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In a solar system 1,200 light-years away from ours, there's a couple of planets that come so close to each other every 97 days they can see each other rise in the night sky. This odd duo, found thanks to data … Continue …
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Alan Turing's 100th: 12 Celebratory Images From Across the Web
Courtesy of Facebook, George Takei
Click here to view this gallery.
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Alan Turing represents different things to different people. He was a mathematician, logician, computer scientist extraordinaire and a persecuted gay man. Today would have been Turing's 100th birthday, and all over the web people are posting images to celebrate the man, his achievements and all he represents to them.
Widely considered to be the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, Turing gained worldwide acclaim during World War II for breaking German ciphers and decoding the Enigma machine. He also created one of the first models for a stored-program computer, the ACE, while working at England's National Physical Laboratory.
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SEE ALSO: Is This the Smartest Google Doodle Yet?Turing made major advances in mathematical biology and electromechanics, all before the age of 41. In 1952, a criminal prosecution began as a result of Turing's homosexuality, which was still illegal in the United Kingdom. As an alternative to prison, Turing chose to undergo treatment with female hormones, otherwise known as chemical castration.
Shortly thereafter, just after his 42nd birthday, Turing committed suicide by cyanide poisoning. When Turing's body was discovered, there was a half-eaten apple beside his bed. This was believed to be the method by which he consumed the fatal dosage of cyanide. It has since become an symbol of Turing's obstacles, and can be seen in several of the illustrations posted today.
Turing remains a hero today, both for his scientific advances and for what he represents in LGBT history. Tributes to Turing abound on the web, from Reddit to Tumblr to Pinterest. One especially popular post is on George Takei's Facebook page.
Check out these images celebrating Alan Turing's 100th. What do Turing's life and achievements mean to you? Let us know in the comments.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
Why Apple wants to spread lies about you (and why that’s a good thing)
A new Apple patent could be a powerful defense in the war on privacyIt's becoming harder and harder to maintain any sense of privacy on the internet. Do a search for just about anything online, and somewhere there's a data collector compiling information about you and your searches. Even though the eyes on you at all times are digital, being watched is still unsettling. But such a loss of privacy is an inevitable part of life on the net, right?
Not if computing giant Apple has anything to say about it. According to a report from InformationWeek, Apple recently scored a patent for a technology that, essentially, creates lies about you.
How does the tech work? In short, it works by way of what's being called "profile pollution." As you search and use the internet, Apple would create a number of different online profiles for you. One, of course, would be your real one, filled with data on what you search for, and where you searched. The others would be filled with lies.
The new technology goes as far as to fake actions for the fake versions of you — your Apple-created doppelgänger really could be performing searches for "classical music concert tickets" at the same time you're watching Justin Bieber clips on YouTube. And, at the same time, yet another version of you could be perusing Betty White's twitter account. That way, when Big Brother (or anyone's brother, for that matter) wants to know whether or not you're having a baby or whether you just like J. Bieb's song Baby... well, it'll have a hard time figuring it out. And if you care about your privacy, that's a very good thing.
[via Mashable]
This article was written by Fox Van Allen and originally appeared on Tecca
More from Tecca:
Hawaii's island of Lanai depends on wealthy owner
HONOLULU (AP) — The 3,200 people living on a rural Hawaiian island that will soon be purchased by billionaire Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison have a laundry list of what they'd like to see him provide.
Working-class residents on Lanai want stable jobs. Affordable housing. No onerous restrictions on hunting or fishing. A return to agriculture. Improved transportation to Maui, Oahu and other islands given an airport with limited flights. Even simple things like the reopening of the community pool. They hope he's willing to sit down, listen to their concerns and be sensitive to the unique culture of Hawaii.
But on Lanai, an island paradise unscathed by urban annoyances like traffic lights, residents' lives are largely dependent on whoever owns 98 percent of the island's 141 square miles. Without tourism, the economic engine that's driven the island under its current billionaire owner, the "pineapple island" doesn't have much.
"It's not an island with a lot of resources and the kind of infrastructure you need," said Bill Medeiros, assigned to oversee Lanai as executive assistant to the mayor of Maui County, of which Lanai is part. "At one time, almost the whole island was pineapple."
Lanai residents are fully aware, Medeiros said, that their wants ultimately have little bearing on the reality of living on an island whose future rests with the whims of an owner with deep pockets willing to bear a financial loss.
That owner is soon to be Ellison, an adventurous billionaire who needs the island a whole lot less than the people of Lanai need him.
The constant fear is what happens if the owner doesn't renew leases on rented homes, closes a hotel or decides he's had enough and sells, community leaders say.
"It's always, 'What happens if he sells us? How scary,'" said Kepa Maly, executive director of the Lanai Culture & Heritage Center.
It would be nice if Ellison, known for being a visionary, can find a way for Lanai to sustain itself in a way that honors its roots, Maly said. But he shouldn't expect to turn a profit.
"The history of Lanai since western contact is littered with the graves of unsuccessful western business interests," he said. "I can't believe someone buying the island today would be able to get richer off of it."
Current billionaire owner David Murdock, who led a shift from the island's pineapple industry to luxury resort and home development, had been losing $20 million to $30 million a year, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser previously reported.
Ellison has yet to fully reveal his plans for Lanai but his representatives have assured the state senator who represents the island that the high-tech CEO and world-renowned sailor has no plans for radical changes and will be sensitive to the culture of the island.
Still the reality, Maly noted, "is clearly someone has to earn some money. How do we do that?"
And Ellison didn't become the world's sixth richest billionaire without some shrewd business sense.
"He told me once that he's like anybody else when he spends his money on something, he doesn't want to get taken," said Mike Wilson, managing editor of the Tampa Bay Times who authored, "The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison: God Doesn't Think He's Larry Ellison."
But for a pet project like buying an island, "I'm sure his first concern is not that he'll lose money," Wilson said. "I don't think he's unconscious of the natural beauty of the place or anywhere else."
The island's charm means residents travel via $50-round trip ferry ride to neighboring Maui to shop at stores like Costco or Wal-Mart. There may be only 30 miles of paved roads, but a gallon of gasoline at the lone gas station on Friday was about $5.75, compared to Honolulu's average of $4.20 and the U.S. national average of $3.45. Residents supplement the food on their family's table by fishing and hunting — mostly deer and some wild pig. There's one school and one hospital. For more than routine medical care, residents must fly to Honolulu, a 25-minute plane ride away.
Lanai's small size has led to a tight-knight community, built as a walking community around Lanai City's park, where residents strive for a simple life.
"For an island that may have been host to many well-known people, it's still an island that allows a lot of courtesy and privacy," said seventh-generation Lanaian Sol Kahoohalahala.
As the sale gets closer to being a done deal, Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa is pondering how Ellison might "completely alter the economic structure of the island."
Playing off Ellison's high-tech prowess Maly has a novel idea: "Software development. How about Lanai becoming engaged in computer sciences?"
TV's Biggest Highlights on Social Media This Year [INFOGRAPHIC]
With the 2011-2012 TV season behind us, networks are not only looking into ratings to gauge success, they're also diving into social TV statistics. Which series reigned supreme with the social media-wielding viewers?
Fox generated the most comments on Facebook and Twitter from September to May for primetime series programming and all series programming, with American Idol, Glee and The X Factor leading the charge online.
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"Fox is clearly a leader in social TV," Bluefin spokeswoman April Conyers told Mashable. "But it's also interesting to note that when you expand beyond series-only to include sports and special events, CBS jumps to the top."
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CBS ranked number one when accessing all show types and non-primetime/primetime data, propelled by the Grammy Awards, March Madness and NFL broadcasts.
What were the shows doing to attract comments? NBC's The Voice, for example, employed an impressive social media blitz, using more than 160 social profiles for judges, contestants and show personalities, including one for judge Cee Lo Green's cat, Purrfect. The Voice also introduced voting via a slick Facebook Timeline app.
The result for The Voice season two: 145 worldwide Twitter trending topics, 13% rise for online's vote share and 38% jump in votes per unique user, NBC told Mashable.
The infographic below from Bluefin Labs details the most social days, moments, premieres, finales, series, broadcast networks and cable networks.
"This was the first full TV season with social TV measurement, so this data serves as a benchmark for future seasons," Conyers says. "People will be interested in tracking the growth and adoption of social TV. Having this season's data all in one place is a useful reference."
This story originally published on Mashable here.
Judge blocks Apple in Google smartphone war
(Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday ruled that Apple Inc cannot pursue an injunction against Google's Motorola Mobility unit, effectively ending a key case for the iPhone maker in the smartphone patent wars.
The ruling came from Judge Richard Posner in Chicago federal court. He dismissed the litigation between Apple and Motorola Mobility with prejudice, meaning it can't be refiled.
The ruling is a blow for Apple, which had hoped a decisive ruling against Motorola would help it gain an upper hand in the smartphone market against Android.
"Apple is complaining that Motorola's phones as a whole ripped off the iPhone as a whole," Posner wrote. "But Motorola's desire to sell products that compete with the iPhone is a separate harm -— and a perfectly legal one -— from any harm caused by patent infringement."
Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet declined to comment on the ruling. Motorola Mobility spokeswoman Jennifer Erickson said the company was pleased that Posner dismissed Apple's case.
Both parties have the option to appeal Posner's ruling.
Motorola sued Apple in October 2010, a move that was widely seen as a pre-emptive strike against an imminent Apple lawsuit. Apple filed its own claims against Motorola the same month.
Posner issued a series of pre-trial rulings that eliminated nearly all of Motorola's patent claims against Apple from the prospective trial, while maintaining more of Apple's claims against Motorola. That meant Apple had more to gain in the trial, which had been set to start last week.
However, Posner canceled the trial earlier this month.
Apple had sought an injunction barring the sale of Motorola products using Apple's patented technology. But in Friday's ruling, Posner wrote that neither party is entitled to an injunction.
Since Motorola could design around the minor technological features covered by Apple's patents, an injunction would be an inappropriate windfall for Apple, Posner wrote.
Posner also said that Apple had not clearly demonstrated that Motorola phones caused a loss of consumer goodwill significant enough for an injunction.
"To suggest that it has suffered loss of market share, brand recognition, or customer goodwill as a result of Motorola's alleged infringement of the patent claims still in play in this case is wild conjecture," Posner wrote.
In a bright spot for the iPhone maker, Posner also ruled that Motorola could not seek an injunction based on the one patent in the case that it was still asserting against Apple.
Motorola had pledged to license that patent - which covers an aspect of wireless communication - on fair and reasonable terms to other companies in exchange for having the technology adopted as an industry standard.
"How could it be permitted to enjoin Apple from using an invention that it contends Apple must use if it wants to make a cell phone," Posner wrote.
At a hearing earlier this week, Apple had argued that it would be satisfied with an injunction forcing Motorola to remove Apple's patented features within three months. But Posner found that proposal unworkable, in part because of the hardship in administering such an order.
"Because of the potential costs to Motorola and the federal judiciary I could not responsibly order injunctive relief in favor of Apple," he wrote in his ruling.
The case is Apple Inc. and NeXT Software Inc. V. Motorola Inc. and Motorola Mobility Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, no. 11-08540.
(Reporting by Dan Levine in Oakland, California and Jessica Dye in New York; Editing by Gary Hill and Jeremy Laurence)
5 Advanced Twitter Tips for Your Small Business
This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.
So you're running a small business and you've got the basics of social networking mastered: You tweet often, you've created a venue on Foursquare and your Facebook Page is beautiful. How do you move to the next level of social marketing mastery?
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Devin Desjarlais, social media manager at Max Borges Agency, has five can't-miss tips for upping your Twitter game.
Scheduling tweets with a platform such as HootSuite or Tweetdeck can be a great way to spread out your business' social sharing throughout the day. However, Desjarlais says that it's important to pay attention to any responses your scheduled tweets may elicit -- the follow-up conversation is just as important as the initial tweet, if not more.
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"The key to attracting a following on Twitter is to engage with users," Desjarlais says. "Hootsuite is a free platform that allows companies to schedule tweets for all accounts in one place. That means that you won’t have to spend all day planning the next 140 characters to publish. However, check back hourly to see who has tweeted back at you. Twitter users have a short attention span, so it’s important to respond as quickly as possible."
Get familiar with platforms that let you build streams around phrases or hashtags relevant to your company. That way, you've always got your ear to the social ground.
"Hashtags are an excellent way to track conversation about a specific topic," Desjarlais says. "With Hootsuite, companies can create streams that track a specific hashtag, giving the account manager an easy way to find content and engage with other tweeters. For example, if your company makes custom guitars, you might want to follow a stream dedicated to the #music hashtag."
It's the mark of a successful social company to have plenty of customers tweeting at you or about you using your Twitter handle, but you can't rely on all users to do that. If you're only listening for tweets mentioning @BobsBurgerShack, for example, you'll miss out on a tweet such as, "Man, I wish Bob's Burger Shack had relish!"
The solution? Enhanced listening techniques.
"Topsy.com is a little-known website that lets users do real-time searches in the social web,” Desjarlais explains. "Do daily searches for your company’s name and narrow the search results to just tweets to see who is talking about your company but not @-mentioning you." Or you can save searches for some key terms and common permutations of your company name, such as "Bobs burger" and "Bobs cheeseburger."
While the majority of your tweets will probably be about your business, it's important to develop a personality beyond tweeting out discounts or new menu options. It's all about building a human personality.
"The last thing a company wants to do is spam their followers with tweets," she says. "Twitter is about sharing ideas, information and occasionally inspirational quotes in order to build a community around what the business offers. Try to tweet at least five times per day and dedicate one or two of those tweets to sending users back to your company’s website. Schedule those posts between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. EST on the weekdays for the most engagement."
Determining the return on investment of social networking can be a real challenge, especially for smaller businesses that don't have the time or resources to dedicate to complex analytics. Desjarlais says free tools are available to make that task just a bit easier.
"The URL shortener Bitly lets users create shortened links for any URL available online," says Desjarlais. "Sign up for a free Bitly account and create custom Bitly links or 'bitmarks' that can be used whenever you send users back to your company’s website. To see how many people have clicked the link, simply paste the URL with a '+' at the end into your Internet browser to see up-to-date metrics."
What other advanced Twitter tips have you learned for running a small business? Share them in the comments below.
More Small Business Resources From OPEN Forum:- Why Social Learning Benefits Your Business - 9 Steps for Getting Kickstarter Dollars - Choosing the Best Social Media
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, matspersson0
This story originally published on Mashable here.
