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Wednesday, May 2, 2012
'History of Whistling' Is a Musical Journey Through 98 Years of Familiar Songs [Video]
Take your Bluetooth speaker power to the extreme with Jawbone?s BIG JAMBOX
Did you ever look at a Jawbone JAMBOX and wish that it was bigger? If so, your wishes have been answered with the BIG JAMBOX, everything you loved about the original but at a much larger size.
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REVIEW - Mashable
Product: The Mu Folding USB Adapter
Price: ?25 (approx. $40)
What It?s Good For: Slimline smartphone charging.
Who It?s Good For: Anyone who wants a compact charging solution on the go.
Bottom Line: The Mu improves the traditional British plug with its innovative folding design.
A Look at The Mu
After its clever concept product design went viral, UK firm Made in Mind brought an altered version of the product to the British market.
In 2009, designer Min-Kyu Choi?s YouTube video (embedded above) showed a cunning concept that dramatically reduced the size and bulk of the British plug. Choi?s vision hit a chord with consumers, and was quickly shared online, covered by tech blogs around the world, and went on to win design awards.
Choi explains how the design came about. ?I was frustrated by the dimensions of the traditional plug, and felt that the existing unit, which dates back to 1947, was out of touch and incongruous with modern design. My idea was very simple ? redesign the plug to bring it in line with the clean look and feel of today?s technology, without compromising functionality.?
While a laptop charger is still in the works, the Mu, a folding USB adapter for smartphones, is now available for purchase in the British Isles.
A small, white device, the Mu folds out to reveal three prongs, two of which swivel to take the traditional plug shape, ready to charge your USB-powered smartphone. When folded down, the Mu is compact and (crucially) safe to chuck in your bag, without fear of the prongs damaging your kit.
At ?25, the Mu is a pricey alternative to an iPhone USB plug (OEM versions can be picked up for a couple of pounds), but it is a price many design aficionados and digital nomads will be happy to pay. And if its fold-down design prevents the pain of stepping on an upended plug even once, it?s priceless.
View As Slideshow ?1. The Packaging
The Mu's sleek, white packaging and simple, curvy logo complements the slimline design of the device.
The name was crowdsourced from the original folding plug concept's fan community.
Robin Freeman came up with "mu." It's Greek for "micro."
2. The Mu
The small device is made of white plastic. Although small, it feels sturdy.
3. Dimensions
The Mu measures 14mm x 55mm x 60mm.
4. Compared to an Apple USB Plug
In this image you can see the Mu compared to a British Apple iPhone USB plug. The Mu's design is not only space-saving, but reduces the chance of scratches from the traditional plug's prongs.
5. Opened Up
Once you open the Mu, you see the three prongs.
6. With the Prongs Turned
You rotate the two bottom prongs to ready it for use.
7. Ready for Use
Then, it's just a matter of inserting your smartphone's USB cable into the port at the back and plugging it in.
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Is it possible to get debt consolidation with bad credit? - Personal ...
From: Think Money - 6:26am - April 30, 2012There is more than one way to consolidate your unsecured debts if you have bad credit.Full article: Is it possible to get debt consolidation with bad credit?Visit: www.thinkmoney.com
Continue reading this article ?
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Castlight Lands A Whopping $100M D Round To Bring Transparency To Healthcare Costs
Founded in 2008, San Francisco-based Castlight has been at the forefront of the movement to bring price transparency and comparison tools to healthcare, offering a B2B service that enables self-insured businesses to provide their employees with the tools to compare costs and quality of a wide range of tests and procedures. While there was plenty of resistance from providers off the bat, the value of this price transparency has been more than apparent in the amount of funding Castlight has raised to date -- $81 million. Today, the startup is more than doubling its coffers, as it has announced the closing of a $100 million Series D financing. The round was led by two "major" (but unnamed) mutual funds, with contributions from T. Rowe Price, and Redmile Group. Castlight's previous investors include names like Morgan Stanley, Wellcom Trust, U.S. Venture Partners, Maverick Capital, Oak Investment Partners, Venrock, and more.stacy keibler stacy keibler all star game oscar red carpet daytona 500 start time ryan zimmerman oscars red carpet
'Woohoo!' SpaceX fires Falcon's rocket engines
SpaceX conducts a test firing of a Falcon 9 rocket's engines.
By Alan Boyle
SpaceX conducted a successful test firing of a Falcon 9 rocket's engines on its Cape Canaveral launch pad, one week before its precedent-setting launch to the International Space Station. But it took more than one try.
The initial countdown was halted just 47 seconds before the nine engines were scheduled to start up. SpaceX fixed what it called a "limit that was improperly set" on the flight computer and quickly set up another countdown. The second countdown proceeded smoothly, and the rocket's nine engines fizzed to life for two seconds as expected, at 4:15 p.m. ET today.
"Woohoo, rocket hold-down firing completed and all looks good!!" SpaceX's millionaire founder, Elon Musk, reported in a Twitter update. Meanwhile, company spokeswoman Kirstin Brost Grantham said "engineers will now review data as we continue preparations for the upcoming launch."
This was a full dress rehearsal for SpaceX's second official demonstration flight for NASA. The first demo flight, back in December 2010, sent a gumdrop-shaped Dragon space capsule into orbit for the first time. The second flight, scheduled to lift off as early as May 7, could see the Dragon go all the way to the space station.
The company has received more than $375 million so far from the space agency for the development of the Falcon 9 and the Dragon. SpaceX and another company, Orbital Sciences Corp., are getting the money to help NASA fill the gap in payload transportation capability left by last year's retirement of the space shuttle fleet.
In addition, SpaceX is receiving tens of millions of dollars from NASA under a separate program to make the Falcon/Dragon launch system suitable for carrying astronauts as well as cargo. Musk founded the California-based company in 2002 with the long-range aim of flying people to Mars.
The Falcon 9 didn't fly anywhere during today's test at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 40 in Florida, but if SpaceX and NASA stick to the current timeline, the rocket will send the robotically controlled Dragon capsule into orbit on May 7. A couple of days later, the spacecraft will catch up with the space station and go through a sequence of rendezvous maneuvers.
If the Dragon performs those maneuvers correctly, NASA would give the go-ahead for the Dragon to approach a station docking port. The station's robotic arm would grab onto it and bring it in for berthing. There'll be some cargo riding aboard the Dragon ? water, clothing, scientific gear and the like?? and the astronauts would take a couple of weeks to take on those payloads and load up the Dragon with Earth-bound cargo. Then the Dragon would be unberthed and sent back down to a Pacific splashdown, marking the successful end of the first flight of a private-sector spaceship to the International Space Station..
There are a lot of "ifs" on that list of contingencies. This launch has been delayed repeatedly due to software glitches, and if a snag like the one that occurred today happened to crop up on May 7, liftoff would have to be postponed for three days. To reach the space station, the Falcon has to lift off right on the dot. The orbital mechanics will not allow for same-day do-overs. But that's OK. Last month, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said "we may have to have a couple of attempts, but we're certainly looking forward to getting that flight off."
If the Falcon 9 and the Dragon pass their tests, that would put SpaceX in a position to ship supplies to the space station in earnest, under the terms of a $1.6 billion NASA contract.
Will SpaceX get 'er done? Feel free to weigh in with your comments below.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk links the aims of his various companies together and explains why he'd rather be engineering than lobbying in Washington.
More about SpaceX and the commercial space race:
Last updated 4:27 p.m. ET.
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
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Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Ohio wild animal stampede ignites vast law review
FILE - In this Oct. 19, 2011 file photo obtained by The Associated Press, carcasses lie on the ground at the Muskingum County Animal Farm in Zanesville, Ohio. More than two dozen tigers, leopards and lions were hunted by sheriff's deputies after Terry Thompson freed the animals on Oct. 18, 2011 before killing himself. Legislation has been proposed in Congress that would ban private ownership of exotic cats. Ohio and other states are also looking to outlaw the animals or to keep them more tightly controlled. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 19, 2011 file photo obtained by The Associated Press, carcasses lie on the ground at the Muskingum County Animal Farm in Zanesville, Ohio. More than two dozen tigers, leopards and lions were hunted by sheriff's deputies after Terry Thompson freed the animals on Oct. 18, 2011 before killing himself. Legislation has been proposed in Congress that would ban private ownership of exotic cats. Ohio and other states are also looking to outlaw the animals or to keep them more tightly controlled. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2007 file photo, actress Tippi Hedren speaks at the Shambala Preserve in Acton, Calif. Hedren has devoted much of her life to rescuing big cats at her Shambala Preserve north of Los Angeles, home to 53 seized or abandoned exotic cats, and she doesn't think they make good pets. Legislation has been proposed in Congress that would ban private ownership of exotic cats.(AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Of all the beasts set free by the suicidal owner of an exotic animal farm in Ohio last year, few were as scary or as lethal as the big cats.
Tigers, leopards and lions ? more than two dozen ? were loose before being hunted by sheriff's deputies.
While the slaughter was chilling, it was truly panic-inducing that an unstable owner had accumulated such a collection of dangerous animals.
Yet, by some estimates, there are thousands of tigers in captivity in American backyards ? more than there are in the wild on the planet.
No one knows the number for certain because there's only scattered regulation for such pets. In fact, it's easier in some states to buy a tiger or lion from a breeder than it is to adopt a kitten from a shelter.
That's likely to change after the Zanesville stampede drew the attention of lawmakers around the country.
Legislation has been proposed in Congress that would ban private ownership of exotic cats. Ohio and other states are also looking to outlaw the animals or to keep them more tightly controlled.
One leader of the cat fight is actress and animal activist Tippi Hedren, best known for being terrorized by crows in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds."
Hedren has devoted much of her life to rescuing big cats at her Shambala Preserve north of Los Angeles, home to 53 seized or abandoned exotic cats, and she doesn't think they make good pets.
"It is the job of the predator to take out any old, sick or lame animal. What quality there makes for a good pet?" she asked. "If you get near its food, it will kill you."
The Zanesville animals may have forced the issue into the open, but it certainly isn't the first tragedy involving private cats.
Since 1990, 21 people, including five children, have been killed and 246 mauled, according to Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Fla. Over that period, 254 cats have escaped and 143 have been killed.
There have been other federal laws proposed over the years, but most have failed.
Deputies shot nearly 50 wild animals freed on Oct. 18 at Muskingum County Animal Farm near Zanesville. Owner Terry Thompson opened their cages before committing suicide. Some believe it was one last act of retaliation against neighbors and authorities.
Reps. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., and Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., introduced the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act in February to require owners of tigers, lions, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, panthers and other cats to register with the Department of Agriculture. Breeding would be banned except at accredited zoos and research and educational institutions. Penalties would include seizures, fines and jail.
"When accidents happen and these wild cats are released into our neighborhoods, it causes panic, puts a strain on our local public safety responders and is extremely dangerous," McKeon said. He believes his bill will protect the public and the cats.
In Ohio, the state Senate recently passed a bill that would ban new ownership of lions, monkeys and other exotic animals, but allows current owners to keep their animals by obtaining a new state-issued permit by 2014 and meeting other strict conditions. It now goes to the House for consideration. Meanwhile, the Ohio Department of Agriculture announced Monday that it will return five surviving exotic animals, including two leopards, to Terry Thompson's widow, Marian Thompson.
Virginia, Arizona, Missouri, West Virginia, Tennessee, Indiana and Oklahoma are also considering exotic animal bans, according to Uappeal, an exotic animal lobbying group.
Currently, no single agency oversees how big cats are kept or treated. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums and USDA have some regulations. Some states, counties and cities have laws but many don't.
The federal bill has the backing of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Born Free USA and other groups. But fans of the majestic beasts are in an uproar.
"All a ban law will do is force all these people to go underground and it will not help the animals at all," said Joseph Schreibvogel, president of the United States Zoological Association, which advocates on behalf of wild animal owners.
Lynn Culver, executive director of the Feline Conservation Federation, thinks the number of people who keep exotic cats as pets has been hugely inflated by proponents of the House bill. She says the bill will interfere with captive conservation and bring an end to circus and stage acts and cats in movies and on television.
"Independent zoos will be allowed to keep their existing animals but when the cats die, there will be zoos without big cats and that's tragic," Culver said. "Big cats are charismatic species, key to the success of any zoo or wildlife exhibit."
There are as many as 20,000 privately owned cats in the U.S. and about half are tigers, according to groups like the World Wildlife Fund and the AZA. The WWF says there are only 3,200 tigers left in the wild in Asia.
How the backyard population swelled while dwindling in nature is partly attributed to an unregulated industry, where a tiger cub can be bought for as little as $300 without any permit or registration.
Yet someone trying to adopt a kitten from a shelter might have to undergo a home inspection and have the pet sterilized, vaccinated, microchipped and licensed, said WWF senior policy adviser Leigh Henry.
In just months, a cub can weigh 400 pounds, cost $5,500 a year to feed and need room to roam. Defanging and declawing them doesn't make them safe, said AZA spokesman Steve Feldman.
Backyard breeders sell the big cats for pets, parts, game ranches, canned hunts, sideshows, photo booths and roadside attractions.
Overwhelmed pet owners often turn to sanctuaries to rescue them from mounting bills and potential danger.
Bobbi Brink, owner of Lions Tigers and Bears outside San Diego, started her sanctuary in 2002 after rescuing tigers Raja and Natasha from a Texas man who was ordered to upgrade their 6-foot-by-12-foot cages or find new homes for them.
She spent $250,000 on a tiger habitat with a pool and plenty of running room on 94 acres.
Brink recently said no to three 8-year-old Texas tigers seized from a man with dementia. She doesn't have room.
Accredited and established sanctuaries across the country are reaching capacity and some have been forced to close because donations dwindled during the recession. Accredited zoos will no longer take privately owned tigers. Their goal is species preservation and privately owned or "generic" tigers can't be traced to their wildly caught ancestors.
If the McKeon-Sanchez bill succeeds, some worry there will be a glut of displaced tigers and too many will be euthanized.
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