Jul 02

Google bids pi for Nortel’s wireless patent stash, brings comedy to places you never thought possible

Posted in: Google, patents, Today's Chili, Wireless

Enabling surfers to play Pac-Man instead of actually initiating the search they showed up to complete? Taking a stroll through an episode of Burn Notice? Throwing internet on a magical Indian bus? All relatively normal things from one Google, Inc., but it seems that Larry Page’s deadpan demeanor is actually covering up quite the character. During the outfit’s recent attempt to outbid the likes of Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony for a sliver of Nortel’s coveted wireless patent portfolio, Reuters is reporting that Google’s plays were… less than conventional. Reportedly, the company bid $1,902,160,540 and $2,614,972,128, better known by mathematicians as Brun’s constant and Meissel-Mertens constant, respectively. Funnier still, Google decided to offer $3.14159 billion (you know, pi) when the bidding reached $3 billion. One of the unnamed sources summed up the bizarreness quite well:

“Google was bidding with numbers that were not even numbers. It became clear that they were bidding with the distance between the earth and the sun. One was the sum of a famous mathematical constant, and then when it got to $3 billion, they bid pi. Either they were supremely confident or they were bored.”

Or, perhaps they’re just supremely awesome?

Google bids pi for Nortel’s wireless patent stash, brings comedy to places you never thought possible originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 02 Jul 2011 20:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink New York Times  |  sourceReuters  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 02

Will Google Release A New Logo With The New GMail Logo?

Posted in: Google, Today's Chili

This article was written on February 10, 2006 by CyberNet.

Will Google Release A New Logo With The New GMail Logo?

Google recently changed their GMail logo with the release of the built-in chat feature. If you didn’t notice they also changed the font type of the GMail logo. The new font looks very slick when you compare it side-by-side with the old one. Above, you can see the Google logo that someone adjusted to match the new GMail logo. With the 10th anniversary coming up we might see a change in the main Google logo.

News Source: Digg

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jul 01

Screen Grabs: Google Street View car rolls on to set of Burn Notice

Posted in: Google, Television, Today's Chili, TV, usa

Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today’s movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dot com.

Screen Grabs: Google Street View car rolls on to set of Burn Notice

It looks like somebody’s got a new publicist. Sure, the Google Street View car’s received its fair share of bad press lately — what with all those invasion of privacy claims — but we wouldn’t feel too sorry for the little guy. A recent episode of Burn Notice saw the camera-equipped auto make its national TV debut. It probably won’t win an Emmy for its role — it didn’t have any speaking lines, after all — but at least it’s getting some positive attention.

[Thanks, Pat]

Screen Grabs: Google Street View car rolls on to set of Burn Notice originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 23:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcereddit  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 01

Cincinnati Bell brings Froyo to Milestone XT720, holds your hand through rooting process

Posted in: Android, froyo, Google, motorola, Today's Chili

Rooting is the dark side of the Android platform. It opens your phone up to a world of unsanctioned opportunities and typically has carriers swatting you back with illegal network usage fees. So you’ll understand how bizarre it is that Cincinnati Bell is offering Milestone XT720 users software and an instructional video how-to that boots Eclair out, for its Froyo successor. Making use of the widely-popular SuperOneClick app, intrepid owners will be walked through the usual root, back-up and ROM-flashing steps. But the regional carrier’s no dummy as the procedure ends with users unrooting their devices, freeing the network from unwanted congestion and reducing the risk of a bricked phone. Customers of this Ohio-based provider should check the source for a forbidden peek into Android’s underbelly.

Cincinnati Bell brings Froyo to Milestone XT720, holds your hand through rooting process originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 21:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Mobile Burn  |  sourceCincinnati Bell  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 01

Facebook, Hulu partnership accidentally clicks ‘security breach’ instead of ‘Like’

Posted in: Google, hulu, privacy, sale, security, Today's Chili

Even though there’s a For Sale sign in the window Hulu isn’t taking a break and today it unveiled a new partnership with Facebook to make its library of TV shows and movies more social. Adding Facebook Connect (competitor Netflix may be on the board, but it’s still working on adding the button) should let the social network log you in, customize things based on preferences from you and your friends, and share time-coded likes and comments. Unfortunately what actually happened for some users was that they were suddenly given access to someone else’s Hulu account, a problem documented by both AVRev and NewTeeVee. According to a second blog post, due to approximately 50 users being affected Hulu has shut down the program, required everyone to log in again and cranked privacy settings to the highest for anyone who logged in while it was on. Of course, with rumors from the LA Times that Google (along with Microsoft and Yahoo) is interested in purchasing the service, maybe they can get an invite to the Google+ party and forget the whole thing ever happened

Facebook, Hulu partnership accidentally clicks ‘security breach’ instead of ‘Like’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 18:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAVRev, NewTeeVee, Hulu Blog (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 01

WrapUp: SourceForge Resets 2 Million Passwords, Create Batch Files with a GUI, and More

Posted in: amazon, Gmail, Google, netflix, Today's Chili, WrapUp

This article was written on January 31, 2011 by CyberNet.

Welcome to the WrapUp by CyberNet. This is a collection of news stories, downloads, and tips that we have collected over the last few days, but never got around to writing about. Don’t forget to send in your own tips, or just leave a comment on this page if you think you’ve got something we should include.

–News–

sourceforge.jpgSourceForge Resets 2 Million Passwords After Getting Hacked
The SourceForge team sent out emails last week to all two million users explaining that there were password sniffing attempts on the site. They also said that they voluntarily reset passwords to prevent any accounts from being compromised, and users will need to reset passwords to get access to the site.

 

google censors bittorrent.jpgGoogle Censoring Some File Sharing Search Terms
When performing a Google search for words like “bittorrent”, “utorrent”, and “rapidshare” you may find that you are no longer presented with auto-complete and instant results. This is only mildly annoying though since normal search results are not affected.

 

zuckerberg eissenberg.jpgMark Zuckerberg Meets Jesse Eisenberg on Saturday Night Live
Mark Zuckerberg appeared on stage on Saturday Night Live along side Jesse Eisenberg, who portrayed Zuckerberg last year in the film called The Social Network.

 

amazon prime streaming.jpgAmazon to Provide Unlimited Video Streaming for Prime Subscribers?
An Engadget tipster provided a screenshot from Amazon showing that existing Amazon Prime members will get access to over 5,000 movies and TV shows through their on-demand streaming service.

 

netflix isps.jpgNetflix Performance on Various ISPs
Netflix has written a blog post that covers the streaming performance of 16 different ISPs in the United States and 4 in Canada. In the U.S. the top spots belong to Charter, Comcast, Cox, and Time Warner.

 

–Tips, Tutorials, and Reviews–

gmail notifications.jpgChrome Gets Desktop Notifications for Gmail and Chat
If you look in your Gmail settings you may see that there is a new section for controlling both chat and new mail notifications. As of right now these only work in Chrome, but they are hoping it will expand out to other browsers in the future.

 

wot.jpgWeb of Trust (WOT) Available for Opera
If you’re an Opera user that has been looking for a safer way to browser the web WOT is definitley worth checking out.

 

instascriber.jpgSubscribe to RSS Feeds in Instapaper with Instascriber
It’s possible to use Instapaper as a RSS feed reader thanks to an online service called Instascriber. With the service all articles will automatically be added to your Instapaper account where you can then read them at your leisure.

 

gmail unread icon.jpgGmail Gets Unread Message Favicon in Labs
A new Labs feature in Gmail will give you an auto-updating icon that displays how many unread messages you currently have.

 

dropbox desktop.jpgSync Your Desktop Using Dropbox
Using a little trickery you can get Dropbox to sync all the files and folders located on your desktop across all of your machines.

 

visual command line.jpgCreate Batch Files with a GUI
If you think creating batch files is a cumbersome process you may want to take a quick look at Visual Command Line, which is a tool to help you build batch files without needing to know all the special syntax.

 

–Downloads–

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jul 01

Google Takeout promises radical left wing-themed data extraction for Circles, more (video)

Posted in: Google, storage, Today's Chili, video
Google Takeout promises radical left wing-themed data extraction for Circles, more (video)

A team of khaki-clad Google engineers, calling itself the Data Liberation Front, has taken up the cause of freeing your data from the restrictive confines of El Goog’s servers. Google Takeout, as the program has been billed, rips your various stashes of data from Buzz, Circles, Picasa, Contacts, and your Google Profile, and quickly bundles them in a zip file for download. The resulting booty is yours to do with as you choose. Takeout was announced the same day Google’s latest social initiative sprung to life, offering an alternative to the notoriously hard to transfer data of its obvious competitor. But we’re sure that was just a coincidence. Right? A hilariously nerdy promo video awaits you after the break.

Continue reading Google Takeout promises radical left wing-themed data extraction for Circles, more (video)

Google Takeout promises radical left wing-themed data extraction for Circles, more (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 03:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Extremetech  |  sourceGoogle Takeout  | Email this | Comments

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Jun 30

Consortium including Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony snags Nortel patents for $4.5 billion

Posted in: Apple, breaking news, ericsson, Google, patent, patents, research in motion, ResearchInMotion, RIM, sony, Today's Chili, Wireless

News that Google had competition for a bundle of patents being sold by bankrupt Nortel Networks surfaced a week ago and now it’s official; a consortium of companies including Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony won the multi-day auction with a bid of $4.5 billion. According to Reuters, RIM contributed $770 million to the effort while Ericsson is on the hook for $340 million when the deal closes, which is expected to be in the third quarter of this year. What they’ll do with the over 6,000 patents and patent applications covering everything from wireless to optical to semiconductors isn’t immediately clear, but what won’t happen is Google using them as leverage to stave off the patent trolling hordes. Before any of that happens, the sale has to clear US and Canadian courts which is why a joint hearing has been scheduled for July 11th, so expect plenty of words — and probably a few more cross licensing agreements — from the involved parties by then.

Continue reading Consortium including Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony snags Nortel patents for $4.5 billion

Consortium including Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony snags Nortel patents for $4.5 billion originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 01:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceMarketwatch  | Email this | Comments

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Jun 30

Google says less is more: Gmail and Google Calendar to sport a more spartan look

Posted in: Email, Gmail, Google, Software, software update, SoftwareUpdate, Today's Chili, update

Does Gmail’s current look seem chaotic and claustrophobic to you? Are you overwhelmed by the myriad mailing options, labels, and chat windows? We aren’t either, but apparently Google sees things differently, and has an interface overhaul planned that’ll simplify things in your webmail world. It looks like the spacious and simple design language from Google + will carry over to all the web services proffered by the gang in Mountain View. For now, it’s available as a couple of simplistic skins to be tried on in the Themes tab of your Gmail settings, with more permanent changes rolling out in the coming months. Google Calendar is slated for a stripped-down wardrobe in the next few days as well, with El Goog promising more cosmetic and functional changes for both services later this summer. In the meantime, the company’s looking for feedback on its new interface so it can fix any issues folks find. We want your opinions, too, so tell us what you think of Google’s new threads in the comments below.

Google says less is more: Gmail and Google Calendar to sport a more spartan look originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceGmail Blog, Google Apps What’s New?, Google Calendar Help  | Email this | Comments

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Jun 30

Chromebook boards Virgin America, checks-in at Ace Hotel for summer vacation

Posted in: Chrome, chrome os, ChromeOs, cloud, Google, Today's Chili

How do you solve a consumer education problem like the Chromebook? You put it into the idle hands of urbanite travelers — that’s how. The fast-booting neither laptop, nor netbook entity with negligible storage and not-yet-defined purpose will find a temporary summer home at select Virgin America gates and New York’s Ace Hotel starting Friday. Jet-setters flying between San Francisco and either Chicago O’Hare, Dallas / Fort Worth, or Boston Logan can get an on-the-fly, marketing-fortified crash course in Chrome OS computing by visiting special ‘Chrome zones’ located near departure gates. Virgin’s also thrown in some free in-flight WiFi to ensure you test drive Google’s Cloud-dependent lap-dweller . And if you’re one of the millions of tourists planning on seeing the Big Apple in all its humid splendor, the Ace Hotel’s got an on-the-house stash that lobby lizards can use, but only guests can take out. But the promotional push doesn’t just stop there: all partners involved have bundled specialized travel-planning apps into the experience — sure to be ripe with cooler-than-thou recommendations. It’s a noble attempt by our search giant overlord to make a name for its portable computing entrant, and a helpful distraction from that armrest hog next to you.

Continue reading Chromebook boards Virgin America, checks-in at Ace Hotel for summer vacation

Chromebook boards Virgin America, checks-in at Ace Hotel for summer vacation originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceGoogle Chrome Blog  | Email this | Comments

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