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Panera Bread to post calories Panera Bread customers soon will be able to tally calories with just a glance at the menu board. Panera announced on March 10 that it will be the first nationwide chain to voluntarily post calorie information at all of its company-owned restaurants. The move is notable in an industry that historically opposed requirements that chain operations post calorie counts. The landscape is changing, though, as local laws mandating nutrition disclosure become more common and Congress considers a nationwide mandate. Panera officials said the possibility of wider mandates was a factor in the move. Calories will be posted by March 24 at all 585 company-owned stores, including Saint Louis Bread and Paradise Bakery & Cafe. Panera expects its franchisees to follow suit, which would cover all 1,380 stores...
App magnets Whatever you want to do...There's an app for that. Whether you want to buy movie tickets, read the news, write a review, pay a tip, catch a taxi, or even train your dog, there's an app for that. But what if you want to hang a photo on the fridge? Or leave a note on the microwave? Or save that Chinese take-out menu in a place where you can't lose it? When it came to certain old-school tasks, the apps were coming up short. A little reverse innovation was needed. Well, good news, everyone...Now there's an app for that, too. Introducing the App Magnets by the Jailbreak Collective! The whole package lists for $12.99...
Google maps go biking At long last, Google Maps has routes specifically for bikes. With the click of a mouse, the new feature allows you to plot the best (and flattest!) ride from Point A to Point B. Several cities, including New York, Minneapolis, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, have bike-specific mapping sites. But Google is rolling it out in 150 cities nationwide. "This has been a top-requested feature from Google Maps users for the last couple years," says Shannon Guymon, product manager for Google Maps. "There are over 50,000 signatures on a petition." The news thrilled bike advocates, who have for years been pushing, and petitioning, the search giant to include bike routes on Google Maps. No longer do they have to rely upon paper maps or open-source DIY map hacking or crazy-cool helmet-mounted heads up iPhones. Cyclists will have to map their victory lap from their desks, because Google's cool mapping tool is available only on a computer for now. "Making the bike-route tool available on Google Maps for mobile devices is a high priority," Guymon says. But it's a priority without a launch date...
Divine intervention Most Americans believe God is involved in their everyday lives and concerned with their personal well-being, though the well-educated and higher earners are less likely than their counterparts to believe in such divine intervention, a new study suggests. Scott Schieman, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto, examined data from two recent national surveys of Americans and their beliefs about God's involvement in their everyday lives. The results, published in the March issue of the journal Sociology of Religion, suggest these beliefs differ across education and income levels. Past research has suggested other factors involved with our religious beliefs, with one study revealing teachers are more religious than other college grads, and another suggesting women are more likely than men to believe in God. Here are some highlights from the new findings: --82 percent of participants reported that they depend on
God for help and guidance in making decisions. Overall, participants with more education and higher income were less likely to report beliefs in divine intervention...
Barbie hooks up with Mad Men Look out Ken, there's a new man in Barbie's life. In fact, there are two of them, and they are "Mad Men". The makers of Barbie on Wednesday (March 10) said they are launching a new line of collectible dolls based on characters in the acclaimed television drama "Mad Men," including sexy executive Don Draper and his advertising agency partner Roger Sterling. The TV show has been a hit on the AMC cable TV network with its tale of ad men who work along New York City's Madison Avenue in the 1960s. The men, and women, on the show are notoriously scandalous, getting involved in all sorts of business problems and love affairs. They also have become highly successful on TV, winning the top award in the United States, the Emmy, for best TV drama and luring millions of viewers to AMC. Barbie's no slouch in the fan department, either, and there is no doubt her makers at Mattel Inc. know a thing or two about publicity and advertising, just like the "Mad Men." Since her first appearance in 1959, the trim-figured doll adored by girls around the world has had numerous careers, from astronaut to race car driver, and her friends have included all types of people. Ken, her "friend" since 1961, has been by her side through it all, and if Don or Roger come between he and Barbie, there is hope. Along with the two men in the "Mad Men" collector series, come two women: Draper's wife Betty and bombshell office manager Joan Holloway. The new dolls will be priced just under $75...
Lady Antebellum returns to No. 1 Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, bumping Sade's "Soldier of Love" down to No. 2, while six albums debut in the top 10 of the tally, the most since last October. After a three-week break at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" returns to No. 1 with 126,000 (up 6%), marking its third total week atop the list. It opened at No. 1 with 481,000 six weeks ago, and then held at No. 1 for a second week with 209,000. The set stepped aside for three weeks to the runner-up slot, playing second fiddle to Sade's "Soldier of Love." The latter set drops to No. 2 this week with 79,000 (down 37%). This is the first time an album has returned to No. 1 after a three week absence in over a year. The last time it happened was on the chart dated Dec. 27, 2008 when Taylor Swift's "Fearless" climbed from No. 2 to No. 1 in its fifth week on the chart. The set had debuted at No. 1 five weeks earlier with 592,000 and then let three albums take successive turns in the pole position before returning to the top. (Those three albums were Beyonce's "I Am ... Sasha Fierce," Kanye West's "808s and Heartbreak" and Britney Spears' "Circus.") "Fearless" would go on to rack a total of 11 non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200. Also this week, six new albums arrive in the top 10, the most the tally has seen since the list dated Oct. 17, 2009 when eight started in the region. Right behind Sade, we see the bow of Blake Shelton's new "Hillbilly Bone" at No. 3 with 71,000. It's the country singer's sixth studio set and it earns his highest rank ever on the chart. Additionally, it claims his best sales week since his second album "The Dreamer" started with 77,000 at No. 8 in 2003. Shelton's album is a shorter-than-usual six-song effort that carries an attractive list price. It's the first offering in Warner Music's new "six pack" concept, where some of the company's acts aim to release value-priced six-song albums in close intervals. Shelton's plan is to issue at least one or two more six-song sets before the end of the year. (This would buck the tradition of an act dropping a full-length album every year or two.) Up next in the parade of debuts is last year's third-place finisher from "American Idol," Danny Gokey, who sees his debut set "My Best Days" land at No. 4 with 65,000. Over on the Top Country Albums chart, it starts at No. 3 behind Lady A and Shelton. Gokey's set follows the post-season eight "Idol" album releases from winner Kris Allen ("Kris Allen," No. 11 with an 80,000 debut), runner-up Adam Lambert ("For Your Entertainment," No. 3; 198,000) and fourth-place finisher Allison Iraheta ("Just Like You," No. 35; 32,000). The "Almost Alice" album, a soundtrack/companion set to the new Johnny Depp film "Alice in Wonderland," debuts at No. 5 with 58,000. The set boasts a variety of acts contributing songs that were inspired by the film's subject matter. It also sports the movie's end-titles track "Alice" by Avril Lavigne. Lifehouse's "Smoke and Mirrors" is right behind "Alice," entering at No. 6 with 54,000. The set is the fifth studio release from the band and was originally scheduled for a December 2009 bow. It's the act's fourth top 10 set and it arrives with their best sales week since its self-titled third album entered with 63,000 at No. 10 in 2005. Two long-running albums manage to cling to their top 10 perches, as Lady Gaga's "The Fame" slips two rungs to No. 7 (49,000; up 2%) while the Black Eyed Peas' "The E.N.D." falls four slots to No. 8 (46,000; down 7%). Closing out the top 10 are two more debuts: Raheem DeVaughn starts at No. 9 with his "The Love and MasterPeace" (45,000). Lastly, country singer Easton Corbin arrives with his self-titled full-length debut set at No. 10 with 43,000. Just missing the top 10 is the eponymous first album from Jason Derulo, bowing at No. 11 with 42,000...
 
The Oscars: final words The Academy Awards are over: The statuettes have all been handed out, the red carpet's been rolled up, the sparkling gowns returned, or not. So it would seem there's no more suspense surrounding the Oscars ... and yet, there are still some moments lingering from Sunday's telecast that have viewers confused. There was the point, now dubbed the "Kanye West" moment, when infighting among filmmakers was apparent during an acceptance speech. Then there was Sean Penn, mumbling something about Oscar night omissions. Consider the unexplained sign held up by one of "The Cove" documentary stars just as the camera hurriedly cut away. And how about the quick mention of a winner's life-threatening illness and Tom Hanks' rush to name the best picture? Oh, but the night was full of such questions. Did George Clooney really once throw Sandra Bullock into a pool? And why was Clooney looking so surly? As for Bullock's unplanned dip, all involved remained virtually mum. "You might want to ask George about that. See how much information he'll give because it is funny to everyone else but me," Bullock said, smiling backstage Sunday evening. And while there was no admission of guilt, the "Up in the Air" actor did cop to a certain poolside antsiness around the newly anointed lead actress winner. "Sandy and I have been friends for 25 years," Clooney said through his publicist Monday, "and I do stay away from pools when she walks by." A fear of retaliation perhaps? And the scowl, what about that? "He and Alec [Baldwin] and Steve [Martin] were making pre-arranged grimacing faces at each other. All planned," just to be funny, Clooney's representative, Stan Rosenfield, assured in an e-mail. Meanwhile, the filmmakers behind "Music by Prudence," the best documentary short winner, declined to elaborate on exactly what was happening on stage as co-producer Elinor Burkett seemed to steal the mike away from director-producer Roger Ross Williams during their acceptance speech. On Sunday, Burkett told Salon.com that she and Williams had recently settled a lawsuit over the film and had not decided who would accept the award. She told the website that when she went up to accept the Oscar, Williams' mother blocked her with a cane. Williams, who said he would finish his speech on Monday's "Larry King Live," declined to discuss the issue further. "What I'm gonna do is I'm not gonna talk about it, actually," he said. "As far as the back and forth, I'm really not gonna get into that. It's over. It's about the movie." In one of the evening's more emotional speeches, production designer Robert Stromberg, who took home the prize for "Avatar's" art direction, referenced overcoming a deadly illness more than a decade ago but did not disclose what he had suffered from. When asked about it backstage, Stromberg said, "It was a bout with something that was ready to kill me and it was really bad." It was a "personal experience," he said, something so private he had not even discussed it with his fellow film crew members. Another unusual moment during the show occurred when environmental activist Ric O'Barry held up a sign on stage while someone was accepting the feature documentary award for "The Cove," a film about the dolphin harvest in Japan. Viewers hardly had a chance to read the sign before the camera panned away, leading many to wonder what its message was. "It was a number to text where people can go to take action for the dolphins," O'Barry said. "It's not a protest sign, and I didn't mean to be disruptive, but there were a billion people watching. As soon as I held it up, they started playing the exit music." Already more than 50,000 people have sent in text messages of support, O'Barry said. Later on in the show, Sean Penn, the lead actor winner last year for his portrayal of Harvey Milk in "Milk," took the stage to present the award for lead actress and delivered instead one of the telecast's most perplexing moments. "I never became an official member of the academy, but the academy and I do have in common that we neglected to acknowledge the same actress in our own ways two years running," he said, clearly not reading from the teleprompter. "So, I'm going to start fresh with the academy and acknowledge these wonderful actresses," he said and then read the nominees' names. So what actress was he referring to? That would be his estranged wife, surmises his publicist. "It would be a reasonable assumption to say he was referring to Robin Wright, because he didn't thank her last year in his acceptance speech," e-mailed Penn's representative Mara Buxbaum, and he was likely making a statement that "the academy failed to nominate her this year for 'The Private Lives of Pippa Lee.' " As for Hanks' rush to announce the best picture winner, an explanation came via tweet from Hanks himself Monday morning: "OscarShow Flash -- Nope, I didn't hurry the Best Pic bit," he tweeted. "That's how it was planned and rehearsed from the get go." ...
Betty White fans rejoice Betty White fans, your prayers have been answered. The former Golden Girl will appear on Saturday Night Live in the near future, she confirmed at Elton John's annual Oscars viewing party on Sunday night (March 7). Fans have been clamoring for White, 88, to do SNL, an idea she called "ridiculous" just a few weeks ago, ever since her comic turn in a Snickers ad during the Super Bowl. One Facebook page devoted to the cause has attracted half a million fans. When asked, "Are you doing Saturday Night Live," she answered, "Yes," even if she remains perplexed by the groundswell of support. "I don't know why or how," she says, "but it's been wonderful." White didn't offer any details about the SNL gig, and it remains unclear when she will appear, or what it will entail...
The end of Variety as you know it The evisceration of Variety continues. On Monday (March 8), the trade let go chief film critic Todd McCarthy and chief theater critic David Rooney. Longtime film critic Derek Elley also was cut, as was features editor/indie film reporter Sharon Swart, along with several copy and design desk employees. In a memo to Variety staff, the trade's group editor, Tim Gray, said all three critics have been asked to work as freelancers for the moribund trade. However, McCarthy told TheWrap he has made no such arrangement, at least not yet. "It's sad," McCarthy said. "It's the end of something. You can say it's the end, or you can say it's the end of the way it's always been done." Reaction from the film community was characterized by shock and dismay, with Roger Ebert tweeting, "Variety fires Todd McCarthy and I cancel my subscription. He was my reason to read the paper. RIP, schmucks." Still, in his memo, Gray insisted, "Today's changes won't be noticed by readers. Our goal is the same: To maintain, or improve, our quality coverage...
Cablevision blinks Cablevision's 3.1 million subscribers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut had their access to the Academy Awards telecast restored Sunday night after the cable operator reached a deal with ABC's parent company in a dispute over fees. "It is a deal that is fair to our customers and in line with our other programming agreements," Cablevision Systems Corp. spokesman Charles Schueler said in a phone interview with The Associated Press after the signal had been restored. He declined to disclose details of the deal. Rebecca Campbell, president and general manager of WABC-TV, said the two sides had "reached an agreement in principle." "Given this movement, we're pleased to announce that ABC7 will return to Cablevision households while we work to complete our negotiations," she said in a statement. A stalemate in the dispute had led ABC's parent company, the Walt Disney Co., to pull its programming from the cable operator's subscribers at midnight Saturday. The move, which imperiled viewers' access to the highly rated Oscar show broadcast, marked the first time in a decade that a major broadcast station went dark in a dispute with a cable company. The signal was switched on at 8:43 p.m. Sunday, Cablevision said. The awards show began at 8:30 p.m...
Farrah Fawcett snubbed at the
Oscars The Academy Award memorial montage seemed a little sparse this year. It's not a huge surprise that Michael Jackson was included. He was the biggest death of 2009 and even though he was primarily a musical artist, he did act in a few films. However, there were a couple notable absences in the montage. Where were Farrah Fawcett, who died in June of cancer, and Bea Arthur, who passed away in April at the age of 86? In both Fawcett and Arthur's careers they were largely television stars, but both did grace the silver screen. Fawcett was in "Cannonball Run," "Extremities" and "The Apostle," among others, while Arthur was in "Lovers and Other Strangers," "Mame" and "History of the World part I." They both appeared in more movies than Michael Jackson, he really only appeared in "The Wiz" and his posthumously-released "This Is It." Why his inclusion and not theirs? It certainly can't be a time factor, since the broadcast went over 3.5 hours and managed to find time for a montage of horror movies...
List of winners at the 82nd Academy
Awards Motion Picture: "The Hurt Locker." 
Alice soars above expectations Audiences could not resist the latest offering from director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp as the 3D extravaganza Alice in Wonderland exploded on the scene with a record-shattering opening weekend leaving its nearest competitor more than $100M behind. The big-budget Disney film debuted to a gargantuan $116.3M over the Friday-to-Sunday span, according to estimates, smashing box office records left and right. It was the biggest March opening ever soaring past the $70.9M of 300 from 2007 and the best debut for a 3D film beating the $77M of Avatar from last December. Alice also generated the all-time largest IMAX opening weekend with $11.9M from 188 sites which easily surpassed the $9.5M from 178 locations of Avatar. Plus, the Burton fantasy scored the top opening ever for a non-sequel edging out the $114.8M of 2002's Spider-Man. The webslinger flick sold more tickets however as admission prices were much lower eight years ago and there were no 3D surcharges involved. Overall, Alice in Wonderland enjoyed the sixth biggest opening weekend in box office history after The Dark Knight ($158.4M), Spider-Man 3 ($151.1M), The Twilight Saga: New Moon ($142.8M), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($135.6M), and Shrek the Third ($121.6M). New Moon is the only film opening outside of summer to debut better than the Mad Hatter pic. Two R-rated crime thrillers were virtually neck-and-neck fighting for second place. Final numbers to be reported on Monday could change the order, but Sunday's estimates showed a slight $200,000 edge for the cop drama Brooklyn's Finest which debuted with an estimated $13.5M from 1,936 locations. Averaging a strong $6,973 per theater, the Overture release stars Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, and Wesley Snipes and played to an adult ethnic audience. According to studio research, 60% of the crowd was African American with a total of 86% being non-Caucasian. 52% was female and 60% was over 30. Reviews were mostly negative. Close behind in third place for now was Shutter Island which followed two weeks at number one with a estimated $13.3M in its third round. The 41% decline was commendable given the record opening of Alice which played to a broad audience. Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio had to make room for that other director-actor team but have upped their cume to an impressive $95.8M. Paramount will break the $100M mark on Thursday or Friday. Avatar suffered the largest drop of its 12-week run thanks to Alice seizing control of most of the nation's 3D screens this weekend. The James Cameron juggernaut fell 44% to an estimated $7.7M and lifted its mammoth cume to $720.2M from North America. It had never fallen by more than 31% before. The overseas drop was slightly better with the Pandora pic grossing an estimated $21.7M, off 40%, boosting the international tally to $1.88 billion. The worldwide take now stands at a towering $2.6 billion. The historic run may end in the neighborhood of $2.75 billion...
Redbone singer dead at 70 Lolly Vegas, a co-founder of Redbone who wrote the hit "Come and Get Your Love" for the 1970s band, has died in Los Angeles, a spokesman said. Vegas, 70, who had been battling cancer for several years, died at home March 4, band spokesman Joe Ortiz said. Singer/guitarist Vegas, whose real name was Lolly Vasquez, formed Redbone with his brother Patrick in 1969. The band, with members of Latino and native American origin, released its self-titled debut album the following year. The name Redbone itself is a joking reference to a Cajun term for a mixed-race person ("half-breed"), the band's members being of mixed blood ancestry. "Come and Get Your Love" peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1974...
No oath... no conviction A Michigan man sent to prison for 15 years is getting a new trial after the judge failed to do a routine procedure, ask the jury to take an oath. Timothy Becktel was sentenced in 2008 for assault with intent to murder. But his appellate lawyer successfully argued that the verdict should be thrown out because the jury didn't swear to return an honest decision based on law and evidence. The Michigan Court of Appeals said last week it must erase the verdict to preserve the fairness and integrity of the judicial system. Assistant prosecutor David King says his office might appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court. He says Becktel's trial attorney never objected to the lack of a jury oath...
Hella numbers Soon the word "hella" may not be associated with California surfers as much as with scientists in lab coats. A physics student is petitioning to add "hella" to the International System of Units (SI) as the official designation of 10 to the 27th power, or a trillion trillions. Many numbers have such prefixes, such as "centi" for 0.01 (or 10 to the minus 2nd power), or "micro" for 10 to the minus 6th power. On the larger side of things, "giga," for example, represents 10 to the 9th power, or 1 billion. But so far, the largest official designation is "yotta," for 10 to the 24th power. "In our world of increasing physical awareness and experimental precision, this number is no longer a satisfactory 'upper bound' in scientific nomenclature," Sendek wrote in his earnest petition. Sendek argues that the name would honor the scientific contributions of Northern Californians, who have famously popularized the phrase "hella" to mean "a whole lot." ...
Closed-captioning comes to YouTube YouTube said it will offer automatically generated captions for its entire video catalog, a boon for deaf users and those who want to watch videos in other languages. At a press conference at YouTube's San Bruno, Calif., headquarters, Google software engineer Ken Harrenstein demonstrated the feature and went through the reasons Google invested in the product, from expanding accessibility to crossing language barriers to improving search. YouTube watchers can see available captions by clicking on a button in the lower-right-hand part of the video player. They can also select to see captions in a different language from the language of the video. Mr. Harrenstein, who is deaf and gave his presentation in sign language, said he has been working on the product for the past five years. YouTube has been pushing captions for a while, in part because the company hopes it will make it easier for its search engine to identify particular moments within a video. In 2008, it began allowing content owners to upload their own captions. Last year, Google turned on automatic captioning for videos uploaded by a small number of partners, like the University of California, Berkeley and Yale University...
Sandra Bullock wins "Worst Actress of
2009" award Sandra Bullock has earned a few honors in Hollywood, "America's Sweetheart" among them, and on March 6 she was crowned with the dubious title of worst actress of 2009, one day before she's favored to win an Oscar. Bullock, whose drama "The Blind Side" has made her the odds-on favorite to claim the best actress Oscar, was given a Razzie Award for worst female performance in "All About Steve." No performer has ever won a Razzie and an Oscar the same year. The actress played a socially awkward designer of newspaper crosswords, who falls in love with a cameraman (Bradley Cooper) and stalks him in the movie. Organizers of the Razzies, an annual event that began in 1980 to spoof the glitzy Oscars, which take place on Sunday (March 7), also named Bullock and Cooper the worst screen couple of 2009. Hollywood stars are rare sightings at the Razzies, but in 2005 Halle Berry sportingly claimed her award for "Catwoman," and brought along the Oscar she had previously won for her role in "Monster's Ball." The Razzies this year also turned their inside Hollywood sarcasm on one of the biggest box office hits of 2009, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." The critically panned blockbuster was named worst film, and organizers bestowed a second trophy of shame upon its director Michael Bay. Special awards were given for the past decade. The 2000 film "Battlefield Earth," based on the writings of Scientology creator L. Ron Hubbard, was named worst picture of the decade. Comedian Eddie Murphy, who has had several box office duds in recent years, and Paris Hilton were named the worst actor and actress of the 2000s, respectively. The so-called "winners" were determined by mailing ballots to 657 voters in the United States and 19 foreign countries...
Gut feeling The human gut is a virtual zoo, full of a wide variety of bacteria, a new study found. And scientists say that's a good thing. The first results of an international effort to catalog the millions of non-human genes inside people found about 170 different bacteria species thriving in the average person's digestive tract. The study also found that people with inflammatory bowel disease had fewer distinct species inside the gut. The findings are being published in the March 11 issue of the journal Nature. More than 99 percent of the different types of genes in our bodies are not in fact human, but come from microbes. So cataloging the genetics of bacteria inside of us will improve vastly on the mapping of the human genome, study co-author Jun Wang, a Chinese genomics researcher. Bacteria "rule this planet, including our body," study co-author Jeroen Raes, a researcher at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Germany, said in an e-mail. "I think it's important that people realize that we are not really human, we are a walking colony of bacteria and they are crucial for our well being and health." ...
An NBC pickup NBC has more laughs in store for next year, picking up its entire Thursday night laffer lineup. Peacock already had ordered a new season of "Parks and Recreation"; now it has also given a fall pickup to frosh "Community," as well as vets "The Office" and "30 Rock." "We are happy to give these early pickups to these critically acclaimed, incredibly funny comedies," said NBC primetime entertainment prexy Angela Bromstad. "As a result, we look forward to continuing our rewarding partnership with the respective creative teams and talented show-runners for '30 Rock,' 'The Office' and 'Community' as they all consistently deliver quality shows." Pickups of "The Office" and "30 Rock" are no surprise, as they've long become the net's comedy staples. "Community," meanwhile, has become a critical darling, particularly following this week's episode, which scored strong reviews. "Community" has averaged a 2.7 rating/7 share among adults 18-49 and 5.9 million viewers in its inaugural season. Meanwhile, "The Office," now in its sixth season, is averaging a 4.9 rating, 12 share in adults 18-49 and 9.4 million viewers overall. Thursday night's hour-long special, which revolved around the birth of Jim and Pam's baby, beat time period rival "Grey's Anatomy" for the first time ever. And Emmy winner "30 Rock" is averaging a 3.4 rating, 8 share in adults 18-49 and 6.9 million viewers overall in its fourth season...
Apple removes Wi-Fi apps from its
store Apple on March 4 began removing another category of apps from its iPhone App Store. This time, it's not porn, it's Wi-Fi. Apple removed several Wi-Fi apps commonly referred to as stumblers, or apps that seek out available Wi-Fi networks near your location. According to a story on Cult of Mac, apps removed by Apple include WiFi-Where, WiFiFoFum, and yFy Network Finder. "We received a very unfortunate e-mail today from Apple stating that WiFi-Where has been removed from sale on the App Store for using private frameworks to access wireless information," WiFi Where-maker Three Jacks Software, wrote on its Web site. There was no explanation as to what Apple meant by "private frameworks." ...
You are as old as you feel The old adage "you're only as old as you feel" might really be true for millions of people. A study published March 3 showed that people who feel older than their chronological age will experience a range of downsides. But people with a younger outlook on life do escape many of the physical problems associated with old age. US sociologists compared people's chronological age and their subjective age to determine which one had a greater influence on mental ability and brain function in older adulthood. Markus Schafer, who led the study at Purdue University in Indiana, said: "How old you are matters, but beyond that it's your interpretation that has far-reaching implications. "So, if you feel old beyond your own chronological years you are probably going to experience a lot of the downsides that we associate with ageing." ...
137 years of Popular Science Popular Science has partnered with Google to offer their entire 137-year archive for free browsing. Each issue appears just as it did at its original time of publication, complete with period advertisements. It's an amazing resource that beautifully encapsulates our ongoing fascination with the future, and science and technology's incredible potential to improve our lives. In the future, they'll be adding more advanced features for searching and browsing...
The Daily Show and The Colbert Report
get pulled off Hulu The popular video Web site Hulu is losing two of its most popular offerings: "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report." Hulu announced recently that Comedy Central was pulling its shows from the site beginning March 10. Both "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report consistently rank among Hulu's most watched programs. Comedy Central, which is owned by Viacom Inc., was a relatively late arrival to Hulu, which is co-owned by NBC Universal, Fox Entertainment Group and the Walt Disney Co. (which owns ABC). When "Colbert" and "The Daily Show" were added in June 2008, some technology blogs such as Techcrunch.com said it signified Hulu's arrival as the pre-eminent provider of TV programming on the Web. In a blog post on Hulu, Andy Forssell, senior vice president of content and distribution at Hulu, offered a "fond farewell" to the Comedy Central shows, lamenting their exit. "In the past 21 months, we've had very strong results for both Hulu and Comedy Central, in terms of the views and revenue we've generated," said Forssell. "After a series of discussions with the team at Comedy Central, though, we ultimately were unable to secure the rights to extend these shows for a much longer period of time." But Forssell also said that Hulu and Comedy Central continue to talk about "a number of opportunities" and that he was confident Hulu will be working with them "in multiple ways in the future." Comedy Central issued a statement that said its agreement with Hulu had "concluded," but the channel also suggested an amicable parting...
Sarah Palin goes shopping Sarah Palin is seriously trying to get into television. Multiple sources tell EW.com that Palin and reality show guru Mark Burnett have been making the rounds in Hollywood this week to pitch a TV docudrama about Alaska. Wednesday, she was seen leaving ABC, was said to have stopped by CBS and ended the day by meeting with Fox reality honcho Mike Darnell. She wound up sticking around to watch American Idol from the green room...
"Hurt Locker" producer banned from the
Oscars A producer of the war story "The Hurt Locker" will not be allowed to attend the Academy Awards because of e-mails he sent urging academy members to vote for his movie. But he will receive an Oscar if his film wins best picture. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the action March 2 against producer Nicolas Chartier, who violated Oscar rules that prohibit mailings promoting a film by disparaging another. Chartier sent e-mails seeking support for "The Hurt Locker," "not a "$500 million film"--an obvious reference to best-picture contender "Avatar." Chartier apologized in a subsequent e-mail. While Chartier cannot attend Sunday's ceremony, he would receive his Oscar later if "The Hurt Locker" wins...
Nun finds flower that blossoms every
3,000 years A Chinese nun has found an Udumbara flower, which Buddhist legend holds blossoms every 3,000 years, growing under her washing machine, a newspaper reported. The flower was found in the home of a Chinese nun in Lushan Mountain in Jiangxi province, the Daily Telegraph reported. The Udumbara, apparently Sanskrit for 'an auspicious flower from heaven', measures just 1 mm in diameter and is said to find mentions in Buddhist mythology on account of its supposed rarity. The newspaper said Miao Wei, 50, discovered the white flower under her washing machine. It said after mistaking its "barely-there stems" as worm eggs, she found that they had grown 18 white tiny flowers the next day and smelled "fragrant". Local temples believe the mini blooms are specimens of the "miraculous" Udumbara...
Booze without the hangover Booze, for all its magical wonder, still has big drawbacks: You can't sober up quickly, and you often get a hangover. Now Korean researchers have found a way of tweaking booze to limit the fallout, without cutting its strength. Doctors Kwang-il Kwon and Hye Gwang Jeong of Chungnam National University studied the properties of oxygenated alcohol, booze with oxygen bubbles added, which is a popular concoction in their country. In these drinks, oxygen is added the way carbonation is usually added to soda, and the scientists wanted to know if these oxygenated beverages affected people differently than non-oxygenated ones. The answer was a resounding yes. They ran three experiments using 19.5% alcohol drinks, and measured the speed at which people's blood alcohol dropped to 0.000%. In other words: How fast did they sober up? The drinks with the added oxygen content sobered people up 20 to 30 minutes faster, under the influence of the rather potent alcohol they used for the trials. 20% alcohol is around the strength of fortified wine, soju, or a very strong mixed drink, so while shaving a half hour off your drunken tomfoolery might not seem a great deal, when you're trying to fall asleep at night and combating the spins, you'll appreciate it...
The iPad already has issues that may
delay its launch Apple Inc. may delay or limit the size of the launch of its anticipated iPad tablet computer because of an "unspecified production problem," Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek wrote in a research note March 1. Misek said Apple's Taiwan-based supplier Hon Hai Precision could be facing a production bottleneck or a shortage of components. "An unspecified production problem at the iPad's manufacturer, Hon Hai Precision, will likely limit the launch region to the U.S. and the number of units available to roughly (300,000) in the month of March, far lower than the company's initial estimate of (1 million) units. The delay in production ramp will likely impact Apple's April unit estimate of (800,000) as well," Misek wrote. Apple has not publicly stated an official release date or how many models it is expecting to put on sale. It has said that Wi-Fi models will ship in "late March," while 3G models will ship in April in the U.S. and selected countries. Canaccord still expects Apple to sell 550,000 iPads in the third quarter ending in June, and 1.2 million iPads in the 2010 fiscal year. "The only material impact from the iPad delay could come in the form of frustrated consumers and some modest loss of luster for the company's product launch," Misek said ...
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