Starbucks Offering Free Wi-Fi starting July 1st

Starbucks Corp. will make wireless Internet service free at all U.S. stores starting July 1, eliminating a previous fee of $3.99 for two hours of access.

The move comes after McDonald’s Corp. earlier this year dropped all access fees on wireless Internet service, as the fast-food chain sought to make its restaurants a more suitable place to hang out.

Starbucks had offered wireless Internet service at its stores through provider AT&T Inc. under an array of options.

Customers who had a registered Starbucks loyalty card could get two hours of free wireless Internet service a day, while users of AT&T mobile devices that had Wi-Fi capabilities received unlimited access to the service.

Customers who subscribed to AT&T’s DSL service could also use Starbucks wireless Internet service free of charge. All other Starbucks customers were charged $3.99 for two hours of access.

Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz disclosed the changes Monday at the Wired Business Conference in New York. Starbucks customers using the in-store Internet will also, starting in the fall, be able to have free access to various paid sites, including WSJ.com, through a network developed with Yahoo Inc.

original article.

Apple introduces iPhone 4

okay okay so its finally here the Iphone 4. and it does look pretty cool . i personally do not have an i phone i have a blackberry but still I'm a little jealous and if i could have it my way i would love an iphone too bad its not offered to tmobile customers.

Apple on Monday announced the next version of the iPhone, called the iPhone 4, during Steve Jobs’s keynote to kick off the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

People who read this also read:
People Who Like This Also Like
Byline Free released as ad-supported Google Reader 34655062 The Macalope Weekly: I want to believe! 34627278 Foxconn plans further pay increase to stop suicides 34652126 Remains of the Day: Ballmer keeps on trucking 34621126 Facebook CTO: Don't forget Facebook is for sharing 34651744 MasterCard lets iPhone owners send or receive money with app 34614192

Jobs described the phone as, “beyond a doubt, the most precise thing and one of the most beautiful things we’ve ever made” before highlighting a number of its new features.

Updated design
Apple says the iPhone 4 is 9.3mm thick, or 24 percent thinner than the iPhone 3GS. It includes new camera with an LED flash on the black, but a second, front-facing camera as well. There are new volume buttons, a mute button, plus a second microphone on the top for noise cancellation. Just like the iPad, it now incorporates a micro-SIM tray.



Apple has also engineered three integrated antennas into the design: one for Bluetooth, one for WI-Fi and GPS, and one for UMTS and GSM.

Improved display
A new screen technology called a retina display add much higher precision to the iPhone. In fact, at 326 pixels per inch, it’s double the 163 pixels per inch resolution of the iPhone 3GS.

The new display is the same 3.5 inches diagonally, but at 960 by 640 it has four times as many pixels as the previous model. And the 800:1 contrast ratio is also four times that of the iPhone 3GS. It uses the same IPS display technology as the iPad and the iMac for good color fidelity, brightness, and viewing angle.

New processor
Designed by Apple, the A4 chip is tiny and has good power management. Apple went with the micro-SIM design to save space, mostly for a new battery that—coupled with the new chip—Apple says provides 40 percent more talk time. The company says talk time is up from 5 hours to 7 hours; 6 hours of 3G browsing; 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing; 10 hours of video; 40 hours of music; and 300 hours of standby.

Environmentally, the new iPhone is arsenic free, BFR-free mercury-free, PVC-free, and made from highly recyclable materials.

It comes in sizes up to 32GB of storage (the same as the iPhone 3GS) and includes quad-band HSPDPA/HSUPA networking with a maximum of 7.2Mbps down and 5.8 Mbps up.

“That’s theoretical because the carriers don’t support it yet,” said Jobs.

There’s also 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking, an improvement from 802.11g in the previous model.

Gyroscope
The iPhone 4 add a three-axis gyroscope for measuring angular velocity. It can figure out pitch, roll, and yaw; and rotation about gravity. The gyroscope plus the accelerometer provide six-axis motion sensing. There are also new CoreMotion APIs that developers can call for extremely precise position information—ideal for games.

New camera system
The iPhone 4 has a new, 5-megapixel camera with 5x digital zoom and an LED flash. It also adds 720p HD video capture at 30 frames per second. To go along with the new video capabilities, Apple has created a version of its iMovie consumer video-editing application for the iPhone. With it, you can record or edit you videos (and add photos as well). You can add titles, changes themes, and use music from your iTunes library.

iMovie for iPhone will be available for $5—“if we approve it,” Jobs joked, in reference to the App Store.

Video chat
For Jobs’ patented (well, probably not, but it should be) One More Thing moment, he sat down on a chair to show off the iPhone 4’s video chatting capabilities. Using either of the two cameras, you can make video calls—a feature called FaceTime—between iPhone 4 phones over Wi-Fi only—at least through 2010. Jobs said Apple needs to “work a little bit with the cellular providers in the future”. You can switch between cameras and chat in landscape or portait mode.

Pricing and availability
The iPhone 4 will come in black and white, at $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB (with the same qualifications and two-year contract with AT&T as in the past). Apple will also have an 8GB iPhone 3GS for $99.

Jobs said that AT&T is going to make “an incredibly generous upgrade offer.” If your contract expires any time in 2010, you’re immediately eligible for that pricing, for up to six months early eligibility.

The iPhone 4 goes on sale in the U.S., France, Germany, the U.K., and Japan on June 24, with pre-orders starting on June 15. It will ship in 18 more countries in July, in 24 more in August, and in 40 more by the end of September.

Apple also showed off some accessories: a $29 dock and a $29 case that comes in different colors


original article.

Woman sues Google over Utah walking directions

SALT LAKE CITY — A pedestrian injured by a motorist while following an online route has filed a lawsuit claiming Google Inc. supplied unsafe directions.

Lauren Rosenberg filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking more than $100,000 in U.S. District Court in Utah. It also named a motorist she says hit her.

Rosenberg used her phone in January to download directions from one end of Park City to the other.

Google Maps led her to a four-lane boulevard without sidewalks that was "not reasonably safe for pedestrians," according to the lawsuit filed by the Northridge, Calif., resident.

The case has become a sensation on tech blogs, websites and cable television channels, with critics assailing the woman for ignoring her own safety to blindly follow online directions. Her lawyer, Allen Young, said the truth was different.

Rosenberg believed she could reach a sidewalk on the other side of Deer Valley Drive and tried to cross the boulevard, but didn't even make it to the median, he said.

She was struck by a speeding car on a pitch-black night and received multiple bone fractures that required six weeks of rehabilitation, Young added.

"We think there's enough fault to go around, but Google had some responsibility to direct people correctly or warn them," Young said. "They created a trap with walking instructions that people rely on. She relied on it and thought she should cross the street."

Rosenberg is seeking compensation for medical bills, plus more for lost wages and punitive damages. The lawsuit provided no other information about the woman, who has been misidentified online as a Los Angeles publicist by the same name.

Young said the woman is a native of Northridge in her mid-20s and is unemployed. No phone listing could be found for her.

Google spokeswoman Elaine Filadelfo said the company had not received a copy of the lawsuit and couldn't discuss it, but she disputed Young's assertion that Google Maps provides no warning that walking routes may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.

Every software version for desktop computers and mobile devices has had that disclaimer since Google Maps was launched in 2008, she said.

Park City police said some segments of Deer Valley Drive have sidewalks but not the stretch that Rosenberg reached. The boulevard has a walking path on the side Rosenberg failed to reach, police Capt. Rick Ryan said.

Young said the walking path was "totally snowpacked" and of no use to pedestrians in January.

original article.

Brittany Murphy's Mom Discovered Simon Monjack's Body

Just before he died, Simon Monjack was making plans for a European getaway and a new book project.

Speaking to PEOPLE on May 14, just nine days before his death at age 40, the onetime screenwriter said he hoped to travel to Europe with Sharon Murphy, the mother of his late wife Brittany.

"Of course I’ll take her with me – I can’t leave her, " he said of Sharon. Planning to begin work on a photography book about ballet, he said he hoped the project would be therapeutic given Brittany’s love of ballet. "It seems fitting to do it, " he said.

A friend of Sharon's confirms that it was she who found Monjack dead in the Hollywood home where the pair continued living after Brittany's death. Already fragile in the wake of her daughter's death five months earlier, a devastated Sharon is "not well at all," says the friend.

"Brittany's mom made the 911 call. He was unresponsive when responders arrived and was pronounced dead at the house," L.A. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter tells PEOPLE. "It's being reported [by the responding fire department] as a possible heart attack. We're not sure if it is natural causes or a possible accident maybe because of the prescription medication found there."

Late last month, Sharon spoke to PEOPLE to vehemently refute rumors that she and Monjack were romantically involved.

"That's disgusting," she said. "We're close friends and we're family. It's an awful and ridiculous thing to say."


A History of Health Problems
Still, the British-born Monjack was no stranger to controversy. During his three-year marriage to Murphy he drew fire from critics who said he was controlling of her. The scrutiny only intensified after her death at age 32 in December from pneumonia, a low-blood count and multiple drug intoxication.

"Every story needs a villain,” he told PEOPLE. "I don't understand why people say such horrible things. "

Monjack’s own health had long been fraught with problems – and mystery. In January, Monjack's mother, Linda Monjack, told PEOPLE that her son was "unwell” and that he had suffered “a slight heart attack" a week before Brittany’s death.

LAPD spokeswoman Mary Grady says there was no sign of foul play surrounding Monjack's death but that a coroner's investigation is underway. "There were some prescription meds found, " she says. "I don't know if they were involved. They will have to do an autopsy and toxicology report."

In February, Monjack told PEOPLE that he had survived a battle with oral cancer. (Something Linda had claimed she had no knowledge of.) He also noted that an anti-seizure medication found at the house at the time of Brittany's death was intended for his use but did not elaborate.

Having gone up and down on the scale frequently over the years, Monjack had packed on weight since his wife’s death and struggled to regain his footing.

"Some days he wants to kill himself and other days, he seems to be coping better," Linda Monjack said in January, noting that her son’s closeness with his mother-in-law was helping them both to heal. "I think they are really clinging to each other for support."

original article.

10-year-old Brooklyn girl watches in horror as father gunned down in street

Terrible story and i feel for this 10 yr old girls. its horrible. i wish her and the family the best and i hope she can over come this in her life and grow up to be something soo wonderful.


A 10-year-old girl watched in horror as her father was shot to death outside their Brooklyn home while on his way to the corner store.

Ashley Lopez was watching her father, Jose Lopez, 27, from the fourth-floor window of their Cypress Hills home around 9:25 p.m. Sunday when the shooting occurred, her mother said.

"She was just watching him go to the store," said Melissa Delgado, 26, the mother of Ashley and Lopez's two other children, Jose Jr., 5, and Alana, 6 months.

"All of a sudden, I heard a gunshot. It sounded like a firecracker. Then Ashley started screaming, 'Daddy! Daddy! Leave my daddy alone!'" she said. "She said the shooter looked up, right at her. That's what really scared her. She saw him."

Lopez was transported to Brookdale Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Delgado's uncle, Ismael Ortiz, 38, was visiting the family and tried desperately to save Lopez.

"I heard Ashley screaming, ran downstairs so fast. I came out and saw Jose lying on the ground. He wasn't moving."

"I tried to give him CPR," Ortiz said, "but he took his last breath and just died in my arms.

"I don't understand why this happened."

Police said Lopez had a criminal record dating to 1994, including robbery, criminal possession of marijuana and criminal possession of stolen property.

In 2007, he was busted for reckless endangerment, driving without a license, driving with a suspended license, and disorderly conduct.

But Delgado insisted that "his kids always came first."

"He was crazy about them, always with them, for their appointments, everything," she said. "He never missed out on anything. I don't know what we're going to do now without him."

Friends and family lit candles at the crime scene on Eastern Parkway and left a cigar and a bottle of Hennessey cognac.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/05/17/2010-05-17_10yearold_brooklyn_girl_watches_in_horror_as_father_gunned_down_in_street.html#ixzz0oD6GEpeS


original article.

Facebook Denies Hiring Former FTC Chief Muris

Facebook on Monday denied that is has hired former Federal Trade Commissioner Chairman Timothy Muris as an official staffer.

"Tim Muris has not joined Facebook," the company said in a statement.

News reports earlier today suggested that Muris was hired to help defend the social networking site against privacy inquiries. Consumer groups, members of Congress, and privacy watchdogs have filed separate complaints against Facebook with the FTC regarding recent changes to the site's privacy settings.

Muris served as chairman of the FTC from 2001 to 2004. Since 2004, he has worked as an attorney at private firm O'Melveny & Myers, where he is co-chair of the firm's antitrust and competition practice. His profile is still listed on the firm's Web site.

Separately, it was revealed this weekend that Facebook board member Jim Breyer was the victim of a recent hack, which resulted in his personal Facebook account sending phishing e-mails to his friends.

Facebook blocks "malicious links from being shared and work[s] with third parties to get phishing and malware sites added to browser blacklists or taken down completely," a Facebook spokesman said in an e-mail. "Users whose accounts have been compromised are put through a remediation process, where they must take steps to re-secure their account and learn security best practices. This appears to be what happened with Jim Breyer's account."

Facebook urged users not to click on strange links "even if they've been sent by friends" and to be wary of sites that ask you to download or upgrade software.

This post originally appeared on AppScout.

original article.

The once ubiquitous floppy finally being axed by Sony

The 3.5" 1.44MB HD floppy may finally be going gentle into that good night. Sony, one of just a few companies that still produce the archaic computer storage media, has announced plans to end production of floppies in March 2011.

The company sold about 12 million 3.5" floppies in Japan last year, which represents 70 percent of that market (and incidentally, about 17TB of data capacity). Floppies are still used with legacy equipment in education and research sectors, according to Sony. However, the company cited dwindling demand as the reason for ending production.

The 3.5" floppy largely replaced the 5.25" floppy by the early '90s, but other storage mediums had begun to replace it by the late '90s. Apple's original iMac was the first mass-market computer to come without a floppy drive in 1998, and Windows PCs gradually followed suit. Iomega's 100MB Zip disk format became quite popular for larger file transfer for a short while, before succumbing to cheap 650MB CD-Rs early last decade. Today, most file transfer happens via the Internet, USB flash drives, or relatively low-cost, high-capacity portable hard drives.

Memorex and 3M offshoot Imation still offer floppies for sale for the time being, but with Sony ending production, we expect the floppy will rage no more against the dying of the light. Frankly, we're a little surprised it raged this long.


original article.