Monthly Archives: May 2012
Amtrak switches to iPhone scanners for conductors and apps for customers
Old-school train conductors are finally ready to give up their hole punchers to try something new: the iPhone. Amtrak has been training conductors since November to use the Apple handset as an electronic ticket scanner on a few routes, including from Boston to Portland, Me., and San Jose, Calif., to Sacramento. By late summer, 1,700 …
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Joseph Waters pairs Beethoven with surf music for new orchestral experience
When you think of surf music, musicians like Dick Dale, The Surfaris, The Ventures and The Beach Boys may come to mind, along with the genre’s signature staccato electric guitar riffs, and classic tunes like “Wipeout” and “Surfin’ Safari.” However, a new composition premiering this Friday at San Diego’s Orchestra Nova may expand your notions …
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Proper breathing for yoga, running, and weight lifting
Yoga: For sama vritti, or “equal breathing,” match an equal length inhale to an equal length exhale. This fundamental style of breath is said to calm the nervous system, lower blood pressure, and reduce stress. What not to do – hold your breath. Take that as a sign of overexertion. Instead, take a break to refocus, breathe, and then hop back into …
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Chrome takes the lead as world’s most popular web browser
After months of chipping away at its lead, Google Chrome has finally overtaken Internet Explorer to become most popular web browser worldwide. Chrome’s share of the market rose to 32.8% in the week ending May 20, while Internet Explorer’s share of the market dropped to 31.9% Mozilla’s Firefox is the third most popular browser with just more than a 25% of the market. via …
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Hollywood Dogs – from Rin Tin Tin to Uggie
Featuring author Susan Orlean, animal trainers Sarah Clifford and Omar von Muller and a screening of “Clash of the Wolves” (1925) starring Rin Tin Tin, with live musical accompaniment by Michael Mortilla. “Man’s Best Friend” has gotten a wonderful publicity boost from the movies. Canine cinema mythology has enhanced human appreciation of a dog’s loyalty, heroism, humor and intelligence from the earliest days …
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How a college campus in the middle of Los Angeles is lowering traffic
The rest of Los Angeles may seem as congested as ever, but traffic at UCLA is the lightest it’s ever been since the university began measuring more than 20 years ago. The 2011 commuting report marks the eighth consecutive year that UCLA’s vehicle count dropped. With an average of 102,000 trips daily, the number of …
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Q&A with Gary Knell – the new CEO of NPR
An excerpt from the interview: Q: You’re a self-professed “NPR groupie.” What do you listen to? A: Morning Edition is kind of on every day. I’m a big fan of Weekend Edition Saturday, as well as a lot of the music programs. I’m a follower of most all of the programs, so I didn’t walk into the job …
Learn how to speak a new language in a few months – from Lifehacker
A condensed version of the article, if this interests you read the full article. Lifehacker reader Gabriel Wyner was tasked with learning four languages in the past few years for his career as an opera singer, and in the process landed on “a pretty damn good method for language learning that you can do in …
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