its request for user data. Yahoo fought the PRISM demand and ultimately lost; five years later, we’re finally going to be able to see the court decision that’s been kept under lock and key since then. The clock is ticking for the federal government, as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has set a September deadline for unveiling those classified documents. While this might be a victory for transparency, it’s important to remember that declassification doesn’t necessarily mean full disclosure. The government will still have the option to redact certain portions of text that it feels must remain classified. Considering its reticence to share the information in the first place, we can probably expect to see a liberal distribution of those pesky black rectangles.

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Via: GigaOM

Views for Google Photo Spheres expands usability with tagged maps

When Google first introduced Photo Spheres with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and the Galaxy Nexus, it was already envisioned that there would one day be a way to share these creations both easily and effectively between Android users. These Photo Spheres began to appear in Google+, a fun and rather simple place to share photos. Then game Google Maps integration – suddenly Android users were shaping the way the world was seen through their own Street View-like presentations.

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Finally there’s “Views”, Google’s newest way to present Photo Spheres, connecting Google Maps and Google+ in a new arena, one made specifically for this Street View-tuned universe. This social network extension of sorts works with Google login, making it just as easy to enter and use as it is to access Gmail or Google+.

“Have you ever wanted to show people what a place looks like (think natural wonders, landmarks, or your business), but found regular photos just don’t capture the feeling of being there? With Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) you can use Photo Sphere in your camera app to create immersive 360-degree panoramic photographs and submit them to Google Maps for everyone to explore.”

Unfortunately it would appear that past Photo Spheres are not retroactively included in this new interface – at least not for SlashGear Editor Chris Burns or other users we’ve spoken with. From here the Photo Sphere universe must expand.

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This system includes the Street View Gallery and it would appear that some Photo Sphere addicts have been at work filling up locations already – so it’s not a total start from zero. Have a tap on the “Explore” button at the top of the main Views site to see a full map of special locations – most popular Street View collections, that is, interspersed with additions from the public – like you!

VIA: Google Lat Long Blog


Views for Google Photo Spheres expands usability with tagged maps is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

How Eating the Right Bacteria Could Give Your Body Superpowers

How Eating the Right Bacteria Could Give Your Body Superpowers

No man is an island. If anything, every man is a sentient, mobile farm for the countless quadrillions of bacteria that colonize us. And by introducing the right bacteria into that equation, you can give your body one heck of a boost.

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HP launches Android-based SlateBook ‘PC’

HP SlateBook x2. HP is branding the SlateBook as an Android 'PC.'

(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

The SlateBook x2, Hewlett-Packard’s foray into the Android convertible market, is now available on the company’s Web site.

The tablet-laptop hybrid was slated to be available in August but has arrived early on HP’s U.S. sales site. HP also launched the SlateBook in Japan on Monday.

Listed as the HP SlateBook 10-h010nr x2, it is branded as a “PC,” even though it runs Android Jelly Bean — not Windows 8.

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The specs are pretty impressive. A 10.1-inch 1,920×1,200-pixel display (with a respectable 224 pixels per inch pixel density), a Tegra 4 quad-core processor (Nvidia’s latest … [Read more]

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Acura NSX teaser shows supercar getting frisky in the wet

If ever there was a good reason for Instagram and Vine, Acura teasing the latest NSX prototype doing wicked things around the track ahead of its showroom debut might be the very finest. The car company has already shown us the 2015 NSX sitting pretty at NAIAS 2013 back in January, but a pair of brief videos – which you can see after the cut – give a more aurally-pleasing glimpse of the supercar.

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The first video, shared on Vine, is six seconds of the mid-engined car running around a dry test track. It’s covered in what looks like a vinyl wrap with Acura Motorsports branding, but is otherwise unbadged, and we’re big fans of the blacked-out headlamps which give the car an aggressive, snaked-eyed look face on.

Arguably more exciting is the follow-up, a nine second Instagram video showing the Acura NSX having fun in the wet. That’s a good excuse to get the tail out round some test track corners and throw up some spray.

What we can’t quite get over is how great the NSX sounds: an angry V6 that, even though Honda has cooked up a new version of its electric support system for the car, doesn’t sacrifice the soundtrack.

Wet performance should benefit considerably from the Sport Hybrid SH-AWD system paired with the 3.5L V6 engine. Acura will equip the 2015 NSX with a total of three electric motors, one 30 kW motor hooked up to the V6, and 20kW motor apiece for each rear wheel. They’ll be switchable, either allowing for greater torque on the outside rear wheel while the inside wheel flips into regenerative mode to keep the battery topped up, or helping shift the car into all-wheel drive, with the third motor powering the front axel.

Alternatively, it can be used to top up the car’s battery while simultaneously driving the rear wheels. That should all come in handy when the NSX takes to the Mid-Ohio Raceway come August 4, for the Honda 200 IndyCar race.

Mass production, meanwhile, won’t begin until 2015, with Honda and Acura yet to confirm final pricing but describing the NSX as a “boutique” project.

VIA Autoblog


Acura NSX teaser shows supercar getting frisky in the wet is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Every Dog Needs This Magnet-Powered Flying Carpet

Every Dog Needs This Magnet-Powered Flying Carpet

The new skunkworks project from Swiss retailer MiCasa—MiCasa Lab—is all about giving scientists, engineers, and crazy people a safe space to work on the types of projects that might otherwise go unsupported due to a lack of "practicality" or "commercial viability" or "any reason for existence whatsoever." And thank god it does—otherwise we might never have had the wonderful, life-affirming pleasure of looking upon this tiny-hat-wearing puppy atop a magic carpet.

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Amazon’s Updated Kindle App Is a Tiny F U to Apple’s App Store

Amazon's Updated Kindle App Is a Tiny F U to Apple's App Store

Amazon just released a new update to its Kindle app for iOS, and it basically just told Apple to go f*** itself in the process. The Apple App Store bible absolutely forbids in-app purchases unless the company is willing to give Apple a 30 percent cut, but Amazon has finally found a way around this little speed bump: likely-soon-to-be-banned free samples.

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Panasonic KX-PRX120 offers Ice Cream Sandwich on a cordless phone

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It’s easy to lose perspective on such things living in a city like New York, but people do indeed still have landlines at home. And really, in a world so dominated by the smartphone, why not get one that sort of splits the difference between the two? Granted, the Panasonic KX-PRX120 has the kind of specs that would make us shake our collective heads were it positioned as a standard handset, but as far as cordless phones go, it’s, well, certainly more exciting than what most people having sitting on their kitchen counters. The phone has a 3.5-inch TFT touchscreen display, a microSD slot, a WIFI / Bluetooth interface and an optional answering machine. The device runs Android 4.0 and gives you access to the Google Play store, so you can use it to Skype with help from its front-facing camera. The KX-PRX120 should run around £169 ($259).

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Backyard Mech Made from Truck Parts

If you have a ton of old truck parts, don’t just throw them in the yard and call it redneck decor, build something special. Something like this awesome mech. This one was built from an old broken down Nissan truck and a ton of other metal scraps.

mech nissan
It stands 12 feet tall and now guards this guy’s house day and night. The whole thing took about a month to complete. Every Nissan should just come out of the factory like this. This guy has an eye for detail. Just look at all of those guns.

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I bet his neighbors keep their distance. No one wants to wake this giant.

[via Obvious Winner]

Here’s How Designers Reimagined the Cover Art For 50 Classic Novels

Here's How Designers Reimagined the Cover Art For 50 Classic Novels

Classic novels tend to have equally classic cover art. For example, when you think of The Great Gatsby, your mind likely goes to a pair of half-closed eyes floating over a glittering, cobalt city. But what if designers were given a chance to rethink these covers entirely? That’s the concept behind Recovering The Classics, a site that’s crowdsourcing new art for 50 iconic books.

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