4:55 PM
UC-SD geneticist estimates that genetics determines between 1/3 and 1/2 of the variation in our political attitudes and also the political parties we tend to support. In other words, there are genes that make people more likely to be liberal, conservative, or join a party such as the Tea Party:
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/mar/01/uc-san-diego-genes-can-influence-how-you-vote/
Wal-Mart will open its first grocery store in San Diego, at the location that used to have the San Diego Farmers Market. Wal-Mart is making a big push for grocery stores in California, including the grocery store they want to open in Chinatown in LA:
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/feb/29/walmart-plans-smaller-sd-store/
Sprint launched a free Android app for customers who are blind or have low vision. The full suite of Mobile Accessibility features was specifically designed for people who are blind or visually impaired and for elderly people or those who cannot read print on smartphones. The app costs $99 on the Android Market, but is free for Sprint customers with Android smartphones and fairly standard data plans:
http://newsroom.sprint.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=2194
It appears that the early reviews of Windows 8 are fairly positive, as everybody tries to figure out what they think about the Windows 8 Consumer Preview edition that was released yesterday:
http://www.infoworld.com/t/cringely/microsoft-takes-leap-of-faith-windows-8-187666?
This mobile phone charger seems perfect for campers, aid workers, military users, and others--it converts water (it just needs 1 spoonful of fresh water or sea water) into electricity to charge a mobile phone. They point out that people have to have water to survive anyway and 1 spoonful won't be a big burden on users:
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-mobile-battery.html
Widespread industry support will result in 802.11ac products will hit the market much faster with a much greater range of products than 802.11n has. 802.11ac avoided the long debate that 11n had over the standard, and 802.11ac has an advantage of using only the 5 GHz band that provides much greater bandwidth than the 2.4 GHz that most WiFi systems use today:
http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/80211ac-ready-scream-marketplace/2012-02-28
AT&T customers on "unlimited" data plans will be throttled back to 2G speeds in any month after they use 3GB of data with a 3G device or 5GB of data with an LTE device. AT&T's unlimited data plans do not promise unlimited data *at high speeds*, so they are technically not violating their agreement to provide unlimited data. It should be noted that AT&T has claimed that their HSPA+ network was "4G" in advertisements and throughout their website since 2010...but now they say that all HSPA+ devices are 3G devices:
http://www.androidcentral.com/3-new-unlimited-says-att-they-officially-change-unlimited-data-plans
Wireless providers received $14 bil less last year in text-messaging revenue even though far more text messages were sent last year, as people have been increasingly using apps that let them send texts over cell phone data networks (iMessage, BlackBerry Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber Media, Facebook Messenger, Kakao Talk, etc.). They still earned $153 bil last year for text messaging plans, so we shouldn't feel too badly for the wireless providers. Personally I use my Google Voice number for all text messaging (free and works great with my phone), so if you wish to send me a text you can email me for the 619 area code number I have from Google Voice if you don't have it already:
http://news.yahoo.com/telecoms-groups-fight-back-against-free-messaging-123301407.html
Lawn mower racing is a popular sport in England, but Finland has come up with an interesting variation--lawn mower racing *on ice*. The team from Estonia beat out the teams from Luxembourg and England in the 3-hour race:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/28/lawn-mower-ice-racing-finland_n_1307740.html?ref=weird-news
Free quart of paint from Ace Hardware on Saturday his this coupon from Ace:
http://facebook.acehardware.com/SoulPaint/images/coupon_03.03.12.jpg
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/mar/01/uc-san-diego-genes-can-influence-how-you-vote/
Wal-Mart will open its first grocery store in San Diego, at the location that used to have the San Diego Farmers Market. Wal-Mart is making a big push for grocery stores in California, including the grocery store they want to open in Chinatown in LA:
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/feb/29/walmart-plans-smaller-sd-store/
Sprint launched a free Android app for customers who are blind or have low vision. The full suite of Mobile Accessibility features was specifically designed for people who are blind or visually impaired and for elderly people or those who cannot read print on smartphones. The app costs $99 on the Android Market, but is free for Sprint customers with Android smartphones and fairly standard data plans:
http://newsroom.sprint.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=2194
It appears that the early reviews of Windows 8 are fairly positive, as everybody tries to figure out what they think about the Windows 8 Consumer Preview edition that was released yesterday:
http://www.infoworld.com/t/cringely/microsoft-takes-leap-of-faith-windows-8-187666?
This mobile phone charger seems perfect for campers, aid workers, military users, and others--it converts water (it just needs 1 spoonful of fresh water or sea water) into electricity to charge a mobile phone. They point out that people have to have water to survive anyway and 1 spoonful won't be a big burden on users:
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-mobile-battery.html
Widespread industry support will result in 802.11ac products will hit the market much faster with a much greater range of products than 802.11n has. 802.11ac avoided the long debate that 11n had over the standard, and 802.11ac has an advantage of using only the 5 GHz band that provides much greater bandwidth than the 2.4 GHz that most WiFi systems use today:
http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/80211ac-ready-scream-marketplace/2012-02-28
AT&T customers on "unlimited" data plans will be throttled back to 2G speeds in any month after they use 3GB of data with a 3G device or 5GB of data with an LTE device. AT&T's unlimited data plans do not promise unlimited data *at high speeds*, so they are technically not violating their agreement to provide unlimited data. It should be noted that AT&T has claimed that their HSPA+ network was "4G" in advertisements and throughout their website since 2010...but now they say that all HSPA+ devices are 3G devices:
http://www.androidcentral.com/3-new-unlimited-says-att-they-officially-change-unlimited-data-plans
Wireless providers received $14 bil less last year in text-messaging revenue even though far more text messages were sent last year, as people have been increasingly using apps that let them send texts over cell phone data networks (iMessage, BlackBerry Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber Media, Facebook Messenger, Kakao Talk, etc.). They still earned $153 bil last year for text messaging plans, so we shouldn't feel too badly for the wireless providers. Personally I use my Google Voice number for all text messaging (free and works great with my phone), so if you wish to send me a text you can email me for the 619 area code number I have from Google Voice if you don't have it already:
http://news.yahoo.com/telecoms-groups-fight-back-against-free-messaging-123301407.html
Lawn mower racing is a popular sport in England, but Finland has come up with an interesting variation--lawn mower racing *on ice*. The team from Estonia beat out the teams from Luxembourg and England in the 3-hour race:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/28/lawn-mower-ice-racing-finland_n_1307740.html?ref=weird-news
Free quart of paint from Ace Hardware on Saturday his this coupon from Ace:
http://facebook.acehardware.com/SoulPaint/images/coupon_03.03.12.jpg
