Yahoo! News – Is your knee-jerk reaction to cockroaches, “Kill them with fire!” or anything similar? You are not alone. But it’s a given that some people won’t share your roachy woes, and you can’t find a better example than the group of high …

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Fox News

Polycotylus – The Good Mother Plesiosaur? Wired News The opening sentence of F. Robin O'Keefe and Luis Chiappe's new paper in Science this week is a simple statement of fact that threw me for a loop. “Viviparity, or birthing live young,” the paleontologists write, “is common among … Fossil Study Shows Plesiosaur Gave Birth To Live YoungIrish Weather Online Ancient Reptile Plesiosaurs Gave Birth to Live Young, Study SaysReptileChannel.com Pregnant plesiosaur fossil solves mysterynewjerseynewsroom.com World Science -Geekosystem -Los Angeles Times all 318 news articles »

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theodp writes ” Booting up was a bear,’ recalls Slate’s Farhad Manjoo, ‘something to be avoided at all costs.’ But now, he adds, ‘It’s time to rejoice, because all that’s in the past. Computers these days can go from completely off to working within 30 seconds, and in some cases much faster. Apple’s MacBook Air loads up in 16 seconds, and machines based on Google’s cloud-based Chrome OS boast boot times of under 10 seconds. Even Windows computers are fast-with the right set-up, your Windows 7 laptop can load just as quickly as a MacBook.’ Perhaps at home, but how’s that working out for you at work? Have reports of the death of long boot times been greatly exaggerated?”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Mashable – [More from Mashable: Turntable.fm For Video: Introducing Chill]

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Trailrunner7 writes “There are remotely and easily exploitable vulnerabilities in the BlackBerry Enterprise Server that could allow an attacker to gain access to the server by simply sending a malicious image file to a user’s BlackBerry device. The vulnerabilities are in several version of BES for Exchange, Lotus Domino and Novell GroupWise, and Research in Motion said that an attacker who is able to exploit one of the bugs might also be able to move from the compromised BES server to other parts of the network.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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derGoldstein writes “Project PyPy is an alternative implementation of Python, with the main advantage being a Just In Time (JIT) compiler which speeds up your code considerably. They’ve announced the first public release of jitviewer, which is a visualization tool that helps you understand how your code is being compiled by PyPy’s JIT, all the way down to assembly. If you just want to see how it looks and play with it, they’ve set up an online demo — just select a file, and click ‘Show Assembler.’”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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ST. PAUL, MN—In a shockingly selfish pattern of behavior that has occurred repeatedly over the past six months, local 8-year-old and whiny brat Sean Cooper has continued his habit of interrupting his parents with his pleas for them to stop screaming…

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WASHINGTON—With Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the policy on gay men and women serving in the military, set to expire Sept.

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Just a few weeks after its official announcement, The Binding of Isaac has taken up residence on Steam. Despite the store page saying September, its creator Edmund McMillen (one half of the duo behind indie platformer Super Meat Boy) is confident the game will be on sale by the end of August.

McMillen describes The Binding of Isaac as “a roguelike shooter based on the dungeon structure of Zelda (NES).” Like Rogue and its many descendants, the game’s dungeons will be randomly generated, and players will rely heavily on items to upgrade and transform their hero. The controls will be reminiscent of old-school arcade shooters like Smash TV and Robotron, predecessors to the twin-stick shooter craze kicked off by Geometry Wars.

Though its gameplay differs greatly from the punishing platforming of Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac’s aesthetic is quite similar. McMillen’s crude, bathroom humor-friendly art style remains, and Danny Baranowsky (composer of the excellent Super Meat Boy soundtrack) once again provides his musical talents. 

The Binding of Isaac will cost just $5. McMillen has yet to discuss any release plans other than the initial Steam launch. Considering how well Super Meat Boy sold on PC compared to Xbox Live Arcade, it might be a while before we see The Binding of Isaac anywhere other than Valve’s digital storefront.

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Dell has released three new laptops today: Inspiron 13z, 14z and Vostro V131. The first two are spinoffs of Dell's XPS 15z which was released in late May and it received quite good reviews. Fundamentally, 15z is a good competitor against Apple's MacBook Pro since 15z finally adopted a thin, full metal body which is what Apple has been shipping for years. This is what Dell is trying with 13z and 14z as well, although they will not be available in aluminum colour, but in black and red (the body is still aluminum though). The Vostro is Dell's low-cost business laptop and it's a good budget alternative if you don't like Inspirons. Lets list the specs right away:

Inspiron 13z and 14z

Inspiron 14z will be available immediately but unfortunately, the 13z is only available in some Asian countries so we weren't able to get any detailed specs and the US release is still pending. However, we do know that the screen is 13.3" and has the same, 1366×768 resolution. We also expect the other specs to be very similar, the biggest difference being dimensions and weight.  

14z seems to be a good all arounder in terms of specs and the price isn't too bad either but there is one part that could have been done better: the screen resolution. 1366×768 is okay for a budget laptop, which is what 14z is, but 1600×900 shouldn't be too much to ask as a BTO, there are people willing to pay for extra pixels. Currently there aren't many sub-$1000 ~14" laptops with 1600×900 and those are usually very close to the $1000 mark, so a $100 BTO for 1600×900 would have been a very good move from Dell. 

Inspiron 14R is probably the closest to 14z when looking at Dell's other offerings. Basically, 14z is just a slimmed down version of 14R as the other specs are very similar. 14z also has a bit faster CPU and more RAM but that is pretty much it 14R does have a price advantage of $100 though. When compared to 13" MacBook Pro, Dell has a huge price advantage. Apple gives you a faster CPU, smaller form factor and less weight but to be honest, it can be very hard to justify the extra $600 for such small differences. 

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Vostro V131

Since Vostro is meant for business, the specs are relatively weak but business users are rarely looking for powerful laptops. Thus the use of ULV Celeron can be justified along with only 2GB of RAM. Vostro V131 is actually very thin and light for its price: only 0.7lb heavier than 13" MacBook Air and 0.15" thicker at the thickest point. That is pretty good when considering that Vostro starts at $499 whereas MBA starts at $1299. Of course, there are other differences such as the CPU and storage but V131 might be a good option for people who want an affordable, yet very portable computer. 

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Final Words

Dell is clearly into making things thinner and lighter at the moment, which is actually what the whole industry is trying to do. Intel's Ultrabook concept has just thrown fuel for the fire and we should see the first Ultrabooks in a few months. While Ultrabooks won't compete in the budget market, they are definitely a nice addition and evidently, all laptops seem to aim at being thinner. 

Dell's newest offerings are a proof of this. They are thinner than their predecessors while still keeping similar price range and specs. We will most likely see other manufacturers following Dell in case they haven't already slimmed down their laptops already. 

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CHICAGO—After his batting average slumped to a historically low .163 this week, White Sox DH Adam Dunn received an official notice from Major League Baseball Thursday informing him that he no longer met the minimum requirements to be labeled an offi…

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Reuters – A mobile security expert says he has found new ways for hackers to attack phones running Google Inc’s Android operating system.

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NEW YORK—Moviegoers were reportedly impressed this weekend by the ability of an independent feature produced on an $80,000 budget to be just as shamelessly pandering as any blockbuster from a major studio.

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derGoldstein writes “Intel will again offer CPU upgrades through software. In the past, the upgrades gave you HyperThreading and more L3 cache. This time upgrades will actually increase CPU frequency: ‘Intel Upgrade Service offers three different upgrades on second generation Core processors: Intel Core i3-2312M processor, Intel Core i3-2102 processor, and Intel Pentium G622 processor.’ The page provides benchmarks of the 3 upgrade options.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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AP – A rapper could face criminal charges after a tweet from his account incited a telephone flash mob that overwhelmed the emergency phone system at one of busiest stations of the Los Angeles County sheriff’s department, the agency said Saturday.

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Hugh Pickens writes “Brian Palmer writes that although none of the major manufacturers has released data on their energy consumption and how much greenhouse gas making a bicycle requires, Shreya Dave, a graduate student at MIT, recently estimated that manufacturing an average bicycle results in the emission of approximately 530 pounds of greenhouse gases. Therefor, given a ‘typical U.S. diet,’ you would have to ride your bike instead of driving for around 400 miles to cover the bike’s initial carbon footprint. However, calculating the total environmental impact of a mode of transit involves more than just the easy-to-measure metrics like mileage per gallon. Using a life-cycle assessment, Dave concluded that an ordinary sedan’s carbon footprint is more than 10 times greater than a conventional bicycle’s (PDF) on a mile-for-mile basis, assuming each survives 15 years and you ride the bike 2,000 miles per year. What about other ways to get to work? According to Dave’s life-cycle analysis, the only vehicle that comes close to a bicycle is the peak-hour bus — and it’s not really that close. A fully loaded bus is responsible for 2.6 times the carbon emissions total of a bicycle per passenger mile while off-peak buses account for more than 20 times as many greenhouse gases as a bicycle. What about the carbon footprint of walking? ‘Walking is not zero emission because we need food energy to move ourselves from place to place,’ says environmentalist Chris Goodall. ‘Food production creates carbon emissions.’”

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With today's introduction of the Acer Iconia Tab A100, the 7-inch Honeycomb tablet era begins. Vivek and Jarred looked at the new entrant's big brother, the 10.1" A500, and were left . . . well, a little underwhelmed. Some of their complaints are endemic of everything Honeycomb, so far: occasionally sluggish performance, potentially awkward form factor, bugginess. Some of their complaints, though, were fixed on Acer’s 10.1” tablet itself: questionable build quality, uncompetitive pricing, less than stellar viewing angles. So what does Acer’s diminutive tablet offer up?

If you put the spec sheets for the A500 and the A100 next to each other, it might take you a few minutes to see the difference. In truth, the A100 shares the same SoC, memory, and connectivity with the larger tablet (Tegra 2, 1GB RAM, 802.11 b/g/n). The A100 will also launch with Android 3.2; the A500 recently received the 3.1 update, but 3.2 isn't here quite yet (though it's coming). Where the two models differ is in screen size, ports, and software. The 7” capacitive display is driven by a 1024×600 TFT LCD panel, not inspiring on paper, but if it’s related to the shipping panel in the A500 it can still impress with its visuals, even if the viewing angles aren’t spectacular. The full size USB port of the A500 is omitted, and the HDMI port takes on a mini configuration. By the pictures, the A100’s design looks similar to the A500, but with a decorative rear panel that will be available in multiple colors in the future.

Battery life is quoted at 4.5 hours of video playback, about half of what we saw in the A500, which isn’t surprising given it carries a half-sized battery. Pricing, which has gotten more and more competitive for the A500 is coming in a little higher than expected. Originally rumored to be the first sub-$300 Honeycomb tablet, the 8GB A100 will come in at $329, while a 16GB SKU will retail for $349. (Hooray for 8GB upgrades no longer costing an extra $50+, though!)

Like Samsung, Acer has prepared some tablet optimized software to extend Honeycomb's utility a little further. Social Jogger is their riff on a social media aggregator; it’s currently configured for Facebook and Twitter, hopefully with more services to be added soon. LumiRead is Acer’s e-reader software, complete with book store, and there's also Day Planner. Much of the PR for this device focuses on its utility for families and “modern moms,” in particular. Day Planner is a potentially valuable scheduling app that does more than display your calendar and agenda; it also integrates your e-mail, news, weather, contacts, note taking and, even, mapping services. The use case for this kind of software could be huge, and we will be interested in how good the software turns out.

We’ll update more when we have a sample in-house. Until then peep the gallery and judge the tweaked Iconia design for yourself.

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With Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade promotion becoming an annual success, Sony’s prepared an answer: the PlayStation Network PLAY program. Pre-orders for the program begin today (August 9), and the first game hits the PlayStation Store on August 23.

If you purchase a PLAY title during the promotion, you’ll receive downloadable content unique to that game. Pre-ordering a PLAY title will grant you a new theme, as well. Those with deep enough wallets for all four games will be given a voucher code for the PSN exclusive PAYDAY: The Heist – if they’re 18 years and older.

Included in the event are Capcom’s Street Fighter III Third Strike Online Edition, Hothead Games’ DeathSpank sequel The Baconing, Majesco’s side-scrolling platformer BloodRayne: Betrayal, and SEGA’s top-down vehicle shooter Renegade Ops. All four games will run $14.99. If you’d like to purchase PAYDAY: The Heist separately, you can for $19.99. PlayStation Plus subscribers will receive a 20% discount on all PSN PLAY titles.

It’s encouraging to see Sony putting effort into promoting its online store and attempting to rehabilitate its reputation in the wake of this year's massive PSN security breach. The PlayStation Store is full of indie gems like the PixelJunk series and Joe Danger, and programs like PSN PLAY can draw much-deserved attention their way.

Source: PlayStation Blog

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FOXBOROUGH, MA—Upon seeing a brief, intimate clip of quarterback Tom Brady completing a gorgeous pass at the Patriots’ training camp, the nation drifted into intense visions of love Friday night.

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While iOS 5 seems to be a groundbreaking release on several fronts, one of it’s lesser documented features is the ability to configure new Airport Extreme/Express and Time Capsule devices right from your iPhone or iPod touch.

The process is mostly automated and leaves very little room for human error. While it doesn’t let you mess around with the plethora of settings normally available on the Airport Utility, it’s a no-nonsense way to quickly get access to the Internet without having to use a computer.

I tested this on my iPhone running iOS 5 Beta 4 and a 5^th Generation Airport Extreme (MD0311LL/A). If you’re running a beta version of iOS 5 and have any luck setting up an older Airport Extreme, Airport Express or Time Capusule, do let us know in the comments!

For more information on what's changed, be sure to check out Brian’s review of the new Airport Extremes and Time Capsules here!

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Earlier this year at Qualcomm's annual Uplinq conference, HTC announced that it was going to open up parts of Sense to devleopers and launch HTC OpenSense. HTC OpenSense is a collection of SDKs which will allow developers to leverage hardware and software specific to HTC phones. 

Today HTC is making good on that promise, starting by launching its S3D (Stereoscopic 3D) SDK and Pen SDK. The former is a collection of tools and frameworks that will allow developers to both leverage the autostereoscopic 3D display on the HTC EVO 3D, and easily capture using the onboard 3D camera. The latter is the Pen SDK which allows the same level of access, but to the HTC Flyer and View 4G's Scribe pen technology. Things like the the pressure-levels will be accessible, in addition to essentially all the other parts of HTC-specific pen functionality. 

Documentation, sample code, and all the frameworks are now available on HTCdev.com. The SDKs will snap into the Android SDK and AVD Manager just like other third-party add-ons. More SDK components will launch in time as well. HTCdev.com will also be the new home for kernel source code and other similar tools currently hosted at developer.htc.com.

The next part of HTC's news today is that HTCdev.com will be the home of instructions and the tool used to unlock bootloaders on HTC devices. HTC isn't announcing the availability date quite yet, and it isn't launching today, but we're told the site and instructions will launch before the end of the month. 

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AMD's website suggests that the company will be entering the RAM market soon with their own RAM modules. The modules will be branded as Radeon, just like AMD's GPUs. At first, AMD will launch three series: Entertainment, ULTRA PRO Gaming and Enterprise. All three will have the same density of 2GB and are based on the DDR3 standard, but the speeds will vary. The Entertainment series is 1333MHz and the ULTRA PRO Gaming series is 1600MHz. Timings are 9-9-9 and 11-11-11 respectively. All three series also share the voltage of 1.5V. The speeds of the Enterprise series are to be announced. Obviously, AMD claims that their memory is the most ideal for their APU and CPU systems but at least the specifications are no different from other manufacturers' RAM. 

The more interesting fact is that the actual DRAM chips are also made by AMD. AMD hasn't been into the DRAM business before (or if they have, they have been very quiet about it), so this is a surprise. However, it is possible that the chips have just been rebranded and thus been manufactured by another company, but unfortunately we don't know any details at this point. 

Update: Back in 2010, we did see MSI GeForce 210 with ATI DDR2, but we never found out why. 

Pricing and availability are unknown, but the Entertainment series modules are already on sale in Japan (hence the pictures). 

Update 2: NCIX is selling the 2GB Entertainment series modules for 9.99CAD (~$10.11) each, which actually makes them the most inexpensive 1333MHz 2GB modules in NCIX. However, this is with 10CAD rebate so the retail price might be closer to 20CAD per 2GB. NCIXUS doesn't seem to sell these yet though, hence US availability is still uncertain. 

Source: Akiba, AMD

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When T-Mobile launched the G2, I was super psyched. It was an HTC-designed slider, ran the stock Android UI, and happened to be one of the first phones running Qualcomm’s 2nd-generation Snapdragon (S2) chips. I was so psyched that I ended up buying one, three days before launch (thank you Radio Shack!) I must say, I loved that phone. The hinge mechanism was an initial concern for me, but the rest of that phone was absolutely brilliant. I still regret selling it to buy an HD7, but I had some major durability issues with the hinge. It started loosening up majorly after the four month mark, and it was out of my life by month five. If HTC had seen fit to equip it with a normal spring-loaded slider, I would almost definitely still have it.

T-Mobile EOL’d the G2 last month, and I was sad to see it go. But it set the stage for the MyTouch 4G Slide, which released last week and on paper looks like the ultimate slider phone. There’s one dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor, one real slider with one brilliant HTC keyboard, and one very highly touted 8.0MP camera. It joins the HTC Sensation and the T-Mobile G2x atop the T-Mobile smartphone list. How does it stack up versus the rest of the elite smartphone class? Read on to find out. 

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New York Times (blog)

What the Rise of Google+ Says About Facebook PC Magazine Google's new social network is a hit, but its sudden popularity may have more to do with the missteps of its predecessor. By Peter Pachal When Google debuted its social network, this time for real, this time for really real, about six weeks ago, … Google+ has Facebook's gaming success in its crosshairsComputerworld Maybe a Little Social Media Fatigue Isn't Such a Bad IdeaBusinessWeek Game On for GoogleWall Street Journal Washington Post -msnbc.com -USA Today all 940 news articles »

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Budweiser, the second-bestselling beer in the United States, is giving its can a new design featuring red, blue, and gold motif.

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According to the San Francisco Appeal, the cellphone service shut-down that the BART system imposed Thursday (by disabling transponders which allow cellphone communications in the underground portion of the system), besides drawing rebukes from various civil liberties groups, has generated plans for a protest Monday organized by Anonymous.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Lenovo today announced yet another addition to it’s M-series enterprise class all-in-ones with the new M71z.  The new AIOs are aimed specifically at large businesses, schools and government institutions looking for cutting-edge performance without compromising on space.

The new M71z’s feature second-generation Intel^® Core™ processors with optional touchscreen displays and video conferencing, with select models offering solid-state drives for blazing-fast boot times. Other features include a DVD burner, optional Wi-Fi, 6 USB (2.0?) ports, a chassis intrusion switch and a DisplayPort for adding an additional monitor. The M71z is also quite environmentally friendly, boasting Energy Star 5.2, TCO Certified Edge and EPEAT Gold certifications.

The M71z starts at $599 with availability slated for October. If you’re itching to upgrade that school lab, or the conference room the wait might be worthwhile. The closest rival from HP is either an Omni series AIO or a TouchSmart series AIO. However, we'd need to see the prices and specs of the individual SKUs before we can start drawing any comparisons.

Source: Lenovo – ThinkCentre M71z All-In-One

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Daily Mail

Amazon's Bezos envisions airbag phone, files patent PhysOrg.com (PhysOrg.com) — A US patent application was filed in February 11, 2010 bearing the names of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Amazon VP Greg Hart but was discovered this week by Geekwire. According to their patent application titled "Protecting Devices … Jeff Bezos patents retro jets, and airbags, for telephonesRegister Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Files Patent for Smartphone AirbagsPC Magazine Recommended: Airbag for your smartphone? Amazon's Bezos floats ideamsnbc.com International Business Times -TruthDive -Digitaltrends.com all 55 news articles »

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mikejuk writes “Researchers have devised and tested a system called Theia that can perform an efficient parallel search of mobile phones to track down a target photo. It could be used to perform a realtime search for a missing child accidently caught in a photo you have just taken or the location of a criminal or political activist. You might think that the security and privacy aspects were so terrible that you just wouldn’t install the app. However exceptional photos of a sporting or news incidents are worth money and the profit motive might be enough for you to install it.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Since Llano's introduction, the value of AMD's new APU has been the subject of some debate, even between editors here at AnandTech. With notebooks sporting the new A-series processors trickling out from vendors (and Toshiba waving the banner) it's been fairly difficult getting a good feel for what the chip brings to the table for the end user, but thankfully that's changing. Today we have on hand the Toshiba Satellite L775D-S7206, a budget 17" model that also gives us our first look at the AMD A6-3400M.

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Digital Trends – I’m traveling to Boston this week, and flying my favorite airline: Virgin America. One of the perks on the flight this week is that Google is loaning out ChromeBooks to anyone who wants them for free, including free Wi-Fi. The funny thing is that despite multiple announcements, few people took them up on this free offer. As I look around the plane (where I’m writing this), a number of folks are on laptops and iPads, so it isn’t as if folks didn’t want to be online. Given that Android tablets haven’t been doing all that well either, I think this helps illustrate a fundamental weakness in Google. Even though the company is clearly made up of people, and makes its money from advertising, Google doesn’t seem to understand how to create excitement. Yet, Google+ had plenty of excitement, demonstrating that Google is capable of it. Let’s explore why Google is at the root of the demand issues with Android Tablets, and why ChromeBooks are these tablets’ worst enemy.

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AP – An illegal, Orwellian violation of free-speech rights? Or just a smart tactic to protect train passengers from rowdy would-be demonstrators during a busy evening commute?

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coondoggie writes “In the wake of new fuel efficiency standards, the Energy Department this week spotted 40 new research projects $175 million to develop everything from light-weight building materials to electronics and advanced fuel. Last month, the U.S. set new fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks, saying they must hit 54.5 miles per gallon by Model Year 2025. The projects awarded contracts should address some of the issues involved in making cars and trucks more fuel efficient. At least that’s the idea.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Afterdawn.com

Samsung Galaxy S II Might Make You Think Twice About An iPhone 5 PC Magazine Holding out for the iPhone 5? There's some strong temptation coming out of South Korea at the end of the month: the Samsung Galaxy S II. An announcement for the super-slim, super-powerful, and super-popular Android smartphone is expected on … Samsung's Popular Galaxy S II Due Out Before iPhone 5PCWorld Motorola Droid Bionic vs Samsung Galaxy 2 vs Celox 4G LTETimesWireService Samsung to unveil key iPhone challenger: reportsMarketWatch GizmoCrunch -International Business Times all 23 news articles »

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An anonymous reader writes “Apple has filed two patent applications that describe an approach as well as file formats and APIs to eliminate the printer driver as a requirement for users to access a printer and print documents. If the company has its way, there will be three ways to access a printer in the future: The first will be via a conventional software driver. The second will be via a cloud service and the third will be via a driverless access method that supports ‘universal’ printing from any type device.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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STATE COLLEGE, PA—Hospitalized after a receiver crashed into him on the field last Sunday, Joe Paterno’s return to practice Wednesday came as a vast relief to Penn State players, all of whom live in constant fear of being the one who inevitabl…

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Deion Sanders, the epitome of the two-sport athlete, the archetypal shutdown corner, and the prototype for today’s self-promoting superstars, was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame last week. Was he any good?

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Reuters – As the school year resumes next week, Missouri teachers will have to think twice about making private contact with students on Internet sites such as Facebook.

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