What does it take to keep track of Obama?
Want to know at a glance what Obama's approval rating is? How many days he has left as president? How about the unemployment level? The public debt?
The Obama Clock iPhone app does all that and also updates you on the cost of gas per gallon and the housing price index. The app also connects with the Obama Clock Facebook Page.
Keeping track of iPhone
Not again! Remember when an Apple employee supposedly lost an iPhone in a bar? Guess what? Happened again. Hmm ... are we seeing a pattern here?
TRENDING: St. Patrick's role on the 'external hard drive'
This time, the employee "left" behind what Apple described as an "invaluable" prototype of the unreleased iPhone 5. Was it deliberate? Floating a trial balloon, as it were? Looking for some free hype and publicity?
CNET reported that Apple scrambled to recover the unreleased handset after an employee left the device at a tequila bar in San Francisco's Mission district last July. So, what happened to it? "Might have been sold on Craigslist for $200," the CNET report says. Or ended up in someone's home?
In an unrelated story, a store mistakenly installed its own hard drive into a customer's repaired computer. The drive reportedly contained "confidential docs, internal manuals, Apple's sales [techniques], an Apple store work checklist, products layout, time schedules, pictures and videos of Apple corporate activities that only Apple employees can see, videos of store meetings, business structure and much, much, much more."
Courts uphold $60,000 ruling against blogger
Can you get into hot water by blogging the truth about someone? Evidently the justice system thinks so. An appeals court has upheld a $60,000 ruling against a blogger, even though his statements were true.
Read how the ruling ignores "a ton of case law," and the implications for all bloggers.
Advertisers using facial recognition to target you
You won't believe all the ways advertisers are targeting you. Now it's digital facial recognition technology, and it works by measuring data points like the width of your nose, length of your jaw and the distance between your eyes. Read the ways many advertisers are finding you and identifying your preferences. It's straight out of science fiction!
Gmail? It's in the clouds
If you have a Gmail account, you'll soon be able to access it offline with cloud computing capability. Google Chrome users can already install offline-access apps through Chrome's Web Store and use Gmail, Google Docs and other Google apps offline right away. Eventually non-Chrome users will have this capability available to them. PC World has the details.
TV and AT&T – never shall the twain meet?
During my travels with the Tea Party Express, we crossed the country from West Coast to East Coast. Traveling with a busload of others who were using various carriers, we noticed that for those of us using AT&T service, we would be offline when Verizon users were happily connected. AT & T is just not as dependable as Verizon, especially in the Western states. According to Tech Crunch, there's a reason why my AT&T iPhone calls were dropped more frequently than other carriers. It has to do with local television stations and the spectrum they're sitting on.
According to Tech Crunch's Frank Barbieri, spectrum is a finite resource of airwaves allocated by the federal government (FCC) to businesses based on a bidding process that necessitates demonstrated consumer benefit.
I can see you!
While Apple has been catching a lot of flak for collecting iPhone and iPad user location data without consent, it turns out that rival Microsoft may have been quietly up to the same. A recent class action lawsuit filed in Seattle district court alleges that even after offering its users the option of opting out, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system continued collecting users' location data anyway. The code resides in Windows Phone 7′s camera application.
Apple Twitters
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey recently posted about Twitter's deep integration in iOS 5 that, "Very soon, anywhere there's an iPhone or an iPad, you'll always find Twitter. With Apple's upcoming deep integration of Twitter into iOS 5, there is an opportunity for us, together, to take the ecosystem to a new level."
Here's how it works: Apple provides a single sign-on for Twitter use on its phone, and when you download an app, you'll simply be asked for your Twitter credential permission, requiring no further need to re-login.
Taking it a step further, Apple is integrating Twitter into several of its own features and applications like camera and photos, iPhone and iPad, and giving users the ability to add locations, Tweet articles and content directly from Safari, Maps. Also, Twitter photos and @usernames can now be auto-pulled into the phone's contacts.
Chrome celebrates third year with new features
Since Google first launched Chrome in September 2008, recent stats show Chrome already has a nearly 22-percent browser market share. Firefox has 28 percent and IE has 42 percent. The browser recently added features like print preview and Instant Pages in Google search.
Google marked its anniversary with a blog post listing some of Chrome's biggest improvements over the last year
Mixing apples with Apple
Imagine you're browsing the produce section at your supermarket, loading fresh rutabagas and apples into your cart. Now imagine that cart is outfitted with solar-powered docks and speakers for your iPad, allowing you to watch live sports or sports-related programs.
The feature is being test driven by shoppers in Kensington, West London, England according to the Telegraph: "The carts have been developed by broadcaster Sky TV to shine a light on its Sky Go service, which serves up television on the go on Apple devices."
And if you get too engrossed in what you're viewing, a front bumper sensor will beep before you crash the cart into another.
Oprah goes Facebook
Oprah Winfrey, with nearly 6.3 million fans on Facebook, will visit Facebook for a live-streamed video interview and will appear at an exclusive women's dinner given by Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg.
Winfrey is considered one of the most influential women in television. Facebook is soliciting questions for the live streamed interview, which starts at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday, Sept. 8.
Big phone or little tablet?
Samsung has introduced the Galaxy Note, a 5.3-inch touch screen device. The gadget is the next generation after the smart phone and tablet, combining the best of both. The 5.3-inch display is bigger than a smart phone, but smaller than most 7-inch screen tablets.
Censor now, deal with it later
Teenage heartthrob Justin Beiber's videos were removed from YouTube by pranksters filing bogus DMCA notices. And what's with Twitter, which keeps suspending accounts without notice or warning? What gives? Read how the government's entanglement with YouTube is forcing the company's hand, and how some say that's a violation of the First Amendment.
WikiLeaks is leaking
WikiLeaks has released its entire cache of U.S. State Department cables, all 251,287 of them in uncensored form that exposes 45 years' worth of whistleblowers and informants in China, Afghanistan, the Arab world and elsewhere to danger. It has also resulted in new revelations about a grisly massacre of an extended family in 2006 by U.S. troops in Iraq.
The Time Capsule
1943 – Italy's surrender announced
1945 – Japan signs unconditional surrender
1975 – London Hilton bombed, two killed, 63 injured
1997 – Mother Teresa, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, dies
1997 – Diana's funeral watched by millions.
Now playing at the Princess Theater in Urbana, Ill.
Congratulations to WND readers Dave Madison of O'Fallon, Mo., and Joy Harrington of Tulsa, Okla., who correctly guessed actor Jennifer Garner in her portrayal of Janet Mayes in the 2007 film "The Kingdom." The film also starred Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper and Jason Bateman.
The story depicted a team of U.S. government agents led by FBI special agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The secret team of U.S. counter-terrorism investigators enters the city and finds the criminal behind what has quickly become an international incident.
The quote was: "The Saudi Royal Family cannot appear as if they're losing control. If they lose control of their country, lose control of the people, they risk losing control of the oil. And that's not going to happen."
This week's quote: "The days of the frontal attack are over. Only a mediocre commander would use it. Your good commanders do not turn in heavy losses."
Name the movie, the actor and the character. Send your answer to me at the email address below. Please be sure to add your town and state. Good luck!