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Application Business Cloud Culture

Sqwiggle Makes Working Remotely Less Lonely, More Awesome

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As reported in TechCrunch. by GREG KUMPARAK Hey Marissa! Check this one out. Sqwiggle is browser-based group video chat built with work-from-homers in mind. It’s got the office-like immediacy that Skype lacks, but without the noise of a Google Hangout. I’m kind of in love with it. As someone who puts words on the Internet for a living, I’ve been lucky enough to spend most of the last 5 years working from my home. Awesome, right? Yeah, to…

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Google Legal

Google delivers EU antitrust concessions, now subject to feedback from rivals

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As reported on Engadget. By Zachary Lutz There’s no question that most of the talk between Google and EU regulators over the firm’s search ranking practices have taken place behind closed doors, but now theantitrust inquiry is one step closer to a binding resolution. Following a preliminary assessment in which the European Commission laid out its concerns, Google has offered up a formal list of commitments in attempt to assuage the regulator — and in the process, avoid a…

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Mobile Story Verizon

Verizon intros new $35 prepaid plan for basic phones, for those not keen on the ‘smart’ era Mobile

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As reported on Engadget. By Edgar Alvarez For some time now, Verizon and other carriers have slowly but surely shifted focus from “dumb” handsets to ones that are much more intelligent, with data-drivenshared plans being one of the strategies that corroborate this move. Today, however, Big Red’s gone back to basics, announcing a novel prepaid plan for folks without a smartphone — which will go alongside the company’s existing $50, all-you-can-have offering. With the new Basic Plan, Verizon’s…

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Automotive Environmental

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive test-driven, quietly tears up the track (video)

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As reported on Engadget. By Jamie Rigg Sure, Mercedes-Benz is building all-electric vehicles for the daily grind, but none can deny the 750-horsepower SLS AMG Electric Drive is by far its most exciting EV. One lucky test-driver — Chris Harris from YouTube channel DRIVE — recently had the opportunity to point the overtly shiny beast round a track, and filmed it for his online passengers. He’s initially unsure the car will turn petrol-heads on, and talks torque, cockpit layout, driving modes…

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Culture Economy Government

As Colombian Drug Gangs Collapse, Mexican Cartels Get Tons of Cheap Coke

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As reported on Wired. BY ROBERT BECKHUSEN A Colombian soldier on security duty in La Macarena, Colombia on April 28, 2012. Photo: U.S. Special Operations Command South   Want to understand why Mexican cartels are awash in cheap Colombian cocaine? The decline and fall of Colombia’s drug gangs, once the undisputed masters of the illicit drug trade, help explain it. According to a recent report from the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, the Mexican cartels are…

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Culture Entertainment Legal

Animal Farm: a look at the ‘Ag Gag’ laws that are making it tough to film cruelty

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As reported on The Verge. By Lessley Anderson Legislators send mixed messages on why the laws exist A still from Burger King Cruelty, produced by Mercy for Animals. Americans love their hamburger, but they hate to see where it comes from. That dichotomy is leading to a rash of so-called “Ag Gag” laws being enacted across the US, as reported on by The New York Times this week. The laws aim to block or severely limit activists’ ability to film…

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Business Culture Entertainment

How a Hollywood effects studio builds the movie monsters from your nightmares

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As reported on The Verge. By Matt Brian In an age where movie studios can create almost anything using CGI, Hollywood’s special effects studios and their real-world creations are still in very high demand. In a behind-the-scenes interview, Venue takes a look at Spectral Motion — a special effects creature studio which has provided the prosthetics, animatronics, and costumes for hit movies including Hellboy & Hellboy II, Looper, Blade 2, X-Men: First Class and this summer’s upcoming blockbuster Pacific Rim. Spectral…

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Google Mobile

Missing in action: why doesn’t Google help consumers find their lost Android phones?

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As reported on The Verge. By Dieter Bohn Users are left to fend for themselves on the world’s biggest smartphone platform Google is respected for its prowess in the cloud. Android phones that connect up to Google’s services enjoy a wide array of features — from email to apps to notes — that offer seamless sync between the web and your device. Yet there’s one enormously important feature that Google does not extend to consumers: the ability to…

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Google

Google Wants To Operate .Search As A “Dotless” Domain, Plans To Open .Cloud, .Blog And .App To Others

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As reported on TechCrunch. by FREDERIC LARDINOIS If it gets it, Google wants to turn .search into a “dotless domain,” the company told ICANN a few days ago. Last year, Google applied to manage the .app, .blog, .cloud and .search generic top-level domain (gTLD) names as part of a major expansion of the domain-name system. ICANN, which is managing this expansion, hasn’t awarded any of the gTLDs yet, and the whole program remains controversial. But in…

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Microsoft Tablet

Microsoft Reportedly Working On 7″ Surface Tablet As PC Market Slumps To Four-Year Low

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As reported on TechCrunch. byNATASHA LOMAS According to a report in the WSJ, Microsoft is working on a new line-up of its Windows 8-powered Surface tablets that includes a seven inch version of the slate. This small form factor size would enable Microsoft to compete with the likes of the Android-powered Google Nexus 7, Amazon Kindle Fire and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, as well as Apple’s iOS-based iPad Mini. The paper quotes a person familiar with the…

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