Tag Archives: bird

Do You Rowi? Windows Phone Twitter App a Big Hit

Microsoft employees Erik Porter and Nathan Heskew built Rowi, a Twitter app that makes full use of Windows Phone’s social media capabilities. The duo just released version 2, they’re building a Windows 8 app, and Rowi is now among some of the most popular apps in the marketplace.

REDMOND, Wash. – April 17, 2012 – Rowi may sound like some kind of rare New Zealand bird (which actually, it is) but it’s also a popular new Twitter app for Windows Phone created by two Microsoft employees.

The moonlight creation of Erik Porter and Nathan Heskew, Rowi was developed to fully tap the social networking capabilities of the Windows Phone. Rowi lets Twitter users receive push notifications, and supports right-to-left (RTL) languages, the ability to pin Tweets to the Windows Phone start screen, and easier messaging and photo previews. (more…)

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Cincinnati Zoo Adds 50,000 New Visits, Drives New Revenue With IBM Business Analytics

ARMONK, N.Y. & CINCINNATI, Ohio – 11 Jan 2011: IBM today announced that the Cincinnati Zoo is using IBM business analytics software to drive new revenue, improve member visits and integrate all ticketing, retail, and food sales operations. The zoo projects a $350,000 increase in revenue in the first year, and an additional 50,000 in new visits per year using the IBM analytics solution.

More than 1.2 million people a year visit Cincinnati Zoo’s exhibits, which feature over 500 animal and 3,000 plant species. The Zoo was also rated the No. 1 attraction locally and one of the top zoos in the nation by Zagat Survey. (more…)

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Deformed Beaks May Signal a Greater Environmental Problem

This Black-capped Chickadee, captured in Anchorage, Alaska, demonstrates an overgrown beak characteristic of avian keratin disorder. Beak deformities in this species were first observed in the late 1990s and biologists have since documented more than 2,100 affected individuals in Alaska. Image credit: U.S. Geological Survey

ANCHORAGE, Alaska ­– The highest rate of beak abnormalities ever recorded in wild bird populations is being seen in a number of species in the Northwest and Alaska, and scientists to this point have not been able to isolate the cause.

Black-capped Chickadees, Northwestern Crows, and other birds are being impacted by the problem, which affects their ability to feed and clean themselves and could signal a growing environmental health problem.

In birds affected by what scientists have termed “avian keratin disorder,” the keratin layer of the beak becomes overgrown, resulting in noticeably elongated and often crossed beaks, sometimes accompanied by abnormal skin, legs, feet, claws and feathers. Biologists with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Alaska Science Center published their findings in this month’s issue of The Auk, a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology.

“The prevalence of these strange deformities is more than ten times what is normally expected in a wild bird population,” said research biologist Colleen Handel with the USGS, “We have seen effects not only on the birds’ survival rates, but also on their ability to reproduce and raise young. We are particularly concerned because we have not yet been able to determine the cause, despite testing for the most likely culprits.” (more…)

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