Facebook launches an App Center – finally can sort the 600+ apps

A bit overdue as it was way too hard to find apps in Facebook, also highlighted in bold is the ability to block all those app requests.

Facebook recently launched App Center, offering a centralized place to find more than 600 Facebook and Facebook-related apps. Think of App Center as one part showcase for mobile apps (iPhone, Android) and third-party sites that use Facebook logins, and one part discovery hub for games and other features you can use inside Facebook.com (Timeline apps).

You can, for example, find apps for Android and iPhone devices that require or offer Facebook logins and have an alert sent directly to your mobile device to install the app. You can also use App Center to find games to play on Facebook.com, or apps to display on your Timeline. App Center also includes a section to easily accept or block all your game and app requests.

 

Learn more – PC World – Facebook Apps Center: Hands On

 

Facebook: App Center

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Best free kids apps for iPad

PBS Kids Video

The free PBS KIDS Video app brings all your child’s favorite shows right to your iPad. Curious George, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, Dinosaur Train, SUPER WHY!, Sesame Street and Wild Kratts and are all here and ready to entertain and educate.

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I think my dad is a space alien

In “Alien,” the most recent TV spot from Audi, viewers are transported into the world of a child who misunderstands her dad’s looks, actions and most notably all of the technological innovations inside the Audi A6 as proof that he is a space alien.

Apple’s WWDC 2012 Conference Preview – iOS 6, new Macs, iCloud update

This Monday, June 11, Apple will host one of its biggest events of the year, WWDC, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. First thing in the morning will be the famous Keynote presentation where Apple’s top brass takes the stage to preview the latest treasures in their chest.

Here are just a few of those expected to be announced:

  • iOS 6 – the banners advertising this at the conference are already being hung – a small update compared to iOS 5, but it does introduce Apple Maps (and kicks out Google Maps). A complete Facebook integration and bringing Siri to the iPad, among the rumors.
  • iCloud – photo-sharing to social media sites and video stream, where videos are synced in the cloud.
  • New Macs –  the consensus seems to indicate that the entire Mac lineup will be refreshed with Retina Displays. With that as the primary change there could also be a shrinking of the MacBook Pro size and multiple spec updates.

With Apple’s notorious secrecy there is the potential for multiple big surprises. Plus, this will be the first WWDC without Steve Jobs so it will be interesting to see how Tim Cook and crew pave the way.

For an in-depth look at all these new features – 9to5 Mac – WWDC 2012 Roundup

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Florida Keys sharks – catching and tagging them for science

For scientist Neil Hammerschlag, it was just another Sunday. He was out cruising the reefs near the Florida Keys, hunting for sharks — not as trophies, but for research aimed at keeping them out of display cases and in the water. In many places, these iconic predators are disappearing.

A research assistant professor at the University of Miami, and the director of its R. J. Dunlap Marine Conservation Program, Hammerschlag spends every other weekend in southern Florida dragging baited, shark-safe lines behind a boat, hoping one of his research subjects will take a bite.

When he and his team catch one, they outfit the shark with either a satellite tag or an ID tag, take tiny samples of muscle and fin and a vial’s worth of blood (they check to see if the shark is pregnant), then send the shark on its  way. The whole process takes about five minutes.

Overall, many shark species are facing steep declines. Figuring out what is driving that trend, and reversing it, is a big motivation of Hammerschlag’s research. “We know a lot of shark populations are in trouble, but the question is, what is happening to Florida Keys sharks?” he said. “And if you want to be effective at conserving them, what would it take?”

via Science on MSNBC

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Top 40 players of the Euro 2012

#1: Cristiano Ronaldo, POR

Considering his sustained brilliance for Real Madrid — 84 goals and 22 assists in 67 games over the past two seasons — it’s a wonder that the world isn’t running out of adjectives to describe the Portuguese forward’s play. Whether deployed on the flanks or through the middle, exhibiting his lethal skills and swagger from set pieces or close range, Ronaldo is the best there is in the European game today. (And the richest, too; $17.06 million in reported salary, as of 2010.)

#2: Andres Iniesta, SPA

There is little more to add on Andres Iniesta that has not already been reeled out on numerous occasions during Barcelona’s recent period of dominance. The Spaniard is one of the finest midfield technicians of modern times and his abilities have been showcased at the highest levels of the game for the past five years.

It is truly a thing of beauty as they slowly dismantle their opponents’ defensive structures by playing continuous short passes in the midfield until at some point a helpless defender is dragged out of position. Then, with a gap emerging, both Xavi and Iniesta are charged with supplying the defense-splitting pass that will seize upon the fault-line they have opened up with their earlier play. The strategy has led both Barcelona and Spain to unprecedented success.

#3: Xavi, SPA

His style is cerebral and full of intent; with the ball at his feet, Xavi thinks several moves ahead of the one that starts at his instep, forever looking for space in which to thread a pass and decimate a well-organized defense. (In a 2011 interview, Xavi outlined his thought process: “Think quickly, look for space … I’m always looking.”) With Iniesta at his side and their on-field telepathy in full effect, the rampant, all-conquering Barcelona side of the late 2000s will never be forgotten.

see the rest of the list – Top 40 Players of the Euro 2012

 

 

The schedule for Euro 2012.

Inside the Real Downton Abbey

With TV’s Downton Abbey filmed at her spectacular Highclere Castle home, Fiona Carnarvon, the eighth countess of Carnarvon, lives in the world’s most recognised stately pile – and shares it with a ghost or two.

When was Highclere built?
The first recorded building was in 749, but my husband’s family acquired the property in 1679. It’s been altered many times, but the last big redesign was in the 19th century. It’s now regarded as one of Britain’s most important Victorian castles.

How big is it?
Somewhere between 200 and 300 rooms – nobody seems to know exactly. There are also 1000 acres [400ha] of parkland and 5000 acres [2000ha] of farm and woodland.

 

keep reading – Inside the Real Downton Abbey

Euro 2012 – the World Cup for Europe – is on ESPN

If you’re interested in soccer/football then these games are for you. The level of play and passion is so similar to the World Cup you might not notice a difference.

All 31 games will be broadcast on ESPN, more than 200 hours, beginning Friday, June 8, through Sunday, July 1.

The schedule.

 

Euro 2012 being co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine got under way on Friday as European football’s showpiece international competition came behind the former Iron Curtain for the first time.

The month-long festival of football started with a 20-minute opening ceremony in front of a capacity 50,000 crowd at Warsaw’s National Stadium, combining music and dance celebrating the eastern European countries’ rich heritage.

Co-hosts Poland take on Greece, the surprise winners of the 2004 competition, in the first of 31 games at eight venues in the two countries, with the final in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, on July 1.

Hordes of colourful fans and half-naked female protestors descended on a rain-soaked Warsaw Friday ahead of the kick-off.

via Yahoo! Sports

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Vampire bones dug up in Bulgaria

Bulgarian archaeologists are showing off two centuries-old skeletons that they say were pinned down through their chests with iron rods to keep them from turning into vampires — a trend that was all the rage in medieval Europe.

The “vampire” skeletons were excavated recently near the Black Sea town of Sozopol, according to reports from The Associated Press and AFP. Bozhidar Dimitrov, head of Bulgaria’s National History Museum, was quoted as saying that corpses were regularly treated this way in some parts of the country until the beginning of the 20th century.

About 100 similar burials have been found in Bulgaria over the years.

Bulgarian archaeologist Petar Balabanov has found a number of nailed-down skeletons near the eastern town of Debelt, at gravesites dating as far back as the 1st century. According to custom, the bodies had to be pinned down just in case they tried to rise from the grave.

via MSNBC

 

Of the many explanations for this Vampire myth, the one I found most interesting is the plague. During which thousands of people were dying with no explanation, and that sounds an awful lot like all the vampire movies!

Even the symptom of the plague, the buboes, could look like some nasty bite…

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