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Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Facebook Email Shenanigans Invade Users' Address Books
Facebook's email drama continues to unfold a week after it was revealed that the social network unilaterally switched its users' publicly posted email listings to their "@facebook.com" addresses. More recently, users have begun complaining that Facebook's mobile app seems to be swapping out information contained in their smartphones' address books.
Monday, 2 July 2012
High-tech hunt for Earhart's plane?to begin
Components of Amelia Earhart's plane might have floated for weeks in the waters of an uninhabited island in the southwestern Pacific republic of Kiribati, according to new analysis of a photograph taken three months after the disappearance of the glamorous aviator on July 2, 1937, during a record attempt to fly around the world at the equator.
Shot by British Colonial Service officer Eric R. Bevington in October 1937, during an expedition to assess the suitability for future settlement and colonization of Nikumaroro, a deserted island between Hawaii and Australia, the grainy photo has prompted a new expedition to find pieces of Earhart's long-lost Lockheed Electra aircraft.
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More science news from msnbc.com
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Buzz over Higgs boson hits new heights
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Has the Higgs boson finally been detected? It's almost gotten to the point that if a discovery of some sort doesn't come out of next week's update on the multibillion-dollar subatomic search, it'll be a big surprise.
- Enjoy the long weekend, if only for a second
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- Rock Center video: Egypt's Tomb Raiders
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Buzz over Higgs boson hits new heights
"We will depart Honolulu on July 3rd aboard the University of Hawaii oceanographic research ship R/V Ka Imikai-O-Kanaloa. In about eight days we should get to Nikumaroro, where we will carry out a deep-water search for the wreckage," Ric Gillespie, executive director of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), told Discovery News.
The 26-day expedition and its findings will be captured by a film crew from Discovery Channel and aired as a documentary in August.
Archival research and a number of artifacts unearthed on Nikumaroro during nine previous archaeological expeditions have provided strong, circumstantial evidence for a castaway presence on the coral atoll.
Gillespie believes that Earhart's twin-engined plane did not crash in the Pacific Ocean, running out of fuel somewhere near her target destination Howland Island. Instead, he thinks Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan made an emergency landing on Nikumaroro's flat coral reef. There, they would have survived as castaways "for a matter of weeks, possibly more," said Gillespie.
The hunt for the plane wreckage will rely on robots and multi-beam sonar capable of mapping the seafloor at depths of almost 7 miles. The action will be on the reef slope off the west end of Nikumaroro, where waters can reach 5,000 feet. This is the area shown in Bevington's picture.
"The photo shows the western end of the island and the wreck of the British steamer SS Norwich City, which went aground on the island's reef in 1929," Gillespie said.
"But on the left side of the frame there is something else: an apparent man-made protruding object which is hard to explain in that spot," Gillespie said.
"The photo is wallet-size and, in the original print, the object of interest is smaller than a grain of rice and easily missed," he added.
Indeed, the mysterious object went unnoticed until 2010, when TIGHAR forensic imaging specialist Jeff Glickman spotted it while reviewing the original copy-negative.
"When we plotted the location, we realized it was in the same place where, in 1999, a former resident of Nikumaroro (a colony was established on the island in December of 1938 and lasted until 1963), told us of seeing debris in 1940. Her father, the island carpenter, told her it was the wreckage of an airplane," Gillespie said.
A high-resolution scan of the original print, now kept at the Rhodes House Library at Oxford, U.K., allowed Glickman to carry out a more detailed analysis of the photo.
"There is an object on the reef, but from the picture we can?t definitely prove what it is. However, one interpretation is consistent with four components that existed on Earhart?s Lockheed Electra Model 10E Special," Glickman said presenting his findings last month at an Amelia Earhart conference.
According to Glickman, the object in the image could be a composition made from the upside-down landing gear of Earhart's plane: a floating wheel, the fender, the strut and a worm gear.
"Imagery analysts at the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, who examined the photo, agreed with Glickman?s analysis. All the four elements appeared to match the shape and dimensions of the components in the landing gear of a Lockheed Electra," Gillespie said.
Previous expeditions have confirmed that there is nothing remaining in the location on the reef edge where the object appears in the 1937 Bevington photos.
"However, there are grooves in the reef surface where debris could easily have once been caught," Gillespie said.
He admits that there are several possible scenarios that could defeat TIGHAR's efforts to find the wreckage. For example, the plane could have floated away for miles before sinking, or it could have broken up, sunk close to the island and been buried by underwater landslides.
The underwater search will begin with a mapping of the general area with multi-beam sonar. Targets will be identified using high-resolution, side-scan sonar mounted on an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). Finally, a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) with powerful lights and high-definition video cameras will be used to investigate the targets.
"If we are fortunate enough to find whatever remains of the airplane, we will get imagery and photographs and then prepare a recovery expedition," Gillespie said.
"Our hope is that finding identifiable pieces of the plane will help make it possible to do further archaeology on shore to learn more about Amelia's last days," he said.
? 2012 Discovery Channel
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48045456/ns/technology_and_science-science/
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Paraguay isolated over president's ouster
The trade group Mercosur suspended Paraguay's membership after Fernando Lugo was impeached last week, though it stopped short of sanctions. Paraguay's absence has paved the way for Venezuela to be admitted.
South American heads of state dashed the hopes that Paraguay's president, ousted in a fast-track impeachment last week, will be reinstated as the country's chief executive.
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While two regional groups on Friday unanimously condemned a lack of democracy in Paraguay after Fernando Lugo was removed from office in a matter of hours, and they banned the country from regional forums until new presidential elections are held next year, they failed to impose economic sanctions on Paraguay, giving the architects of Mr. Lugo's ouster little incentive to backtrack.
Defending the decision, Buenos Aires-based political scientist Atilio Boron says it was the correct move. ?The suspension leaves Paraguay on the margin of the legislative and executive bodies within Mercosur and Unasur,? he explains. ?Thankfully the presidents decided against economic sanctions. The aim isn?t to punish all Paraguayans.?
In special meetings of the trade bloc Mercosur and the political bloc Unasur, in Mendoza, Argentina, Friday, leaders from across the region revoked Paraguay's membership from both bodies until presidential elections next year.?
Think you know Latin America? Take our geography quiz.
Last week?s impeachment process in Paraguay ? which many congressmen and analysts in the country have supported as part of a legal process enshrined in the Constitution to tackle a president ?performing poorly" ? was widely condemned across political spectrum, from Bolivia's Evo Morales to Chile's right-leaning Sebasti?n Pi?era.?Many commentators referred to it as an institutional coup.
But it has been the left-leaning leaders of South America, headed by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, that have most vociferously condemned the events in Paraguay, rankling Paraguayan leaders. Now Venezuela, which had been agitating to join Mercosur - the trade grouping that comprises Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and, until yesterday, Paraguay ? has been invited in. The proposal had been repeatedly blocked by Paraguay's right-leaning parliament. Paraguay?s suspension from the group cleared the way for the oil-rich nation?s fast-track membership by the end of next month.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/O_819_M_sgQ/Paraguay-isolated-over-president-s-ouster
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Fake Craigslist ad for nude photos was 'prank'
3 hrs.
lt was meant as a "prank,"?but it wound up terrifying the victim: A male "friend" placed a Craigslist ad in a woman's name, along with graphic photos of her, inviting men to respond in kind and?send porn photos of themselves to the woman.
The woman, a resident of Chesterfield Township, Michigan, received more than 80 text messages within the first hour the ad was placed online, she told police.
"The person who posted it thought it would be funny, and didn't think it would get that many responses," Detective Sergeant Deron Myers of the Chesterfield Police told msnbc.com.
After the victim contacted police, they got a search warrant for Craigslist?to find out the name of the person who put the ad online. When the victim learned it was a friend of hers, she declined to press charges, Myers said. And the "friend" was appropriately remorseful, he said.
"It got way more attention than he thought" it would, Myers said. In the end,?"All parties just kind of shrugged it off as a tasteless joke."
Not all such incidents work out that way. Last year, Tracy Wilder, of Florida,?started getting knocks on her door, emails and text messages after the wife of Wilder's ex-husband placed a steamy?Craigslist ad in Wilder's name, giving out her phone number and inviting men to come to Wilder's home, with children living there.
The experience was "absolutely appalling,"?Wilder told TODAY's Ann Curry, last summer. (That video interview is below.)
??Via Patch.com?
Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on Facebook,?and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.
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Sunday, 1 July 2012
blaine - How A Dating Coach Can Help You Build Muscle ... - JCD ...
Today?s article is specifically for a group of guys I?ve been conversing with over the last few years through email, internet forums, and in passing at the gym. Today I plan to address some problems many beginners face when it comes to getting big and strong.
Strangely, none of these problems are physical. These guys are all fully capable, and in good health. The issue seems to lie deep within their psyche.
I?ve touched on some of this before in my Former Fat Boy Syndrome article, so if you found that one of value, you?ll surely resonate with today?s message.
WARNING: Some of the material I?m referencing (mainly the RSD video by Owen Cook) may be offensive to some of you. Just because I?m referencing this video doesn?t mean I agree with everything in it.
In saying that, if you?re easily offended, you probably want to refrain from watching the video and just pay attention to my article. I didn?t have to include the video, but the concepts Owen discusses about success and human nature need to be communicated and he does a very good job of that.
Background Info About The Video I?m Referencing Today
The video title is ?The Truth About Success 2 ? Execution, Learning From Failure, Not Being A Lazy Slug ? it?s a 2 hour presentation by Owen Cook, Co-Founder and Producer of Real Social Dynamics, the world?s largest dating coaching company.
Now I want you to know that we?re not talking about dating, picking up women or seduction techniques in this article. My website is not the proper avenue to teach guys how to build confidence and charisma when it comes to approaching women.
However, the reason I?m referencing this video is because many of the topics Owen discusses directly correlate with success in general. Owen Cook is a hard-working entrepreneur, and someone whom I have much respect for when it comes to achieving success in his respective field.
Owen travels the world teaching guys how to be confident in approaching women, and building relationships. Over the years, I?ve watched his talks and lectures evolve from teaching those how to be successful with women to lessons about achieving success, and living an enriched life.
Who Is This Article For?
- Are you a dude who wants to get big and strong, but doesn?t know where to start?
- Do you have an irrational fear of gaining body fat that keeps you from making any progress in the gym?
- Do you keep making excuses about why you can?t build the physique you want?
- Do you constantly change your mind about building muscle and losing body fat?
If this sounds like you, keep reading.
The primary roadblocks we?ll be discussing today are:
- Information Overload
- Irrational Fear of Fat Gain
- Making Excuses and NOT TAKING ACTION
Free Advice Is Hardly Ever Taken Seriously
A few weeks ago, I got an email from a reader who I?d been conversing with since August 2011. He filled out a consultation request and it read the following:
- Name is Matt
- 17 yrs old
- 5?5?
- 140lbs (body fat: 14-16%)
- I squat 230?5, bench 165?5, deadlift 305?5
- I want to lose body fat and I?m extremely experienced with intermittent fasting
My first response was similar to this:
Hey Matt, First of all, you?re 17 and 140lbs ? you likely have no business dieting and how do you know so much about fasting? When I was your age, I didn?t even know what a calorie was, let alone intermittent fasting.
We went onto discuss exactly why I didn?t feel he should be dieting. And my reasoning was twofold.
- He was too young to think about dieting, especially at his body weight of 140lbs.
- He?s at a prime time in his life when he can grow rapidly if he?ll just lift heavy stuff and eat his mama?s home cooking.
We went back and forth about working together, but I was adamant he mustn?t diet! Needless to say we lost contact. No way was I going to let this kid do anything other than train heavy and stuff his face under my supervision.
So now we can fast-forward about 9 months. By this time, RogLaw and I?d begun our FitSmart podcast and had been discussing various topics about training, and nutrition.
We got to chatting about free advice and regardless of how great it is, no one ever takes it seriously.
It turns out Matt was listening to this episode.
So I get an email toward the end of May from Matt again. This time it was different ? he mentioned the podcast he listened to and felt obligated to give me an update. I?m sure glad he did.
I then learned after our exchange, he?d contacted my friend and mentor, Alan Aragon, who eventually gave him almost the exact advice I did: eat big, get strong and gain some body weight.
In his email, Matt shared with me that he finally took our advice, decided to get out of his own way, so to speak, begin eating well and training hard.
In about 12 weeks, he went from 140lbs to 160lbs, and added a significant amount of strength during this time frame (all numbers in pounds):
- Bench: 160X5 ? 205X8
- Overhead Press: 105X5 ? 135X8
- Deadlift: 305X5 ? 380X3, 350X5,
- Weighted Chins: BW ? BW+25X8
Turns out he didn?t gain much body fat in the process, and looks fuller, and thicker than he did before. But the best part of his transformation is not only that of his physique, but of his mind. He was hesitant at first to take our advice, forget about the fat-gain paranoia, and do what it takes.
Here?s how he ended the initial update email ? a thank-you for pushing him to do what we knew was best for him. The bold is my emphasis.
All I know is, for the first time in my life, I?ve built a physique that I?m genuinely proud of, and I can?t tell you just how awesome it feels. I know it?s nothing spectacular compared to most fitness junkies, but just having a respectable physique compared to most of my peers has given me a newfound confidence that has carried over to every area of my life.
Just wanted to say thanks again to people like yourself who helped push me in the right direction, even if it took awhile to get through my thick head.
Now there?s one thing I want you to remember here: THIS GUY IS 17 YEARS OLD. It?s pretty rare for dudes outside of athletic programs to take the advice of those older than them when it comes to strength training, and muscle gain.
Why?
Mainly because there is so much information out there ? much of which is so conflicting when comparing sources. Jason Ferruggia mentioned a few weeks ago that in order to be successful, you should probably get your information from only a few credible sources. The more books, articles, and resources you read, the more likely you are to find contrasting viewpoints.
Now there?s nothing wrong with having a broad knowledge base, but when you?re easily influenced, we must try to minimize the distractions.
Matt and I?s email conversation spanned over many exchanges and we eventually got on the phone for an interview. So, if you?re a young guy who?s ever been worried about fat gain, or afraid that you?re not doing the right things when it comes to training and eating for size, please listen to this interview I did with Matt.
We go over many of the pitfalls not only young guys, but beginners experience in general. Some of the topics discussed are the following:
- Starting out ? how he used to curl more than he could bench
- How his irrational fears crippled his efforts
- Why his obsession with his physique made him smaller and weaker and how it affected other aspects of his life
- How a few months of making no progress turned into a YEAR of no progress
- How he finally took action, let go, and flipped the switch to experience success in strength and muscle gains
- His dealing with the daily mental battles
- What adding strength and size to his frame did for his confidence
- Why he recommends to stop focusing on body composition and all the tiny details
Be sure to listen to his short interview (around 25 minutes): You can download the audio file by right clicking here and hitting ?save-as? or you can use the player below.
And now, you?re about to learn how a dating coach can help you experience massive success with your strength and muscle-building efforts.
And get this: he doesn?t even lift!
?Success is about focusing on what you want ? not focusing on what you don?t want.? ? Owen Cook, RSD
This principle applies to anything you want in life ? lots of money, healthy relationships, a significant other, etc. In this case, you probably want to be bigger and stronger than you currently are.
If you?re reading here, I don?t have to tell you that strength and mass is a product of eating well and getting stronger over time.
There?s NO other way around it.
In the video (36:30) Owen is talking about one of the simplest principles of success ? focusing on what you want, and not what you don?t want.
He?s teaching the guys that success is a narrow road, in which you must have a focused set of behaviors. As you walk along this narrow road, you?re going to mess up ? and to be successful, you have to keep course-correcting along the way.
Owen makes a great point where he essentially says don?t focus on the short-term results; focus on the behaviors that are conducive to success.
What does this matter? Because those who have been successful at getting big and strong all follow a certain set of proven processes and behaviors.
What are the proven processes and behaviors???
I think this is pretty apparent, but those who are big and strong all have a few things in common. They stuck to a well-designed strength or bodybuilding program for a matter of months (6-12) before making any major changes.
They ate above maintenance (more calories than they burned daily) and pushed their body weight up. They focused on strength gains and performance goals.
If you need a routine, or need to know how this process works, check out the how to build muscle guide for beginners. Also, check out the JCDFitness beginners muscle-building routine (free PDF download).
Let me give you an example of two guys.
The focused guy knows the path to success. He?s following a proven routine, and eating well each day. He?s been keeping record of his intake and his workouts.? Each week he?s getting stronger and noticing that his clothes are fitting tighter.
Despite the fact that his abs are not as pronounced as they were a few weeks ago doesn?t phase him. Why? He knows that his hard work is paying off. Plus, he?s enjoying his newfound confidence as his strength soars.
The scattered guy switches up his routine every other week. He continually changes his mind about dieting and bulking because he feels that he?s gaining fat too rapidly every time he eats over maintenance. He reads every piece of fitness info he can get his hands on and the differing opinions mess with his head.
His emotions control his decisions, which keeps him from sticking to any type of plan long enough to see results. He?ll probably continue this cycle for many months, and possibly years with no results to show for his haphazard efforts.
The difference between these guys is an understanding of the processes and behaviors that govern success.
Jahed Momand, a friend and accomplished weightlifter, who is now starting to coach others, says it best with the following quote:
?The most important thing you can do is keep going, and realize that your results, on any one day, are irrelevant. There will be ups and there will be downs.
Consistently getting under the bar is what we want, so ignore the daily results. Detach your ego from the outcome of any one particular day. The only thing that matters is you showed up.
Daily results are irrelevant in the long run, because it is the accumulation of your efforts and habits over time that determine what you get out of any diet or training program.??
? Jahed Momand
This is Matt?s story. He learned how to control his mind and his behaviors in a way that lead him to success.
Take home point:
Stick to the behaviors and processes that produce results ? discard everything else.
Now that we know there are indeed proven behaviors we must follow, let?s look at some of the pitfalls, along with ways to avoid them.
?Our biology tells us to maximize value and minimize time and effort? ? Owen Cook
At about 29:30, Owen says this phrase above, and every time I hear it I stop and think for a moment. We?ve grown as a species to make things easier. We want the greatest rewards without much effort.
This is not a bad thing entirely because technology has greatly improved our lives. I love writing articles on my iMac, as opposed to using a pencil and paper.
However, our current age also makes us lazy and susceptible to falling for voodoo marketing. Remember when I wrote Fitness Claims and Marketing ? How Our Emotions Control Us? This is a perfect example. Who doesn?t want abs in 7 minutes? Or who doesn?t want the fast track to muscle gain when a supplement ad claims you can add 10lbs of muscle in the next 5 days?
The old mantra is true: nothing worth having ever comes easily. It never works that way, and if it did, no one would appreciate success. Owen even says later in the video that he wouldn?t want to win the lottery because it would take away his drive and vigor to teach and build his business.
Don?t fall into the trap of believing this is an easy road. It?s not and I can tell you from experience. Don?t make this mistake.
Combat Your Irrational Fear of Fat Gain
?Our brains will rationalize almost anything that it thinks is in it?s best interest.? ? Owen Cook
In this segment of the video (about 1:09) Owen is telling the guys how some people get caught in this funk of laziness. In context, many guys are afraid to go out and initiate new friendships or relationships with girls. As a result, they will make excuses and come up with reasons why they can?t go out.
In short, their brains are making these excuses real to them, which causes them to develop an irrational belief that they can?t go out and thus, be successful meeting new women.
The same thing happens to the beginners who were either Former Fat Boys or the skinny-fat guys who have a death-like fear of adding an ounce of body fat. So what happens?
They typically under eat, and train too much in hopes of preventing any fat gain. But what typically happens is they get weaker and their body remains the same. Months and years go by without a single noticeable difference in their physique.
And it?s all based on a very irrational fear of adding slabs of body fat when over eating in the name of strength and size gains.
Here?s something you must realize.
No matter what, if you?re 150lbs and eating 1500 calories daily with the hopes of not adding any body fat, YOU WILL NOT REACH YOUR GOAL of a bigger, stronger physique.
This may sound a drastic approach to many, but I can assure you ? many people succumb to these types of behaviors over the irrational fear of fat gain.
First of all, if you?re eating well (at least 14-15xbody weight in kcals ? much more for some guys) and training 3-4 times per week, you?ll make strength gains and even build some muscle. You may have to eat more depending on how active you are.
But chronically eating much less than maintenance will forever keep you small and weak.
Keep doing this and YOU WILL FAIL.
?Failure is the default of not taking action.? ? Owen Cook
At 34:30, Owen is giving a talk about how you need to have a good mindset, and a hope that things will work out in your favor, but without a plan and actually taking action toward your goals, failure is in your future.
He even goes onto say that we must have a rational paranoia (I love this) of failure.
So what?
It means that you must be so afraid of not making progress that you do everything in your power to avoid looking back a year later to see no changes in your physique.
How will that make you feel knowing you wasted a year or longer because you couldn?t get it together?
It?s going to suck. You?re gonna be pissed that you didn?t listen to others. You?ll be frustrated that you couldn?t shut off the voice in your head telling you that you?re going to get fat if you eat a caloric surplus.
Let me elaborate ? I found this thread I found on Reddit and it?s a classic case.
As you see in the screenshot, he?s freaked out about eating over maintenance due to recently losing a lot of fat. Now, I don?t know this guy, but my hunch tells me he?ll let his irrational fear of gaining back the fat keep him from making any positive changes to his physique with regards to muscle gain.
He?ll probably start out training, and eating well, but as soon as he thinks he sees a hint of fat gain, he?ll cut calories drastically and begin an endless cycle that will result in failure.
Okay, so enough preaching. I hope you get the point. If you don?t take action, and control your thoughts, you?re going to lose at this game. And you will be very, very disappointed.
Plan Of Action
I came across a short post by Ryan Holiday the other night and it fits perfect with this theme. It?s titled Take Little Steps.
And here are your little steps to success.
- Pick a training routine and stick with it for at least 6 months ? I don?t care what you choose as long as it?s within the realm of being good for a beginner. Think of Starting Strength, Stronglifts, Syatt?s routine or mine.
- Commit to eating well for the entire time you?re training ? follow the guides Jordan and I laid out in the Muscle Building Guide for Beginners.
- Cut your fitness reading down significantly ? pick 5-10 sources of your favorite info and read a little from those daily (maybe an article or two per day). This will ensure fitness info doesn?t flood your brain 24/7.
- Focus on the journey, not the destination ? try to have fun every day and don?t let one or two bad sessions determine how you feel about where you?re headed. Realize that you?ve set a goal for yourself and that you?ll reach this goal by taking small, daily steps to eat and train well.
- Cut out the thoughts that do not serve you ? Something else Jahed introduced me to was self-talk that can instantly change your state. If you find yourself pondering a thought that is not serving you, stop and say to yourself ?this thought does not serve me,? or ?this thought is not productive.? And then forget about it.
- Develop a very real and rational paranoia that you will fail ? Don?t dwell on the negative thoughts, but remember this: if you don?t take these steps daily, you will fail ? don?t look back a year from now wishing you?d have taken my advice in this article.
Go forth. Eat, lift and be merry.
Source: http://jcdfitness.com/2012/06/how-a-dati
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Battle plan: Apple vs. Microsoft vs. Google
12 hrs.
In the last few weeks,?the tech industry's?biggest players have shown off their newest software and hardware, all aiming to make big moves before the end of the year. Apple has iOS 6 and the new MacBook Pros, Microsoft unveiled the new Surface and is preparing Windows 8 for launch, and Google has shown off the new version of Android and entered the tablet game.
It should be much more exciting than last year. What did 2011 have? A spec bump on the iPhone and iPad, a slow warming to the Windows Phone ecosystem, and the?lackluster launches of a social network and (failed)?desktop platform?by Google. By comparison, 2012 should be a battle royale.
(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal, but that doesn't grant reporters privileged access to Microsoft products and services, nor does it influence their opinion of them.)
Let's look at what each company has in store:
Apple
Big changes are afoot this year: a truly new iPhone is expected, sure, but June's announcements already telegraphed their intentions: a return to the high end, and freezing out Google.
After aggressively pricing almost all their hardware via partnerships and ruthless negotiation with manufacturers, Apple has managed to push its products down from luxury to the mainstream. The iPhone is now considered a standard device, and the MacBook Air, once incredibly overpriced, is now setting the bar for PC laptops.
This has given Apple the market share to start selling extremely expensive things again, starting with the Retina?MacBook Pro. Soon there will likely be a 13-inch version as well, and they will both sell like hotcakes?? even at around $2,000 per unit. The cheapest new iPhone will probably still cost $200 to consumers, but only because Verizon and AT&T will have no choice but to subsidize it.
iOS 6 is on its way as well, and it's evident that Apple is using its mobile platform as both carrot and stick. Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and more are getting the red carpet treatment, integrated right into the OS. But Google is getting the cold shoulder as Apple moves to its own maps and tries to get users to ask Siri instead of Google.
What could go wrong? If Google's?Android OS?was more mature and more evenly upgraded (that is, less "fragmented"), it?could pose a threat to Apple's near-monopoly in the hugely profitable paid-apps ecosystem. And Apple is still lagging behind in cloud services, losing out on many fronts ? including?file sharing and storage, streaming media,?email and Web apps ??to Google, Microsoft, and smaller companies. Apple can only keep you attached to their services if those services are competitive, and the competition is moving faster than they are. And be honest: iOS and OS X are both starting to look a bit old.
Microsoft
The year?2012 will be looked on as a watershed moment in the company's history: Windows 8 is the biggest change ever made to the world's most popular OS, and opinions are in no way unanimous on the new look and feel. But Microsoft hopes to build on their success in the living room and make Windows and Xbox an ecosystem families and friends can live in, not just a set of isolated products.
The Surface tablet is Microsoft's way of telling the world that it's ready to move on from the?desktops and laptops that put the company where it is today. And Windows Phone 8 is Microsoft learning from its mobile OS?mistakes and saying "this time for real." The next Xbox isn't ready, but you'd better believe it's being conceived as the third piece in this puzzle.
Connecting the TV, PC and mobile (the so-called "three screens" strategy) has ever been a hope of Microsoft's, but it's not until now that the company's had the presence on the TV, the credibility on mobile, and the audacity to actually change what constitutes a PC. This year and the next will be a crucible for the company as it is forced to abandon traditions and partners, but if it's going to remain a force in consumer tech, these are necessary steps.
Plenty could go awry, though, and if one piece fails, the others are weakened. Windows 8 could fail to gain traction as a replacement for Windows 7, to which many millions of people and companies have only recently switched. Leaving behind 10 or 20 years of applications and hardware isn't something small businesses and casual computer users are likely to do.
Similarly, Windows Phone 8 will have a lot to prove when it debuts, first because the platform may have lost the support of many early adopters by not fully?upgrading devices currently running Windows Phone 7 and 7.5, and second because Microsoft may simply not have the superstar hardware that will be needed to take consumers' eyes off the next iPhone.
Google
The challenge Google will be facing is presenting a single aspect to the consumer. There are 10 different versions of Android out there by 10 different manufacturers, all getting updates at the whim of the carriers.?Meanwhile, the?Chrome browser?is coming out for iPad, and yet Google is making its own laptop OS and its own?Android tablets, and trying to one-up Facebook with a proprietary social network,?too? Every corner of the tech world seems to have a different Google, focused on a different task. Android 4.1 is the company's way of roping everything back together.
With one OS for tablets and phones, a plea to developers and partners to get on board, and a new tablet that sets a high bar for a budget product, Google is trying to unify a core brand after its initial meteoric rise and sprawl.
Another goal seems to be having one big Google that looks more or less the same wherever you go, and from whichever device you use. Chrome syncs tabs between devices, sure, but ultimately what Google wants is for you to think of Google as a place, not a set of services and websites. One place that you can view from multiple windows?? your phone, your TV, your PC and, at some point, your vision overlay device, such as Google Glass.
In order for that to happen, though, Google has to make its world look, act and respond in a similar way no matter where you are. No small task when there are huge differences in interface, connectivity and screen size. Not to mention hardware partners like Samsung and HTC putting custom interfaces all over the place. (Those overlays are probably not going to survive for much longer, by the way.)
Unfortunately for Google, too much of this is out of the company's control. The very nature of open systems like Android prevents Google from yielding to this kind of unifying influence, and companies may (as Amazon did) simply take what they want and tell Google to go fly a kite. So Google needs cooperation from its friends in turning its patchwork systems and platforms into a single powerful, useful and affordable one.
What will happen?
How it will likely play out is this: Google and Microsoft will both take a hit as they regroup and put their weight behind their new unifying efforts. This will be because they have to build up brand and trust over again.
Meanwhile Apple will continue to dominate in hardware, selling iOS and OS X devices by the million, but even its most dedicated customers must acknowledge that both operating systems aren't as fresh as they used to be.
So while it'll be another year of big sales for Apple, you'll see a creeping discontent with its software offerings. A full overhaul will be due ? maybe even overdue ? by June of next year, when Apple again gathers its global cadre of developers. But by that time, who knows? Maybe Google and Microsoft will have gotten their acts together, and the sparks of their own reinventions will be catching fire.
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Warriors coach Mark Jackson target of extortion
Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson said Thursday that he and his family were the targets of an extortion attempt related to an extramarital affair he had six years ago.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/maycha/~3/fQi9htpyg4g/40383
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