Phys.org Newsletter Wednesday, May 7
The Mechanical Showcase is a newly developed web resource provided by the developers of COMSOL Multiphysics which allows you to explore mechanical applications in your area of expertise through a collection of tutorials, success stories, simulation examples, and more.
Check out the online resource to learn more: http://goo.gl/vUodA2
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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for May 7, 2014:
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Latest News On TECHNOLOGY:
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HAWAIIANS SPUR STD APP'S NAME CHANGE
A sexual health information app called "Hula" will be changing its name after complaints that it is culturally insensitive to Native Hawaiians, the app's owner said Tuesday.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-hawaiians-spur-std-app.html#nwlt
JACK MA: ENGLISH TEACHER TURNED INTERNET VISIONARY
After being knocked back by US venture capitalists in 1999, cash-strapped Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma persuaded friends to give him $60,000 to start an e-commerce firm called Alibaba.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-jack-ma-english-teacher-internet.html#nwlt
A NEW TECHNOLOGY TO TRACK DOWN AIR POLLUTANT EFFECTS
Did you ever see pollution level indicators displayed in big European cities? The EXPOSOMICS project is looking to make them obsolete. Not only will their technology determine the exact impact of pollutant exposure on our health, but it could eventually land in your pocket - as a smartphone app.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-technology-track-air-pollutant-effects.html#nwlt
IRAN PRESIDENT VETOES WHATSAPP BAN: REPORTS
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has vetoed a plan to ban WhatsApp, following a row over censorship of the popular messaging application, media reports said Wednesday.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-iran-vetoes-whatsapp.html#nwlt
JET TO STOP PRINTING, CHANGE TO DIGITAL APP
Jet magazine, which first hit newsstands at the dawn of the civil rights movement, is ceasing regular print publication and transforming into a digital magazine app.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-jet-digital-app.html#nwlt
TRIPADVISOR TO BUY FRENCH RESTAURANT BOOKING ENGINE LAFOURCHETTE
US giant TripAdvisor is acquiring France's LaFourchette, an online restaurant booking site with a network of more than 12,000 restaurants in Europe that offers hefty discounts on dining out.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-tripadvisor-french-restaurant-lafourchette.html#nwlt
UTSA CLOUD AND BIGDATA LABORATORY LAUNCHES ONE OF THE LARGEST OPEN CLOUDS IN ACADEMIA
The University of Texas at San Antonio announced today that the Cloud and BigData Laboratory in the UTSA College of Sciences is launching one of the largest Open Clouds in academia with initial 6600 COREs utilizing OpenStack software, co-founded by Rackspace, and Open Compute hardware, founded by Facebook, to support advanced computing and big data analytics research.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-utsa-cloud-bigdata-laboratory-largest.html#nwlt
WOUNDS FROM CYBERTHEFT TAKE LONG TO HEAL
For shadowy cybercriminals who find backdoor access to stores of personal data, the process of hijacking identities and pocketing stolen cash can be instantaneous. For institutions hit by cybertheft, however, discovering that a breach exists, finding the source and stopping the bleeding is usually a monthslong process of investigation that leaves the identities and bank accounts of those affected at the mercy of the thieves.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-wounds-cybertheft.html#nwlt
WITHOUT SAFEGUARDS, SMART HOME CAN BE A DUMB CHOICE, EXPERT SAYS
Smart technology can perform all sorts of tasks in our homes. Turn on our lights. Unlock our doors. Crank up our thermostats. And quite possibly, give someone access to our valuables or our bank accounts.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-safeguards-smart-home-dumb-choice.html#nwlt
APPS THAT PROMISE A KIND OF ONLINE ANONYMITY ARE GENERATING COMPELLING CONTENT, DESPITE CONCERNS
Earlier this year, Annie Hsieh, who works at an Austin startup, downloaded an app called "Secret." What intrigued her was the app's promise of anonymity. It's a social network, not unlike Twitter, where people post things, but without names and with only vague references to locations.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-apps-kind-online-anonymity-compelling.html#nwlt
CELEBRATIONS OF PLACE ANCHOR FREE-FLOATING INTERNET
The Internet has fallen in love with place. From wildly popular Instagrammers like the photographer behind Humans of New York, to globe-trotters leaving digital travel notes on the story-sharing site Findery, to cloud-based services that help brands pitch themselves through location-based storytelling, the digital masses have discovered the thrill of writing about where they're at.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-celebrations-anchor-free-floating-internet.html#nwlt
TUNEIN ADDS WAY TO HEAR 'RECENTLY STARTED' SONGS
Tired of flipping through the radio dial? Internet radio service TuneIn is offering a way to see which songs have just started on 100,000 radio stations around the world, allowing you to listen in soon after the tune starts.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-tunein-songs.html#nwlt
NINTENDO SINKS TO LOSS ON LAGGING WII U SALES
Nintendo Co. sank to a loss for the fiscal year ended March as sales of its Wii U game machine continued to lag, but the Japanese manufacturer of Pokemon and Super Mario games promised Wednesday to return to profit this year.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-nintendo-loss-lagging-wii-sales.html#nwlt
GLANCE: ALIBABA'S TENTACLES INTO CHINESE RETAIL
Alibaba Group, the Chinese e-commerce powerhouse that filed to offer its shares to U.S. investors Tuesday, has stretched its tentacles deep into China's other major Internet companies.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-glance-alibaba-tentacles-chinese-retail.html#nwlt
REVIEW: SMART WATCHES SHOW PROMISE, BUT NEED WORK
If you believe the technorati, one of the next big things in consumer electronics will be smart watches. After testing a pair of prominent new smart watches in recent weeks, my quick take is this: Smart watches need a lot more refining before they become compelling products for mainstream consumers.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-smart.html#nwlt
BEHIND ALIBABA IPO IS UNLIKELY CHINA SUCCESS STORY (UPDATE)
The mammoth IPO planned by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group highlights founder Jack Ma's improbable rise to China's entrepreneur-in-chief.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-alibaba-ipo-china-success-story.html#nwlt
FIRST-OF-A-KIND SUPERCOMPUTER AT LAWRENCE LIVERMORE AVAILABLE FOR COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH
Catalyst, a first-of-a-kind supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), is available to industry collaborators to test big data technologies, architectures and applications.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-first-of-a-kind-supercomputer-lawrence-livermore-collaborative.html#nwlt
THE VIRTUAL KEYBOARD MAY SOON BE A REALITY (W/ VIDEO)
Today we are constantly online and integrated in a virtual existence. Wii and other game modules make it possible to engage the entire body when playing, and soon Google Glasses and similar products will open up a whole new world. Shortly there will also be a virtual keyboard on the market, created by researchers at MDH. This is advanced equipment for the modern user which will change the potential for working and using new technology.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-virtual-keyboard-reality-video.html#nwlt
USING MICROSOFT PRODUCTS MAY BE UNETHICAL FOR UNIVERSITIES
Universities and researchers all over the world have a problem with Microsoft. It's not just that the company forces expensive and dated software on customers. Using products like Microsoft's email service Outlook is potentially in breach of the ethical contracts researchers sign when they promise to safeguard the privacy of their subjects.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-microsoft-products-unethical-universities.html#nwlt
RESEARCHERS ACHIEVE BREAKTHROUGH DEFECT REDUCTIONS IN EUV MASK BLANKS
SEMATECH announced today that researchers have reached a significant milestone in reducing tool-generated defects from the multi-layer deposition of mask blanks used for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, pushing the technology another significant step toward readiness for high-volume manufacturing (HVM).
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-breakthrough-defect-reductions-euv-mask.html#nwlt
NINTENDO SAYS NO TO VIRTUAL EQUALITY IN LIFE GAME (UPDATE)
Nintendo isn't allowing gamers to play as gay in an upcoming life simulator game. The publisher of such gaming franchises as "The Legend of Zelda" and "Mario Bros." said Tuesday it wouldn't bow to pressure to allow players to engage in romantic activities with characters of the same sex in English editions of "Tomodachi Life." This follows a social media campaign launched by fans last month seeking virtual equality for the game's characters, which are modeled after real people.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-nintendo-virtual-equality-life-game.html#nwlt
HP STEPS UP IN CLOUD WITH $1 BN INVESTMENT
US computer giant Hewlett Packard unveiled an expanded offering of Internet "cloud" services on Wednesday, pledging to invest $1 billion over the next two years.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-hp-cloud-bn-investment.html#nwlt
FRANCE'S ORANGE HIT BY HACKERS DATA RAID
Hackers have stolen the personal data of 1.3 million customers of French telephone company Orange, in the second major breach of its kind in a matter of months.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-france-orange-hackers-raid.html#nwlt
PANDORA TESTS ADVERTISER-PROMOTED STATIONS
Popular Internet radio service Pandora on Wednesday began dabbling with boosting revenue by letting advertisers "promote" stations listeners might like.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-pandora-advertiser-promoted-stations.html#nwlt
FEWER US NUCLEAR PLANTS COULD CURB CLIMATE CHANGE FIGHT
Nuclear power plants in the United States increasingly risk closure amid growing competition from cheap natural gas, which experts said could hamper President Barack Obama's efforts to combat climate change.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-nuclear-curb-climate.html#nwlt
YAHOO TAKES HIT AFTER ALIBABA IPO FILING
Yahoo shares tumbled Wednesday on concerns its stake in Alibaba may be worth less than anticipated following the Chinese online giant's stock market offering.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-yahoo-alibaba-ipo.html#nwlt
GET SMART: TECH COMPANIES POUR RESOURCES INTO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The latest Silicon Valley arms race is a contest to build the best artificial brains. Facebook Inc., Google Inc. and other leading tech companies are jockeying to hire top scientists in the field of artificial intelligence, while spending heavily on a quest to make computers think more like people.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-smart-tech-companies-resources-artificial.html#nwlt
GOOGLE MAPS UPDATE: GOOD LANES AND LAST TRAINS
According to Google, its Google Maps is the largest mapping site in the world. As of Tuesday, the mega-finder can be used as a souped-up personal assistant that anyone with a mobile device can appreciate whether on the highway or on the city sidewalks. Google Maps has been given a generous update with enhancements to help people reach where they are going safely and easily and to help people know more about places where they might want to go too.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-google-good-lanes.html#nwlt
TAU RESEARCHERS DEVELOP A SMARTER SMARTPHONE CAMERA
Despite an addiction to taking pictures everywhere they go, cellphone junkies have not been able to ditch their stand-alone cameras quite yet. Smartphones still don't possess the sharp zoom capabilities of digital still cameras, so the resulting pictures can be messy and out-of-focus.
Full story at http://phys.org/news/2014-05-tau-smarter-smartphone-camera.html#nwlt
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