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You love Star Trek. You love Benedict Cumberbatch. And you’ll love this new teaser for J.J. Abrams’ next sci-fi epic, Star Trek Into Darkness. Enjoy.
from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/WonSg1 -
If there’s one thing the Netherlands is famous for, it’s tulips. Photographer Normann Szkop has documented the colorful fields of Anna Paulowna, a town at the northern tip of the country’s North Holland region. To capture the 100-plus image set, Szkop took to the skies, revealing the millions of flowers that dot the landscape, forming an enormous patchwork quilt of color. Claython Pender, the pilot that helped the photographer to capture the aerial images, documents the journey on his personal blog, and Szkop has uploaded all the photos to Flickr.
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Tomorrow marks the debut of House of Cards, the latest original series from Netflix. All season one episodes will be available to watch instantly, so subscribers wil be theoretically be able to stream the entire thing in a single weekend. In fact, if you’re a Silver member of Xbox Live, that’s probably not a bad idea. For three days only, Microsoft has announced that it will be “unlocking” the Netflix app for non-paying gamers.
Typically the Xbox 360 Netflix app is available exclusively to Xbox Live Gold members, which means users need to pay two subscription fees to stream content on the console. Clearly Netflix wants as many eyes as possible on its prized new show this weekend — the company has reportedly sunk $100 million into its…
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CPR will save someone’s life in a matter of seconds. Tilt your head back and look at the clouds to stop a nosebleed. If an animal spots you in the woods it will chase you relentlessly and maul you. Movies are great at telling stories, but they’re horrible at teaching basic survival skills. Here are five of the ways they’ve taught us horribly wrong. More »
from Lifehacker http://bit.ly/XVpoCU -
There’s no “right” way to play SimCity, but for some of us, making our virtual realms look like a real-world place is an exciting challenge. Tested has taken the SimCity beta and applied popular planning schemes to the virtual city-building simulator to see which is most effective for growth. Will the suburban-urban grid, radiating sprawl, or cul-de-sac win out? The results may surprise you.
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Francisco Sáed arrived in Silicon Valley last January. He had just dropped out of college and, like many 21-year-old app developers, the Chilean national was teeming with ambition — wide-eyed and ready to pursue his dreams of becoming an entrepreneur.
For Sáed, the trip meant everything. He had been dabbling in side projects and web ventures throughout his four years as an engineering student in Santiago, Chile, but Nixter — an app that shares crowdsourced data on hot nightlife destinations — was the first to gain real traction. He and his three partners had already raised some $100,000 in early funding, and in 2011, received an award from CORFO, Chile’s government-run incubator program.
It was because of this award that…
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Problems with security seem to pop up all the time—from an easy to hack router to apps that leak your data into the world. Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to protect yourself. Here’s how to do it. More »
from Lifehacker http://bit.ly/Wfc5R8 -
(Cross posted to Official Google Blog)
Twenty years ago, we used paper maps and printed guides to help us navigate the world. Today, the most advanced digital mapping technologies—satellite imagery, GPS devices, location data and of course Google Maps—are much more accessible. This sea change in mapping technology is improving our lives and helping businesses realize untold efficiencies.
The transformation of the maps we use everyday is driven by a growing industry that creates jobs and economic growth globally. To present a clearer picture of the importance of the geo services industry, we commissioned studies from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Oxera. What we found is that maps make a big economic splash around the world.
In summary, the global geo services industry is valued at up to $270 billion per year and pays out $90 billion in wages. In the U.S., it employs more than 500,000 people and is worth $73 billion. The infographic below illustrates some examples of the many benefits of maps, whether it’s improving agriculture irrigation systems or helping emergency response teams save lives.Click the image for a larger version
1.1 billion hours of travel time saved each year? That’s a lot of time. Also, consider UPS, which uses map technology to optimize delivery routes—saving 5.3 million miles and more than 650,000 gallons of fuel in 2011. And every eight seconds, a user hails a taxi with Hailo, which used maps and GPS to deliver more than 1 million journeys in London alone last year. Finally, Zipcar uses maps to connect more than 760,000 customers to a growing fleet of cars in locations around the world.
Because maps are such an integral part of how we live and do business, the list of examples goes on and on. That’s why it’s important we all understand the need to invest in the geo services industry so it continues to grow and drive the global economy. Investments can come from the public and private sectors in many forms—product innovation, support of open data policies, more geography education programs in schools and more.
We’re proud of the contributions that Google Maps and Earth, the Google Maps APIs and our Enterprise solutions have made to the geo services industry and to making maps more widely available, but there’s a long way to go. To learn more about the impact of the maps industry, see the full reports.
Posted by Brian McClendon, VP Google Geo
from Google LatLong http://bit.ly/WQsZmB -
Today, a group of four senators from both major parties introduced the Immigration Innovation Act, which if passed would boost the number of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) visas available to foreigners — an immigration reform that tech companies in the US have been lobbying for in recent years. The bill would also direct fees obtained from the program to fund STEM-related educational programs in the US. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Marco Rubio (R-FL) proposed the bill, and both Republicans and Democrats spoke of the need for highly skilled immigrants. The bill would increase the number of H-1B visas and green cards available to skilled candidates, and would…
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You’ve probably heard people tell you should back up your computer, or you should have more secure passwords. Good tech habits aren’t just for geeks—they can save you money, keep your personal information safe, and help you avoid frustration down the road. Here are ten tech habits everyone should have. More »
from Lifehacker http://bit.ly/V8Nk7h
