In October 1962, America spent 13 days on the brink of nuclear war as Russia and the U.S. were in standoff over nuclear missiles the Soviets had sent to Cuba. President Kennedy and his cabinet resolved the crisis and the missiles were removed, but how? Learn all about it in a new app from the JFK Library, the National Archives, and AT&T. More »
With the presidential election only 2 weeks out, both campaigns are
fully cognizant of the impact of social media and how one meme can sway
opinion within minutes of it being uttered. At no other time in U.S.
history has the combination of messaging on TV and Twitter become so
intertwined. However instead of paying the hefty fees of a TV ad, the
presidential contenders incur less cost by purchasing Promoted Tweets and Trends, and ironically utilize the free medium of a TV
debate to drive the traffic.
In 1665, Samuel Pepys recalls in his diary that he stayed up till 2am one morning, reading a best-selling page-turner which he called “the most ingenious book I read in my life.” It wasn’t a book about history, or a play, or anything from the arts: it was the world’s first popular book about microscopic images. More »
Finnish site Taskumuro has produced an incredibly detailed behind-the-scenes history of Nokia’s wonderful, yet doomed, MeeGo OS. Talking to current and ex-employees of the phone maker, it learned that a tablet (codenamed Senna) and CDMA Nokia N9 for Verizon were both in development before Stephen Elop killed the project dead around the time of the “burning platform” memo. The report also claims that the company’s decision to develop Maemo (later MeeGo) in tandem with Symbian led to a developer turf-war, that the Swipe UI was cooked up at the 80/20 Design Studio in New York and the team had planned an Apple-esque strategy of releasing a single phone every year. If you’d like to learn more (and about how the original article was translated from Finnish into English in under 10 hours), head on down to the source links.
[Thanks, Masa and Justus]
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Nokia
Behind the scenes history of MeeGo reveals Nokia’s abandoned tablet and Verizon N9 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 10:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Google has been taking advantage of its sheer domination of search to act as a custodian for human culture, whether it’s famous artwork or wonders of the world. The most direct example of this archival impulse may have arrived today through the launch of historical exhibitions at the (virtual-only) Google Cultural Institute. Starting with 42 exhibitions, the project delves into major historical events with both a guided, mixed-media tour as well as the kind of free-form exploration you’d expect from Google, such as hunting down a specific person, place or time range. The focus helps Google tell both textbook-level history as well as private stories. Though small at present, the collection is taking further submissions that could lead to a much broader internet resource for learning — an expansion that we can’t help but embrace.
Filed under: Internet, Alt, Google
Google offers historical exhibitions, wields its search powers to tell untold stories (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 01:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Google’s Cultural Institute has had a shot in the arm, and is now host to a massive set of 42 online collections, which cover all manner of 20th and 21st century history. More »
With Iran’s nuclear capabilities escalating to an all-time high, it
appears Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has built his very own
bomb in retaliation. Except his high-octane ammunition was not of the world-annihilation kind.
Identified as the "Bibi Bomb," named after the PM’s nickname "Bibi," his
explosive came in the form of a cartoonish drawing to illustrate what is
perceived as Iran’s probability to create an atomic weapon. Used as a
prop at the UN General Assembly this past week, it was seen as Israel’s first preemptive salvo launched at its number-one enemy, Iran.
It’s a little disorienting, to say the least. The best way I can describe the addition of color to famous black and white photos is that it looks more like a frame from a movie scene, than snapshot of real life. A little unreal. More »
His bio
reads, "I aim to connect and promote great people who will make a
difference by collaborating than individually. . . and my goals are
eradication of poverty and a sustainable economy by 2015." One of his
fervent passions and ongoing initiatives is to help save the Taiji
dolphins from captivity and slaughter. Doesn’t sound like a candidate
for Japan’s harsh immigration-and-detention system, does it? Yet Michael
Q. Todd found himself taken into custody in the Shingu Jail on
September 16h for a lapsed visa.
He’s done it before. Back in 2010 when the Tea Party Republcans helped overtake the majority in the House of Representatives, Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart jumped into the debate ring with
his co-faux newscaster collaborator, Stephen Colbert. Touted as the "Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear,"
the event was well attended in DC. This go-around Stewart has targeted
Bill O’Reilly, the Fox News talk-show host to help iron out some of the
pressing issues of this year’s presidential election campaign.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
