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Thursday, March 31, 2011
English Open once again vanishes into the air
Remember the English Open? Yeah, me neither, and now it'll be at least another year until anybody gets a chance to play it. The long-troubled event ran from 1979 to 2002, then went on hiatus until 2008. In 2009 and 2010, it was scheduled to be played at the Nicklaus-designed St. Mellion International Resort course in Cornwall, pictured there at right, but financial difficulties forced postponement to this year.
And now, alas, it's not going to go forward this year, either. Difficulty in locating sponsors, unsurprising for a tournament not held in nearly a decade, has forced event planners to postpone the tournament for yet another year.
It's a tough financial blow to St. Mellion, which has invested �20 million in the last two years to bring the course up to speed. But tourney organizers couldn't find a sponsor to pony up �2 million to cover the tournament, both because of the still-shaky economy and the commitment that many blue-chip companies have made to London's 2012 Olympics.
"It's no great surprise the tournament has been cancelled," BBC Sports golf correspondent Iain Carter said. "It's a reflection of the trend that we're seeing in European golf at the moment in that the sponsors are to be found the other side of the world, not in Europe, not in Great Britain and certainly not in England."
The event's cancellation leaves the Open Championship and the BMW PGA Championship as the only professional events being played on English soil.
English Open at St. Mellion cancelled [BBC Sport]
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Blog Post: Shop ?til you drop with Bing Australia
We're excited to officially announce Australia's Bing Shopping vertical, where we have not only simplified your online shopping experience but also significantly enriched it. Bing's shopping vertical, in partnership with Getprice, Australia's leading independent comparison shopping service, gives you access to over two million products from over 800 trusted merchants.
Bing Shopping allows users to experience the entire consumer cycle in one online destination. You can now research, browse, compare and purchase without having to painstakingly trawl through tides of consumer sites.
If you're after something specific the search box will provide a link to your needs, allowing you to find exactly what it is you're looking for.
Not after anything in particular? Bing Shopping makes it's easier than ever to window shop online. On the homepage, you'll find Featured categories to assist you browse, Featured brands where you can find your favorite labels whilst you can see what the hot items are in the Top searches panel.
Here are just a few of our favourite features on the site:
Compare prices. Once you've found what you're looking for, the 'Compare Prices' option allows you to see all the merchants selling the product and the price they are selling it at. Pay the lowest price every time!
Quick Look. Gives you an instant pop-up overview of the product you're interested in without having to wait for a new page to load.
Filtering tabs. The tabs located on the left-hand side are customised to each product and help you narrow down your search, from price range, to brand and in the case of the screenshot below, camera resolution and optical zoom.
List by price. If you're on a tight budget or want to go straight to the top-end you can have all the products within your search listed categorically by the price tag (also refer to the screenshot below).
Bing Shopping truly offers a holistic consumer experience without having to leave the comfort of your home. You can think of Bing Shopping as your new favourite shopping centre!
- Bing AU Product Team
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Jeff Passan’s sixth annual Opening Day Blogapaloozathon
You are part of something here at the Sixth Annual Opening Day�Blogapaloozathon, an endeavor that requires teamwork, cooperation and a willingness to completely ignore work and revel in the holiday that is the first full day of baseball in 2011!
First time on�the�Stew? Like what you see? For a season's worth of baseball fun, make sure to�bookmark our main page,�subscribe to our RSS feed or�follow us on Twitter.
For more than half a decade now we have contributed proudly to the decay of the workplace, and we plan to continue that with aplomb not only for Thursday's appetizer of six games (weather permitting!) but also Friday's late arrival of nine openers. The chatting fun starts at 1 p.m. ET ? sharp ? on both days.
I am Jeff Passan,�Blogapaloozathon ringmaster, and please join the chat where I'll have an array of special guest stars including Kevin Kaduk, Ian Casselberry and Mark Townsend of my gracious host,�Big League Stew.
And, of course, there will be lots of Carl Balboaz. If you haven't heard of Carl, that's because he doesn't exist. Except at the�Blogapaloozathon. Four years ago, I asked my wife who was going to win American�League MVP. She said Carl Balboaz. She doesn't know why. The name just came to her. And that is the essence of the�Blogapaloozathon: be funny, be wild, be spontaneous, be different ? and just be here, where the goal is to lose tens of thousands of dollars in productivity across the American workforce, all in the name of the greatest unofficial holiday this country knows.
Long live the Opening Day�Blogapaloozathon!
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Rumor: New iMacs on tap for April or May
A couple of tweets from CNET's Brian Tong are fueling speculation that a new batch of iMacs are on their way to the US, with an expected debut in late April or early May.
In a tweet a little over a week ago, Tong noted "New iMacs en route by ocean to U.S. available end of April or 1st week of May. No major cosmetic changes." That tweet was followed by another today that reiterated the time frame for new iMac models.
Over at MacNews, Dennis Sellers made some predictions that are quite reasonable to believe. He expects the new iMacs to feature dual- or quad-core Sandy Bridge processors. At the low end of the price spectrum would be 21" models running dual-core Intel Core i5 CPUs at 2.3 and 2.7 GHz, while the high end would feature 27" iMacs with quad-core Intel Core i7 CPUs at 2.0 and 2.3 GHz. Sellers speculates that the new iMacs would come equipped with Thunderbolt I/O, an easy guess since the fast new I/O standard has already made a debut on the latest MacBook Pro models.
I disagree with Sellers on his estimate of hard disk capacities. He's anticipating 500 GB to 1 TB models. Apple already sells configure-to-order (CTO) models with 2 TB capacities, along with 256 GB SSD boot drives, so I'd expect to see the company start at 1 TB and possibly outfit CTO models with 3 TB of storage. Most drive manufacturers are now selling 3 TB SATA units at reasonable prices, so there's no reason for Apple to at least make them an option for buyers. With storage that spacious, it might make more sense for Apple to squeeze two high-capacity drives into a new iMac for onboard data mirroring.
These new iMacs are probably already a done deal if they're indeed on the ships heading for the US. That doesn't mean that TUAW readers can't join in on the speculation. What would you like to see in a new iMac? Leave your comments below.
Rumor: New iMacs on tap for April or May originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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2011 World Superbike Championship Standings After Round 2, Donington Park
Championship standings for round , 2011
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Spring practice stock characters: Auburn starts over again, from the top
The defending national champions have taken the field for spring practice, giving beat writers, wire services and the like their first opportunity to look over the initial depth chart and think, "Wow, who are these guys?" All but the most hardcore Auburn fans will probably be with them this fall for the first month of the regular season, at least.
At this point, the 2011 edition promises to be unrecognizable from its celebrated predecessor, in terms of quality and quantity: The Tigers are bidding adieu not only their shooting stars on both sides of the ball, surprise All-Americans Cam Newton and Nick Fairley, but also lost more starters from the entire lineup than any other team in America. When Auburn took the field Wednesday, it was without last year's leading passer, leading rusher, two of the top four receivers, four starting offensive linemen, the top two pass rushers and six of the top seven tacklers — in other words, one returning starter apiece for the entire offensive line (Brandon Mosley), defensive line (Nosa Eguae), linebackers (Daren Bates) and secondary (Neiko Thorpe).
That's an unprecedented exodus for a championship team in the BCS era. The best analogy is worth repeating: In broader sports terms, the Tigers the college football equivalent of the 1997 Florida Marlins. One and done.
Of course, there's another, more relevant comparison: The Auburn Tigers, circa 2009. If the current rebuilding job comes under wildly different circumstances than the rebuilding job Gene Chizik and Gus Malzahn inherited from the smoldering ruins of Tommy Tuberville's final season as head coach two years ago — the '09 team returned more starters from 2008 (13, compared to the six in camp from last year's championship run), and had just finished the season among the bottom 20 nationally in total offense, scoring offense, pass efficiency and turnover margin, a far cry from last year's top-20 finish on all counts — the circumstances for moving forward were very much the same.
That was especially the case for the offense, which (while more experienced) was in a much greater state of disarray after the 2008 collapse, and arguably much worse off at the most important position. The "returning starter" at quarterback, Chris Todd, had actually been benched for the last five games of '08, a casualty of Tuberville's decision to pull the plug on his experiment with the spread offense and tell its architect, offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, to hit the bricks at midseason. As far as SEC quarterbacks go, Todd also had almost no discernible talent. Nor any reliable targets at wide receiver. Nor, with the abandonment of the spread and subsequent chaos, anywhere to hang his hat scheme-wise. At best, he was a blank slate.
But with Malzahn pushing the buttons, he rarely looked like a liability as a senior. Auburn finished in the top 20 nationally in rushing, total and scoring offense, improving on '08 by almost 130 yards and two touchdowns per game for the season. Those numbers declined in SEC games (as always, playing Louisiana Tech, Ball State and Furman can do wonders for a box score), but overall still represented an undeniably radical turnaround with largely the same players. Of the Tigers' five losses in 2009, the defense allowed at least 31 points in three of them, and the eventual BCS champion had to drive the length of the field for a game-winning touchdown in the dying seconds of another.
The job this time calls for largely different players, but all of the above still applies just as well to the two quarterbacks vying to replace (that should probably be "replace") Cam Newton this spring, Barrett Trotter and Clint Moseley, neither of whom was particularly highly recruited, possesses particularly noteworthy size or speed, or has taken a particularly relevant snap in an actual college game. (Trotter attempted nine passes last year in mop-up duty, which I submit is a more promising resum� than having been nailed to the bench midway through the previous season.) Ultimately, their success is going to depend on their goals and expectations, and whether they fall within any reasonable bounds for a unit effectively starting over from scratch, opposite an equally unripe defense that wasn't all that great as it was. If the prevailing standard is the Heisman Trophy winner, the No. 1 offense in the SEC and a conference championship, well, good luck with that.
But if it's a competent, balanced effort that puts the team in a position to plausibly crack nine or ten wins, Malzahn's track record offers a glimmer of hope. With a first-rate backfield duo (Michael Dyer and Onterrio McCaleb) at its disposal, and barring an utter collapse by the rebuilt line — the line being the obvious X-factor, and not in the "high upside" sense that Newton brought to the table as the big question mark in 2010 — this can still be an offense that tops 30 points and 400 yards per game. It will be up to the emaciated defense to make up the difference, but that's good enough to remain relevant.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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Exclusive: yap.TV 2.5, a social TV guide
I had the pleasure of spending part of Wednesday afternoon chatting with yap.TV founder & chief marketing officer Shawn Cunningham. yap.TV is a free social TV guide that initially came out for the iPad last fall, and later for the iPhone and iPod touch. We lightly touched on yap.tv last fall when Steve Wozniak appeared on an episode of The Big Bang Theory. At the time, Woz chatted along with viewers through yap.tv, and it turns out he does more than that. He is an adviser for the app itself.
yap.TV is billed as a second-screen companion, an app that you can utilize while watching your favorite series to connect with like-minded viewers through social media. If you're watching the latest episode of American Idol and want to see what everyone else thinks of the finalists, this app is for you. But, it's not for anyone who wants to avoid spoilers, even though yap.TV has a system that filters tweets by time zone to try and stop this.
Cunningham took me through a hands-on demo of the software. While the first release was solid, the additions for the iPhone and iPod touch have made it better, and the UI has been overhauled to take advantage of the smaller screen. This review focuses on the iPhone version of the app.
Continue reading Exclusive: yap.TV 2.5, a social TV guide
Exclusive: yap.TV 2.5, a social TV guide originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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When draftniks write dumb things: ‘Cam Newton is a selfish phony’ edition
I don't know quite how to say this, Auburn fans, but … you know that irrepressible smile Cam Newton flashed for the student section last year after every victory? Yeah, Pro Football Weekly's Nolan Nawrocki breaks the news in his annual NFL draft guide ? an "indispensable source" for discerning draftniks everywhere ? that all those teeth were all just for show:
Under the "Negatives" for Newton, Nawrocki details the on-field shortcomings. It's a lot of the same critiques we're familiar with: one-year producer, limited field vision, spotty accuracy. But Nawrocki bludgeons Newton when he starts talking about his personality.
"Very disingenuous -- has a fake smile, comes off as very scripted and has a selfish, me-first makeup," writes Nawrocki.
How foolish you must feel, Tiger fans, for your inability to read your quarterback's scheming mind in moments of adrenaline-fueled triumph. This is why, as common fans, you're amateurs.
And, uh, Auburn players? You know the teammate you consistently described as "extremely hard-working" even before he took the SEC by storm? The guy you saw dragging receivers into the rain to work out during off weekends last summer? And later carried off the field on your shoulders after his Heisman-clinching masterpiece in the SEC Championship Game, at the end of a season in which he led the Tigers back from at least 10 points down in four different games? Yeah, looks like you fell for the old "team player" routine:
But Nawrocki was just warming up.
He continued, "[Newton] Always knows where the cameras are and plays to them. Has an enormous ego with a sense of entitlement that continually invites trouble and makes him believe he is above the law -- does not command respect from teammates and will always struggle to win a locker room. … Lacks accountability, focus and trustworthiness -- is not punctual, seeks shortcuts and sets a bad example. Immature and has had issues with authority. Not dependable."
After all, we all know college kids will rally around pretty much anyone ? especially when he's demonstrably leading them to victory in every single game. Again: Amateurs.
And Steve Wyche of NFL.com! Oh, sweet, gullible Steve Wyche. What were you thinking when you reported last week that Newton's "character issues" are a nonissue with a growing number of teams?
There seems to be a lot more positive chatter recently regarding Auburn quarterback Cam Newton. I've spoken to several personnel evaluators and coaches who believe Newton has weathered questions about his character and now teams are paying much more attention to the football player and his potential.
"I think a lot of people are starting to realize that Cam Newton is a pretty good player and has some things that not a lot of other people do," one general manager told me.
So, anonymous general manager, now you're actually suggesting to NFL.com readers and Nolan Nawrocki and the entire football-loving free world that a record of succeeding wildly at a high level while possessing a startling combination of physical assets that other prospects do not possess might have as much to do with success as the nebulous spin of strangers who task themselves with checking off the box marked "scripted" instead of "prepared" and "plays to the cameras" instead of "media savvy" after maybe ?�at most ? 30 minutes of face time, then making up whatever they feel is probably true to fill out the rest? What draft guide have you been reading?
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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2011 WSBK Donington Day 3 Post-Race Press Releases - Including Castrol Honda Video
Press releases from the World Superbike and World Supersport teams after the races at Donington, including a video update from the Castrol Honda team:
Year:
2011
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Blog Post: Learning About Science, Math and Technology...All Fun and Games?
While normally leery about promoting opportunities for kids to play computer games, I think I have found the exception. Meet Kodu, a free new tool that lets kids from the ages of 8 and up build their own video games. There are a lot of real-world skills kids can learn from doing this since Kodu is a programming tool, kids are creating their own game vs playing one. Using Kodu lets kids use their imagination and have the ability to analyze a problem and find a solution, something they will need to do all of their life. It’s a unique way to actually make learning about science, technology, math and engineering fun.
For teachers and homeschools, the Kodu team has created curriculum to use as a classroom learning project. Also if you start now, there’s a competition called the Kodu Cup for kids 9-17 with great prizes for the best games created. The contest has started and runs until May 10, 2011 so you have time to create a great entry.
Happy programming kids!
Barb
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First Glance: Central Michigan loses its grip on the MAC for good
An absurdly premature assessment of the 2011 Chippewas.
? Previously On…
There are two kinds of tough coaching jobs in college football: The ones that leave you gasping in an atmosphere of hopelessness, and the ones that erect pillars of false hope. When Dan Enos accepted the Central Michigan job last January, he was pretty clearly stepping into the latter, and not for nothing. The Chippewas had just taken three MAC championships in four years from 2006-09 on the strength of five eventual NFL draft picks, two competent head coaches (Brian Kelly and Butch Jones), and one dynamic quarterback, Dan LeFevour, a four-year starter who left as the owner of every conceivable school record and the NCAA record for total touchdowns in a career. Enos inherited the cream of the conference, and found an almost empty dish.
Still, no one expected his first go-round to be quite as bad as it was — 3-9, with easy early wins over Hampton and Eastern Michigan followed by a single win in the last nine — and in some ways it wasn't: The offense was a little above average by MAC standards, the defense just mediocre. But the 2010 Chippewas were bad in the very specific ways that make kind-of bad teams truly awful. They finished dead last in the conference in turnover margin. They blew five games decided by a touchdown or less, four of them as the direct result of a woeful kicking game. They lost because the offense couldn't score; they lost because the defense couldn't stop the run; they lost because the defense couldn't stop the pass. They lost in the final seconds both by giving up the winning points and failing to score the winning points themselves. Obviously, it didn't take long to lose whatever shreds of momentum carried over from the triumph of 2009, too.
? The Big Change. Five Chippewas showed up as first or second-team all-conference picks last December, and four of them are gone. The first-teamers, linebackers Matt Berning and Nick Bellore, leave with 782 career tackles between them in 87 combined starts; Bellore alone started 52 of 53 games over four years, racked up 100-plus total stops in all four and was voted first-team All-MAC each of the last three. (He ended his career with more tackles than any other active player in the country; opposing offensive coordinators still mutter his name in their sleep.) On the other side, offensive linemen Colin Miller and Jeff Maddux go out with 93 career starts, most of them as members of the most prolific offense in the league.
| The Least You Should Know About... |
 Central Michigan |
| ?? In 2010 |
| 3-9 (2-6 MAC); Lost eight of last nine. |
| ?? Past Five Years |
| 2006-10: 41-26 (32-10 MAC); MAC championships in 2006, '07 and '09. |
| ?? Five-Year Recruiting Rankings* |
| 2007-11: N/A (No classes ranked in Rivals' top 50 nationally.). |
| ?? Best Player |
 Wide receiver Cody Wilson's numbers last year stood in inverse proportion to his size: At 5-10, 186 pounds (probably recorded immediately after a huge meal, while dripping wet), Wilson came up big as a sophomore with a team-high 83 catches for 1,137 yards —�35 of those grabs coming in the last three games alone. His consistency earned Wilson a second-team All-MAC nod from league coaches, a team MVP nod from teammates and an Academic All-MAC nod for his 3.9 GPA in marketing. |
| ?? Best Year Ever |
 His 21st Century successors probably know Gary Hogeboom better from Survivor: Guatemala, but before his turn with the Yaxha Tribe —�not to mention four different NFL teams over a 10-year career —�he honed his survival skills as quarterback of the 1979 Chippewas: CMU won three different games by one or two points and dueled Toledo to a 7-7 tie, a loss in any of which would have cost the Chips their first MAC title. Instead, they finished unblemished, 10-0-1, for the first (and still only) time since joining the conference in 1972. And while Hogeboom starred as the MAC Offensive Player of the Year, the defense led the charge by pitching four shutouts over the course of the season. |
| ?? Best Case |
| Radcliff and Wilson connect for the MAC's most high-octane passing game while cutting the turnovers; the kicking game finds some consistency; the defense holds its ground in the middle of the pack. 7-5, Humanitarian Bowl. |
| ?? Worst Case |
| See 2010: Nonexistent running game, turnover-prone passing game, vulnerable run defense, inconsistent kicking. 4-8, Dan Enos enters 2012 fighting for his job. |
| * Based on Rivals' national rankings (top 50 only) |
All of the veterans —�eight outgoing senior starters in all —�will be missed for their experience, but not only because of the quantity: With the vets go the strongest remaining connections to the championship teams of the LeFevour years, the part of the team most accustomed to thinking of themselves as champions and most likely to know what it takes to get back. Only a handful of regular starters from the '09 team remain (five, by my count), all of them role players.
? Big Men On Campus. The only aspect of last year's team that seemed more or less functional (interception issues notwithstanding; see below) was the passing game, which successfully deployed a brand new quarterback (Ryan Radcliff) and go-to receiver (Cody Wilson) with no discernible drop-off in overall explosiveness. Radcliff went over 300 yards in six different games, and connected on multiple touchdown passes in six.
He also put the ball in the air about 39 times per game, more than any other MAC QB, which cast the impressive numbers in a much less favorable light, efficiency-wise: Radcliff served up multiple interceptions in five different games, and wound up deadlocked at 17 TDs, 17 INTs for the year. With no discernible running threat, scoring plummeted by almost 10 points per game.
As a first-year sophomore starter, though, Radcliff at least demonstrated that he has the arm and the brain to do everything the offense needs him to do in any given situation — i.e. complete a high percentage of the easy throws and occasionally threaten the secondary downfield. He also finished strong. With a full season under his belt to iron out some of the consistency/decision-making issues a respected new coach focused almost exclusively on his game, Radcliff and Wilson shouldn't have much competition as the most productive pass-catch combo in the conference.
? Open Casting. The kicking game featured a three-man rotation comprised entirely of freshmen, which would have been funny if it weren't so tragic. The vast majority of the reps went to David Harman, who earned them by being generally accurate on field goals (9 of 12 for the year). Those three misses, though, happened to come in a three-point loss against Bowling Green; a one-point loss against Navy; and a five-point loss against Northwestern, which blocked three separate Harman kicks — a field goal and two extra points —�to provide the final margin of victory.
But Harman was still much better than his cohorts, Paul Mudgett and Richie Hogan, who combined to make just one of eight field goals, including a miss by Mudgett in an eventual three-point loss at Temple in September. Throw in the exit of punter Brett Hartman, right leg behind the worst net punting average in the MAC, and there is much opportunity for growth.
? Overly optimistic spring narrative. Radcliff and Wilson give the offense a clear identity in the passing game, which really began to blossom down the stretch. The other problems (aside from the nonexistent running game) were almost intangible, and therefore bound to improve: Simply, there's no way the Chippewas can be bad or unlucky enough again to suffer so many untimely kicking gaffes and finish at the bottom of the MAC in turnover margin two years in a row. Those are correctable issues that can immediately lead to more wins even with no improvement in the down-to-down, blocking and tackling aspects.
? The Big Question. Can they stop the run at all? Last year's run D was spotty, alternating a few respectable afternoons with some gore feasts: Ball State rolled up 306 on the ground, Northern Illinois ran for 282, Navy for 437 and five touchdowns. (Virginia Tech also ground out 230 and four touchdowns on 8.2 yards per carry on Oct. 9, but that's probably to be expected from Virginia Tech against a MAC also-ran.) That left CMU ranked 81st nationally/10th in the MAC against the run, and that's with two senior linebackers, Berning and Bellore, who cleaned up every other tackle. More straight-ahead attacks may find it unusually easy going between the tackles, and if they do, the Chippewas' own attack will spend most of its time (again) trying to gun its way out of catch-up mode.
- - -
Other premature assessments (in alphabetical order): Iowa State. … Marshall. … Nebraska. … Nevada. … South Florida. … Syracuse.
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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Windows 8 now available to OEMs via Microsoft Connect
Select Microsoft Connect partners -- major players like HP -- have been given their first taste of Windows 8. According to various sources, the build string currently sits at 7971.0.110324-1900, which is the third milestone build of the successor to Windows 7.So far, there haven't been many details revealed about Windows 8. An actual System Restore -- which is being referred to as History Vault -- has been reported, and the feature will allow users and administrators to completely roll back a system to a previous state. A factory reset option is also said to be included.
We've also seen Windows Live integration taking shape on the desktop. It's believed that you'll be able to log in to Windows 8 using your Windows Live credentials, not just a traditional offline Windows username and password.
All that's left now is for a leaked Windows 8 build to show up on a torrent site. Feel free to tip us if you see that happen.
Windows 8 now available to OEMs via Microsoft Connect originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Shuffle Up: Ryan Braun rules the outfield
Today we roam the outfield. Normal rules apply. I may tweak this list as the day goes along. Assume a 5x5 format. Don't obsess over the specific numbers, but rather how the players relate to each other. See a player missing, let me know in the comments.
And as always, bring your best arguments to the discussion. Disagree with some ranks? That's why roto is fun. But *defend your disagreement.* Further the conversation, gamer.
$37 Ryan Braun
>$36 Carlos Gonzalez
$35 Carl Crawford
$33 Matt Kemp
$32 Matt Holliday
$31 Josh Hamilton
$31 Shin-Soo Choo
$30 Andrew McCutchen
$29 Justin Upton
$29 Nelson Cruz
$28 Jason Heyward
$28 Jose Bautista
$27 Andre Ethier
$26 Hunter Pence
I'm not going to wrestle in the snow with you if you prefer Cargo to Braun. In the first round, I'm going to take the more proven commodity, the safer player, but it's not like I'm burying Gonzalez on this list. … No denying Kemp's skills, and you wonder if he'll be better off without Joe Torre and Rihanna around. … Everyone knows that Bautista isn't going to club 54 homers again, but I feel confident he's in the mid-30s. … Pence will be cheaper than this in most public leagues, the Houston screen at work.
$25 Ichiro Suzuki
$24 Jayson Werth
$24 Alex Rios
$24 Chris Young
$23 B.J. Upton
$23 Shane Victorino
$22 Colby Rasmus
$22 Michael Stanton
$22 Drew Stubbs
$21 Jay Bruce
$20 Delmon Young
$19 Jacoby Ellsbury
$19 Nick Markakis
$19 Brett Gardner
$19 Carlos Quentin
$18 Bobby Abreu
$17 Vladimir Guerrero
$17 Torii Hunter
$15 Ben Zobrist
$15 Nick Swisher
$15 Juan Pierre
It's almost gotten to the point where I can't be rational on Gardner. The Yanks are doing the right thing letting him bat leadoff against right-handed pitching. … The Nationals will regret Werth's contract down the road, but that doesn't mean he won't be a valuable player for them today. Similar to how roto players have treated Wells and Rios in recent years, the misguided contract angst discount applies here as well. … Abreu is one of those Ibanez All-Stars, a boring vet who still produces every year as a nifty pluck in the middle rounds. The Angels have a collection of players like that; Wells and Hunter also apply.
$14 Curtis Granderson
$14 Aubrey Huff
$14 Vernon Wells
$14 Angel Pagan
$14 Carlos Lee
$13 Coco Crisp
$12 Corey Hart
$12 Michael Bourn
$12 Adam Jones
$12 Rajai Davis
$11 Adam Lind
$11 Will Venable
$11 Travis Snider
$11 Andres Torres
$10 Grady Sizemore
$10 Jason Bay
$10 Jose Tabata
$10 Logan Morrison
$10 Jason Kubel
$10 Austin Jackson
$10 Dexter Fowler
$10 Michael Morse
$10 Alex Gordon
Granderson is a salt-of-the-earth guy, but I don't trust him against lefties and I don't see him ever being a major force on the bases again. … Pagan is basically Victorino-lite, and those types of players tend to come at an affordable cost. … No one knows the right answer with Sizemore. All I can tell you is that he's not on any of my teams, and I'm glad I don't have to chase the vague injury reports around. We're all guessing. … The timing is right for a Fowler spike forward, not that I priced it into his ranking. You can get him in the context of these ranks, though.
$9 Denard Span
$9 Alfonso Soriano
$9 Ryan Raburn
$8 Carlos Beltran
$8 David DeJesus
$8 Raul Ibanez
$8 Omar Infante
$8 Magglio Ordonez
$8 Marlon Byrd
$8 Bill Hall
$7 Michael Cuddyer
$7 Manny Ramirez
$6 Cameron Maybin
$6 Ryan Ludwick
$6 Nate McLouth
$6 Seth Smith
$6 Ben Francisco
$5 Luke Scott
Raburn admits he hates hitting in the early part of the year, with the cold weather. How patient will Jim Leyland be? Fortunately for Raburn, the Tigers apparently don't mind his messy defense. … I've noticed from the comments that the rest of the world trusts Planet Manny more than I do in 2011. It's like the last 12 months never happened. … If I knew Francisco would get to 500 at-bats, I'd have him priced in the low teens.
$4 Peter Bourjos
$4 David Murphy
$4 Sean Rodriguez
$4 Josh Willingham
$4 Tyler Colvin
$4 Michael Brantley
$3 Hideki Matsui
$2 Johnny Damon
$2 Domonic Brown
$2 Chris Coghlan
$2 Garrett Jones
$2 J.D. Drew
$2 Jonny Gomes
$2 Brad Hawpe
$1 Nyjer Morgan
$1 Franklin Gutierrez
$1 Matt LaPorta
$1 Julio Borbon
$1 Carlos Gomez
$1 Cody Ross
$1 Michael Saunders
$1 Milton Bradley
$1 Matt Joyce
$1 Pat Burrell
$1 Kosuke Fukudome
$0 Brennan Boesch
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Image courtesy US Presswire
Ashley Greene April Scott Mia Kirshner Elisabeth Röhm Lily Allen
Wednesday’s Three Stars: Sabres, Canes battle on; Detroit routed
No. 1 Star: Jhonas Enroth, Buffalo Sabres
Pressing into duty after Ryan Miller was scratched (and is day-to-day with an upper body injury) Enroth made some key stops in back of a stout defensive performance by the Sabres in their 1-0 win over the New York Rangers. It was his first start in 17 days, playing in front of his parents for the first time in two years and against his idol Henrik Lundqvist. Tim Connolly had the lone goal in the second period on the power play.
No. 2 Star: Jeff Skinner, Carolina Hurricanes
Skinner helped the Hurricanes keep pace with the Sabres, scoring two first-period goals and assisting on another in Carolina's 6-2 rout of the Montreal Canadiens. Jamie McBain also had two goals, including a second-period tally that ended up being the game-winner. Cam Ward made 38 saves, as the Canes remained three points in back of the Sabres and closed to within three of the Rangers. Here's the second of Skinner's goals, a nasty backhander:
No. 3 Star: Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks
Perry moved ahead in the goal-scoring race with a pair of tallies for the Ducks, as Anaheim dealt the Calgary Flames' playoff hopes a fatal blow with a 4-2 victory. Perry scored his 45th goal of the season to break a 1-1 tie in the first; goal No. 46 was an empty netter that iced the win.
Honorable mention: The St. Louis Blues absolutely curb-stomped the shorthanded Detroit Red Wings at the Joe, 10-3. Chris Porter had two goals and an assist; Chris Stewart and Vlad Sobotka had a goal and two assists. All but three Blues (and Jaro Halak) had at least a point. Even Cam Janssen got in on the act, scoring a goal for the first time in 114 games. … Andy Greene's third-period goal overcame a two-goal comeback led by Frans Nielsen, as the New Jersey Devils defeated the New York Islanders, 3-2. Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and an assist. … Nielsen tied the Islanders record for short-handed goals in a season. … Ray Emery's storybook comeback continues, as he improved to 6-0-0 for the Ducks. … Jarome Iginla scored his 37th in the loss. He also assisted on Mark Giordano's power-play goal in the third. …
Did you know? Enroth became the first Buffalo goalie besides Ryan Miller to earn a shutout since Jocelyn Thibault on April 5, 2008. (Buffalo News)
Dishonorable mention: Nightmarish game for the Red Wings, who saw goalies Joey MacDonald (7 goals on 39 shots) and ECHL call-up Thomas McCollum (3 goals on8 shots) shellacked. According to the AP, the last time Detroit gave up eight goals in the first 40 minutes of the game was March 3, 1986. … Jiri Hudler was a minus-3, while Henrik Zetterberg, Brian Rafalski and Nicklas Lidstrom were all minus-3. … Carey Price was pulled after giving up 4 goals on 26 shots; Alex Auld then surrendered 2 goals on 9 shots. … Every player on the Habs except for Jeff Halpern played to a minus in the Carolina loss. … They don't make glass like they used to in Raleigh. … Finally, this Ryan Getzlaf play that may have helped the officials rule a no-goal for the Calgary Flames is equal parts hilarity and travesty.
Rhona Mitra Kelly Rowland Danica Patrick Josie Maran Leighton Meester
Blog Post: Amazing airplane paint jobs
Have you ever been waiting on a tarmac and looked out the window to see an airplane with a really great paint scheme? I’m not talking about the regular liveries (what a plane’s paint job is officially called), but something really creative and colorful.
Say, for example, this airplane from Kulula Airlines in South Africa – obviously an airline with a jet-sized sense of humor. Or check out this plane from Qantas, an impressive (and large!) contemporary canvas that pays homage to Aboriginal Australian dream journeys.
Bing Travel went in search for some of the most creative paint themes in the air; see the results in the new slideshow, Amazing Airplane Paint Jobs, now live on Bing Travel.
If you’ve seen any fun or colorful liveries in the air or on the tarmac recently, tell us about it by leaving a comment below.
Jenny McCarthy Zooey Deschanel Tara Reid Coco Lee Katy Perry
Google +1 embeds recommendations into search [Video]
Google has launched a sharing button of its own, competing for space with Facebook’s “Like” button and the Twitter “Tweet” button. Google +1 takes advantage of the search engine’s huge user base, flagging up the recommendations of your friends and contacts directly on the search results page; as long as you’re signed in, you’ll see positive feedback on the results your friends approve of.
Video demo after the cut
Initially +1 buttons will only be found in among Google search results, but eventually the company plans to offer the same functionality to third-party sites to include. That will allow readers to flag up good content directly in the search results, rather than requiring them to go to Facebook or Twitter to see recommendations.
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Relevant Entries on SlashGear
- Google bakes Hotpot into search in push for NFC adoption
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- Google Re-upping to compete with Ask.com
- Google Search App Unleashed For iPhone
- Google Updates Social Search, Your Friends Opinions May Now Affect Your Search Results
Tamie Sheffield Kelly Monaco Gisele Bündchen Jennifer Aniston Amy Cobb
Headlinin’: Air Force ices pilot for death-defying Iowa-Ohio State flyover
Making the morning rounds
? This is what I call a 'target-rich environment.' Six pilots who participated in a pregame flyover before last November's Iowa-Ohio State game in Iowa City —�a show that prompted many, many YouTube tributes — have been officially reprimanded by the Air Force for flying too low and too fast over Kinnick Stadium. Specifically, four Talon T-38 Trainer jets cleared the press box by all of 16 feet at 400 knots (the speed limit for flyovers is 300 knots), a daredevil effort that has cost the lead pilot his right to fly military aircraft. [Associated Press]
? Naturally: I taught him everything he knows. Most coaches and players deflect the "Will he or won't he?" question until the last possible moment. but Lane Kiffin — who runs and sells his program on the promise of preparing players for the NFL —�straightforwardly hinted Wednesday that quarterback Matt Barkley's junior season at USC this fall will be his last. "Matt's going into his third year here. Obviously, if he has a good year, I'm sure he'll look to go to the NFL. Most guys do after their junior year," Kiffin said. "He needs to take the next step, (going from) being a really good quarterback to a great quarterback. Obviously he's not competing against the guys on this field, because he's above that level. But he's competing against the best guys in the country every single day." For what it's worth, pro scouts have had their eye on Barkley for a long time, and after Andrew Luck, the 2012 QB class is a fairly underwhelming lot. [Orange County Register]
? A poor wayfaring Wegher. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops confirmed Wednesday that running back Brandon Wegher, a transfer from Iowa, is no longer with the team. As Stoops put it, "that didn't last real long": Wegher just joined OU in January, fresh from a season-long sabbatical at Iowa for murky personal reasons. Prior to that, he was actually pretty good, setting Hawkeye records in 2009 for yards and touchdowns by a freshman. [The Oklahoman]
? Another one bites the dust. In other comings-and-goings, part-time starter Ray Vinopal is leaving Michigan —�also for "personal issues," according to coach Brady Hoke — which is less notable for Vinopal's departure than for who the Wolverines plan to plug in at free safety in his absence, which is: Nobody. Of the safeties listed on the spring roster, all (or all that have any realistic chance to see the field) are generally slotted as strong safeties. Vinopal is at least the seventh starter or would-be starter in the Michigan secondary to leave the team or go down with a major injury since the end of the 2009 season. [AnnArbor.com, MGoBlog]
Quickly… The Detroit News has the first of many obligatory "Denard Robinson is adjusting well to the pro-style offense" articles out of Michigan. … Minnesota doesn't have enough healthy bodies for a real spring game. … Mississippi State expects big things from its new transfer, if he makes it onto the field. … Notre Dame quarterbacks put on the helmet cam. … Aaron Murray has finally dropped the glove. … And store clerks at the mall say they will miss Dez Bryant.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
iPhone theft results in a tragic death
We have often written feel-good stories about the quick recovery of stolen iPhones, usually with the assistance of Find My iPhone. Unfortunately, today's story of a theft turned horrifying and tragic when a Chicago woman died after a fleeing thief shoved her down a flight of stairs.
According to the Chicago Breaking News, Sally Katona-King was standing at the Fullerton station platform on her way home from work during rush hour Monday afternoon when a thief stole the iPhone from another commuter and pushed Katona-King in his haste to flee the scene. Katona-King was hospitalized after falling down a set of stairs at the station and died Tuesday from what officials believe was a cerebral hemorrhage.
Continue reading iPhone theft results in a tragic death
iPhone theft results in a tragic death originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jose Canseco says fight promoter knew about Ozzie switch
The Internet had another good chuckle at Jose Canseco's expense earlier this week when it was reported that he tried to unsuccessfully send his twin brother Ozzie to participate in a celebrity boxing match down in South Florida.
But a defiant Canseco took to Twitter at the time and insisted the real story had yet to be told. On Tuesday, Canseco's PR firm told his side of the story in a press release that challenges Celebrity Boxing promoter Damon Feldman to a polygraph test.
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Long story short: Canseco says that Feldman knew that Ozzie Canseco would be showing up to fight instead because Jose was "dealing with severe depression regarding (their) father's death (in early March)" and "had thrown his back out on his way back from Miami, where he laid his father to rest."
Jose says that he tuned into a ustream.com feed of the fight and heard an announcer say his name. At that point, he says, he called Ozzie and told him to get out of there, which is what he believes prompted Feldman to start spinning the juicy twin switch story to the media.
"There was absolutely no point and time that Feldmen wasn't aware that Ozzie was coming in to fight for me" stated Jose.� "I have fought for Feldmen four times before and he knows exactly what I look like and who I am".
Witnesses were in the room with Jose when he called Feldmen to state that he wasn't able to make it and that the fight should be canceled.� Feldmen then agreed with Canseco to allow his brother to come in and fight for him.
Uncensored Writing has the full text of the press release, which contains a large number of grammatical and spelling mistakes and continually refers to Feldman as "Feldmen." (If you've ever seen Canseco's Twitter account, this probably comes as no surprise.)
But as the release correctly states, Feldman is not exactly the most pristine of sources. He just pleaded no contest to charges in Pennsylvania that he fixed fights and is barred from promoting any bouts in the state. He's also tight with Lindsay's dad, Michael Lohan, who has said he talked Feldman out of a suicide attempt in 2010. (The pair later famously fought and swore at each other on YouTube. You can look it up.)
So at this point, we have a he said-he said between one of baseball's admitted steroid users and a fight promoter with a checkered past. Sounds like Feldman needs to call up an old friend and solve this dispute in a televised arbitration arena he has sought before.
Judge Jeanine Pirro. (Like we're even kidding.)
UPDATE: Here's the story in Taiwanese news format. Yes! (H/N: The Score)
Jennifer ODell Jenny McCarthy Zooey Deschanel Tara Reid Coco Lee
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