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Asking Ask.com may now result in answers, not just links. On Tuesday, the search engine launched a new version that it described as “the first step in a multi-pronged strategy” to provide answers to users’ questions, either from content on the web or from “previously unpublished knowledge shared by any of the millions of Ask.com users.”

The company, an operating business of the IAC network of sites, said this functionality allows it to combine its proprietary search technology with the Ask.com community.

‘Largest Q&A Database on the Web’

Ask.com President Doug Leeds said that, “with 87 million monthly users and more than a decade of Q&A experience, Ask.com is uniquely positioned to answer the long tail of questions that are impossible for search engines alone to address.”

The new answer service was formerly an invitation-only beta. The company said “subjective and complex questions” that stump traditional search engines are directed to the Ask user community, utilizing Q&A matching technology which routes questions to appropriate possible answerers, based on interests and expertise. Each question will be returned with any possible answers from web content as well as Ask.com member responses.

The newest version of Ask.com includes proprietary semantic search technologies that display the most relevant answers at the top of the page, so no click-through is required to read a short answer. The search engine also includes what Ask.com described as the “largest Q&A database on the web,” with more than 500 million questions and answers indexed, and the ability to mine hundreds of thousands of sources for specific question-and-answer pairs.

Formerly AskJeeves.com

There is also a revamped user interface, which features highlights of the most popular questions, as well as auto-suggestion of questions when users start typing into the search field.

The company is reverting to its origins as AskJeeves.com, in which conversational questions were the promoted… Details

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Forget about mobile devices for a moment. Apple on Tuesday updated its iMac lineup just in time for the back-to-school rush. A new 21.5-inch 3.06-GHz Intel Core i3 iMac has a suggested retail price of $1,199.

The latest iMacs come with dual-core Intel Core i3 and i5, and quad-core Core i5 and i7 processors. The processors are equipped with an integrated memory controller to access system memory directly, Apple said.

Evolution of the Mouse

Optional is a new Magic Trackpad, a multi-touch mouse-like device that lets users scroll up and down a page, pinch to zoom in and out, rotate an image with fingers, and swipe three fingers to flip through web pages or photos. The trackpad is made from aluminum and glass and sells for $69.

Michael Gartenberg, a partner at Altimeter Group, said the refresh reminds people that Apple is still in the computer business. He called the timing of the refresh “important” because it gets the 27-inch stuff into the stores before back-to-school purchases are done, so they can tap into both the school and holiday seasons.

“The multi-touch track pad is really interesting,” he said. “It’s the first step in Apple evolving beyond the mouse, which was really synonymous with Macintosh from day one, in order to enable better multi-touch experiences without having to go to things like a touchscreen.”

New Mac Pros

Apple also unveiled a new Mac Pro line with up to 12 processing cores. The new machines feature quad-core and six-core Intel Xeon processors, all-new ATI graphics, and as option for up to four 512GB solid-state drives (SSD). Prices start at $2,500.

“The new Mac Pro is the most powerful and configurable Mac we’ve ever made,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing. With up to 12 cores, he said, the Mac Pro outperforms Apple’s previous… Read more

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Adobe Photoshop CS5 One-on-One
by Deke McClelland
Publication Date: July 29, 2010

Buy new: $49.99 $31.49
3 used & new from $31.39

(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Hot New Releases in Photography list for authoritative information on this product’s current rank.) Read more

Product Description

Master the fundamentals of Photoshop CS5 and make all of your images come alive. With Deke McClelland’s unique and effective learning system, you get step-by-step tutorials, hours of DVD-video demonstrations, and lots of hands-on projects to help you improve your knowledge and hone your skills.

• Find out everything you need to know to be productive with Photoshop CS5 right away
• Learn at your own speed with 12 self-paced tutorials
• Try out professional techniques with engaging, real-world projects
• Read about a particular technique and watch the video to see how it’s done
• Follow every key step with hundreds of full-color photos, diagrams, and screen shots
• Test your knowledge with multiple-choice quizzes in each chapter

Adobe Photoshop CS5 One-on-One simulates a classroom environment with one-on-one attention as you proceed from lesson to lesson. Deke’s expert advice is like working with a personal coach — you’ll learn Photoshop faster, more creatively, and more efficiently than you thought possible.

Using Content-Aware Fill and Puppet Warp
By Deke McClelland

One of my favorite exercises in my new book employs (count ‘em) two of the coolest new features in Photoshop CS5: Content-Aware Fill and Puppet Warp. Using them together, you can copy an image element from its background to a new layer, fill in the background, and then distort the original subject any which way you like. Here’s a quick play-by-play of the tutorial, which you’ll find explained in detail and helpfully illustrated, from my new book Adobe Photoshop CS5 One-on-One.

1. Open an image. All the exercises in my One-on-One books come with downloadable sample images so you can follow along. For practice, try this on someone whose picture you have handy and you’d like to have temporary if digital control over.
2. Select the subject. The book has loads of advice and techniques for making great selections.
3. Jump the selection to a new layer. Duplicate our subject, aka “Puppet Boy” for later manipulation by pressing Ctrl+Alt+J (Command-Option-J), and give it a name like “Jumping Puppet.”
4. Reload the selection. Reload the selection on the background layer so Content-Aware Fill knows where to do its magic. I’ll show you how to add a little safety zone around the selection as well.
5. Let Photoshop take a crack at filling in the background. Since we’ll be repositioning our puppet-boy’s limbs, we want his background to contain only solid sky, rather than his doppelganger. Here’s how this new feature works: Click the Background layer in the Layers panel to make it active. From the Edit menu, choose the Fill command. In the Fill dialog box, choose Content-Aware from the Use popup menu and click OK. Photoshop assesses the surrounding pixels and makes a pretty good guess on how to fill in the selection. Press Ctrl+D (-D) to deselect the image so you can assess Content-Aware Fill’s work. It’s done a fairly good job for a one-step operation.



6. Heal the ghosts with the healing brush. Yes, Content-Aware Fill is undeniably cool, but you can see that it’s not perfect. (Especially when you know what to look for, the outline of the removed image element is fairly obvious.) To fix those tell-tale shadows use the healing brush (which you can learn about in an earlier exercise in the book.)
7. Convert the Jumping Puppet layer to a smart object. I cover smart objects rigorously in the book, but for now, consider it a simple way to protect your original image and make your steps retraceable.
8. Choose the Puppet Warp command. From the Edit menu, choose Puppet Warp to enter that mode. You’ll notice that your cursor changes to a pushpin with a plus symbol, which indicates that you’ll be adding “pins” as you click with it. Pins let you control how an object stretches in Puppet Warp.
9. Set pins in areas you want to stabilize. Puppet Warp works by allowing you to stretch (or squish) the distance between two pins. Pins also let you lock down your images in places where you don’t want them to move. You can see, I’ve placed pins at key points along our subject’s body that I want to control.
11. Apply the Puppet Warp effect. Move the pins around to stretch our jumping puppet into a cartoonish character. Inside the book, I’ve got a list of tips on how to move and constrain pins to best express your artistic desires. Once you get the position the way you want it, you can either click the checkmark on the right side of the options bar to accept your changes, or simply press Enter or Return.



12. Turn the Type layer into a smart object. Applying Puppet Warp is almost more fun with type than it is with people. But before you can apply the distortion to the type layer, you either need to rasterize the type (i.e., convert it to pixels) or turn it into a smart object. We’ll choose the latter.
13. Re-invoke the Puppet Warp command and distort the individual letters. You can see the pins I set for distorting the other letters in the text layer. For letters like the U and the M, I pulled up the tops of each stroke separately and made sure to anchor the lower points with pins of their own. Each letter acts as a separate object. Finally, I repositioned the subject’s legs to better fit with my text: Just choose Edit > Puppet Warp to re-enter the mode and modify your distortions.



Voila, both subject and text are suitably, if ridiculously, stretched using the magic of Puppet Warp and the background filling convenience of Content Aware Fill.

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Rumors Have Verizon Adding More Droid Phones
With three Droid smartphones on the shelves (and, in some cases, in short supply), Verizon Wireless may be ready to add two more to take advantage of the popularity of the Android operating system.

Openly intended as an alternative to Apple‘s iPhone — a recent Verizon ad even mocked the iPhone 4′s antenna problems — the original Droid launched with much fanfare last November is widely believed to have two new siblings in the making. They are the Droid 2 and the Droid Mini, both of which would have a slide-out QWERTY keyboard featured on the original Motorola Droid but not the Droid X or HTC-made Droid Incredible. The iPhone has never had a slide-out keyboard.

A Mini-Me for Droid?

Tech blogs in recent days have displayed photos of the Droid 2 running Android 2.2 or Froyo (for frozen yogurt) and packaging one blog says will be used for the device.

A Korean web site, Hiapk.com, has displayed what it says is the Droid Mini, a scaled-down, possibly cheaper version of the Droid. A blurry image shows the trademark red eye on its screen reminiscent of the cyborg eye sported by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Terminator movies.

Verizon won’t confirm or deny that it has commissioned the devices. “We don’t comment on speculation or rumors,” spokesperson Howard Waterman told us in an e-mail. “We have the original Droid, the Droid Incredible, Droid X, plus the LG Ally that has the Android OS, all available now.”

Android 2.2 Coming

Consumer devices researcher Avi Greengart of Current Analysis declined to speculate on whether the devices will be released. But he said the series is working out well.

“What I can say is that Verizon Wireless has done an excellent job building its own sub-brand around Android, and that we’re definitely seeing the Android ecosystem fill out with different vendors, form…
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Popularity: 2% [?]

Strong Mac, iPad and iPhone Sales Boost Apple‘s Profit
Apple posted a net profit of $3.25 billion for its third business quarter, driven by robust Mac, iPhone and iPad sales. The gadget maker said Mac sales were up 33 percent year over year to a record 3.47 million for the quarter, even as it outgrew the global market in both the desktop and portable categories.

Though Apple increased its iPhone sales 61 percent to 8.4 million in the quarter, this was in line with IDC’s expectations. However, the company’s shipment of 3.27 million iPads exceeded the 3.2 million forecast from Piper Jaffray.

“It was a phenomenal quarter that exceeded our expectations all around, including the most successful product launch in Apple’s history with iPhone 4,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. “iPad is off to a terrific start, more people are buying Macs than ever before, and we have amazing new products still to come this year.”

Killing the ‘Dream Phone’ Myth

Apple said it sold more than 1.7 million iPhone 4s during the quarter in the initial five countries where it launched. And moving forward, the company expects iPhone 4 sales to benefit from the iPhone distribution agreements that Apple already has with 154 carriers in 88 countries.

The iPhone 4′s headline-making antenna problem didn’t impact Apple’s latest financial results, since the new model didn’t start shipping until the end of the quarter. However, IDC Research Manager Francisco Jeronimo noted that the issue does kill the myth that the iPhone is perfect and better than any other smartphone. “For most consumers there was no other ‘dream phone,’ but now they may consider other devices,” Jeronimo said.

Jeronimo expects iPhone upgrades to slow since users don’t want to buy a high-end device with reception problems. “In a recent survey, IDC found out that 66 percent of iPhone owners are delaying their purchase of the…
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Popularity: 2% [?]

It’s not really a “Facebook panic button,” but it’s being described as such. In the U.K., Facebook is launching easy access to a mini-application for teens who believe they are being subjected to cyber-bullying. The button connects the user to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (CEOP), a semi-governmental organization in the U.K.

At CEOP, users can report others who they believe are abusing them online, and there is advice and resources for dealing with threats made through the Internet.

Something That ‘Isn’t True, or Worse’

At its site, CEOP provides several questions to guide users trying to decide if they need help, such as “Do you sometimes struggle to find answer to things that worry you online?” and “Had a chat conversation that went sour?” Other questions ask if the user has had “bad wall posts from people you don’t know,” if the user has “seen something written about you that isn’t true, or worse,” and if the user’s account has ever been hacked.

The ClickCEOP app on Facebook has three parts: a Profile tab that provides steps for the user to protect him or herself, a “Protect your mates” virtual badge that can be sent to friends to let them know about the app, and a bookmark for easy access.

The CEOP addition to the U.K. version of Facebook comes after some resistance by the social-networking giant. The site had said that a single reporting button was not as effective as other measures it was taking, and would lead to overwork for police and other organizations. But a government official urged the adoption, and 44 police chiefs signed a petition following the murder of a 17-year-old, Ashleigh Hall, late last year.

A 32-year-old homeless man, previously identified as a serial rapist, has been charged with kidnapping and murder. According to news accounts, Hall… More info

Popularity: 2% [?]

A new Microsoft Azure platform appliance, unveiled Monday at the company’s Worldwide Partner Conference currently taking place in Washington, D.C., allows large service providers and enterprises to manage their own private Azure clouds instead of using Microsoft’s servers. The company said this offers “greater physical control, geographic proximity, regulatory compliance, and data sovereignty.”

Also announced were strategic partnerships with Dell, eBay, Hewlett-Packard, and Fujitsu to help build and service the private clouds. Microsoft described the appliance as “the first turnkey cloud platform for large service providers and enterprises to deploy their own data centers.” The appliance combines Azure and SQL Azure with Microsoft-specified hardware, and is optimized for scale-out applications and data-center efficiency, using as many as tens of thousands of servers.

Dell, eBay and HP

The Windows Azure platform is a public cloud-computing platform designed to allow businesses to pay only for what is used, scale up when capacity is needed, and let Microsoft handle the maintenance. The platform is designed to be flexible enough to accommodate small companies, independent software vendors, or global enterprises.

Dell said it will use the platform appliance as part of its Dell Services Cloud to create next-generation services for business customers of all sizes. Dell will also develop its own branded version of the appliance for large enterprise, public and hosting customers to utilize in their own data centers.

eBay will use the platform appliance in two of its data centers to better optimize its platform and provide greater agility. Certain applications, such as the site’s page for iPad listings, are currently hosted on Azure.

HP said it will work with Microsoft to provide hardware, software, services and sourcing solutions that will help customers move to the Azure platform. HP’s customers can manage the appliance on site with HP Converged Infrastructure, or they can choose HP to… Details

Popularity: 2% [?]

Microsoft has added Facebook and Windows Live Messenger to the Outlook Social Connector component built into Microsoft Office 2010, giving Outlook users the ability to connect the in-box with the two social networks. Additionally, the software giant unleashed Outlook Social Connector as a downloadable plug-in for the 2003 and 2007 editions of Microsoft Office.

Starting Tuesday, users will be able to stay connected with friends, family and colleagues by viewing their social-network activities within Outlook while perusing e-mail, noted Paco Contreras Herrera, group product manager for Microsoft Office.

“We have partnerships with Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Windows Live Messenger, and we expect that there will be more partnerships with other social providers coming down the pike,” Herrera said during an in-house video interview. “Working closely with key partners, including Facebook, our goal is to help you stay in touch with the people you care about and simplify your daily routine,” he added in a blog.

Boosting Convenience

LinkedIn and MySpace became available in Outlook Social Connector last winter. The addition of the Facebook and Messenger networks Tuesday reflects Microsoft’s commitment to evolve Outlook so it supports the way many people get things done today, Herrera wrote.

“According to the Nielsen ratings, 67 percent of the global online population now goes online to visit social networks and blogs to stay connected, make decisions, and get things done,” Herrera wrote. “The Outlook Social Connector doesn’t add another social network into the mix; rather, it offers busy people the convenience of accessing them in Outlook.”

To get started, Outlook users are invited to go to the Microsoft Download Center to access the available Outlook Social Connector, Facebook and Messenger downloads for the version of Office they currently use. Outlook 2010 users will automatically receive updates to the connector through the Microsoft Update service, Herrera observed.

Outlook Social… Read more

Popularity: 2% [?]

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Sprint Anycom FIPO Bluetooth v2.0 Stereo Receiver w/Dock Connector for iPod Speakers – Make your iPod Speakers Wireless!
by Sprint

Buy new: $18.99

(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Hot New Releases in Receivers & Amplifiers list for authoritative information on this product’s current rank.) More info

Technical Details
- White color
- Bluetooth adapter for iPod dock speakers
- Bluetooth Receiver and Protocol converter
- Bluetooth v2.0 specifications
- Uses Bluetooth A2DP profile

Product Description
Play your music wire-free with the Sprint Anycom FIPO Bluetooth v2.0 Stereo Receiver!

The Anycom FIPO Bluetooth 2.0 Stereo Receiver allows you to use any audio or speaker system with a 30-pin iPod dock connector such as an iPod dock speakers or an iPod dock in your car to play music from your MP3 player, PDA, PC or mobile phone!

This Bluetooth v2.0 compliant device supports Bluetooth A2DP profile for crystal clear, digital quality audio streaming with an operating range of up to 30-feet. The FIPO also uses the Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP) that supports remote control functions such as play, stop, forward or rewind from the steering wheel of a car or an iPod accessory device!

Simply pair the FIPO Bluetooth Receiver with your MP3 player, PDA, cell phone or PC and stream music from your compatible iPod speakers! Order today!

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Popularity: 2% [?]

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Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera
by Bryan Peterson
Release Date: August 10, 2010

Buy new: $25.99 $17.15

(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Hot New Releases in Photography list for authoritative information on this product’s current rank.) Read more

Product Description
Amphoto’s bestselling title of all time, now updated to reflect the quickly changing world of digital photography. Understanding Exposure has demystified the often-complex concepts of exposure for hundreds of thousands of amateur photographers. Now refreshed with current technologies and terms and an all-new chapter, Bryan Peterson continues in “bringing exposure to the masses,” teaching today’s amateur photographers how to free themselves from “auto” to take the images they truly want.

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Popularity: 2% [?]