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Filed under: Holiday Gift Guide, Featured Stories

'Tis the season to spread holiday cheer by inserting photos into ridiculous cartoons (after you've finished shopping, of course)! Here are the top 7 options that you can use to keep things fresh, because friends, family, coworkers, and all of your targets deserve a uniquely festive brand of e-spoofing.

Top 7 Holiday E-Cards originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 24 Dec 2007 11:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While Nokia’s Ovi Store still has a ways to go to even consider competing with Apple’s App Store (although recently-revealed plans for a complete revamp in spring 2010 sound exciting) the Finns are busy beavering away in-house at bringing some interesting applications to Nokia users.

In a show of openness that other manufacturers could learn from, Nokia sticks all its work in progress apps up for free public consumption – and comment – on its Beta Labs site.

These are split into two categories, Beta Applications (serious stuff on a fast track to graduate to a commercial Nokia offering in the Ovi Store) and Experimental Applications (research prototypes, side projects and “wacky ideas” that may not end up a commercial option).

Here we take a look at ten of the best, offering a snapshot of what the world’s biggest mobile phone manufacturer is up to on the apps front – an interesting exercise, whether you consider the work to be innovative, or lagging behind third-party developers currently working in the same arena.

1. Nokia Photo Browser

Category: Experimental

Works with: S60 5th Edition

Said to be an easier and more fun interface for photo browsing on a Nokia touchscreen phone, this app presents thumbnail pics in a more dynamic and 3D view than the ordinary gallery. Features include press and hold to get a magnifying glass option that looks like a big bubble, while face detection functionality lets a user browse pics from face to face.

2. Mobile Codes

Category: Experimental

Works with: Nokia N82, N93, N93i, N95, N95 8GB, E66, E71, E90 or 6220 Classic N78, 6210 Navigator, N96 and 6220 Classic, N80, others via mobile browser add-on

The mobile codes app lets a user create QR codes that others can then “read” via their phone’s camera that could, once deciphered, reveal a website, social networking pages, phone number or a message. The beauty of a QR code is that it’s indecipherable to the human eye, but add cameraphone tech and you’ve got your very own secret visual language.

3. Wellness Diary

Category: Experimental

Works with: S60 3rd Edition, S60 2nd Edition

Wellness Diary helps users monitor and track a range of everyday well-being parameters, including weight, eating habits, exercise and blood pressure. Using the mobile platform for such data offers privacy and immediacy, as well as the option to have it on hand to share with a physician or a personal trainer at a moment’s notice.

4. Nokia Braille Reader

Category: Experimental

Works with: S60 5th Edition

As an attempt to enable the blind or visually impaired to read text messages on their mobile phone, it’s a fairly simple concept. Using the haptic feedback built in to Nokia touchscreen devices, the app displays each letter in Braille on the screen, giving a sharp pulse when a dot is raised and a soft one when it’s not, which should enable the user to decode the message letter by letter.

5. Mobile Web Server

Category: Experimental

Works with: S60 3rd Edition

Nokia’s Mobile Web Server makes a user’s device accessible on the internet. It means users can access phone features and data via a browser with the option to share content through a personalized mobsite. There are also extensions, including a Group Calendar Widget, the My Mobile Site Widgets that lets a user control some phone functions via a PC and Live Status which plays nice with Facebook.

6. Nokia Kamppi Trial

Category: Experimental

Works with: Nokia S60 devices equipped with WLAN

The Kamppi project is Nokia’s attempt at indoor GPS, currently being trialed at the Kamppi Shopping Center in Helsinki, Finland. On Nokia S60 handsets within the mall, users can see indoor maps and relevant info, such as current retail offers, as well as share their location via an auto-generated SMS, in addition to getting the ability to view friends on a map.

7. Nokia Step Counter

Category: Experimental

Works with: N95, N95 8GB, N82, N93i, 6210, N79, N85, N96

Using the phone’s accelerometer, as the name would suggest, the Nokia Step Counter counts steps, calculates the distance a user has covered and energy expended. It keeps summaries so users can compare different days (”Boy, was I motoring on Wednesday!”) and it will work in a pocket or bag so users don’t have to clip their phones to their belt. Thank goodness.

8. Nokia Point and Find

Category: Beta

Works with: Most S60 devices

Nokia’s stab at an augmented reality browser for the S60 platform. By pointing the phone’s camera at objects, such as a movie poster, relevant info will be displayed on the screen including location-based results, so in the instance of the movie poster, the nearest theaters showing the film. It also offers bar code reading with a comparison shopping service tied in.

9. Nokia Magnifier

Category: Experimental

Works with: N96, N95, N95 8GB, N82, N73, E90, E71, E66

As with similar offerings on the market (which makes this app’s “Experimental” status a little mysterious) the Magnifier uses the existing camera functionality on a Nokia S60 phone to help with reading the small print. With a built-in stabilizer, users can also snap a picture of the enhanced image for later reference.

10. Nokia Easy Meet

Category: Experimental

Works with: Browsers such as S60, Opera, Firefox, Safari

Easy Meet is a web-based mobile collaboration service which lets users use their phone and/or PC to create, conduct, and participate in meetings with colleagues or friends, sharing content including slides, images, files (via Nokia’s Ovi Files service) in real-time with conference chat abilities.

Reviews: Facebook, Firefox, Opera, Safari

Tags: Lists, Mobile 2.0, mobile apps, Nokia, nokia apps, nokia labs

Read More... [Source: Mashable!]

Filed under: Investing, Stock Picks

Not everyone has a flat-panel LCD TV. It just seems that way, and that makes shares in Corning (GLW), the leading manufacturer of the glass that goes into those TVs, look like a bargain.

Jefferies & Co. analyst George Notter initiated coverage of Corning late last week with a buy rating, saying he believes the Street is underestimating the potential size and trajectory of LCD panel shipments over the longer term. The analyst estimates that manufacturers have shipped roughly 490 million flat-panel TVs globally since the market for such goodies emerged, but that's just a fraction of the 1.5 billion TVs out there, most of which are still the old CRT kind.

Continue reading Global LCD TV growth makes Corning shares look sharp

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Read More... [Source: DailyFinance]

The Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, the FBI and the IRS have jointly announced the filing of a five-count Criminal Information charging disbarred Florida attorney Scott Rothstein with one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO) statute; one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering; one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud; and two counts of wire fraud.

In addition, the Feds are seeking the forfeiture of $1.2 billion, including 24 pieces of real property, numerous luxury cars, boats, and other vessels, jewelry, sports memorabilia, business interests, bank accounts, and more.

Rothstein, 47, of Fort Lauderdale, FL, made his initial appearance in federal court this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin Rosenbaum. He was ordered detained pending trial. If convicted, he faces a total maximum statutory term of imprisonment of 100 years (20 years on each count).

Rothstein alleged ran a Ponzi scheme from 2005 through November 2009. Rothstein is believed to have engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity through his law firm, Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, and Adler, P.A., located in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Specifically, it is alleged that RRA was the criminal enterprise through which Rothstein and others fraudulently obtained approximately $1.2 billion from investors through bogus investment and other schemes.

Rothstein and co-conspirators used the law firm to fraudulently induce investors to loan money to non-existent borrowers based upon promissory notes and requests for short-term bridge loans for business financing; and invest funds based upon anticipated pay-outs from purported confidential civil settlement agreements.

As part of the loan scheme, Rothstein and other co-conspirators solicited investors to loan money to purported RRA clients through promissory notes and short-term bridge loans. Rothstein falsely represented to the investors that the purported clients were willing to pay high rates of return on these loans. In the settlement agreement scheme, Rothstein and other co-conspirators allegedly solicited clients to invest in purported civil case settlement funds. Rothstein and his co-conspirators falsely told investors that these settlements ranged in amounts from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.

Rothstein falsely represented to investors that these settlements could be purchased at a discount and would be repaid over time to the investors at full face value. In addition, investors were told that these funds would be held in the trust account of RRA. In both instances, the Information alleges that the purported investment vehicles never existed, but were part of an elaborate Ponzi scheme in which new investors' money was used to repay money owed to earlier investors.

According to the authorities, to execute this four-year fraud scheme, Rothstein and his co-conspirators allegedly used multiple bank accounts at TD Bank, N.A., Gibraltar Private Bank and Trust, and other financial institutions to deposit and launder investors' money. As well, to perpetuate and conceal the fraud, Rothstein and his co-conspirators created and caused the creation of false bank documents, false on-line bank account information, and false settlement agreements and promissory notes, which were shown to investors as proof that the settlement and loan monies existed. In fact, however, there were no settlement funds or loan clients and the bank accounts only contained "Ponzi" scheme funds.

To further fund the Ponzi scheme, Rothstein and other co-conspirators allegedly defrauded clients of RRA in a civil suit initiated by RRA on their behalf as plaintiffs. Without the clients' knowledge, RRA settled the lawsuit in favor of the defendant, thereby obligating the clients to pay $500,000 to the defendant in the civil lawsuit. To perpetuate and conceal the fraud, Rothstein and other co-conspirators created a false federal court order, purportedly signed by a Federal District Court Judge, stating that the clients had won the lawsuit and were owed a judgment of approximately $23 million. The false court order also stated that the defendant in the civil suit had transferred the funds to the Cayman Islands to avoid paying the judgment. Rothstein and other co-conspirators falsely advised the clients that to recover those funds, the clients were required to post bonds. In this way, Rothstein caused the clients to wire transfer approximately $57 million to a trust account he controlled, purportedly to satisfy the bonds.

Rothstein and other co-conspirators used the funds obtained through the Ponzi scheme for their own benefit. This included, for example, using the money to fund and operate RRA, to make contributions to federal, state, and local political candidates, and generous donations to public and private charitable institutions. The money was also used to pay for lavish gifts, including exotic cars, jewelry, boats, cash and bonuses to individuals and members of RRA, to hire local police officers to provide security, and to provide gratuities to high ranking members of police agencies. In addition, the money was used to purchase controlling interests in restaurants and other businesses, and to socialize with politicians and sports figures. According to the authorities, these expenditures were calculated to enhance Rothstein's reputation and ability to solicit potential investors in the Ponzi scheme, provide an air of legitimacy and credibility to RRA, engender loyalty, and deflect law enforcement scrutiny.

"Attorneys, like elected officials, hold a special position of trust in our society, and owe a corresponding duty to deal honestly with their clients and to promote their clients' best interests," says Acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey H. Sloman. "This attorney breached that duty and stole approximately $1.2 billion from clients and investors. He spent his clients' money on real estate, cars, yachts, politics and philanthropy, all to create the illusion that he, his law firm, and his schemes were hugely successful. Now, the mansions, Ferraris, yachts, the law firm and his friends are gone. He sought to buy power and influence at the expense of his clients, and instead has potentially bought himself a lengthy prison sentence."

Added John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge of the Miami Office of the FBI: "Scott Rothstein appeared to be a charismatic, reputable attorney one could trust to invest one's money and make a sizeable profit. We now know it was all smoke and mirrors. Rothstein used investors' monies to pay for his extravagant lifestyle. The FBI and its partners will aggressively investigate people who swindle money from others, whether it involves more than a billion dollars or hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Daniel W. Auer, IRS Special Agent in Charge, says "We will continue to move forward with this investigation, wherever it leads, and we will bring to justice those who defrauded the American public and members of our community out of their hard-earned money."

Sloman commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and the IRS in connection with this investigation and thanked the Department of Justice's Organized Crime and Racketeering Section for their assistance. Sloman also noted the cooperative efforts of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Miami Regional Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lawrence LaVecchio, Paul F. Schwartz, Jeffrey N. Kaplan, and Alison Lehr.

Rothstein's attorney, Marc S. Nurik, didn't return calls seeking comment.

Filed under: Dining, Real Estate Developments

Rothstein Charged in Billion Dollar Ponzi Scheme originally appeared on Luxist on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though the Bjork-filled trailer for Spec Ops: The Line may have left you eager to start shooting up a sandy Dubai, we have to recommend that you save at least some anticipation for late next year. According to publisher Take-Two, the Yager-developed shooter isn't due until the 2011 fiscal year, which kicks off on Nov. 1 of 2010.

Yes, it's a long way off, but don't get depressed! Your friends at Joystiq have a wonderful way of filling your quota for desert-based e-murder in the interim: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. With Game of the Year list time just around the corner, has there ever been a better moment to revisit the most points-laden diamond skull hunt of the year? We think not.

Spec Ops: The Line not dusting up until Nov. 2010 at earliest originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Cell Phones, Google, Breaking News

Google's one phone number for everything service, GrandCentral, is getting a new trial of sorts. Google is taking its 'Do no evil' mantra to the streets of San Francisco -- literally. A partnership between Google, the San Francisco city government, and Project CARE (Communications and Respect for Everybody) is offering a free phone number and voicemail box to every homeless person in the city for life.

The philanthropic program is aimed at helping the homeless not just communicate with friends and family, but also land jobs. One of the big stumbling blocks for the downtrodden is their inaccessibility. When emerging from job training programs, folks need a method of contact, preferably a phone number. By calling from any phone, including pay phones, the homeless will also be able to get a phone number and set up the voicemail box.

Project CARE also sees the voicemail box as a doorway to proper medical testing and care. If the project is successful, Google will expand it through the rest of the state, and hopefully the country.

From MSNBC

Related Links:

• Google Launches GrandCentral, Free Phone Routing Service
• Google Phones to Premier Next Week?

Google Gives Free Phone Numbers and Voicemail to Homeless originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As promised, Sunsoft's brought Blaster Master to the Virtual Console -- though we think the impact is somewhat dulled by the quantity of other games available for download this week. There's a total of 11 different games available, so head past the break for the full list.

Continue reading NintendoWare weekly: Bejeweled, Blaster Master, Earthworm Jim 2

NintendoWare weekly: Bejeweled, Blaster Master, Earthworm Jim 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Read More... [Source: Joystiq [Nintendo]]

Filed under: Downloads, Expansions, MMO, Strategy, Meta BD

There are no retail PC games scheduled to ship to stores this week but there are two downloadable expansions that are due to be made available this week

Everquest Underfoot -Sony Online releases their latest expansion pack via download for their 10 year old MMO this week. You can expect lots of new zones to explore, new quest to undertake, new spells, monsters, weapons and more.

Continue reading This Week in PC Games: December 14-20

This Week in PC Games: December 14-20 originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Blogging, Web services, Microblogging

Megablogging, meet microblogging. WordPress now supports posting to and reading your WordPress blogs through any Twitter client that allows custom APIs. Following a WordPress blog on Twitter means you get snippets and links to new posts, just like you'd get any other tweet. Connecting your own WordPress blog to Twitter means you can tweet and blog simultaneously.

WordPress' Matt Mullenweg wrote a blog post explaining how to connect Twitter and Wordpress using Tweetie 2 on the iPhone. Basically, you just need to find your Twitter client's Custom API settings (for Tweetie 2, they're behind the little gear icon on the Add Account screen) and enter https://twitter-api.wordpress.com/ as the API root.

WordPress can also attach geotagging information from Twitter to your posts, if your client supports it. If you've got multiple blogs, you can go to the profile settings in your WordPress dashboard and choose which one to associate with each of your Twitter accounts. We're used to thinking of tweeting and blogging as two separate things, but the WordPress team sees them as closely related, and API support is a pretty cool extension of that philosophy.

Wordpress enables posting and reading via Twitter API originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today.

Patch 3.3 is just awesome. The new Dungeon Finder means that not only are you able to run dungeons faster and easier than ever, but you also get the dubious honor of running into any of the myriad crazy people that play this game. Some of those crazy people are me (see above). And, for somebody else, the crazy people might just be you.

Speaking of the Dungeon Finder, we've got an actual topical question for The Queue today. Everybody gather 'round by the fireplace, grab some cocoa, and be educated.

Spriesty asked...

I have a question. Is the new looting system working as intended? I was surprised to see in a group the other night a person win DE mats over a person greeding for an off-spec. So what, we all have to need now, even if it's off-spec, and then trade if needed??

Continue reading The Queue: What red totem u have

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Queue

The Queue: What red totem u have originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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	Tesla employees going on 2,700-mile road trip from LA to Detroit Yes, there will be many stops along the way.		Automaker Advice: How to relieve long-range anxiety and gain market share Two words: rental cars.
	NMG two-seat electric car now available for pre-order The price could be as low as $22,495 if 1,000 people place a pre-order.	Other news: 2nd-gen Smart Ed driven, still not ready for its close-up Shell opens New York's third hydrogen station in the Bronx At Witz' End - The Business of Plugging In, Take 2

AutoblogGreen for 12.14.09 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo's Q1 release schedule is as packed with new information as all Nintendo release schedules are. In addition to the announcements we've already covered, Nintendo confirmed the March 14 date for Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Endless Ocean 2, another game Nintendo has been silent about since E3, is now called Endless Ocean: Blue World, and e-divers will be able to start exploring it on February 22.

Some big WiiWare indies are on the way in Q1, including And Yet It Moves and Super Meat Boy. See the full list of releases, including a series of unannounced, Nintendo-published DSiWare games, after the break.

Continue reading Nintendo dates Endless Ocean 2, Pokemon HeartGold, more

Nintendo dates Endless Ocean 2, Pokemon HeartGold, more originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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