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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/52346162/
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Sunday, June 30, 2013
The Daily Roundup for 06.28.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Filed under: Misc
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/ug0OvCOLuD4/
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Saturday, June 29, 2013
Co-Founder ?Who Made Numbers God? At Zynga Joins Bee Cave ...
Zynga co-founder and godfather of metrics-based game development Eric Schiermeyer quietly slipped out of the company, is working on a new startup, and today announced he?s become an investor and advisor to Bee Cave Games, makers of play-money gambling Facebook game Blackjack Casino. Bee Cave Games CEO Erik Bethke tells me Schiermeyer?s advisor role is a weekly commitment and his investment is part of a forthcoming funding round in the low millions.
Previously, Schiermeyer was?a CTO of Myspace, and at Zynga he was VP of Product. Bee Cave Games won?t be his full-time gig as he tells me he?s advising some other companies, and is in the early stages of building a new company. ?A former Zynga employee gave me this candid look into working with Schiermeyer:
?He was known as the most aggressive man at Zynga. He ran the product management organization. They were the numbers guys, the one behind metrics. He?s the one who made numbers God in the product management cultures. That?s where he was the most aggressive, always trying to push the numbers, push the numbers.?
That strategy of tweaking every bit of a game?s design to increase growth, retention, engagement, and monetization is arguably what made Zynga so financially succesful in its early years. It may have also eventually contributed to low morale, fleeing talent, and the inability of Zynga to produce any hit games recently.
Our source says, ?His reputation was for being a bit abrasive and hard to work with, but he was absolutely successful. He got results. He was the driving force behind Zynga?s growth.?
Schiermeyer will bring serious business experience to his board advising and investment spot with the young company, which was was founded in 2012 and has only raised?$1.4 million before now. Why did he pick the startup? He tells me ?I think BCG is posed to take all the lessons they learned from pioneering the social games space into the casino world. I?ve looked at all the top grossing casino apps on IOS and they remind me of the old school online gambling downloadables. ?Certainly while I was still at Zynga we were eating traditional gaming companies lunch in the online side of the business. I think BCG could do something similar.?
Schiermeyer left Zynga in July 2011. ?Since the public offering at the end of that year, the gaming giant?s share price has rallied from its year?s low of $2.10 in November up to $2.78 now, but has been on a jagged decline since March. Zynga recently fired hundreds of employees, closed several offices, and earlier this month shuttered the Draw Something studio OMGPOP it bought for $200 million just a year prior.
The plan has been for Zynga to reemerge as a leaner, mobile-focused gaming company. But it?s not that simple. The big gaming business is based on home runs that pay for development of a slew of titles, and Zynga hasn?t been able to find one. Many hopes now rely on its plans for real-money gambling games.
Bee Cave CEO Bethke, who formerly worked with Schiermeyer at Zynga on Mafia Wars, told me factors that have led to Zynga?s fall include ?tremendous amount of talent turnover. I think they?re struggling. It needs direction, it needs a strategy. If you look over at King they?re making hits. If you look at the Facebook ecosystem everyone else is making 60% more this year than last year. Despite Zynga?s decline, Facebook?s [gaming] ecosystem is still up.?
That bodes well for Bee Cave, whose only game right now is on the Facebook platform. The company claims that Blackjack Casino is ?now the #2 fastest growing casino game on Facebook trending charts?, though AppData puts it below 50,000 daily users. Bethke tells me that later this summer it plans to port the game to iOS, Android, and 14 other languages, and it?s building some new titles. While Bee Cave games let users bet fake money,?Schiermeyer?s ruthless efficiency could help the studio churn out real dollars.
Eric is the the Guru of Growth. Prior to launching Zynga, he was the CTO at eUniverse, the company that became Intermix Media, parent company of MySpace.
? Learn moreBee Cave Games is a social and mobile games developer based in Austin, Texas. We develop connected games for web, Facebook, iOS (iPhone and iPad), Android (phone and tablet), and other gaming platforms.
? Learn moreZynga was founded in July 2007 by Mark Pincus and is named for his late American Bulldog, Zinga. Loyal and spirited, Zinga?s name is a nod to a legendary African warrior queen. The early supporting founding team included Eric Schiermeyer, Michael Luxton, Justin Waldron, Kyle Stewart, Scott Dale, John Doerr, Steve Schoettler, Kevin Hagan, and Andrew Trader. Zynga?s mission is connecting the world through games. Everyday millions of people interact with their friends and express their unique personalities through our...
? Learn moreSource: http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/28/the-most-aggressive-person-at-zynga/
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Egyptian clerics warn of 'civil war' ahead of mass protests
As Egypt approaches a weekend of confrontation, the divide between those who love and those who despise President Mohammed Morsi and his pro-Islamist government is wider than ever. NBC's Charlene Gubash reports.
By Charlene Gubash and Alastair Jamieson, NBC News
Egypt risks sliding into civil war, the country's leading religious authority warned Friday, as the nation braced itself for mass nationwide protests.
Organizers of "June 30" demonstrations ? which mark one year since Islamist President Mohammed Morsi's election ? claim they have the backing of an estimated 15 million Egyptians who want him to resign.
"Only God knows what will happen" Sunday, said Gamal Abdul Aziz, a pro-Morsi car mechanic in Madba'a, a blue-collar district in Cairo.
There were ominous signs Friday. U.S. officials told NBC News that they were investigating reports that a U.S. citizen was stabbed to death Friday during protests in Alexandria, where at least 80 other people have been wounded, the state news agency MENA reported.
The State Department authorized the departure of a limited number of non-emergency employees and family members and warned U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to Egypt.
NBC News
Gamal Abdul Aziz, left, a pro-Morsi car mechanic, argues with anti-Morsi computer science student Mohamed Abdul Munim, right, while being interviewed this week.
Building on discontent about a range of social and economic issues, Morsi's opponents hope to force early presidential elections.
His supporters, meanwhile, have promised they will also take to the streets to defend the Muslim Brotherhood-backed government.
"Vigilance is required to ensure we do not slide into civil war," clerics of the Al-Azhar institute said in a statement broadly supportive of Morsi, Reuters reported.
It blamed "criminal gangs" who besieged mosques for street violence that the Brotherhood said has killed five of its supporters in a week.
In an example of just how polarized the debate over Egypt's future has become, Aziz and his family became embroiled in a shouting match with a nearby resident, anti-Morsi computer science student Mohamed Abdul Munim, 23, while being interviewed this week.
Amr Nabil / AP
Egyptian drivers wait outside in long lines at a gasoline station in Cairo on Tuesday.
The argument, which took place after NBC News filmed a political discussion between the two, ended when Munim stormed off.
The dispute and recent violence ? one man was shot dead and four other people were wounded in an attack on a Muslim Brotherhood office Thursday ? was an ill omen for Sunday's marches.
The country's powerful army, which helped protesters topple Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian regime in 2011, has reinforced its presence in cities like Cairo and Port Said.
Munim said he believed "most" of Egypt's registered 50 million voters will be out on the streets, supporting one side or the other.
"We are sure that we will go out and get beaten up by the [Muslim] Brotherhood, [but] we are going out despite this," he said. "There is no security. There is economic collapse. The electricity cuts off and everybody is suffering. They will say Morsi is not at fault, but electricity didn't cut off when the military governed."
Aziz, meanwhile, said his life had improved under Morsi and accused the mostly secular opposition of "waging a war against Islam."
"Can you build a house in a day? No, it takes time." he said. "What can a president do in one year when a country is in ruins? The old [Mubarak] regime stole the country and left it destroyed."
In a sign of the nervousness many felt, Egyptians were stocking up on food, fuel, water and cash in the days leading up the protests.
'The Daily Show's' Jon Stewart took his satire to Cairo on Friday, appearing on a show hosted by the man known as 'Egypt's Jon Stewart,' who has faced investigation for insulting the country's president and Islam. TODAY's Jenna Wolfe reports.
Morsi's supporters claim the demonstration ? organized by an opposition umbrella group named "Tamarod," meaning "Rebel" ? is setting the stage for a repeat of the 2011 Arab Spring revolution.
Mahmoud Badr, a 28-year-old journalist and founder of the Tamarod movement, dismissed a televised speech by Morsi on Wednesday night in which the president appealed for calm.
"Our demand was early presidential elections, and since that was not addressed anywhere in the speech, then our response will be on the streets" Sunday, he told the English-language Egypt Independent news site.
The U.S. Embassy announced Tuesday that it would be closing its doors for the day of the demonstrations, but it added that "potentially violent protest activity may occur before June 30," and urged U.S. citizens to "maintain a low profile" from Friday onward.Underscoring fears of violence, defenders of Morsi revealed plans Tuesday to form vigilante groups to protect public buildings from opposition demonstrations, the Egypt Independent reported, quoting Safwat Abdel Ghany, a member of Islamic umbrella organization Jama'a al-Islamiya.
"If chaos sweeps across the country, Islamist groups will secure state institutions and vital facilities against robbery by thugs and advocates of violence," he was quoted as saying.
Members of Tamarod were so confident that they would force Morsi from power that the organization set out a constitutional "road map" that it said would take Egypt forward without a president until new elections.
Eric Trager, a fellow at the Washington Institute think tank, said this week that battle lines were drawn between "an enraged opposition" and "an utterly incapable, confrontational ruling party that now counts some of Egypt's most violent political elements as its core supporters."
"Rising food prices, hours-long fuel lines and multiple-times-daily electricity cuts ? all worsening amidst a typically scorching Egyptian summer ? have set many Egyptians on edge, with clashes between Brotherhood and anti-Brotherhood activists now a common feature of Egyptian political life," he said.
"Whatever happens on [Sunday], it can't end well," he added.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related:
Morsi: Political division threatens Egypt's democracy
Egypt's Islamists rally to show Morsi support ? and warn opponents
Egypt's Coptic Christians say they are 'no longer safe'
This story was originally published on Fri Jun 28, 2013 5:30 AM EDT
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Friday, June 28, 2013
After abortion setback, Texas GOP set to try again
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? After a one-woman filibuster and a raucous crowd helped derail a GOP-led effort to restrict Texas abortions, Gov. Rick Perry announced Wednesday that he's calling lawmakers back next week to try again.
Perry ordered the Legislature to meet July 1 to begin 30 more days of work. Like the first special session, which ended in chaos overnight, the second one will include on its agenda a Republican-backed plan that critics say would close nearly every abortion clinic across the state and impose other widespread limits on the procedure.
"I am calling the Legislature back into session because too much important work remains undone for the people of Texas," Perry said in a statement. "Texans value life and want to protect women and the unborn."
The first session's debate over abortion restrictions led to the most chaotic day in the Texas Legislature in modern history, starting with a marathon filibuster and ending with a down-to-the wire, frenetic vote marked by questions about whether Republicans tried to break chamber rules and jam the measure through.
A second filibuster is harder to pull off though, since supporters of the bill will ensure it clear preliminary hurdles and reaches floor votes in the House and Senate well before the second session expires.
The governor can convene as many extra sessions as he likes and sets the agenda of what lawmakers can work on. Also listed on the session's agenda are separate bills to boost highway funding and deal with a juvenile justice issue.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who oversees the flow of legislation in the Senate, hinted that another special session was coming when he told lawmakers "see you soon" after the first session adjourned.
Many of the same abortion rights groups that staged Tuesday's night's protests took to Twitter on Wednesday, promising they had more in store.
The entire process starts over, with bills that must be filed by individual lawmakers, undergo a public hearing and be passed out of committee before they can be considered by both chambers.
Still, supporters are likely to draft a measure similar to the one that nearly passed during the first special session. It sought a statewide ban on undergoing the procedure after 20 weeks of pregnancy, the point at which anti-abortion activists claim a fetus can feel pain ? despite a lack of scientific evidence to support that.
That bill also would have forced many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities to be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. Doctors would be required to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles.
Democrats put their hopes of thwarting the bill Tuesday in the hands of Wendy Davis, a state senator clad in pink running shoes, for a daylong attempt to talk the bill to death. Over the duration of the speech, Davis became a social media star, even becoming the subject of a tweet from President Obama for her efforts.
But just before midnight, Republicans claimed she strayed off topic and got help with a back brace ? two things that are against filibuster rules ? and cut her off.
That cleared the way for a vote.
But when Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst shouted into the microphone, trying to call the final votes, nobody seemed to hear him. Some 400 supporters jammed into the gallery had taken their feet with a deafening roar, drowning out his voice. It was, as some claimed, a "people's filibuster" ? an attempt by protesters to finish what Davis had started more than 11 hours earlier.
"Get them out!" Republican Sen. Donna Campbell shouted to a security guard. "... I want them out of here!"
As the crowd clapped and shouted "shame, shame, shame," Dewhurst gathered Republican lawmakers around Secretary of the Senate Patsy Spaw to register their votes. Democrats ran forward, holding up their cellphones, which showed it was past midnight.
But Dewhurst and other Republicans insisted the first vote was cast before midnight by the Legislature's clock and that the bill had passed.
By the time decorum was restored and the 19-10 vote in favor of the measure was recorded, the clock read 12:03 a.m. Confusion took over: The Republicans had passed the bill, but did it count? Were the votes tallied in time?
Reporters checked the Senate's official website and saw the vote registered on Wednesday, after the deadline. But a short time later, the website was updated to show the vote on Tuesday. Sen. Chuy Hinojosa produced two official printouts of the vote, each showing a different day for the same vote.
After protests from angry Democrats, senators met privately with Dewhurst for more than an hour. Eventually, he returned to the then-empty Senate chamber and declared that while the bill had passed, he didn't have time to sign it, so it wasn't approved. In return for declaring the measure dead, Democrats promised not to question the date of the vote any further.
While altering a public record is illegal, stopping the clock to allow for a vote or changing the journal before it is published are long traditions in the Texas Legislature and unlikely to lead to a prosecution.
The law's provision that abortions be performed at surgical centers means only five of Texas' 42 abortion clinics would remain in operation in a state 773 miles wide and 790 miles long with 26 million people. A woman living along the Mexico border or in West Texas would have to drive hundreds of miles to obtain an abortion.
Conservatives and anti-abortion campaigners joined Dewhurst in condemning the "unruly mob" for violating the Senate's decorum by screaming obscenities at Republican backers of the bill.
Texas Democrats, though, see an opportunity to capitalize just months after setting up a grassroots organization called "Battleground Texas" with a $36 million cash infusion. And they circled around Davis ? the teen mom turned Harvard Law School grad whose Twitter followers rocketed from 1,200 to 83,000 in just 24 hours.
"As Sen. Wendy Davis most powerfully emphasized, Democrats are not afraid of a fight," said Gilberto Hinojosa, Texas Democratic Party chairman. "Last night was a turning point in that story of Texas."
___
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/cltomlinson
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/abortion-setback-texas-gop-set-try-again-225049387.html
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Samsung puts curve in OLED televisions
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? After delays, Samsung Electronics Co. rolled out Thursday a curved TV that uses an advanced display called OLED.
The 55-inch TV will sell for 15 million won ($13,000) in South Korea, more than five times the cost of LCD televisions of the same size.
But Kim Hyunsuk, the executive vice president of Samsung's TV division, said the company is optimistic about demand for the high-end TV.
"OLED is about picture quality," Kim told reporters. "We are sure that we realized the perfect picture quality."
It remains to be seen if consumers will be willing to pay a premium for enhanced imagery. The TV industry has been struggling to excite interest with its latest technologies. In recent years, attempts to boost sales by introducing 3-D TVs and TVs that are connected to the Internet have failed to end the downturn in the TV industry.
Samsung is not the first to introduce a curved TV using OLED. In May, its rival LG Electronics Inc., the second-biggest TV maker, launched a 55-inch curved TV in South Korea.
LG's model, which also sells for 15 million won, is not sold outside South Korea.
LG spokesman Kenneth Hong said the company will ship curved OLED TVs to other countries in the near future.
Samsung will ship its curved OLED TVs to overseas markets starting July, Kim said. The company does not plan to manufacture flat OLED TVs this year, he said.
The concave display gives viewers a sense of being immersed in the images, according to Samsung.
Samsung and LG, which are the only TV makers in the world to begin commercial sales of OLED TVs, had promised to launch them in 2012 but delayed the launch to this year.
The two South Korean TV giants tout OLED, short for organic light-emitting diode, as the next-generation display technology that will eventually replace older displays. But mass producing OLED displays still faces many challenges, leading to high prices.
In addition to curved OLED TVs, Samsung launched two ultra-HD TVs, with about four times the resolution of regular high-definition TVs.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/samsung-puts-curve-oled-televisions-060257066.html
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Facebook Updates Its Ad Manager Reports With More Customizable, Real-Time Data
Facebook's effort to simplify its ad products continues: Today it's announcing an update to Ad Manager Reports (a product whose name pretty much explains what it does ? helps advertisers track and manage their campaigns on Facebook). The goal of the changes, according to Product Manager David Baser, is to give advertisers tools that are "simpler, easier-to-use, and more flexible." A lot of that seems to involve giving those advertisers more control over the data that they receive.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/P0S0yBVQmvk/
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Thursday, June 27, 2013
EU agrees on bank-failure rules to avoid bailouts
BRUSSELS (AP) ? The European Union has struck a deal on rules establishing who will pay for bank bailouts in the future without taxpayers having to foot the bill.
The agreement reached by the EU's 27 finance ministers after seven hours of negotiations early Thursday is an important step toward establishing Europe's so-called banking union with the goal of restoring financial and economic stability to the recession-hit bloc.
The set of rules determines the order in which investors and creditors will have to take losses when a bank is restructured or shut down, with a taxpayer-funded bailout being only a limited last resort.
"That's a major shift from the public means, from the taxpayer if you will, back to the financial sector itself which will now become for a very, very large extent responsible for dealing with its own problems," said Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
The ministers had failed to reach a deal in 19 hours of continuous talks last week, and their latest round of negotiations in Brussels came only hours before a summit of the EU's 27 heads of state and government. At the summit, the EU leaders are expected to take stock of the progress of the bloc's financial and economic policies.
Exactly a year ago, EU leaders pledged to tackle the eurozone's financial crisis by introducing a banking union, which aims to give the supervision and rescue of banks to European institutions rather than leaving weaker member states to fend for themselves.
Since its announcement the project has stalled on many fronts, not the least because richer countries fear they might have to pay for the banking woes of weaker countries. But Thursday's breakthrough gave the endeavor new credibility by establishing clear rules.
"The talks were lengthy, quite difficult and intense," German Finance Minister Schaeuble said. "This is an important step. We make progress step by step" toward completing the banking union, he added.
The EU governments will now start negotiating the legislation with the European Parliament.
Following the 2008-2009 financial crisis, countries like Ireland, Britain and Germany each had to pump dozens of billions of fresh capital into ailing banks to avoid the financial system from collapsing.
To avoid that happening again, finance ministers discussed who should contribute in which order and how much to a bank's rescue ? a so-called bail-in ? so that ordinary taxpayers aren't left with the bill.
"Bail-in is now the rule," stressed Ireland's Finance Minister Michael Noonan, adding the rules put an end to moral hazard by making it clear that banks will suffer before the government might come in to help, if at all. "This is a revolutionary change in the way banks are treated," he added.
The rules foresee for banks' creditors and shareholders to be the first to take losses. But if that isn't enough to prop up the lender, small companies and ordinary savers holding uninsured deposits worth more than 100,000 euros ($132,000) will also take a hit, officials said.
Those forced losses will go as high as 8 percent of a bank's total liabilities, only then would national governments kick in and top it up with a bailout possibly worth another 5 percent of the liabilities.
The negotiations were complicated because some nations feared being bound by overly rigid European rules. Others warned that too much flexibility would create new imbalances between the bloc's weaker and stronger economies and a lack of common rules would destroy certainty for investors and erode trust in the financial system.
But the rules will now apply equally for the 17 EU nations sharing the euro currency and the 10 member states like Britain that have their own currency, said the Netherlands' Dijsselbloem, who also chairs the meetings of eurozone finance ministers.
Europe has already had to deal with serious banking issues this year. Cyprus had to seek a rescue loan after it could no longer shoulder the cost of bailing out its banks.
An initial agreement with the island's European creditors and the International Monetary Fund sparked market fears since it exposed small savers with deposits under the 100,000 euro guarantee to losses.
The deal was rapidly overhauled, but holders of large deposits in some banks were forced to take harsh losses.
In the U.S., the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s rules specify that deposits larger than $250,000 might have to take losses in case of bank failures.
The EU's new rules also foresee the establishment of national bank restructuring funds, which would eventually be merged into a European resolution authority, one of the banking union's three pillars.
Another part of the banking union will be centralized oversight of big banks anchored at the European Central Bank that is due to be operational next year. But the discussion on the third section, a jointly guaranteed deposit insurance, is only in its early stages.
___
Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-agrees-bank-failure-rules-avoid-bailouts-011425240.html
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Viewing held for 'Sopranos' star Gandolfini in NJ
Viewing held for 'Sopranos' star Gandolfini in NJ
AP
FILE - This undated publicity photo, released by HBO, shows actor James Gandolfini in his role as Tony Soprano, head of the New Jersey crime family portrayed in HBO's "The Sopranos." HBO and the managers for Gandolfini say the actor died Wednesday, June 19, 2013, in Italy. He was 51. (AP Photo/HBO, Barry Wetcher, File)
FILE - This undated publicity photo, released by HBO, shows actor James Gandolfini in his role as Tony Soprano, head of the New Jersey crime family portrayed in HBO's "The Sopranos." HBO and the managers for Gandolfini say the actor died Wednesday, June 19, 2013, in Italy. He was 51. (AP Photo/HBO, Barry Wetcher, File)
Mouners arrive at Robert Spearing Funeral Home for a private viewing for actor James Gandolfini, Wednesday, June 26, 2013, in Park Ridge, N.J. Gandolfini, who played Tony Soprano in the HBO show "The Sopranos", died while vacationing in Italy last week. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
People arrive at Robert Spearing Funeral Home for a private viewing for actor James Gandolfini, Wednesday, June 26, 2013, in Park Ridge, N.J. Gandolfini, who played Tony Soprano in the HBO show "The Sopranos", died while vacationing in Italy last week. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Mourners embrace outside of Robert Spearing Funeral Home for a private viewing for actor James Gandolfini, Wednesday, June 26, 2013, in Park Ridge, N.J. Gandolfini, who played Tony Soprano in the HBO show "The Sopranos", died while vacationing in Italy last week. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
People arrive at Robert Spearing Funeral Home for a private viewing for actor James Gandolfini, Wednesday, June 26, 2013, in Park Ridge, N.J. Gandolfini, who played Tony Soprano in the HBO show "The Sopranos", died while vacationing in Italy last week. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
PARK RIDGE, N.J. (AP) ? A private viewing for James Gandolfini (gan-dahl-FEE'-nee) has ended in a small New Jersey town near where he grew up.
Mourners at Wednesday's invitation-only wake for family and friends left flowers at the Robert Spearing Funeral Home in Park Ridge.
The 51-year-old star of "The Sopranos" grew up in nearby Westwood. He died last week in Italy.
Nurse Robin Caprio wasn't allowed in to the private viewing and stood outside with a photo of herself and Gandolfini taken when his show filmed a scene in Paterson.
Broadway theaters dimmed their marquee lights in memory of Gandolfini, who earned a Tony Award nomination in 2009 for his role in "God of Carnage."
Gandolfini's funeral will be held Thursday at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York City.
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Video Cookbook App - Great Everyday Recipes to Satisfy Everyone
The Allrecipes Video Cookbook app is a wonderful collection of food recipes that will appeal to most people. This free Food & Drink app delivers 1,000+ tasty recipes for all meal courses, starting with classic appetizers and ending with satisfying desserts. But one of the best things about the Allrecipes Video Cookbook app is that it comes with high-quality video demonstrations that walk you through every recipe, step-by-step.
The Allrecipes Video Cookbook app works on the iPhone and iPad, but I always find it easier to use my iPad in the kitchen. Currently, this video cookbook comes with almost 1,500 videos to watch. Recipes (with video instruction) are placed into these easy-to-find categories: Featured, Appetizers, Breads, Desserts, Drinks, Main Course, Salads, Side Dishes, and Soups.
There is also a My Recipe Box category that?ll save your favorite recipes for later viewing. However, to use the Recipe Box function you?ll need to sign up with an email to become a member. It?s free. I was able to quickly and easily save many great recipes to my box. However, accessing the saved recipes in your Recipe Box can be a little annoying. Each time you close out the app and come back later, you?ll have to sign in to access your recipes again.
It?s very easy to find what you?re looking for in the Allrecipes Video Cookbook app. Even the search function makes it simple to find food by name or meat type, and etc. The Featured recipes seem to reflect the current season. Some of the 15 seasonal food recipes are for: Grilled Lemon Yogurt Chicken, Crispy Fried Chicken, Firecracker Grilled Alaska Salmon, Simple Baked Beans, Sweet Restaurant Slaw, Red, White and Blue Strawberry Shortcake, and Blackberry Pie.
All recipes in this video cookbook app come with nice images, cook/prep/ready time, nutritional info, ingredient list, serving size, step-by-step instructions, star ratings with reviews, and of course, the coveted video demonstration. Most recipes come from the Allrecipes community, and are professionally narrated by a pleasant sounding female voice that leads you through the step-by-step demonstration. However, there are also recipes and video demonstrations delivered by Chef John from foodwishes.com.
The Allrecipes Video Cookbook app has a lot of great things going for it. The only obvious thing that?s missing is a serving size adjustor to automatically calculate ingredient amounts for all recipes according to number of dinner guests you have. Otherwise, it?s a nearly perfect app to find realistic food recipes that?ll satisfy the regular everyday crowd.
iPhone App Store
iPad App Store
Source: http://crazymikesapps.com/video-cookbook-app/
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Draghi defends ECB crisis measures
BERLIN (AP) ? European Central Bank head Mario Draghi again defended the ECB's bond-buying program Tuesday, saying the crisis backstop was more important now following recent market turbulence sparked by other central banks around the world.
Draghi said in a speech in Berlin that the offer to buy bonds issued by indebted countries "is even more essential now as we see potential changes in the monetary policy stance, with associated uncertainty, in other jurisdictions of the global economy."
The U.S. Federal Reserve has roiled markets by indicating it could taper off its emergency stimulus measures next year. The Fed has been buying longer-term bonds in the open market, which drove down long-term interest rates and sent stocks and bonds higher.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have tried to rein in excessive lending, leading to a spike last week in interbank borrowing rates. Japan has also said it will add large monetary stimulus. Draghi did not mention any central bank by name.
Draghi said that the ECB's exit from its own stimulus measures "is still distant, since inflation is low and unemployment is high."
The ECB's steps have included the bond offer; cheap, unlimited loans to banks; and a record low benchmark rate of 0.5 percent. The 17-country eurozone remains in recession with an unemployment rate of 12.2 percent.
The ECB hasn't bought any bonds since announcing its plan last year. But the mere offer has pushed up government bond prices and taken financial pressure off indebted governments by lowering their borrowing costs. The bond-buying help would only be available to countries that sign a bailout agreement with the eurozone's financial rescue fund and promise in writing to take steps to reduce their debts and deficits.
Germany, where Draghi was speaking Tuesday, is home to some of the ECB president's biggest critics. Skepticism toward rescue measures for indebted countries is widespread among Germans, who would be the biggest financial backers of any bailout because of the size of their economy.
The ECB bond-buying plan is also currently being challenged in Germany's Federal Constitutional Court and was also opposed by Germany's central bank.
Bundesbank head Jens Weidmann says such purchases would risk distributing any losses on purchased bonds to taxpayers in other countries. He has also said they could take pressure off governments to take tough steps to reform their economies and finances.
However the support of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the votes of the other members of the ECB governing council left Weidmann as a minority voice. Draghi was speaking at an event organized by a group linked to Merkel's conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union
Draghi on Tuesday rejected the argument that the program would transfer risk of loss from indebted countries to better-off ones, "over and beyond risks that are inevitable and inherent" in running one monetary policy for 17 countries.
He stressed that troubled countries could not get help from the bond purchase without committing to reforms. Because of the program, "the euro area is a more stable and resilient place to invest in than it was a year ago."
___
AP Business Writer McHugh contributed from Frankfurt, Germany.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/draghi-defends-ecb-crisis-measures-122601880.html
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Putin would never get away with stealing a Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl ring: Sen. Cruz
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin should be glad he didn't mess with Texas, according to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.
Last week, Putin denied an accusation that he had stolen a Super Bowl ring from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. On Tuesday, Cruz said a heist like that wouldn't have gone over so well had it happened to his beloved Dallas Cowboys.
During an interview on the Andrea Tantaros radio show, Cruz said he would "absolutely" have gotten a stolen Cowboys ring back from Putin by now?with a little help from some fellow Texans in high places.
"I have a feeling that if Vladimir Putin had stolen a Dallas Cowboys ring instead of a Patriots ring, you and Sen. [John] Cornyn, [Texas Gov.] Rick Perry and [Cowboys owner] Jerry Jones would've gotten that ring back by now," Tantaros told Cruz.
"That's absolutely right," Cruz replied.
The last time the Cowboys won a Super Bowl was 1995.
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Wednesday, June 26, 2013
The Ouya will make or break the indie gaming console industry ...
After a year of anticipation (and a few delays), the $99 Ouya is finally available at retail outlets. Even better, the Kickstarter-backed indie console has already sold out online on both Amazon and GameStop, a sign that there?s demand for a cheap and flexible Android-backed gaming system.
The Ouya is a trailblazer, paving the way for the Nvidia Shield, the GameStick and even the portable VR system Oculus Rift. But there have been?plenty of rough patches along the way. And if they?re not remedied, then the Android console trend could be tarnished with an untrustworthy reputation.
The first and perhaps most detrimental sin Ouya has committed since moving into production is that it?s done a great job of alienating its core fanbase ? the ?early backers.? Up until today, Ouya has maintained that all?consoles awarded for backing the project initially on Kickstarter were shipped out in May, but plenty of early backers continued to complain about not receiving their consoles. The day before release date of the console, as the Ouya rolled out?physically in stores, CEO Julie Uhrman sent a letter to backers about the issue:
Over the past few months, we encountered and conquered many challenges spanning both hardware and software in order to bring the best product we could to market. We have tried to make sure that the challenges we faced did not impact our early supporters, but unfortunately we came up short.
As a result of this misstep, some early (and mostly international) backers will have to wait another 15 to 17 days before receiving their consoles. The whole tangle has left a bitter taste in the mouths of what was expected to be the Ouya?s core fanbase, following the company?s decision to put retailers ahead of the people.
The second problem with the Ouya is the perceived lack of polish and features from both the hardware and software perspective. When the original review consoles went to journalists in March, first impressions were tepid at best: the hardware felt chintzy, the software was lacking, and the UI was confusing. Ouya took the criticism, raised another round of funding, delayed the first shipment, and spent time retooling the console.
While the new Ouya console has made strides in the wake of its lackluster development model ? including a redesigned controller and updated firmware to address the UI hiccups ? it?s far from perfect. Although games are free to play, the console?requires credit card information to even access any kind of software. Worse, there really isn?t much software at all, at a paltry 175 games, and what?s available is?not great: A quick scan of the top-rated games from Ouya show a handful of emulators, but original titles lack any flash (or?reputation) to bring gamers to the device.
All in all, things aren?t expected to be perfect with an independent console system ? especially the first one for a company. However, the glaring problems with the Ouya could place a black mark on all Android consoles as a whole, and that?s a shame.
Gamers are a fickle and stubborn bunch, and even major players like Microsoft are oftentimes forced to walk back unfavorable situations to something more palatable for the community. At this point, loyal gamers feel like they?ve been duped, cheated, and lied to, so Ouya needs to work double-time over the next six months to bring the console up to par.
A string of great games that don?t require emulators or tricky hacking to run would be a great first step, as would an extra gift to early backers for the delay in execution. With the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One coming down the pike, this is Ouya?s only shot to win back the favor it has unceremoniously lost.
Source: http://gigaom.com/2013/06/25/the-ouya-will-make-or-break-the-indie-gaming-console/
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Obama's climate plan takes aim at coal plants
NEW YORK (AP) -- America is slowly moving toward cleaner sources of energy and using less of it overall. President Barack Obama's plan to fight climate change will accelerate those trends.
The plan aims to reduce power-plant emissions of carbon dioxide, increase America's reliance on natural gas and renewables and make trucks, homes and businesses more efficient.
Some parts of the plan will take months to work out and years to go into full effect. The most ambitious part of the plan seeks to rein in one of the biggest sources of carbon dioxide emissions: coal-fired power plants. Obama will direct the Environmental Protection Agency to create the first-ever federal limits on these emissions, which trap heat in the earth's atmosphere.
Obama also seeks to increase funding for clean energy research by 30 percent to $7.9 billion and make $8 billion in federal loan guarantees available to projects that could help capture and bury the carbon dioxide produced at power plants.
Here's how the plan will likely affect companies and consumers:
? UTILITIES AND COAL PRODUCERS
Power plants account for 40 percent of the nation's carbon dioxide emissions, and most of those emissions come from burning coal. To reduce these emissions, power companies will have to run coal plants less often, install equipment that captures carbon dioxide or shut down plants that become too expensive to operate.
The cost to make these changes are likely so great that utilities would instead generate more power with natural gas, nuclear, wind and solar power, which will become comparatively less expensive and more profitable.
Very few, if any, new coal-fired plants will be built. A shift toward natural gas power plants is already underway thanks to a boom in natural gas production that has caused the price of the fuel to plummet; Obama's plan will magnify this trend, analysts say.
The stock prices of the nation's biggest coal miners, including Peabody Energy Corp., Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. and Arch Coal, Inc., have fallen more than 10 percent over the past two days as details of Obama's plan trickled out.
The financial effect on utilities that rely heavily on coal, such as NRG Energy and First Energy, is unclear. While coal-fired power will become more costly, that will be offset by higher electricity prices.
Obama's plan offers clear benefits to natural gas producers such as Exxon Mobil and Chesapeake Energy and to utilities such as Exelon, Entergy and Calpine, which generate large amounts of electricity using low-carbon sources like nuclear power and natural gas.
? RENEWABLE ENERGY COMPANIES
By directing the Department of Interior to accelerate permits to clean energy developers who want to use public land, Obama will make it less expensive for companies to build wind, solar and geothermal energy projects.
This will help companies that provide equipment for, build and finance large wind and solar farms, such as First Solar, SunPower, General Electric and Siemens.
Wind, solar, and other non-hydroelectric renewable power sources generated 4.8 percent of the nation's electricity last year, double what those sources contributed to the nation's energy mix five years ago. Over that same period, total electricity consumption fell by one percent as the economy slowed and appliances and buildings have become more efficient.
Experts predict that U.S. electricity consumption will grow very slowly, if at all, in the years to come.
? ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Companies that install windows, insulation and heating and cooling systems stand to benefit from Obama's plan, which will give homeowners and businesses incentives to invest in energy-efficiency improvements. While the upfront costs can be high, the long-term savings can be significant.
Obama also wants the EPA to develop new fuel efficiency standards for heavy trucks, which are the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector after cars. Obama has already implemented new fuel economy standards for cars through 2025.
Tighter fuel efficiency standards and higher gasoline and diesel prices over the last several years have cut sharply into U.S. oil consumption. Last year total U.S. consumption of petroleum products fell to 18.6 million barrels per day, the lowest level since 1997. Consumption is expected to fall further as newer fuel economy standards take effect.
The new standards for trucks would go into effect for vehicles made in 2018 and beyond. Engine-makers and parts suppliers that succeed in developing fuel-efficient technologies could benefit. While trucking companies may face higher equipment costs at first, their fuel bills will decline.
? ELECTRIC CUSTOMERS
Homeowners and businesses will likely pay more for electricity because the nation will be relying less on coal, which has historically been the cheapest way to produce electricity.
But more efficient homes and appliances are helping reduce energy consumption, which will likely offset at least some of the higher electricity cost.
Hugh Wynne, an analyst at Bernstein Research, estimates that a 20 percent nationwide reduction in carbon dioxide emissions would increase retail power prices by about 1 cent per kilowatt hour, or 9 percent. At current rates of electricity use, that would add $9 or so to an average American's monthly bill. Obama's plan seeks to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 17 percent from their 2005 level by 2020.
Nick Akins, CEO of American Electric Power, one of the nation's largest utilities, said in an interview Tuesday that as long as utilities like his are given enough time to transition to a cleaner fleet of power plants, Obama's plan can be carried out "without a major impact to customers or the economy."
Follow Jonathan Fahey on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JonathanFahey .
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-climate-plan-takes-aim-202540276.html
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Family weight talks tied to dieting, laxative use
By Genevra Pittman
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Teens were more likely to diet and use other unhealthy measures to control their weight when their parents talked to them about losing weight or the importance of being thin, in a new study.
Conversely, family conversations about healthy eating that did not involve the topic of weight were linked to fewer unhealthy behaviors, such as laxative use and skipping meals - especially among heavier adolescents.
"It's important to (have) conversations that focus on healthy eating as a cause for healthy bodies and strong bones, rather than a cause for weight and size," said Jerica Berge, who led the new study at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis.
Past studies have shown that being told to diet or being teased about weight by a parent is harmful to children, she said. But that still leaves the question of what families who genuinely want to help an overweight child should be talking about.
"They would always ask me, ?What do I say to my kid?'" Berge told Reuters Health.
She and her colleagues surveyed 2,800 racially and socioeconomically diverse middle and high school students and one or both of their parents about food, weight and related conversations.
Twenty-eight percent of mothers of normal-weight teens said they'd talked about healthy eating with their child, and 33 percent said they'd had conversations about weight or the need to lose weight.
That compared to 15 percent of mothers who talked solely about healthy eating with their overweight teens and 60 percent who discussed losing weight. Rates were similar for conversations initiated by fathers.
The researchers found that dieting and unhealthy eating patterns were more common among both normal weight and overweight children of parents who focused on weight.
For example, 64 percent of overweight teens whose mothers talked about weight and weight loss had used worrisome weight-control behaviors. That compared to 41 percent when family discussions were only about healthy eating and 53 percent when mothers didn't discuss food or weight at all.
Likewise, 39 percent of normal weight children whose mothers brought up weight had used unhealthy behaviors, compared to 30 percent of those with mothers who emphasized being healthy, Berge's team reported Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.
"If a child is concerned about their weight and they want to talk about their weight, you want to have an open conversation with them," said Alison Field, who studies weight and unhealthy eating at Boston Children's Hospital but wasn't involved in the new research.
However to have that talk with a kid who doesn't really want to discuss weight probably won't be helpful, she told Reuters Health.
Because the surveys represent a single point in time, Berge and her colleagues couldn't determine whether family conversations or a teen's dieting and unhealthy weight-control behaviors came first.
Field said future studies will ideally follow teens who don't engage in any unhealthy weight-related behaviors to see how family talks about food affect who does and doesn't start.
Still, the researchers said, the findings suggest parents should stay away from conversations that focus on losing weight and being thin - and talk about the general importance of healthy eating instead.
"Healthy eating conversations are not going to be harmful, and they may be helpful," Field said.
"That to me is a positive message for parents who have an overweight kid and are struggling because they don't know what to do," Berge added.
"The best thing they can do is focus on a healthy message."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/KEGTVv JAMA Pediatrics, online June 24, 2013.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/family-weight-talks-tied-dieting-laxative-200353920.html
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Obama 'disappointed' over court's ruling
Holding signs with images of murdered civil rights workers, demonstrators rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court??
President Barack Obama and his attorney general said they were "deeply disappointed" by the Supreme Court's decision to strike down a key part of the Voting Rights Act, a cornerstone of the civil rights movement that helped dismantle decades of discriminatory voting restrictions in the South when it passed 60 years ago. The vote was split 5-4, with the court's liberal justices dissenting.
The decision drastically scales back the federal government's power to reject state laws it believes discriminate against minority voters, which include some efforts to tighten identification requirements and limit early voting hours at the ballot box. A wave of such laws swept 30 states over the past few years, and the Obama administration has aggressively fought them in court.
The president said he was "deeply disappointed" by the decision in a statement on Tuesday. "While today?s decision is a setback, it doesn?t represent the end of our efforts to end voting discrimination," Obama said. "I am calling on Congress to pass legislation to ensure every American has equal access to the polls."
Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act?reauthorized by Congress for an additional 25 years in 2006?gives the federal government the ability to pre-emptively reject changes to election law in states and counties that have a history of discriminating against minority voters. The law covers nine states and portions of seven more, most of them in the South. The formula used to decide which states are subject to this special scrutiny (set out in Section 4 of the law) is based on decades-old voter turnout and registration data, the justices ruled, which is unfair to the states covered under it. States that had a discriminatory poll test in the 1960s and low turnout among minority voters must seek special permission from the federal government to change their election laws, even though many of these states now have near-equal voter turnout rates between minorities and whites.
"The coverage formula that Congress reauthorized in 2006 ignores these developments, keeping the focus on decades-old data relevant to decades-old problems," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion. "Our country has changed, and while any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions."
The Justice Department used Section 5 of the law to block voter ID laws in Texas and South Carolina last year, and it also struck down early voting restrictions in five counties in Florida. (Minority voters are more likely than white voters to vote early in person, and they are less likely than whites to have a government-issued photo ID.) Some Democrats argued that these laws were intentionally trying to suppress minority turnout in order to benefit Republicans.
The court has effectively now put the ball back in Congress' court, writing in its decision that it is up to Congress to write a new formula that is based on current data. States or counties that fit the new formula could still be subject to federal "preclearance" of changes to their elections procedures. It remains to be seen whether Congress, which is now more partisanly divided than in 2006, would tackle the challenge of creating a new rubric to find and eradicate racial discrimination at the polls. The president called on Congress to pass legislation addressing the ruling in a statement on Tuesday.
In her dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg writes the "sad irony" of Roberts' decision is that it strikes down the key part of the Voting Rights Act because it has been so successful at preventing racial discrimination. "Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet," she writes. Ginsburg also slams the court's majority for relying on turnout and registration rates "as if that were the whole story" and ignoring so-called second-generation laws and regulations designed to make it harder for minorities to vote. (One such Mississippi regulation sought to cancel a local election in 2001 because black candidates announced their intention to run.)
Civil rights groups warned that the decision will negatively affect minority voters who live in the covered jurisdictions. "This is a sad day for democracy," said Myrna Perez, deputy director of the Brennan Center for Justice advocacy center. "The Voting Rights Act is a needed and instrumental tool in our fight to eradicate racial discrimination, and the Supreme Court's decision today has made it much harder to utilize this tool effectively." Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a statement that Congress should act to draft another coverage formula. "We urge Congress to act with urgency and on a bipartisan basis to protect voting rights for minorities," Henderson said. Brennan Center for Justice President Michael Waldman said Congress had a "duty" to update the formula. It's unclear what factors would go into a new formula, however, since voter registration and turnout data would not work.
"This decision represents a serious setback for voting rights?and has the potential to negatively affect millions of Americans across the country," Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday afternoon. "I am hopeful that new protections can and will pass in this session of Congress."
Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said in a statement that "as long as Republicans have a majority in the House and Democrats don't have 60 votes in the Senate, there will be no preclearance."
Discriminating against minority voters is still illegal under the act, but those who hope to challenge discriminatory actions would have to do so through the regular court process, which takes longer than the special?preclearance?pathway set up under the law.
Court watchers predicted the decision, given the conservative justices' comments on the law during oral arguments and in other cases. Justices in the conservative wing of the Supreme Court, including Roberts, expressed reservations that the nine Southern states covered by the law still required the same degree of federal oversight that they did 60 years ago. "Voter turnout and registration rates [between blacks and whites] now approach parity," Roberts wrote in a decision in 2009. "Blatantly discriminatory evasions of federal decrees are rare. And minority candidates hold office at unprecedented levels."
Another argument against Section 4's constitutionality was that it's unclear whether minority voters in Southern states are more likely to face discrimination at the polls than they are in other states. Voter ID laws, for example, have passed in states such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Indiana. Because those states do not have a history of voter discrimination?and are not covered by the act?their voter ID laws did not have to first pass federal inspection. That said, Southern states covered under the act were much more likely to pass a voter ID law than other states. Seven of the nine states covered in full under the act adopted such a law, compared with 12 noncovered states. Also, the law allowed counties to remove themselves from the preclearance list if they demonstrated they had not discriminated against minority voters in recent years.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/news/supreme-court-strikes-down-key-part-voting-rights-141205218.html
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Elevatr: Business Idea Management Revisited | iPhone.AppStorm
When it comes to task managers and note-taking apps, iPhone users are spoiled with choices, as there are literally thousands of ideas out there on the App Store all crying for our attention and our credit cards. I?m a man of simple tastes, which is why I don?t really use my iPhone for note-taking ? I?ll probably use something like Drafts to scribble down something quickly when I?m on the move but I still rely on my trusty Moleskine for all my proper note taking. Yep, I?m old fashioned like that.
But when Elevatr was released back in May, my eye turned for two reasons. First, this looked like a nice, simple way to jot down my thoughts and ideas without having to waste an hour getting acquainted with the app. And secondly, the interface is so minimal and flat it?s positively infectious (and I?m a big fan of flat interfaces, which is why I?m looking forward to iOS 7 so much!). Read on after the break for my full thoughts about Elevatr and whether it is the de facto app for managing your ideas on the iPhone.
Like the article? You should subscribe and follow us on Twitter.
First Thoughts
One of the first things I noticed about Elevatr was the fact it was free in the true sense of the word. There?s no in-app purchases to unlock extra features and no obtrusive advertising to speak of ? just a simple yet beautiful splash screen prompting you to create a new idea. Understand now that Elevatr is nothing fancy and doesn?t come with a lengthy App Store description or endless lists of features; it lets you jot down your business ideas and that?s about it, really.
The splash screen of Elevatr.
The main bulk of your idea is restricted to 140 characters, just like a tweet on Twitter, which I actually don?t mind at all. For me, an idea should just be a quick mental note of something that I want to work on later, not a lengthy description which takes me 10 minutes to type out, and I feel that this 140-character restriction allows me to be very selective with my ideas. I said that minimal was rife in Elevatr, and it?s certainly being mirrored here.
Entering a description for your idea. Keep it short, now.
Next, you need to give your idea a name. Just like the main body, this is restricted too ? it?s only 20 characters. Elevatr wants you to keep things short and snappy and it?s certainly working for me. The whole app is enshrined in that wonderful Avenir typeface, which first made an appearance on iOS with Apple Maps and I actually prefer it to Helvetica. It provides a refreshing change to the norm.
Once you?ve created your idea, it?ll pop up in a list showing you the title and the time since you last edited it. Anything you do in Elevatr is automatically saved to your iPhone?s memory, though there is a cloud sync function built into the app as well.
Working With Ideas
Elevatr is focused more towards business users and the default categories present when you tap on an idea certainly reflect this. Ideas are split down into five different sections: The Idea, The Market, The Product, Business Model and Execution. The description of the idea that we entered above when we created our idea appears in the Pitch section of the The Idea section, but of course we can add different notes to each individual section.
The main screen for your idea, showing all of the different sections.
Sections are displayed in beautiful coloured bars and all you need to do is tap on each one to bring up more options. In the The Idea section, for example, this is split down into the problem and the solution, each of which I can add notes to. Unlike the idea title, as we saw above, you aren?t restricted here and you can type away to your heart?s content. Elevatr will also allow you to attach photos to each individual section from your iPhone, making things easier to remember.
Entering some text for the Problem section. I think it?s relevant here.
The entire app is very well thought-out from a business point of view and it?s clear that the developers have put some real effort into making Elevatr as useful as possible for commercial ideas. In The Product section, for example, this is split down into Use Cases, Product Features and Brand Identity, making it really easy to pinpoint your ideas exactly. One thing I did notice, though, was that you can?t change the section headers ? something which I would liked to have seen and I hope that this feature is rectified in a future update.
Sharing Your Ideas
As I mentioned before, Elevatr features a built-in cloud service which allows you to share your ideas with other users and you?ll have to create an account first (don?t worry, this is completely free ? there?s no in-app purchase to enable sharing). Once created, you can choose to share either the whole idea (with all the different sections) or you can select individual sections to share.
Sharing your ideas via the built-in cloud service.
Ideas can either be shared publicly (with a built-in link which can be viewed on any platform, not just on the Elevatr app) or privately, for which you can create a password.
Final Thoughts
Elevatr is one of those rarities in the App Store ? it?s something that manages to be everything all at once. It?s beautifully designed, extremely easy to use and manages to be fun as well. I was extremely impressed by the flat design and the simplicity of the entire app; although Elevatr is business orientated, this doesn?t mean the developers have to bloat it up with a load of features that no one wants. It?s simple and it works damn well.
I would have liked to been able to edit the individual section headers (sometimes they don?t just cut it for me) but I can see this issue being addressed in a future app. For such a young app, the results are extremely impressive, and for a free one even more so. I can see Elevatr finding a warm and snug home on the iPhones of almost any business user, and I do hope that this great little app sticks around for a while because the results?do?impress.
Source: http://iphone.appstorm.net/reviews/productivity/elevatr-business-idea-management-revisited/
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Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Sea Lamprey Nosed Into Controlled Areas By Scent
 
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Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/06/25/195408417/sea-lamprey-nosed-into-controlled-areas-by-scent?ft=1&f=1007
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Apple allegedly looking into MacBook Air WiFi issue, replacing machines
Over the last few days we've been hearing from several of our readers about WiFi instability on new Haswell-equipped MacBook Airs, which also happens to be Apple's first computer with 802.11ac. Despite those rare reports, in our recent review it impressed us with solid performance and incredible battery life. Today 9to5Mac learned that Apple is supposedly aware of the issue and working on a fix, while some customers have also reported getting their systems replaced. In the meantime, the company has reportedly directed its Genius Bar employees to "capture" machines experiencing the problem -- i.e. return them to Cupertino for testing. We've contacted the company for comment and will keep you posted if there's any official response.
Source: 9to5Mac
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Qyh1inVl8sg/
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There'll Be Nowhere to Hide When These Robot Apes Take to the Trees
If you thought the prospect of being chased down by one of DARPA's terminator-wannabes
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