Don Contreras

�lvaro Bautista Medically Cleared to Ride in Portuguese GP

Good news for �lvaro Bautista fans today, as the Spanish rider has been medically cleared to participate in the upcoming Portuguese GP by MotoGP’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sarmento. After giving Bautista a thorough examination, Dr. Sarmento deemed that the Spaniard was fit enough to ride a motorcycle, which will occur during tomorrow’s first Free Practice. Rizla Suzuki and Bautista will asses his riding fitness from there, and decide whether the �lvaro will compete in ...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AsphaltandRubber/~3/HAXrBdORFoY/

COGNIZANT TECH SOLUTIONS COMCAST COMMSCOPE COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS COMPAL ELECTRONICS

Blog Post: Best budget destinations

So, you want to save money on your vacation this year? You’re not alone! But if you’re thinking of resorting to taking the family camping, think again. There’s nothing wrong with a little tent time, but there are plenty of incredible destinations around the world that won’t cost you a fortune to visit. Travel expert and frequent Bing Travel contributor Pauline Frommer found 14 appealing locales that will be irresistible to penny-pinching travelers. Some are close to home (Myrtle Beach) and some are more far-flung (Cambodia), but there are compelling reasons to visit all of them this year. Visit the new slideshow, World’s Best Budget Destinations 2011, and start planning your next trip.

Source: http://www.bing.com/community/Site_Blogs/b/travel/archive/2011/04/26/best-budget-destinations.aspx

GRUPO IUSACELL HARRIS HCL TECHNOLOGIES HEWLETTPACKARD HIGH TECH COMPUTER

Playstation To Restore Services This Week

iSimon19 writes with word that after last week's unscheduled service disruption and security breach, "On their blog last night, Playstation representatives announced they were restoring services throughout the week. This also included giving all users a month of Playstation Plus free, as well as select downloads for free with their 'Complimentary Offering and "Welcome Back" Appreciation Program.'"

Amar Bose To Donate Company To M.I.T.

MBC1977 writes with this eyebrow-raising news from CNN: "'The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced Friday that [Amar] Bose, the 81-year-old founder of the sound system company that bears his name, has donated the majority of Bose Corp.'s stock to the school.'
Very cool indeed!"

t Chess Pro updated with dual core support on the iPad 2 and more

I liked t Chess Pro when I reviewed it many month ago. It had good clean graphics, and was a real challenge to play. One of the most frequent requests was for Game Center integration, and that has been added in the most recent release.

Also interesting is the addition of support for the iPad 2 dual-core processors. It's the first use of dual-core support I've seen in an iOS chess program, and it's most welcome. t Chess author Tom Kerrigan told me the engine runs 50-80% faster, and he adds that if there's a good move to be found for the current position, the app will find it much faster.

I hadn't played t Chess for a little while, but this new version did seem snappier on the iPad 2. The Game Center Support is most welcome. t Chess is a universal binary, so it runs on any iOS device, but of course dual-core support is only on the iPad 2.

If you want to get a feel for t Chess, there is a 'lite' version you can try, but without the dual-core feature. t Chess is US $7.99. Given the excellent feature set, and the built-in documentation, I find it well worth it. Buyers should note that t Chess does not auto-detect a dual-core iPad 2. The feature must be enabled in the app settings menu.

My only gripe is that the icon for the app still shows a graphic of a crystalline chess set that is not an option to select for gameplay. The options the app provides are just fine, but I'd sure like to see the nice one illustrated above on the iPad screen.

t Chess Pro updated with dual core support on the iPad 2 and more originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 21:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2011/04/29/t-chess-pro-updated-with-dual-core-support-on-the-ipad-2-and-mor/

ITRON IRON MOUNTAIN INORATED IOMEGA INTUIT INTERSECTIONS

Instapaper's free version goes on extended hiatus, dev explains why

Marco Arment has an interesting writeup on his blog about his iOS app Instapaper (and, of course, the web service that runs behind it). Arment says on his blog that he's quietly been removing the free version of the app from the App Store, and that's resulted in a surprising effect: sales of the full app have actually increased. Because of this, Arment says he's rethinking a free version completely, and may not bother ever bringing it back to the App Store.

Traditionally, free or "lite" app versions are very helpful -- they give users a taste of what the app does without any overhead costs to them but the time to download, and they can raise awareness of an app in certain situations. Of course, the drawbacks are that a free app doesn't make any money, and it can often be a drain on resources, requiring extra development time or support.

That's where Arment says his problem comes in -- the free app isn't really worth it, doesn't convert to paid as he'd like it to, and perhaps most interesting, actually causes some "image problems." A lot of free users don't realize that the free version has a limited featureset, so they aren't even seeing what the full Instapaper app can do. Moreover, the reviews for the free app (drawing from a pool of users who haven't invested anything in the app, and can "download and dump" but still review it) are noticeably worse than those for the paid version.

The whole post is intriguing, and it really goes against some of the conventional wisdom on free versions of apps. Of course, I think games are different than Arment's service, but it's true -- while a free app will likely grab you a larger audience than just putting out a paid version, it still may not be the best thing for a specific app to do. Instapaper Free is gone for now, says Arment, and it may not be back at all.

Instapaper's free version goes on extended hiatus, dev explains why originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2011/04/28/instapapers-free-version-goes-on-extended-hiatus-dev-explains/

TAKETWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE SYNTEL SYNTAXBRILLIAN SYNOPSYS SYNNEX

Can I Get Some Sustainability With That Shake?

This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued Energy Star ratings for large vat commercial fryers. These appliances are used by high-volume dining establishments ? like fast food chains, institutional cafeterias and full-service restaurants? to make french fries, hush puppies and anything else Paula Deen would promote, in bulk. Encouraging the industry to upgrade to more energy-efficient fryers could help reduce the overall environmental (if not health) impact of kitchens in the U.S. catering to the collective appetite for fried foods, an appetite that seems pervasive, and permanent here. One Texan cook, Mark Zable, has even invented a method to make deep-fried beer. According to a press statement and calculations by the EPA...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/JMG2qRbx1ZQ/

UNITED ONLINE UNISYS TRIQUINT SEMICONDUCTOR TRIMBLE NAVIGATION LIMITED TRIDENT MICROSYSTEMS

Sunday, May 1, 2011