Pylon Sounds

As AT&T comes under the gun for blocking Google’s new video chat app Hangouts on its cellular network, the company is today hoping to put a better spin on the news by offering a new statement detailing its changing position on support for pre-loaded video chat apps. During the second half of 2013, AT&T says it will begin to enable pre-loaded video chat applications over cellular for all its customers, regardless of the customer’s data plan.

This is a change from the carrier’s current position, which requires that customers pay for AT&T’s Mobile Share or Tiered plans, or soon, unlimited subscriptions (with LTE devices), in order to use pre-loaded video chat apps, like Apple’s FaceTime, for example, or those from Samsung and BlackBerry.

Here’s the revised statement, sent to us this afternoon by AT&T communications, as an update to an earlier inquiry on the block:

“For video chat apps that come pre-loaded on devices, we currently give all OS and device makers the ability for those apps to work over cellular for our customers who are on Mobile Share or Tiered plans. Apple, Samsung and Blackberry have chosen to enable this for their pre-loaded video chat apps. And by mid-June, we’ll have enabled those apps over cellular for our unlimited plan customers who have LTE devices from those three manufacturers.

“Throughout the second half of this year, we plan to enable pre-loaded video chat apps over cellular for all our customers, regardless of data plan or device; that work is expected to be complete by yearend.

“Today, all of our customers can use any mobile video chat app that they download from the Internet, such as Skype.”

From the sounds of it, that means Google won’t have to first “enable” (ask for permission?) in order for Hangouts to work. Even though it’s a pre-loaded app, it will just begin working regardless of the customer’s current data plan.

The problem AT&T had with Hangouts, presumably, is that the app replaces the Google Talk application that shipped by default on Android devices. That means the app is “pre-loaded,” and for pre-loaded applications to run over AT&T’s cellular network, the OS or device maker involved had to first work with AT&T on the matter, per AT&T policy.

And from the statement AT&T released last week, it seems that perhaps Google did not do so:

“All AT&T Mobility customers can use any video chat app over cellular that is not pre-loaded on their device, but which they download from the Internet. For video chat apps that come pre-loaded on devices, we offer all OS and device makers the ability for those apps to work over cellular for our customers who are on Mobile Share, Tiered and soon Unlimited plan customers who have LTE devices. It’s up to each OS and device makers to enable their systems to allow pre-loaded video chat apps to work over cellular for our customers on those plans.” [Emphasis mine]

The situation is not necessarily one of bandwidth concerns at this point, since Apple’s FaceTime is already enabled for MobileShare and Tiered customers following a similar controversy. At the time of its launch, Sprint and Verizon enabled FaceTime, and AT&T rolled out access only to select customers following net neutrality complaints.

In Apple’s case, the company left FaceTime support up to carrier discretion, and apparently Google did the same. And as is par for the course, the app is reportedly working just fine on Verizon, just not on AT&T right now.

That will continue to be the case until later this year when the change is made, though no exact date was given.

As AT&T comes under the gun for blocking Google’s new video chat app Hangouts on its cellular network, the company is today hoping to put a better spin on the news by offering a new statement detailing its changing position on support for pre-loaded video chat apps. During the second half of 2013, AT&T says it will begin to enable pre-loaded video chat applications over cellular for all its customers, regardless of the customer’s data plan.

This is a change from the carrier’s current position, which requires that customers pay for AT&T’s Mobile Share or Tiered plans, or soon, unlimited subscriptions (with LTE devices), in order to use pre-loaded video chat apps, like Apple’s FaceTime, for example, or those from Samsung and BlackBerry.

Here’s the revised statement, sent to us this afternoon by AT&T communications, as an update to an earlier inquiry on the block:

“For video chat apps that come pre-loaded on devices, we currently give all OS and device makers the ability for those apps to work over cellular for our customers who are on Mobile Share or Tiered plans. Apple, Samsung and Blackberry have chosen to enable this for their pre-loaded video chat apps. And by mid-June, we’ll have enabled those apps over cellular for our unlimited plan customers who have LTE devices from those three manufacturers.

“Throughout the second half of this year, we plan to enable pre-loaded video chat apps over cellular for all our customers, regardless of data plan or device; that work is expected to be complete by yearend.

“Today, all of our customers can use any mobile video chat app that they download from the Internet, such as Skype.”

From the sounds of it, that means Google won’t have to first “enable” (ask for permission?) in order for Hangouts to work. Even though it’s a pre-loaded app, it will just begin working regardless of the customer’s current data plan.

The problem AT&T had with Hangouts, presumably, is that the app replaces the Google Talk application that shipped by default on Android devices. That means the app is “pre-loaded,” and for pre-loaded applications to run over AT&T’s cellular network, the OS or device maker involved had to first work with AT&T on the matter, per AT&T policy.

And from the statement AT&T released last week, it seems that perhaps Google did not do so:

“All AT&T Mobility customers can use any video chat app over cellular that is not pre-loaded on their device, but which they download from the Internet. For video chat apps that come pre-loaded on devices, we offer all OS and device makers the ability for those apps to work over cellular for our customers who are on Mobile Share, Tiered and soon Unlimited plan customers who have LTE devices. It’s up to each OS and device makers to enable their systems to allow pre-loaded video chat apps to work over cellular for our customers on those plans.” [Emphasis mine]

The situation is not necessarily one of bandwidth concerns at this point, since Apple’s FaceTime is already enabled for MobileShare and Tiered customers following a similar controversy. At the time of its launch, Sprint and Verizon enabled FaceTime, and AT&T rolled out access only to select customers following net neutrality complaints.

In Apple’s case, the company left FaceTime support up to carrier discretion, and apparently Google did the same. And as is par for the course, the app is reportedly working just fine on Verizon, just not on AT&T right now.

That will continue to be the case until later this year when the change is made, though no exact date was given.

photos by PSquared Photography

The National at State Theater - 5/16/13

As mentioned, The National are releasing their new album, Trouble Will Find Me, this week (5/21), and they kicked off their international tour in support of it last week (5/16) just a few hours upstate of their hometown at Ithaca's State Theater. Pictures from that show are in this post.

At that show, they played almost the entirety of the new album, including all three singles, "Sea of Love", "Don't Swallow the Cap", and "Demons", and a number of other highlights like "I Should Live In Salt" and "I Need My Girl." They spread the new tracks apart pretty well though, making room for tons of old favorites like "Daughters of the Soho Riots," "Fake Empire," "Mr. November," "Afraid of Everyone," and more. Check out the full setlist below.

As mentioned, The National's tour brings them to their hometown for their largest show there yet on June 5 at Barclays Center with Youth Lagoon (who also just played NYC). Tickets for the Barclays Center show are still available and we're also giving away a pair.

More pictures and the setlist from the Ithaca show below...

Continue reading "The National began their tour in Ithaca (pics, setlist)" at brooklynvegan

Protein includes the series of Amino Acids, Branch Chain Amino Acids and (BCAA’s) those are the edifice blocks for strength. With no satisfactory amino acids inside,  body didn’t renovate and erect muscle and consequently revitalization from muscle harm done during exercise can be sluggish or absent. high-quality protein is attain from entire food protein foundation such as turkey breast, chicken breast, milk, and incline red meat, and also of protein supplements, well-liked today because of handiness, simplicity of utilize, and wealth.

Whey Protein:
certainly the majority well-liked protein supplement obtainable nowadays is only whey protein. The compound, Whey is single product of the 2 most important proteins originate in the milk (the further is casein) and it is inaccessible as of milk while a by invention in the manufacture of casein and cheese. As it is known by people that pure whey includes a huge quantity of the sugar, lactose, and milk, additionally an assortment of cholesterol, fat and proteins.

The Whey customarily exploit to be measured a dissipate product and deserted on ground and hooked on the adjacent lake. Luckily whey was revealed to include high value proteins, so process has been urbanized to get rid of the unwanted lactose, cholesterol, and fat as feasible by getting protein. Unique methods developed integrated acidic treatments and elevated temperature freshening. This unluckily shattered a great deal of the protein and bust the value of the protein extorted.

To construct your muscle, the main thing is to have to prepare tough, sleep fine, and consume your protein. It is easy actually, however with lots of dissimilar protein sources accessible various people are puzzled regarding what their individual necessities are in actual and thus not ingesting sufficient and intake the incorrect kind of foods. while doing any type of exercise, whether for power and gain of muscle in the fitness center, stamina effort contains cycling, swimming, and running or individual sports,  as protein is essential for assist in healing and assist in re-establishing broken tissues of muscle.

Profits of Whey Protein:
Here is numerous reimbursements to opt for whey protein surplus of further sources of protein. The product, Whey protein have an exceptionally elevated genetic worth (BV) payed for it (Whey Protein BV is equals to 104 among Whey Peptides which have a BV range present between the range of (110-159). The protein BV is basically a review of how fine it is consume by human body, acquires into explaining the summary of amino acid, digestibility and solubility of the protein. The product, Whey protein is a perfect foundation of post exercises for protein because it is immersed exceptionally rapidly to aid re-establishes broken body muscles.

The Whey protein includes the maximum amount of some protein’s BCAA resource as fine as elevated levels of vital amino acids. The amount, BCAA’s defends muscle from the collapse of protein and assists to excite protein fusion or muscle development.

Today, Google updated its Google+ app for Android to get up to speed with all of the changes announced during last week’s I/O Developers conference. In all, there were 41 new updates, including a new stream, photos experience and Hangouts.

The Android version has all of that, and one new feature — a new location section.

Where the Anroid app really shines is with the photo capabilities. The updated Google+ app now has the auto backup, highlight, enhance and “auto awesome” functionality that the desktop version has. It’s really handy to be able to enhance your photos directly within the app, rather than waiting until you get back to your computer or relying on Google to do its magical synthetic wrinkle removal, even though it’s cool.

To make it easier to “make plans and meet,” Google+ has broken “Locations” out into its own section. Now, when you share your location with certain Circles, your friends can easily find you by tapping on that section. Naturally, it drops everyone’s location onto a Map, which makes it seamless:

Location is something that hasn’t been a great piece of Google+ to date. The service currently picks up where you are and asks you for your explicit location, not really telling you who will get to see it. With the Location section and controls, it’s easier to manage and can turn into an experience similar to that of Foursquare.

The stream is getting all of the features from last week, too. The auto hashtags will let you drill into new content, hopefully sucking up all of your free time. It turns the Google+ experience into something like Wikipedia, where you can just keep tapping on relevant content and hopefully find some new people to follow along the way. While you’re not going to get the new three-column layout on your smartphone, the drilling down is actually fun.

We’ll await the iOS update, but expect the same items to find their way into that version. All of these enhancements are made to entice you to do a little bit more in Google+, as the company doesn’t really expect you to jump ship from one network to another. The features are more complementary to one another in this update, giving a better experience to new users, which is the most important demographic for Google to focus on right now. Those of us who have tried Google+ already have our minds made up as to whether it’s useful or not. It’s the stragglers who haven’t seen it from the beginning that need to be wowed.

Today, Google updated its Google+ app for Android to get up to speed with all of the changes announced during last week’s I/O Developers conference. In all, there were 41 new updates, including a new stream, photos experience and Hangouts.

The Android version has all of that, and one new feature — a new location section.

Where the Anroid app really shines is with the photo capabilities. The updated Google+ app now has the auto backup, highlight, enhance and “auto awesome” functionality that the desktop version has. It’s really handy to be able to enhance your photos directly within the app, rather than waiting until you get back to your computer or relying on Google to do its magical synthetic wrinkle removal, even though it’s cool.

To make it easier to “make plans and meet,” Google+ has broken “Locations” out into its own section. Now, when you share your location with certain Circles, your friends can easily find you by tapping on that section. Naturally, it drops everyone’s location onto a Map, which makes it seamless:

Location is something that hasn’t been a great piece of Google+ to date. The service currently picks up where you are and asks you for your explicit location, not really telling you who will get to see it. With the Location section and controls, it’s easier to manage and can turn into an experience similar to that of Foursquare.

The stream is getting all of the features from last week, too. The auto hashtags will let you drill into new content, hopefully sucking up all of your free time. It turns the Google+ experience into something like Wikipedia, where you can just keep tapping on relevant content and hopefully find some new people to follow along the way. While you’re not going to get the new three-column layout on your smartphone, the drilling down is actually fun.

We’ll await the iOS update, but expect the same items to find their way into that version. All of these enhancements are made to entice you to do a little bit more in Google+, as the company doesn’t really expect you to jump ship from one network to another. The features are more complementary to one another in this update, giving a better experience to new users, which is the most important demographic for Google to focus on right now. Those of us who have tried Google+ already have our minds made up as to whether it’s useful or not. It’s the stragglers who haven’t seen it from the beginning that need to be wowed.

There are utilitarian lamps that emit light and do nothing more, and then there are lamps that make you want to sit back in your favorite armchair and relax with a book and a hot cup of tea. Secto lamps fall into the latter category. Designed by architect Seppo Koho for the Finnish company Secto Design, these wooden lamps, which have been handcrafted from birch by local cabinet makers, have a modern form, but they also have a classic, timeless quality.

Read the rest of Secto Lamps Are Handcrafted by Finnish Cabinet-Makers From Locally Sourced Birch

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Post tags: birch lamps, Finnish design, green design, green lighting, lamp design, low-energy lights, new york design week, New York Design Week 2013, NY Design Week 2013, Secto Design, Secto lamps, Seppo Koho, Wanted Design 2013, Wanted Design lamps, wood lamps Wanted Design

    

Coming soon to the Nerd Approved Shop is this life-size Assassin’s Creed Connor Kenway statue!

Now you can have a full-size version of Connor to put in the corner of your living room. Or maybe by your front door to scare away unwelcome visitors? This incredible resin statue is 6 3/4′ tall and 4 1/4′ wide. He comes on a themed based and weighs 193.6 pounds. Preorder now for delivery in July.

Connor Kenway Life-Size Statue ($3,599.99)

    

Ionut Budisteanu of Romania certainly does seem to have a pretty bright future ahead of him, especially after he picked up the top prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, which so happens to be the largest high school science research competition in the world. This would mean that Ionut Budisteanu managed to earn the Gordon E. Moore Award, in addition to a $75,000 prize that was named in honor of the Intel co-founder and fellow scientist. According to the organizers of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, “Their research demonstrates the value of hard work and creative thinking. All the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair finalists here this week show great promise in harnessing the power of science and innovation to solve problems and create opportunity for our global community.” Just what made Ionut’s work so valuable? Well, he manages to address a major global issue by potentially reducing the cost of a self-driving car dramatically, so much so that it could make such technology affordable to the mainstream folks.

Thanks to an array of 3-D radar and mounted cameras, Ionut has successfully created a feasible design for an autonomously controlled car which is smart enough to detect traffic lanes and curbs, in addition to keeping track of the real-time position of the car. The best part of the news is? The entire shebang would cost a mere $4,000, which is a whole lot more affordable that what Google is currently using in their self driving car project.

Ionut decided that processing webcam imagery using artificial intelligence technology to check out items like curbs, lane markers, and who knows, soccer balls which so happen to go out of the field of play and roll onto the road, would be able to eliminate the need for a high end 3D radar, resulting in the use of a low-resolution 3-D radar to get the job done when it comes to recognizing large objects such as other vehicles, houses, and obstacles like trees. Ionut ran 50 simulations with his system, where in 47 of them, no accidents were recorded. Three of the simulations that failed involved the non-recognition of people who were 65 to 100 feet (20 to 30 meters) away, and a slightly higher-resolution 3-D radar should get the job done down the road.

Press Release
[ Romanian teenager advances self-driving car idea copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

If you’re going to have a glass of orange juice and brush your teeth (a good idea), there’s only one order in which to do them. It makes sense that your minty toothpaste-mouth would make OJ taste weird, but why so down-right heinous? As Bytesize Science explains, it’s because your tongue gets coated with a [...]

Under the Shadow of the Drone is a life-size depiction of a Reaper drone, one of a number of such weapons in service with US and UK forces. The Reaper is used for surveillance and bombing missions, in the declared war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq, and in the illegal wars of assassination taking place in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere. Such wars are made possible by the invisibility of drones to most people continue

Pleygo enables families to rent different sets instead of purchasing new ones.

This weekend at ICFF the creative pair behind the lighting design studio Apparatus, Gabriel Hendifar and partner Jeremy Anderson, showed off the...
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A group of ex-Nokia employees who quit over the company's decision to abandon the planned MeeGo operating system in favour of Windows presented their own smartphone on Monday, hoping to rival the sector's giants.

In the context of omnipresent telecommunications surveillance, "The Pirate Cinema" makes visible the invisible activity and geography of peer-to-peer file sharing. The project is presented as a control room that reflects P2P exchanges happening in real time on networks using BitTorrent protocol. The installation produces an improvised and syncopated arrangement of files currently in exchange continue

Last week, representatives of many of the world’s leading cities – including London, Boston, Mexico City, Barcelona and Christchurch – came to San Francisco to learn from Silicon Valley entrepreneurs about how to make their cities smarter. One of the people behind this LLGA Cities Summit was the Silicon Valley entrepreneur Peter Hirshberg, formerly the chairman of Technorati and now one of the world’s leading pioneers of smart cities.

Citing innovative urban data startups like MotionLoft and QuickPay, Hirshberg believes there are now huge opportunities for entrepreneurs with products that can make a city smarter. We are just at the beginning of this thing, he told me, before explaining that the biggest entrepreneurial opportunities lie in the development of crime, healthcare and traffic data – particularly in terms of making this data “predictive”.

But smart cities are about more than just making money, Hirshberg believes. In the Sixties being a citizen meant we protested, he told me, while today the good citizen builds APIs that make a city more habitable. And that’s why, he insists, we have to make what he calls “smart architectural decisions” to enable the right level of anonymity in the 21st century city. Otherwise, he warns, the smart city of the future will be too smart about all of us, thereby destroying the privacy of its citizens.

The Crystal Ark @ Brooklyn Night Bazaar 2011 (more by Dana [distortion] Yavin)

As mentioned, the DFA Records 12th Anniversary Party is this Saturday (5/25) at Brooklyn's wonderous Grand Prospect Hall featuring a cavalcade of the label's talent, including live performances from YACHT, Shit Robot, Black Dice, Planningtorock, Prinzhorn Dance School, Factory Floor and more; and DJ sets from James Murphy, Nancy Whang, Juan Maclean, Tim Sweeny and more. Plus, "special guests." The show's been sold out for some time but more tickets are being released today at 2 PM so here's your chance if you missed out before.

In other news, the Crystal Ark have a few new remixes fo their track "Rain" (from last year's eponymous debut) and we've got the premiere of the Barker & Baumecker remix in this post. Stream that below.

Also as mentioned, YACHT, Prinzhorn Dance School and Larry Gus will play Shea Stadium on Friday (5/24). Tickets are still available, but if you'd like to go for free, we've got a pair to give away. Details on how to enter are below.

Prinzhorn Dance School also play Cameo next Monday (5/27) with DJ sets from DFA labelmates Planningtorock and CREEP, plus a live performance from Dan Bodan who is also playing his first U.S. shows as part of the DFA weekend. Tickets for that show are still available.

That Crystal Ark remix, DFA party flyer and contest details below...

Continue reading "tix to DFA 12th Anniversary Party back on sale; stream a new Crystal Ark remix; win tix to see YACHT at Shea Stadium" at brooklynvegan

The Green Pedestrian Crossing was a campaign urging people to walk more and drive less.

The Green Pedestrian Crossing was a campaign urging people to walk more and drive less.

It's almost fitting that the brainchild of a former Sex Pistols member and one of the emcees from House of Pain would be called the Hell Fire Canyon Club (HFCC). Taking its name from a ring within London's 18th century nobility that engaged in illicit acts, the HFCC is a brand dedicated to celebrating the heritage of American and European motorcycle culture. No stranger to heritage goods itself, Boylston Trading Company teamed up with HFFC and Bell Helmets to release a special collaborative set. The range includes a T-shirt and limited edition helmet, both of which are printed with an adjusted seal of Boston that beckons back to the city's history. Look for the goods, available now, on Boylston Trading Company's website.

Read more at Hypebeast.com