Ethel Lindley

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Jonathan Rea To Test Honda MotoGP Bike In Malaysia

During the winter test ban, MotoGP's equivalent of the dog days of summer, the social media website Twitter has turned into a goldmine for journalists, from both the traditional and the new media alike. With so many high-profile riders, managers, mechanics and other members of the paddock active on Twitter, nuggets useful for filling empty column inches keep popping up almost by magic.

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TUAW TV Live: The end-of-year panel discussion

The holidays are still here. You're at home, stuck with the relatives for the next few days, and you'd like to do something fun. Why not join a group of TUAW bloggers for an hour of discussion and laughs?

Every Wednesday afternoon I host TUAW TV Live, which (as the name implies) is a live one-hour streaming video show discussing the week's Apple news, demonstrating new software, providing the occasional giveaway and more. You can participate in the show through the Ustream chat tool that appears on the next page.

Today's show is going to be a bit of a first for TUAW TV Live, as I'll be hosting a group of my fellow bloggers in a free-for-all discussion of Apple in 2010 and what we expect to see in the next year. If the gods of technology are with us today, there should be several of us chatting together over Skype.

How can you join in on the fun? From your Mac or PC, go to the next page by clicking the Read More link at the bottom of this post, and you'll find a livestream viewer and a chat tool. The chat tool allows you to participate by asking questions or making comments.

If you're driving somewhere and would like to watch TUAW TV Live while you're stuck in traffic, please don't -- keep your eyes on the road! However, if someone else is doing the driving, you can watch the show on your iPhone and join the chat by downloading the free Ustream Viewing Application. If you're on an iPad, you should be able to use the Skyfire Browser to watch the stream, although you will not be able to participate in the chat.

We'll start at about 5 PM ET, so if you're seeing a prerecorded show, be sure to refresh your browser until you get the live stream.

Continue reading TUAW TV Live: The end-of-year panel discussion

TUAW TV Live: The end-of-year panel discussion originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is AIG About To Sell Its $510 Million Blackstone Stake?

steve schwarzman phone

AIG could be close to selling its $510 million dollar stake in private equity giant Blackstone, says Bloomberg.

The company's stake in Steve Schwarzman's firm began in 1998, when AIG paid $150 million for a 7% stake.

In early December, AIG told Blackstone that it's going to convert its $35.7 million partnership units into common shares, ostensibly so they can be traded on the NYSE.

The insurance behemoth is currently divesting of a whole host of assets to try and repay the billions of dollars in aid it received from the federal government, so its possibly upcoming Blackstone sale probably doesn't say anything in particular about Blackstone.

In fact, AIG already sold two huge assets of its own, its two biggest overseas life-insurance divisions, earning $36.7 billion in the process.

Neither AIG or Blackstone would comment.

For more go to Bloomberg >

Join the conversation about this story »

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China Censors 60,000 Porn Sites, 5,000 Arrested

lothos writes with news that China has arrested thousands more people and shuttered 60,000 websites in an ongoing anti-pornography crackdown. "Wang Chen, director of the Information Office of the State Council, said at a news conference that some 350 million pieces of pornographic and indecent internet content were eliminated, according to the Xinhua report. The government launched a special campaign a year ago to rid the internet of pornographic and vulgar content, Xinhua reported. Overall, the campaign included 2,197 criminal cases involving 4,965 people who violated Chinese law by disseminating pornography via the internet or mobile phones, the news agency said. Of those, 58 people received prison sentences exceeding five years."

Hidden gems of 2010: the games you may have missed

Observer games critics nominate the releases that deserved far greater attention this year

Ancient Trader (Xbox 360, 4kids games)

In what's been a really interesting year for independent games, Ancient Trader was one of the best. An addictive turn-based strategy, set on weathered parchment maps with some stunning hand-drawn art, it can be downloaded from Xbox Live's indie games service for about the cost of a pint. Bargain. Chris Schilling

Deadly Premonition (Xbox 360, Rising Star Games)

A dark, Lynchian tale of murder in a quiet American town, Deadly Premonition was technically flawed, but hugely ambitious and entertaining. In abrasive FBI agent Francis York Morgan, it had the year's most interesting protagonist, plus a host of memorable moments that more than compensated for its graphical shortcomings. Bizarre, but brilliant. CS

NHL 11 (PS3, Xbox 360, EA)

NHL 11 became a favourite non-footie sports sim this year, possibly the best since its Mega Drive glory days. With exceptional realism, from an unpredictable puck to player physics, crunching checks and improved AI, no two plays are alike ? especially when breaking your stick, falling on the ice or getting tied up in fights. Arguably, the best two-player sim out there. Felix Atkin

Guwange (Xbox 360, DLC, Cave)

Created by cult Japanese arcade game developer Cave, Guwange was a strange and intense scrolling 2D shooter, unafraid of bewildering its audience. Set in feudal Japan, its strange majesty and intense difficulty made it well worth tracking down, especially for those unafraid of a challenge. Will Freeman

VVVVVV (PC, Mac, online, Terry Cavanagh)

With primitive visuals and seemingly archaic gameplay, VVVVVV was easy to miss. But this lo-fi platform-puzzle game, based on gravity manipulation, was filled with more neat tricks and clever flourishes than most big-budget blockbusters. Unusual and taxing, this was an underground hit that was just the tonic for jaded palates. Serge Pennings

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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SMS Popup for Android enables quick (and preset) replies

SMS Popup is an Android application that shows a pop-up screen each time you receive a new text message, regardless of what you're doing on your smartphone at the time. The pop-up contains the sender's picture (if there is any assigned, of course), the full contents of the message you've just received, and three customizable buttons underneath it that allow you to quickly type a reply (or choose from a list of preset ones), speak a reply, delete the message or close the pop-up (this action also marks the message as read by default, but can be set not to).

The most recent versions of the app also have a notification system built-in, so you can turn off notifications in the default Android SMS app altogether. This system lets you choose a custom vibration pattern, custom LED color, and you can also set it to remind you periodically about a notification that you haven't yet acknowledged.

You can find SMS Popup in the Android Market (it's the version by Adam K.). It's free, but there is a donation version available if you'd like to support the developer. Alternatively, you can download the latest version straight from the project's website and sideload it onto your smartphone.

SMS Popup for Android enables quick (and preset) replies originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 28 Dec 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Solar Cells Integrated In Microchips

cylonlover writes "In a new, more efficient approach to solar powered microelectronics, researchers have produced a microchip which directly integrates photovoltaic cells. While harnessing sunlight to power microelectronics isn't new, conventional set-ups use a separate solar cell and battery. What sets this device apart is that high-efficiency solar cells are placed straight onto the electronics, producing self-sufficient, low-power devices which are highly suitable for industrial serial production and can even operate indoors."