Four things I'm hoping to see in the Jelly Bean release of Android
Posted by herostart, Mar 8 2011, 09:14 PM
If the last few releases of Android are any indication, chances are good that we'll see Jelly Bean unveiled at Google I/O in June.
But even if Google makes that deadline, we'll likely end up waiting a few more months before Jelly canned water bean is actually released, perhaps with a Nexus device. So with that in mind, I thought it would be fun to put together a few ideas as to what I'd like to see in Jelly Bean. While some of this list is based on real-world expectation, others would make for a great mobile experience.
Google Assistant
We've heard for a while that Google is prepping its own official answer to Apple's Siri. At one time it was rumored that Google's feature was operating under the codename of Project Majel and that it would be available in the coming months.
The latest round of whispers advise that Google will release Project Majel by the fourth quarter of the year. I don't know about you, but I think that this is exactly the type of feature you'd tie into a new build of Android. Sure, we could see pieces and parts of it made available as a separate download, but Google Assistant would the sort of feature that the company show off in advertisements.
Yes, it would be strange to see Google announce something that has already been available on Android with third-party apps for some time now. What's more, it would be ironic to view Google as countering Siri even with its own app. But that said, if anyone can help promote the power of reliable search, it would be Google.
Google Drive
As more companies and services step into the cloud storage and mobile accessibility arena, it becomes increasingly apparent that Google needs to announce its own model. With upwards of 8GB of storage in Gmail and another 1GB in Google Docs, it makes sense to offer users a central location for backing up all things Google. After all, there are plenty of other apps that could take advantage of this cloud hosting, including Google+, Google Voice (SMS), and Google Books. And speaking of which, does anyone else find it silly that we can't upload our PDFs and other books to read through Google Books?
Full-Featured Google Voice
I've been anxiously awaiting a fully realized Google Voice experience for years now and think that the time is right for Google to make the move. I'm talking, of course, about building in voice-over-IP call functions, essentially driving a wedge between consumer and carrier. We're at a point now where calling minutes are unlimited, but data use is not. So why don't we just use these 4G networks and Wi-Fi connections to make calls since voice communication is about the last thing we do on smartphones anymore?
One advantage I see here is that it would help to alleviate network strain as consumers more actively seek Wi-Fi hotspots. Sure, there are countless ways that carriers and other industry players may drag their feet, but the day is coming. I've already turned all of my old inactive Android handsets (and Wi-Fi tablets!) into Google Voice devices capable of making and receiving calls. If you're interested in learning more, definitely check out Groove IP.
Scaling things down a bit, I'd really like to see better support for Google Voice services including SMS and longer messages. I'd also prefer to see Voice included in the standard suite of Google apps that come preloaded on stock Android smartphones. Those of us with existing accounts should be able to log in and sync everything up just like we do with Gmail and apps. I can understand why this doesn't happen today as tablets don't offer calling support, but that's all the more reason to give us VoIP.
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Laptop, jewelry stolen from Hoboken woman's apartment, cops say
Posted by herostart, Mar 2 2011, 12:19 AM
A 28-year-old Hoboken woman's laptop and charm hair jewelry were stolen from her apartment during a burglary on Tuesday in which the deadbolt lock was ripped from her apartment door, police said.
Officers responding to the Park Avenue apartment at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday saw heavy damage to the door where the deadbolt was torn from the door jamb, suggesting heavy force was used to gain entry, police said.
The 28-year-old told police she had left the apartment in the morning and locked the apartment door with the deadbolt, reports said.
In a search of the apartment with the officers, the woman noticed a Dell laptop valued at $800 was missing, reports said.
The laptop appeared to have been quickly ripped from the desk because the power cord was found in the middle of the living room floor and electronic items attached to it were found pulled from their original positions along the wall, police said.
There was also an undetermined amount of jewelry missing, police were told. A dresser drawer where the jewelry had been stored was found on her bed along with empty watch and jewelry boxes, reports said.
Officers noticed an Apple I-Pad left on the bedroom floor near the bed, along with a camera in a black bag and several expensive watches stored in nondescript containers that may have been discovered if the burglar had more time while committing the burglary, police said.
Officers conducted a search of the building, which revealed no other apartments were burglarized, reports said.
Another neighbor in the building said she did not hear any loud banging or see any suspicious people, but was not in the building for a portion of the day, police said.
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Human trafficking victims benefit from a local group's scarf sales
Posted by herostart, Feb 27 2011, 12:08 AM
Their carefully woven fabric in colorful hues are attractive, but the acrylic knitted scarves sold by Menomonie-based Fierce Beauty are meant to convey more than a pretty message.
Organization co-founders Jenny Almquist of Colfax and Tammy Berend of Menomonie donate at least 10 percent of money from sales of scarves - some of which are made in Menomonie - to efforts to end human trafficking, a form of modern-day slavery in which people exploit others for profit, often through prostitution.
Human trafficking victims include children involved in the sex trade, people 18 or older who are coerced or deceived into commercial sex acts, and anyone forced into different forms of labor or services, such as domestic workers held against their will in a home or farm workers forced to labor against their will.
Four years ago Almquist was at a woman's conference in Sydney, Australia, where she learned about human trafficking. The conference prompted her to sell scarves to raise awareness about human trafficking.
"I didn't know it was an issue, and I had never heard of it," Almquist, 46, said of human trafficking. "I was surprised and horrified. There are more slaves today than there have ever been in all of history."
Like Almquist, Berend felt compelled to help raise awareness of human trafficking and to try to end the practice.
Human trafficking happens to all ages and to males and females.
"It is happening in schools," Almquist said. "Teenage boys will sell their girlfriends to their friends for profit. That's sex trafficking."
Almquist and Berend aren't stopping their efforts to combat human trafficking at selling scarves. The duo is in the process of starting a nonprofit organization called Fierce Freedom that will oversee a safe house for victims of human trafficking in the Chippewa Valley. They hope to open the safe house within a year.
The facility is needed, given the few available locations for human trafficking victims to stay, Berend said, and Menomonie's location along Interstate 94 - often used to transport victims between Chicago and Minneapolis - makes it a good spot for a safe house, a place victims can escape to.
Organizers hope the safe house can provide counseling and other services to human trafficking victims.
"Part of the goal is to create in the community partnerships because these women will need help repairing their lives," said Cheryl Voyles, a sexual assault survivor and advocate for people impacted by sexual violence.
With the increased use of the Internet and as society has become more mobile, human trafficking has expanded, Voyles said.
"There is hope everyone does something," Almquist said. "If we all step up to the plate and raise awareness it can be stopped."
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Burberry puts on very British show at London Fashion Week
Posted by herostart, Feb 21 2011, 12:51 AM
They say weather is a national obsession in Britain - but perhaps more for Burberry Prorsum's Christopher Bailey than for most.
With a clap of thunder and a torrent of realistic rain running down the sides of a glass tent, the luxury brand's creative chief sent his umbrella-toting models down the catwalk in a finale that brought a smile to everyone's face.
Burberry, which stages its twice yearly runway shows in its own temporary Hyde Park tent, is the biggest and glitziest production during London Fashion Week. On Monday, the autumn and winter 2012 display drew a huge crowd of buyers and spectators, including a host of international stars such as Hollywood actress Kate Bosworth, celebrity photographer Mario Testino, and even Korean pop group Girls' Generation.
"I quite like celebrating rain," said Bailey, who has been credited with revitalizing the once-fusty fashion house and boosting its international style credentials. He's also known to create a spectacle using weather elements: Last year, he filled his catwalk with fake snow.
"I like the romance. I quite like the melancholy," he said of the rain.
It wasn't just the rain that was British - much of the detailing on the clothes was, too. There was velvet quilting, corduroy, herringbone wool and tweed caps, riding jackets and skirts, and of course various incarnations of the brand's most famous garment, the trench coat.
Bailey said the collection was a study in merging city style and country living. Bridle leather straps, shearling parkas and the use of quilting were evocative of the horse-riding country lifestyle of the English upper class, while the appearance of cute owl drawings and appliques on some of the collection's T-shirts and sweaters, as well as gold metal fox belt buckle handbags, were a fun and quirky take on the "country" theme.
"I like the idea of celebrating the country, celebrating the town," Bailey said after the show.
A huge range of coats and jackets made up much of the collection. Some were cinched in with candy-coloured belts with bows, while others had masculine tailored shoulders and large pouches. Cropped, down-filled puffer jackets were paired with tweed ruffled pencil skirts, giving the ladylike look a sporty twist.
The most striking coat was the one Bailey chose for his finale - a quilted, belted creation in deep royal purple, cinched in at the waist but flaring out in a full skirt.
Colours were rich and autumnal, with mustard, burgundy, black currant and forest greens, while wide horizontal stripes in grey, navy and honey kept the look young and vibrant.
"I like it because it's British and I'm British," joked Leah Weller, a 20-year-old singer and model, who added that she was particularly fond of the gold-studded black gloves and clutch bags on show.
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Lihua CEO Comments on Recent Achievements and 2012 Strategy
Posted by herostart, Feb 15 2011, 12:30 AM
Lihua International, Inc. (NASDAQ: LIWA) ("Lihua" or the "Company"), a leading Chinese developer, designer, and manufacturer of low cost, high quality alternatives to pure copper products, including refined copper products and superfine and magnet cable wire recycling, as well as copper clad aluminum ("CCA") wire, today announced that its Chairman and CEO, Mr. Jianhua Zhu, has provided the following statement regarding the Company's recent achievements and 2012 strategy:
To our Shareholders, Partners and Friends:
2011 was a year of positioning and progress, during which Lihua achieved tremendous growth financially, operationally and strategically. We achieved significant top and bottom line growth as our copper anode and wire products continued to gain momentum through robust customer demand. Although we faced certain obstacles that impeded our growth in the fourth quarter of the year, we took proactive steps to address these challenges and entered 2012 in what we believe is an ideal position for growth and success over the longer-term. I would like to take this opportunity to review some of our 2011 highlights and share with you the reasons for our enthusiasm in 2012.
Strong Top Line Growth Driven by Copper Anode:
During the first nine months of 2011, Lihua achieved record revenue of $459.5 million, an increase of 95.5% year-over-year, compared with revenue of $235.1 million in the first nine months of 2010. Copper anode continued to be our primary growth driver, with sales reaching $217.9 million or more than 47% of total revenue, compared with sales of $35.7 million in the first nine months of 2010. Since launching the product in the third quarter of 2010, we have built copper anode into a sizable business, and with our new copper recycling facility nearing volume production, we are poised to capture even greater share of this large and growing market.
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Value Plastics Introduces a More User-Friendly, Single-Use Sanitary Clamp
Posted by herostart, Apr 17 2009, 09:07 PM
Value Plastics, a Nordson Company,announces the PharmaLok™ Series -- a new line of ergonomic, single-use sanitary construction clamps for securing fittings to bag ports and filters in the biopharmaceutical market. The new PharmaLok clamps will be featured in Booth 2722 at Interphex 2012 in New York City, May 1--May 3.
PharmaLok clamps provide a significant advancement for the industry, as a number of existing solutions either require tools for closure or consist of multiple components, turning what should be a simple operation into a difficult and awkward process.
"As a founding member of BPSA, Value Plastics has been fortunate enough to have insight into the needs of the biopharm industry," comments Ken Davis, Global Marketing Manager for Value Plastics. "User-friendly solutions are increasingly demanded, and single-use systems have developed into an overwhelming market trend. Incorporating these factors into the PharmaLok has resulted in an ideal solution for our customers."
Easily operated with one hand, PharmaLok's patent pending design allows effortless attachment of fittings to bag ports and filters. The user simply rests the fitting in the PharmaLok's regulation-sized slot, lightly grips the surrounding handles, and listens for the sound of three clicks to confirm a secure connection.
Value Plastics' new PharmaLok hygienic clamps are made of a glass-filled nylon material that is both USP Class VI and ISO 11137 certified, and ASME BPE 2009 DT-5-3 compliant.
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Oxfam banquet recognizes global food discrepancies
Posted by herostart, Mar 29 2009, 01:00 AM
Food Justice Week event informs students of worldwide poverty
At most aluminium banquet chairs, guests are served more food than they can eat.
The Oxfam Hunger Banquet on Tuesday night, however, had many guests leaving with empty stomachs.
The event was intended to raise awareness of food insecurity among lower socioeconomic classes. The banquet was sponsored by Oxfam, an international coalition of 15 organizations that work to end poverty and injustice.
Attendees picked a piece of paper at random that assigned them to one of three income classes upon entering the banquet. Along with each income class was a brief description of the lifestyle experienced by people of that class.
Guests were seated according to the income class they were assigned.
The upper income level attendees were seated at a table with dishes and silverware. Upon entering, they were served bread and their choice of either tea or water.
Once the banquet began, guests assigned to the upper income class were served a full dinner.
Those assigned to the middle income class were seated in chairs and had to get their own meals, which consisted of beans and rice with water or tea to drink.
Attendees assigned to the lower class sat on newspapers on the floor and were fed only rice and water, which they had to get for themselves.
The number of people assigned to each class was based on the percentages of the world population who are part of each income level.
Natalie Reeder, a fourth-year chemical engineering student, said she was surprised by how few people were served a full meal compared to those who were only served a small amount of food.
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Artist turns wine barrels into furniture
Posted by herostart, Mar 25 2009, 08:31 PM
Eudora resident Andy Wingert wasn't into woodworking when he was growing up, so his talent for making acrylic hotel furniture and wine accessories from recycled wine barrels seems surprising even to him.
About five years ago, Wingert was sprucing up the front of Rimann Liquors, a store he co-owns with Marshall Rimann in Lenexa, when he noticed a couple of used wine barrels. He decided to cut them in half to serve as planters, which he placed on the sidewalk in front of the business.
Soon, customers were asking where they could buy the planters.
"I made 25 to 30 planters in the first year," he said, adding the work was done only in his spare time.
About 21/2 years ago, he and his girlfriend, Cristi Coulter, were in a wine tasting room at Sonoma, Calif., and noticed a candleholder made from a barrel stave. Wingert reckoned he could make similar candleholders and sell them at his store.
Since then, he has branched out to create wine caddies, coat and hat racks, Lazy Susans, wine racks, custom-made benches, end tables and other accessories from oak wine barrels imported from California wine country.
"I'm not very artistic, but when I see something I try to picture if I can make that out of a barrel or parts of a barrel," he said.
"When I started, I had a hammer, a saw, a pair of pliers and screw drivers. My tool inventory has increased dramatically. Home Depot really likes me."
Wingert makes the wine barrel creations in a garage at his home. When needed, he seeks advice or borrows tools from his girlfriend’s father, Jim Coulter, and her uncle, Tom Coulter, both of Overland Park, as well as David Murray, his brother-in-law and Topeka native now living in Olathe.
Wingert begins by sanding down each 160-pound oak barrel. After he cuts the heads from the barrel and removes the metal bands, he measures and cuts the staves to a desired length. After another sanding to reveal its original wood grain and highlight where the metal bands were, each stave is sealed with a urethane.
In all, the staves will receive at least three sandings and three coats of urethane, which provides a protective barrier against water and temperature-changes and reduces the fading and graying effects of ultraviolet light.
The arch and band markings make each stave unique. In addition, the underside of each stave and head is stained a purplish-red from the wine stored in the barrel.
He also uses galvanized hardware to construct the outdoor items to ensure durability and lessen corrosion.
Excluding drying time, Wingert said, a planter takes about five to six hours to make, while a coat rack can take about an hour to 11/2 hours. A customized bench takes about six weeks.
Coulter said they sell the wine barrel items at three or four arts and crafts shows each year, including the Holiday Boutique in Overland Park. On some Friday nights in June and July, they set up at Holy-Field Winery in Basehor.
While Wingert takes care of the creation-side, Coulter and her 8-year-old son, Nickolas Coulter, enjoy manning the booths at the shows.
Coat racks sell for $40 to $95; candleholders, $35 to $50; planters, $325; and benches, at least $1,500.
For more information, please visit: herostart
OXID wird neuer Partner von arvato Systems
Posted by herostart, Mar 20 2009, 08:49 PM
Seit Anfang 2012 hat arvato Systems sein Partnernetzwerk um die iron oxid eSales AG erweitert. Au?er den L?sungen von hybris und SAP bietet arvato Systems mit den Produkten von OXID eSales nun weitere L?sungen im Bereich E-Commerce an, die individuell auf die unterschiedlichen Kundenbedürfnisse zugeschnitten sind.
Als "Certified Premium Solution Partner", dem h?chsten Partnerstatus der OXID eSales AG, wird arvato Systems zukünftig au?er den kompletten Multichannel-Commerce-L?sungen flexible und zielgerichtete E-Commerce L?sungen in das Portfolio aufnehmen. Durch die breite Aufstellung der OXID E-Shop L?sungen von der "Open Source Community Edition" bis hin zu einer "Enterprise Edition" k?nnen zukünftig insbesondere mittlere E-Commerce Vorhaben effizient umgesetzt werden.
arvato Systems bietet durch die Partnerschaft mit OXID den Kunden die M?glichkeit, schnell und kostengünstig ins E-Commerce Gesch?ft einzusteigen. Die E-Shop L?sungen von OXID k?nnen mit wachsenden Anforderungen der Unternehmen bis zu einer Multichannel-Commerce-L?sung von OXID erweitert werden. "Vor allem wachstumsstarke Startups und mittelst?ndische Unternehmen haben durch die E-Shop L?sungen von OXID die M?glichkeit, mit geringem Risiko und niedrigem anf?nglichen Kosten- und Planungsaufwand in das professionelle E-Commerce-Gesch?ft einzusteigen", so Dr. Nasser Kaspari von der arvato Systems GmbH.
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Recipes: A passion for perfect pasta
Posted by herostart, Mar 15 2009, 08:28 PM
Yorkshire TV chef Peter Sidwell is back with his no-nonsense cookbook Simply Good frozen fresh pasta.
Peter has been a chef for 17 years, graduating from Beverley College in Yorkshire, before going on to work in several hotels in York. He went on to travel and cook his way around Europe. Having furthered his training on the London restaurant scene, he decided that he’d like to get back to his roots to work on a passion of his; baking.
Peter joined a local bakery near York for several years, refining his skills. He followed that by moving into corporate catering. Finally, he decided to go it alone; the beginning of Good Taste, a cooking and catering school in the Lake District.
He recently presented Lakes on A Plate on Channel 4, a celebration of the Lakes and its food. He is also the face of the Food Network (UK TV) for 2012.
For more information,please visit: herostart