Author Archives: Guest Post

Amazon Appstore Launches in Europe; Now Available in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Spain

By Guest PostAugust 30, 2012Technology1click payments, Amazon, angry birds, appstore, ceo, cut the rope, ecommerce, Europe, france, fruit ninja, Germany, glu mobile, industry, italy, jamie oliver, jim adkins, misha lyalin, peter vesterbacka, rovio mighty eagle, skyscanner, spain, uk, web service, zeptolab

Amazon Appstore rollout across the EU is the latest in a series of additions that make Amazon the most complete end-to-end platform for developers looking to build, market and monetize their apps and games

SEATTLE & LUXEMBOURG–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aug. 30, 2012– Amazon.com, Inc. today announced the launch of its Amazon Appstore in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Spain, giving European customers access to Amazon’s broad selection of quality Android apps with the convenience of shopping on Amazon from their Android phones and tablets. Customers can get the Amazon Appstore for their Android phones and tablets by visiting www.amazon.com/getappstore.

Amazon’s Appstore offers a great selection of games and apps, including local favorites like “Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals” and “Skyscanner,”established bestsellers like “Fruit Ninja” and “Cut the Rope,” and new apps from top-tier brands like Rovio and Glu Mobile. In addition to localized content and a localized mobile store for each specific country, European customers will have access to popular Amazon Appstore features like the “Free App of the Day,” which offers a paid app for free every day. Today’s Free App of the Day is the ad-free version of “Angry Birds.” All Free Apps of the Day are specially-selected for the Free App of the Day program. Apps and games purchased from Amazon can be used across a customer’s Android devices, enabling them to buy an app or game once and enjoy it everywhere. (more…)

MU Research Team Creates New Cancer Drug that is 10 Times More Potent

By Guest PostAugust 30, 2012Healthcancer cell energy, clinical trials, destroying cancer cells, drug design, new cancer drug

Drug efficiently targets breast, lung and colon cancer; clinical trials could start within two years

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Legend has it that Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” University of Missouri researchers are doing just that, but instead of building mousetraps, the scientists are targeting cancer drugs. In a new study, MU medicinal chemists have taken an existing drug that is being developed for use in fighting certain types of cancer, added a special structure to it, and created a more potent, efficient weapon against cancer. (more…)

Oil Spill Cleanup: Smart Filter Can Strain Oil Out of Water

By Guest PostAugust 30, 2012Environmentanish tuteja, arun kota, canola oil, capillary action, chemical detergent, cleanup, configuration, cosmetics industry, crude oil, deepwater horizon, emulsion, filter, fuel application, gibum kwon, gravity, hydrogen bond, mayonnaise, michigan, microscope, mixture, natural substance, novel nanoparticle, oil purification, oil spill, oleophobic, polyester fabric, polymer, rubbery, solution, surface tension, ultraviolet light, university, wastewater treatment, water, waterway, window screen

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A smart filter with a shape-shifting surface can separate oil and water using gravity alone, an advancement that could be useful in cleaning up environmental oil spills, among other applications, say its University of Michigan developers.

The system could provide a more efficient way to remove crude oil from waterways without using additional chemical detergents, or even after detergents have been added, said Anish Tuteja, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering. Tuteja is the corresponding author of a paper on the research published in the Aug. 28 issue of Nature Communications.

The researchers created a filter coating that repels oil but attracts water, bucking conventional materials’ properties. Most natural substances soak up oil, and the few that repel it also repel water because water has a higher surface tension. (more…)

How to Become James Bond: Online Deals on Electronics

By Guest PostAugust 30, 2012General, Technology4g smartphone, Amazon, auction format, best buy, computer revolution, ebay, ebook readers, electronic device, electronics, favi a3, fujifilm xpro1, james bond, motorola, movie projector, omnibus company, online deals, online publication, online storefront, pc magazine, reinisha goldfarb, Samsung, samsung galaxy nexus, smartphone, sony ericsson, tablet computer, technology market, ubid, verizon wireless, vintage look, wifi pico projector

Today’s technology market is saturated with electronic devices from smartphones and e-book readers to sleek tablet computers and digital media players. The consumer challenge is knowing what these devices do, where they can be purchased, and which storefronts afford the optimal blend of affordability and marquee products. Oftentimes the best prices can be found online because digital sellers are competing with one another, which leads to competition and lower cost to the consumer. That said, this article will look at some online storefronts as well as online publications that critique the products sold at those online storefronts. The goal is to help the consumer find the best deals on cutting-edge technologies.

uBid.com

This company has been around since 1997 and its auction format, layout, and customer satisfaction measures are very similar to eBay. At any rate, uBid.com states in its credo that it functions as a top auction site that caters to new, overstock, rectified, and closeout products. This means that the customer is receiving a well cared for product at an extremely low cost! uBid showcases twenty five categories and one of which is electronics. uBid carries the latest computers, tablets, phones and cameras. Unlike eBay, uBid’s products are usually sold in bulk and there are many available – perhaps this accounts for the bargain basement deals! Many of the items and auctions on uBid, including electronics, start at only one dollar! (more…)

Research Shows Mobile Apps Help Students Learn

By Guest PostAugust 30, 2012Education, Technologyassignment grade, college students, learning experience, mobile apps, mobile content, mobile tasks, text messages

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – New research from the University of Maryland has found that mobile Apps – and even text messages – enhanced learning and produced a richer learning experience for college students. (more…)

Microsoft Launches More Expansive Imagine Cup 2013

By Guest PostAugust 29, 2012TechnologyArgentina, games, imagine cup 2013, innovation, john scott tynes, Microsoft, sally buberman, world citizenship, wormhole it

Eleventh year features new categories and bigger cash prizes to inspire more young developers and entrepreneurs around the globe.

REDMOND, Wash. — Aug. 29, 2012 — Students ages 16 and older can now register for Microsoft Imagine Cup 2013, the world’s premier student technology competition, in its 11th year. To inspire more students and encourage a wider variety of aspiring innovators to participate, Microsoft Corp. has redesigned Imagine Cup around three new core competitions — World Citizenship, Games and Innovation — and more than doubled the prize money to US$300,000.

More than 1.65 million students across the globe have participated in Imagine Cup during the past decade, creating applications and games that address the world’s toughest social problems. The 2013 competition builds on the core elements that have been most popular with students in the past 10 years — social impact and gaming — while expanding the competition’s focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. In Imagine Cup 2013, students may compete in the following competitions: (more…)

Why are There so Many Species of Beetles and So few Crocodiles?

By Guest PostAugust 29, 2012Nature, Scienceadaptive zone, alligators, beetles, biodiversity, bird, cichlid fish, crocodile, daniel rabosky, diversity tree, ecological limits, eukaryote, evolutionary biology, evolutionary detectives, factor, fish, fungi, graham slater, life, lizard, mammal, michael alfaro, multi cellular, new zealand, planet, puzzle, reptile, snake, species, species diversity, species richness, theoretical model, tree of life, tuatara

Answer may be ‘adaptive zones’ that limit species number, life scientists report

There are more than 400,000 species of beetles and only two species of the tuatara, a reptile cousin of snakes and lizards that lives in New Zealand. Crocodiles and alligators, while nearly 250 million years old, have diversified into only 23 species. Why evolution has produced “winners” — including mammals and many species of birds and fish — and “losers” is a major question in evolutionary biology.

Scientists have often posited that because some animal and plant lineages are much older than others, they have had more time to produce new species (the dearth of crocodiles notwithstanding). This idea — that time is an important predictor of species number — underlies many theoretical models used by biologists. However, it fails to explain species numbers across all multi-cellular life on the planet, a team of life scientists reports Aug. 28 in the online journal PLoS Biology, a publication of the Public Library of Science. (more…)

Plants Unpack Winter Coats When Days Get Shorter

By Guest PostAugust 29, 2012Sciencecbf, cold response pathway, crepeat binding, crop productivity, factor, freezing, freezing temperature, frost protection, gene, mechanism, michael thomashow, plant, potential tool, sunlight

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Mechanisms that protect plants from freezing are placed in storage during the summer and wisely unpacked when days get shorter.

In the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Michael Thomashow, University Distinguished Professor of molecular genetics, demonstrates how the CBF (C-repeat binding factor) cold response pathway is inactive during warmer months when days are long, and how it’s triggered by waning sunlight to prepare plants for freezing temperatures. (more…)