Earlier this month, I warned readers not to enroll -- or encourage their children to enroll -- in for-profit colleges.
New student loan default rates from the U.S. Department Education highlights in more detail why these institutions are such a bad idea. According to a Wall Street Journal analysis of the data (subscription required), 21% of students who use federal loans to attend for-profit college go into default within three years. That compares to 7% at public four-year colleges and 16% at public two-year colleges.
Not wanting to feel left out of the festival of updates for GPS apps, AT&T has given AT&T Navigator[iTunes link] some new features that are sure to please people who use the app.
Here's what's new:
Full landscape view integration
Enhanced iPod controls with the ability to search through your songs, artists, etc. from within the app
Inclusion of AT&T Wi-Fi Hotspots in the POI listings
Seamless blending of navigation prompts and music for easy listening
The app itself is free, but you have to sign up for a U.S. $9.99/month subscription or get a $69.99 annual subscription. You can see some more details on the upgrade and watch a video of the Navigator in action here.
One nice feature of the app is you can just sign up for a month to take you through holiday travel, and then drop your subscription. Unlike many of the GPS apps for the iPhone, this app requires a cellular signal, because all the maps and info are streamed in over the network.
Apple today filed a countersuit against Nokia for patent infringement as a response to the lawsuit Nokia filed against Apple back in October. The countersuit is over the 13 patents that cover many different communication technologies that are used in the iPhone, which Nokia clams to hold the patents. These patents cover the GSM, UTMS 3G, and Wireless-LAN standards used in the iPhone since early 2007.
Bruce Sewell, General Counsel and senior vice president for Apple stated: "Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours."
We'll post any more details on these lawsuits as this develops, so stay posted.
Update #1: Engadget's Nilay Patel has, of course, pointed out some interesting things. Notably: while this is about patent infringement, the majority of claims are around some insane licensing terms Nokia felt it was entitled to. Read his post for the breakdown and a PDF of the paperwork.
Daily deals are back! Hope you enjoy the latest offerings and deals from around the web. These deals are time-sensitive, so check them out before they disappear. You can check out more deals here.
iTunes Music Store: [iPhone / iPod Apps] Asian Painting for iPhone / iPod touch downloads for free
Dell Small Business: [Laser Printers] Dell 1230c Color Laser Printer for $99 + free shipping
MegaMacs: [Design & Multimedia Software] Apple iLife '09 for $39 + $6 s&h
Meritline: [iPhone] Black Woodgrain Silicone Case for Apple iPhone 3G / 3GS for 49 cents + free shipping
Seehere: [Photo Services] SeeHere custom 11-oz. photo mug for $6 + free shipping via overnight
Chitek: [iPhone] ChiTek Slim Fit Case for Apple iPhone 3G or 3GS from $7 + free shipping
Buy.com: [Surge Protectors] Philips Power Sentry 5-Outlet PowerSquid Surge Protector for $10 + free shipping
'Tis the season shop until your brains melt (or skip it all entirely, depending on your interpretation of the term holiday). In that spirit, for the next few weeks we'll be rounding up a dozen daily deals courtesy our friends at DealNews.com. Each afternoon tune in to TUAW for this handy summary. Keep in mind that while our posts will live on, the deals won't. Each is lovingly generated by the deal-bot every day, so get 'em while they're hot. Enjoy!
iTunes Music Store: [iPhone / iPod Apps] App Store Freebies: GravBall, iWore, Cyclic Dial, JingleToe, TanSafe, more
InvisibleShield: [iPhone] ZAGG.com coupon: 50% off sitewide, no minimum
Google: [Store Events] Google Holiday Deals: Up to $20 off $120 at select merchants
OfficeMax: [Office Furniture] Office Chair Roundup: Sofronio Manager Mid-Back Chair for $130 + free shipping, more
Walmart: [46" - 47" LCD TVs] Sony BRAVIA 46" 120Hz 1080p LCD HDTV w/ Sony PS3 120GB for $958 + $1 s&h
JR: [Digital Cameras] Panasonic DMC-LX3K 10MP 2.5x Zoom Digital Camera for $399 + free shipping
Skinit: [Notebook Accessories] Skinit.com coupon: 50% off sitewide
Walmart: [Electronics] Westport Small Charging Station for $19 + $1 s&h
Meritline: [iPod Accessories] Crystal Hard Case for Apple iPod Touch 2nd Generation for 39 cents + free shipping
"Give in to the power of the tea," the male model, Hansel, whispered as he seduced the overcome reporter in the epic comedy, Zoolander. That's what we thought of as we entered Armani/Casa, an ultra-hip interior design locale in SoHo where fashionistas shop for their postmodern couches and Eastern-influenced coffee tables. It wasn't a home makeover mission that brought us to Never Neverland, however, as we were there to preview Dell's XPS One, the newest all-in-one home computer, which came out on November 19th and is the latest entry in the growing area of stylish, all-in-one computers.
Picking our way through the hotly attired models and Dell executives that dotted the sleek Armani/Casa homescape, we began to understand the nature of this particular computing beast... Home computing is undergoing a transformation in character, style or that je ne sais quoi these days, and the XPS One is Dell's attempt to get sexy. And make no mistake, the folks at Dell will sell their stock to Apple before letting the competition's Gateway One and the Sony Vaio L Series overshadow their own product's libido.
All black, the machine is comprised of a 20-inch, high-definition widescreen monitor that houses the computer itself, with just one cable to plug in. The only other components are a wireless mouse and an old-school infrared wireless keyboard that triumphs over the inconsistent Bluetooth keyboards from former XPS models. In addition, the XPS boasts a built-in TV tuner, whereas most PC models of this size and type, including the Gateway One, have an external tuner or none at all, like the Sony Vaio L Series.
A couple of things that we really liked were the motion sensors that, when triggered, light up the media keys and a half-circle of blue light that illuminates the slot-loading drive on the lower, right hand corner of the monitor. We also dug the great speakers that come stock with every XPS as well as the option to include a Blu-ray drive (as long as you're willing to pay more). While the cheapest XPS One goes for $1,499, the version with all of the bells and whistles maxes out at $2,399.
Overall, this computer seems to have the it sexy factor that Dell wanted to develop. Whether you're an artiste whose closet includes clothing in black or black, or just a regular consumer looking for a home computer that looks smokin' and futuristic while doing it all without the complications, this is the all-in-one product for you.
The only downside is that the models we saw at Armani/Casa are not offered with the XPS at this time.
Granted, I make this assertion not as one of those folks who saw the movie in the last day, just as someone who has seen the early footage from Comic Con and Avatar Day and the other clips released so far.
An interesting thing about seeing the footage at Comic Con: hours before the audience's first trip to Pandora, we got to see another 3D motion capture preview, scenes from Robert Zemeckis' A Christmas Carol. You can almost see the gears turning in Zemeckis' head when he introduces a new movie, the tweaks he made to try to improve his particular brand of mo-cap aided animation. Casting Jim Carrey, a man famous for being able to act beneath five pounds of makeup, in multiple roles was an inspired attempt to remedy the notorious flatness of his animated characters. But it proved impossible to forget that these characters were simply sophisticated digital puppets, with Ebenezer Scrooge nearly as ethereal as the ghosts he's scheduled to encounter.
While watching the Avatar footage, by contrast, it was so easy I was watching an animated movie. Certainly it's jarring to see a giant blue person standing next to humans when Sully is first connected to his Avatar body. But when the Na'vi step into their animated native habitat, it's easy to suspend that disbelief that so stubbornly hangs over Zemeckis' animation. Pandora and the Na'vi may be shy of photorealistic (although there are some incredible moments, especially during the Thanator chase and when Jake engages with his Banshee for the first time), but they do feel alive, the way their facial muscles move, the sometimes distracting way their ears twitch to convey emotion, the play of light in their eyes. At times, it almost looks like we're seeing actors in blue makeup rather than the motion capture mask. Cameron has very nearly crossed the uncanny valley and that's an achievement in itself.
But it's Pandora itself that's truly thrilling, thanks to a combination of multilayered 3D technology and Cameron's obsessive nature. Cameron has talked a great deal about how he and his army of concept artists and biologists designed every plant and creature on Pandora. It's an impressive feat (and I can't wait to see that bioluminescence again), but it's only a small component of what makes the planet seem real. Early viewers are describing Avatar as akin to a nature documentary on an alien world, and it goes far beyond glowing flora. When a Banshee lands on a tree or a Thanator runs through the forest, leaves fall. If a creature pounces on a stalk or branch, it splinters. These aren't small details Cameron and his team have inserted for the sake of realism; they're present throughout the early clips. More than that, in 3D, these components exist on different planes, each obeying the laws of physics independent of the others. When Sully first encounters Neytiri, the air is simply stuffed with bugs, embers, and bits of dust, and their depth is such that you imagine you could stick your hand in it and swirl it around. I've been fairly 3D-agnostic until this point; I enjoy the novelty of movies where the 3D reaches out and grabs you, but I've never found it adds much to the experience. Avatar's 3D, which pulls you in instead of reaching out, does create a special experience, that sense that you are actually present, looking inside an entirely invented world.
However, the technology, as amazing as it is, leaves us with a lot of questions. Is there a point to all this spectacle? Is this good filmmaking? Avatar is antithetical to the Hitchcockian mode of filmmaking, where the director carefully controls the audience's gaze. In Avatar, Cameron gleefully surrenders that kind of control, inviting us instead to look all over the screen and try to drink in as much as humanly possible as we go along. In fact, I imagine that a good deal of Avatar's repeat business will come from a sense that viewers missed a lot the first time around. I haven't seen the film in its entirety yet, but I can't help but wonder if all that spectacle distracts from other aspects of the movie. And, if it works well with Cameron's particular brand of filmmaking, will it work equally well with others'?
As for its purpose, Cameron has set it to worldbuilding — and the idea that you can create a global, digital set that you can return to any time. And you can extrapolate big things from that — incredibly detailed video games, franchises set and filmed on many worlds by many filmmakers. But it's important to remember that Cameron and his team built this technology as they went along. Early reviews indicate that Avatar stands up as a movie on its own, but it's also a proof of concept. I can't imagine that Cameron has found the exhaustive — or even the best — uses for his remarkable motion capture and animation technologies. I would love to see what happens when this technology lands in the hands of someone whose craft is animation. Avatar itself might not change all movies forever, but I'll wager that the technology that birthed it will give rise to something wonderful — and stranger than we could have imagined before.
The foreign exchange market (currency, FOREX or FX) Trades currencies, or simply lets say buy or sell currencies from banks or to banks and other financial institutions. The main purpose of Foreign currency exchange is to promote ... Read More... [Source: Conservative - Google Blog Search]
Greenpeace has been making a lot of noise lately with its attacks on Apple for using nasty stuff in the iPhone and in general for not being very green. Apple is implementing plans for getting greener, and now it seems Greenpeace is moving on to, well, greener pastures, attacking a whole boatload of tech companies with its latest Guide to Greener Electronics.
The guide rates electronics manufacturers based largely on their commitment to recycling old gear and reducing the use of toxic compounds in new stuff. This is the first time Greenpeace has chosen to include Nintendo in the list, and it has ranked the Wii-maker dead last -- not because the motion-sensing abilities of the Wiimotes are powered by globs of toxic waste, but instead simply because the company doesn't provide any information about things such as what it's doing for recycling and when it plans to phase out the use of PVC.
Nintendo's competitor in the video game battle, Microsoft, is also new to the list and also scores low, though slightly better than Nintendo, thanks to having a plan for phasing out the use of PVC and other materials that result in the creation of toxic compounds. Sony, the third player in the current console war, scores much higher in the green rankings thanks largely to its acceptance of expired electronics from Japanese consumers for recycling.
We here at Switched find this ordering somewhat confusing. Sony's console, the PlayStation 3, is by far the most power hungry of the three, drawing 200-plus watts of electricity when playing games. Microsoft's Xbox 360 averages a somewhat more efficient 145 watts, while Nintendo's Wii uses just 15-20 watts, which is less than 10-percent of the power of Sony's machine! Yet Nintendo is ranked as the worst electronics maker on the planet? We think Greenpeace should care a little more about the pollution caused by power generation.
Top of the charts was Sony's celly spin-off Sony Ericsson, which has already phased out the use of PVC to a large extent, while most others are still just thinking about it.
The Fine English Company is a recently launched line of luxurious furniture, luggage and lifestyle accessories reminiscent of Britain's colonial past with a contemporary flair. Founded by former financial consultant Benedict Wormald, the company was born out of a desire to trade in his city lifestyle in London and turn a lifelong passion for classic British design and antiquities into a business. The Fine English Company's products combine traditional craftsmanship with its detailing of exotic animal skins, rare and native woods and veneers to create a range of collectible and desirable objects betokening the best of bespoke British luxury,
With 15 years of experience sourcing unusual items and commissioning bespoke products, Benedict worked tirelessly to create the Fine English Company's first collection, a selection of which is now available at Holland & Holland, the famous London gunmaker established in 1835 and holder of the Royal Warrant. The core range includes steamer trunks finished with exquisite detailing and exotic zebra and giraffe skins, for £2,750 - £5,750. Larger furniture pieces include traditional leather armchairs, sofas and footstools, and club-style fireplace fenders upholstered in tweed, zebra and giraffe skin giving them a contemporary flair.
Fine English also has range of smaller items for sporting gentlemen including traditional handmade slippers with leather soles in a range of animal skins, bold tweed, and for the pocket pirate, a skull and crossbones. Also available are a number of iconic humidors for the busy plutocrat with rich wood finishes such as ebony, macassar and walnut, some decorated with the skull and bones (£2,500) or iconic Union Jack. Also a collection of stunning bespoke pocket knives featuring William Morris acanthus engraving, 18k pink gold with gold lipped pearl details, Damascus steel blades and ivory from the woolly mammoth, rivaling creations from the world's finest gun and watch makers.
A well-curated collection of fine antiques is also on offer, drawn from military, architecture, automotive, aeronautical and sporting pursuits and restored to perfection. Of course the company offers a complete bespoke service as well; if you can conceive of it, Wormald promises to make it happen - he claims to have never turned down any client's request. From unique taxidermy - one recent example being the finest Van Ingen Tiger to be seen in Europe - to whole games rooms, gun rooms, dramatic architectural statement pieces and even a mahogany WC seat with the skull and bones motif, Fine English will furnish it to your requirements.
You’ve toiled away endlessly on your holiday display, possibly risking your life — or at least a few staple gun cuts — to best your neighbors and their dancing inflatable snowmen. But you’ve done it, and now your lights are up for the whole neighborhood to enjoy.
Before you start celebrating your Christmas victory, however, take a gander at Ric Turner’s mind-blowing holiday light extravaganza. The former Disney “imagineer” has outdone his own creations from holidays’ past, and turned his house into one big, bright game of Guitar Hero he calls Christmas Light Hero. Yeah, you can’t really compete with that.
The visually stunning light show is timed and choreographed just perfectly with a very real game of Guitar Hero, as played with the Wii wireless guitar controller. Perfection didn’t come easily, though: Turner used 21,268 lights and LEDs. The end result is simply dazzling.
Christmas Light Hero
How’d He Do That?
Curious about Turner’s methodology? Here’s what Turner told Make about his out-of-the-box Christmas light configuration:
“Christmas Light Hero is using 7 light controllers from Light-O-Rama built from kits to control 21,268 lights and LEDs. Each controller has 16 outputs and 2-3 TTL level control inputs that are used by the game system to fire different programmed light sequences depending on what happens in the game. It relies on the fact that the game sequence is very consistent. If the game and the lighting sequences start together, they will stay in very good sync through the length of the song. The light program allows branching and overlays for fail, star power and ‘ready.’ I have some ideas to automate the initial show/game sync, but for now you have to push doorbell buttons at the right moments.
To program the show a video recording was made of a perfect round of Guitar Hero playing Eric Johnson’s ‘Cliffs of Dover.’ The timing of all the dots and the light show choreography follow that video.
When you play, you watch only the Christmas lights, but the audio you hear is from the Wii, so your flubs are broadcast for all to hear (people in cars can tune 99.1 and crank it up as loud as they want.) When we are not playing, a separate version of the program that has the audio from the recorded game plays with the lights as a loop. The YouTube video also has this audio, (because I forgot to record the direct audio when I was shooting the documentation, and the camcorder did not pick it up very well.)
A video screen is on the driveway showing the game video, but if you want to be on the high score list you have to make it through the whole game only watching the Christmas Lights. Even though the game is in “easy” mode, the lights don’t provide the same timing detail as the game does, so it is much harder. Even expert Guitar Hero players have a hard time with the lights, and nobody has made it through without errors (yet).”
This is perhaps the coolest holiday light show we’ve ever seen. If your dad is anything mine ��think overly competitive with holiday lights ��then this might be one viral video you might consider not passing along.
The State of California and the watch maker brand and group Franck Muller have something in common. They are both in dire financial straights. Both have likely over extended themselves financially, and both seem to continue in operation somehow.
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was recently spotted in Milan, Italy shopping at a Franck Muller boutique store. While Schwarzenegger is a well known watch lover, I was not previously aware that he was a fan of Franck Muller timepieces. Now I know. For those of you that don't know, Arnold is a big fan of big watches. Luxury watch brands have been known to make special timepieces just for him. One relatively recent watch I hear that he purchased was sized at a whopping 60mm wide. To my knowledge, Franck Muller doesn't make anything this large, but they have some hefty timepieces.
The reports aren't clear as to what, if anything Schwarzenegger purchased. He spent some time in the store, as you can see by the candid security camera images. Perhaps if he is helping to save one fiscally troubled entity, he might also refocus his efforts on the State over which he is currently presiding as governor - that probably needs his help more.
Someone recently sent WalletPop a press release detailing what claimed to be one of those "eliminate your debt" strategies.
This one hinges on something called a "mortgage checking account." It's similar to a mortgage elimination scheme that proliferated in Australia a few years back and hopped onto our shores under a different name.
In this 2007 article, the Boston Globe explored what was then being called a "line-of-credit" mortgage and concluded that the scheme was more about marketing than merit.
The plan pitched to us by a company called MoneyDesktop purports to let you pay off your mortgage via a home equity line of credit (HELOC). In theory, you take out a home equity line of credit, deposit your paychecks into that line of credit instead of a checking account, and write a check paying down your mortgage in the amount you've just deposited.
Great news for the disposable income crowd: The Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness is finally available online through Saks Fifth Avenue -- and it can be yours for a mere $990. According to some seriously high-minded PR, the sleek and feature-poor handset "represents an alternative approach to life in the complex, digital age by refining the mobile phone to its most essentials functions." You see, this bad boy "is not simply about a phone; it is about opening a debate about people's relationship with technology in a complex world." Got that? In case you're still not sold, did we mention that the purchase price includes a concierge service? Although we don't know for sure, it's probably not a leap to assume that this "concierge" is a help desk employee somewhere who could feed his village for a month with the grand you dropped on a cell phone. PR after the break.
Exxon Mobil (XOM) will buy XTO Energy (XTO) in an all-stock deal worth $31 billion as the oil giant moved aggressively Monday to capitalize on the growing supply of natural gas at home. The deal could signal a new rush to own natural gas assets by major integrated producers, and perhaps the start of a significant consolidation in the energy industry.
"Exxon is the group leader and it sets the trend. I would expect more acquisitions in the next three to six months," said Fadel Gheit, senior energy analyst for Oppenheimer. "Who that will be is the $64,000 question."
We had a fun show last week, as we had a crowd of several TUAW team members; we were also joined (about halfway through) by our friend and frequent guest Ross Rubin of Engadget and NPD. The hour passed by with us mulling Apple's Lala acquisition and what the company might choose to do with this newly bought expertise. You can download the shows direct from Talkshoe or subscribe on iTunes.
Tonight, we're back live at 10 pm ET with the usual gang of ruffians, and at least two stories to talk about: the impending arrival of the Googlephone, and the unfortunate display problems and shipping delays for the 27" iMacs. Of course, we're happy to be detoured and derailed by your comments, questions and pontifications... but we won't know about any of those unless you call in and join us.
To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (take advantange of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8.
If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the TalkShoe 'ShoePhone' VoIP client or with the free Gizmo (now a Google product) or X-Lite SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk with you soon!
When the holidays roll around, the gamers who buy everything they want throughout the year might find themselves stymied asked for a wish list. Today, we put the Nyko Charge Base IC through its paces, and it looks like a great way to pad your list to Santa. The Wiimote charger uses induction, which not only alleviates the need to plug everything in, but -- as you'll see in the above video -- also looks really slick.
Also, to help justify this video's existence, we teach you how to make butter cookies.
2011 Bentley Muslanne - Click above for a high-res image gallery
With a starting price of $285,000, Bentley's newest flagship model won't come cheap. Nor should it, with its 505-horsepower, 725 lb-ft, gasoline-fed 6.75-liter V8 engine sitting behind the automaker's trademark mesh grille and four round lights.
Also included in that price will be a paddle-shifted eight-speed automatic transmission, 16.54-inchfront and 15.5-inch rear carbon ceramic brakes and 20-inch wheels. Don't forget the 2,200-watt stereo system and the the new Driver Dynamics Control system, which comes with "Bentley," "Sport," "Comfort" and user-definable "Custom" modes.
Want one? Production is slated to begin at the Crewe factory in England in the second quarter of 2010 and the first deliveries will make it to America later than year in the fall. Get yours in one of 114 available paint colors, 21 carpet colors, nine wood veneers and 24 interior leather hides, but get your order in fast - Bentley reports that early customer interest has exceeded 2010 production targets. Click past the break for the official press release.
It's not hard to find folks who think stocks are way too expensive relative to their earnings prospects, perhaps even matching tech-bubble levels. But when John Hussman says shares are priced to disappoint, intelligent investors would do well to pay attention.
Hussman's hardly a household name, but the highly successful money manger's funds -- Hussman Strategic Growth (HSGFX) and Hussman Strategic Total Return (HSTRX) -- have delivered annualized returns of 8.6% and 7.9%, respectively, since their 2000 and 2002 debuts. (They're cheap, too: The growth fund's net expense ratio comes to 1.09%, while total return charges just 0.79%.)
Paying more for a fancier version of Splinter Cell: Conviction is no longer an exclusively North American privilege. Ubisoft just announced a Collector's Edition of the stealth sequel for "all" European, Middle Eastern, Asian, and Pacific territories -- and it comes with different stuff than the North American version!
The rest of the world's Collector's Edition will include the usual steel-book case and soundtrack, and also the distinguished-looking Sam Fisher statue seen above, frozen forever in the act of almost stepping on his night vision goggles. The pack also includes in-game bonuses like an Infiltration Mode, a special "Shadow Armor" skin, and "early access" to the SC300, SR2 and MP5 weapons.
Head into our gallery to see images of both the Xbox 360 and PC sets.
James Cameron spent years creating Avatar's floating islands and crazy dragons, and then an army of concept artists brought them to life. But maybe they had some inspiration from somewhere else? Like classic album-cover artist Roger Dean? Behold the evidence.
Chances are, if you've looked at a weirdshistic record cover by Yes, Asia or other bands, you've admired Roger Dean's paintings of surreal landscapes. If you've ever seen all good people turn their heads each day, then you're already a Dean fan.
Connor Freff Cochran, founder of Conlan Press (which is busy putting out a bunch of Peter S. Beagle books, hosting Beagle's 52/50 poetry subscription service, and putting out art books) contacted us and suggested that Avatar's lush moon might have gained some inspiration from Dean. And when you look at Dean's artwork and compare it to the concept art we posted the other day, it's hard not to see the resemblance.
All of this makes me want to rent Avatar (when it's released on DVD) and see if I can sync it up with YesSongs.
Earlier this month, I warned readers not to enroll -- or encourage their children to enroll -- in for-profit colleges.
Not wanting to feel left out of the festival of updates for GPS apps, AT&T has given 
Apple today 
Someone recently sent WalletPop a press release detailing what claimed to be one of those "eliminate your debt" strategies.
Exxon Mobil (
We had a fun show last week, as we had a crowd of several TUAW team members; we were also joined (about halfway through) by our friend and frequent guest 
It's not hard to find folks who think stocks are way too expensive relative to their earnings prospects, perhaps even 
