Obama’s high-tech version of Fireside Chats — via Twitter: Obama is really embracing this whole Twitter thing. On July 6, he’s going to be on Twitter talking about the economy, hashtags and all. Be sure to tune in to talk to our prez … virtually. source
Google takes another shot at social networking. Google+ seems more serious than previous attempts, though, and they’re gunning straight at the Facebook market. They’re championing privacy as a way to get users to use their site — you can choose who you share with, rather than sharing what you’re up to with every one of your friends. There’s a few other cool things, too — we’re looking forward to the Hangout feature, which will let you video chat with up to 10 friends at one time — coming and going as they please. Don’t expect to go make your Google+ profile right now, though. They’re testing it right now and it’s invite-only. source
» These books predate you by centuries: Google is cooperating with the British Library in London to convert their 40 million pages worth of books from 1700-1870 into digital form. These ancient books are out of copyright, so Google won’t have the same issues they’ve had with earlier digitization efforts. This is all on Google’s dime, by the way: They’ve made similar deals with many other outlets — including Stanford and Harvard.
David Renwick, a former Denverite, who now lives in Oregon, has been stranded at the airport in Portland for three hours on his way to San Fransico.
“When I got here they were already making an announcement,” Renwick said. “They said they were having systemwide computer problems affecting everything from reservations to weather reports for pilots, so they said all planes worldwide were grounded.”
At a United gate in Portland, Renwick is stranded with about 80 other people, he said.
A near-repeat of a week ago with US Airways. Airlines with computer problems left and right.
A certain hacker group that’s been making headlines lately hacked the Senate’s website. However, they stole nothing of value — they only obtained information about to go on the site itself. The firewall protecting the Senate’s important documents kept them away from the data that could have been potentially harmful if released. Investigators traced the weakness in the system back to one senator’s office, but the senator hasn’t been named. In a press release about the incident, the hackers made it sound like this wouldn’t be the last time they targeted a government site, either. One thing is for sure — the White House should really look into cyber security if some amateur hackers are breaking into government websites this regularly. source
U.S. Develops “Internet in a suitcase”
…the kit is just one of the many tools currently being employed by the Obama Administration to craft “shadow” networks in countries whose Internet has been disrupted or, as was the case in Egypt or Libya, turned off entirely.
With a moderately inexpensive $2 million price tag, the suitcase is but one of the many projects the U.S. government is reportedly researching and deploying as part of an effort to clandestinely support repressed populations abroad. >continue<
‘Liberation technology’ for dissidents | “Mesh network” tech
Virgin Mobile pay-as-you-go phones: The tool of choice for revolutions. Great work by the U.S. for working on a way to undermine dictators who use cable-cutting as a way to undermine free protest.
The Wii U takes the controller a step further: The new Nintendo console will remind you a bit of their handheld DS. It has a touch screen in the controller, which will add a bit to gameplay. In addition, the Wii U will be the first Nintendo system to feature HD graphics. The controller can also be used to make voice calls and run old Nintendo games, which is pretty awesome. It’s going to come out next year, but there hasn’t been a price announced yet. Expect that controller to be pretty expensive, though. source
Was WWDC 2011 everything you guys expected? What are you guys most excited for?
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
Wrote a thing.
Hat tip to this headline writer.
Whew, this is sure covering a lot of ground, isn’t it? It’s kinda tough to keep up with everything. And the new iOS, coming out this fall, will have a TON of great new features that are all over the place, from notifications to Game Center to PC-free updates and so on and so forth. Here are a few of our faves:
Newsstand is exactly what it sounds like: A place for all of your magazine and newspaper subscriptions to go. You’ll be able to set up subscriptions, and when new issues become available, they will download in the background and be available even when you’re offline. source
2.5 Billion dollars paid out to developers
14 billion apps downloaded
Over 425,000 apps on the App Store, 90,000 of those are paid apps for the iPad
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