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	<title>Tech &#187; Michelle Castillo &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>Tech &#187; Michelle Castillo &#124; TIME.com</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com</link>
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		<title>What&#8217;s Zynga Planning Next?</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/04/04/whats-zynga-planning-next/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/04/04/whats-zynga-planning-next/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:30:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Gaming & Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cityville]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Facebook games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farmville]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mobile games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zynga]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=74406</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Zynga has managed to capture the attention of 72 million active users, who obsessively play their simple, mindless games every day. Whether you want to be a farmer, mafia don or city planner, these games tap into a fantasy life that most users could never dream of leading.  For five minutes a day, Zynga users sneak time from their home and work lives to complete the seemingly mindless task of clicking rapidly on a few icons and dragging virtual items from one spot to another. That’s all part of Zynga’s business strategy. The start-up is valued at almost $10 billion dollars, and has become one of the most successful gaming companies of today, without ever having made a game for a console. While we can clearly see their success, little is really known about what Zynga is planning next. “Our goal is to create the best entertainment experience that has that right combination of social,” VP of Product Development at Zynga Mark Skaggs said to Techland about the company’s plans. “When we talk about social we mean playing together with friends. We’re continuing to evolve.” Zynga’s strategy, at least for digital games, seems to be this: Take what they know works from their popular games, reskin it with a different title, add a few new features and appeal to the same user base that likes their other titles. Skaggs says that Zynga has discovered that what people want is something simple and not time consuming that they can play while doing other tasks like talking on the phone. These players want a persistent space they can come back to that they can personalize through decorating. And, while in the beginning most of these games appealed to women who used these games to stay connected to friends, Skaggs says that the demographic for Zynga games is now equally spread between men and women ages 24 to 35 and 35 to 50. It seems to be working, especially with their latest title Cityville. The game has about 90 million active monthly users,<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=74406&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Gaming &amp; Culture</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/news/gaming-culture/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>What Went Viral This Week</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/04/01/what-went-viral-this-week-21/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/04/01/what-went-viral-this-week-21/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:00:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Gaming & Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[What Went Viral]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[What Went Viral This Week]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=74345</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[April 1 2011 - Funny or Die Becomes Friday or Die We so excited. Doggie Dentures This has got to be a joke, or I&#8217;m seriously starting to worry about people from the UK. Ikea Creates Hundstuol From the way that dog&#8217;s tail is wagging, he approves of this contraption. NYC Subway in 1986 Hey the screech is still the same! Hulu Goes Retro<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=74345&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Gaming &amp; Culture</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/apps-web/gaming-%c2%a0culture/</primary_category_link>
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		<item>
		<title>11 Google Pranks to Help Celebrate April Fools&#8217; Day</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/04/01/11-google-pranks-to-help-celebrate-april-fools-day/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/04/01/11-google-pranks-to-help-celebrate-april-fools-day/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:00:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews & Features]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[april fools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=74214</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If there&#8217;s anyone who loves April Fools&#8217; Day, it&#8217;s Google. The company has had a tradition of pulling pranks on their users whether it&#8217;s the first of April or not. From changing their name to honor a city in Kansas to playing with the font on our search results to introducing a free email account with a storage capacity of 1GB per user (oh wait, that one &#8212; Gmail &#8212; was real!), the folks at the search engine company sure like to trick the public. In honor of April Fools&#8217; Day, here are 11 of our favorite Google hoaxes.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=74214&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Lists</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/reviews-features/lists/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>AT&amp;T Defends T-Mobile Merger: It&#8217;s a Good Thing, Really!</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/04/01/att-defends-t-mobile-merger-its-a-good-thing-really/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/04/01/att-defends-t-mobile-merger-its-a-good-thing-really/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:30:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[AT&T]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[T-Mobile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AT&T T-Mobile Merger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wireless service providers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=74094</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In case you hadn&#8217;t heard, AT&#38;T and T-Mobile could soon become one. But what does that mean for the rest of us? All good news for AT&#38;T customers, says AT&#38;T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson, so, you know, take the following comments with a grain of salt. Stephenson says that if the merger is approved, the network will improve up to 30 percent in some of the biggest U.S. cities, including New York City where wireless service is sometimes so bad you might as well jump on the subway and wait to chat in person. Those exorbitant charges for overseas roaming will come down, too, thanks to the much larger combined worldwide network. And in an appeal to your charitable side, AT&#38;T’s merger will help with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission goal of making broadband widely available to everyone by offering the company’s Long-Term Evolution or LTE Technology to 46.5 million additional customers. Better service is great, but the real concern for most AT&#38;T customers (and frankly anyone who uses a cell phone) is how the merger would affect contract prices. Some parties are worried that by narrowing the competition floor to three companies, your monthly bill could skyrocket. Let&#8217;s give that a number: 80 percent of wireless cellular service would fall under AT&#38;T-Mobile (see what we did there?) and Verizon. No surprise then that Sprint&#8217;s been especially vocal in opposing the merger, saying &#8220;The transaction…would reverse nearly three decades of actions by the U.S. government and the courts that modernized and opened U.S. communications markets to competition. The wireless industry…could be undone by this transaction.” In response, AT&#38;T&#8217;s Stephenson argues that higher-bill phobia isn&#8217;t justified. When asked if there needed to be price restrictions in place for the merger to be approved by both the FCC and the Justice Department, Stephenson said “This is an intensely competitive industry&#8230; It is intense before we do this transaction, it will be intense after we do this transaction.” He also claims that over the last decade, prices fell on average 50 percent, despite five wireless provider<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=74094&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://techland.time.com/2011/04/01/att-defends-t-mobile-merger-its-a-good-thing-really/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>T-Mobile</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/companies-2/t-mobile/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>Video Game Tip Sheet: Top Spin 4</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/31/video-game-tip-sheet-top-spin-4/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/31/video-game-tip-sheet-top-spin-4/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:30:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Gaming & Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2K Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[playstation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tip Sheet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[xbox 360]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=74129</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Tennis fan? Video gamer? Home-exercise buff? You want 2K Games&#8217; Top Spin 4. Whether you&#8217;re squaring off against the computer or reaching for shots from a virtual pitcher, 2K&#8217;s pro-simulation gives you the most realistic tennis experience you&#8217;ll find off the clay, grass, or concrete. Check out Top Spin 4 associate producer Michael Kelly&#8217;s Techland pointers on how to perfect your game, and we&#8217;ll see you on the courts! Countering Your Shot When you receive a powerful shot from your opponent and don’t have enough time to press and hold long enough for a Power Shot, think Flat Control Shots. Flat Control Shots can be used as counter shot, and when you time them well against a powerful shot from your opponent, this can help you switch from defense to offense. Neutralize Your Opponent When you&#8217;re in trouble during a rally and your opponent seems to have the edge, try using deep top spin or slice Control Shots in the center of the court. These shots will prevent your opponent from finding challenging angles, giving you time to reposition and help you setup your next shot. Manage Your Fatigue Your fatigue increases when you need to run fast and when you play powerful shots. The impact of fatigue is slower movement and slower reaction time as well as less precise shots. If you want to exhaust your opponent and increase your chances of winning, use Control Shots instead of Power Shots. Take the Net Going to the net is critical for serve and volley players. One of the most efficient ways to get there is to play a slice shot followed to the net (RB + X) aimed at the side of the court. That&#8217;ll force your opponent to move far from the center, leaving the court wide open for your next volley. Aim for the Feet When your opponent is at the net and you can’t find an opening for a passing shot, aim for his feet with a top spin or slice Control Shot. This prevents your opponent from attacking and probably<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=74129&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Gaming &amp; Culture</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/news/gaming-culture/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Is This the Beginning of the End for QR?</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/31/is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-qr/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/31/is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-qr/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 31 Mar 2011 21:14:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Apps & Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gadgets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NFC]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=73970</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[QR, is already time to say goodbye? We hardly knew you! If Google’s recent actions are any indicator, then QR codes &#8212; those &#8220;Quick Read&#8221; matrix barcodes you see on websites, products, and posters &#8212; might be going the way of the dinosaur. Last week, all QR codes mysteriously vanished from the Google Places Dashboard. Must be a mistake, right? Nope. Apparently, removing the QR codes was all part of Google’s plan. “Users will no longer find unique QR codes in their Places accounts. We’re exploring new ways to enable customers to quickly and easily find information about local businesses from their mobile phones,” Google told Blumenthals. So, if they aren’t using QR, what will Google use instead? It seems that the company wants to test out Near Field Communications or NFC. Not only can NFC do what QR can, but the technology can also be used as a contactless card and transfer information from peer to peer. Instead of having to use your smartphone camera to read the QR barcode, persons with NFC-enabled devices just tap their phone against the target, and the information is transferred. Google believes so much in the NFC technology that they put a built-in NFC chip in their new Nexus, and have been testing the technology as a form of payment. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is also working with MasterCard and Citygroup to put NFC technology in their Android smartphones &#8212; so you can soon simply wave your phone to pay for that latte. Of course, some credit cards already have a contactless chip embedded in the plastic, rendering the need to swipe your card useless. But few people are aware that their card has this technology, and since you have to pull your card out of your wallet anyway, it&#8217;s somewhat pointless. NFC-technology on our phones means we won&#8217;t have to carry around our wallets &#8212; as an added bonus, it&#8217;s actually harder to steal your personal information from this technology than from the magnetic strip on your card.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=73970&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Apps &amp; Software</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/apps-web/apps-software/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>Just One More Year Until Digital Music Beats Physical CD Sales</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/31/just-one-more-year-until-digital-music-beats-physical-cd-sales/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/31/just-one-more-year-until-digital-music-beats-physical-cd-sales/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:30:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Gaming & Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[digital music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[music]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=73843</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Newsflash: Digital music sales will overtake CD sales in the US for the first time in 2012, according to a new study released by Strategy Analytics. I know what you&#8217;re thinking: Didn&#8217;t that already happen? Like, forever ago? Strange but true, CD sales are still the biggest moneymakers for the music industry. Until next year, when everything changes. Physical CD sales are expected to drop another 40 percent next year to $2.7 billion, while digital music&#8211;mostly sold through iTunes&#8211;will make an estimated $2.8 billion. Not that it&#8217;s any kind of net positive: The entire music industry&#8217;s expected to take a pretty substantial hit, dropping from $6.2 billion in overall 2010 sales to a humbler $5.5 billion next year. While downloading music nowadays seems more popular than going to the store and buying an album, b0th mediums have different revenue models, and the problem is digital music isn’t as profitable. Sure, digital offers more revenue streams, but when you buy a physical album, you&#8217;re paying $15 to $20 a pop. Digital downloaders, by contrast, tend to pick and chose the tracks they like. Instead of buying the entire album, they’ll fork over $2 to $3 for a few select songs. Put in plainer math: Singles make up 39 percent of downloads, while albums are only 32 percent of the whole pie. (Music sold through subscriber services like Zune Pass and free, ad-sponsored tunes comprise the remaining 29 percent.) That&#8217;s changed the way some record companies tabulate their sales. &#8220;We don’t focus anymore on total album sales or the sale of any one particular product as the metric of revenue or success,” Universal Music Group’s digital division executive vice president Rio Caraeff told the New York Times in 2008 (Caraeff&#8217;s now the president and CEO of VEVO). &#8221;We look at the total consolidated revenue from dozens of revenue lines behind a given artist or project, which include digital sales, the physical business, mobile sales, and licensing income.” Curiously, the same article quotes an analyst who claims that digital music revenue will never replace the money generated by CD sales&#8211;not<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=73843&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Gaming &amp; Culture</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/apps-web/gaming-%c2%a0culture/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>Beware: Virus-Eating Virus Discovered in Antarctica</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/30/beware-virus-eating-virus-discovered-in-antarctica/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/30/beware-virus-eating-virus-discovered-in-antarctica/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:06:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=73744</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While scientists labor to find a cure for AIDS, the common cold, and other viruses, researchers in Antarctica have unearthed a life form capable of defeating our most infectious foes. And&#8211;surprise!&#8211;it&#8217;s another virus. No really&#8211;it&#8217;s not the pitch for some direct-to-video cheesy sci-fi movie. The virus, dubbed &#8220;Organic Lake Virophage&#8221; or OLV, was discovered in the Organic Lake, a 6,000-year-old body of saltwater in eastern Antarctica. Researchers found its genome hidden in sequences of local Phycodnaviruses&#8211;giant viruses that basically live in the lake and attack algae. Evidence suggests these two viruses have been swapping genes and co-evolving, and it looks like the OLV actually depends on the Phycodnaviruses for, well, its dinner. What&#8217;s more, although the OLV turns out to be the predominant virophage in the area, scientists believe there may be other virus-eating viruses lurking in the depths. The good news? Though the notion of a killer life form that cannibalizes members of its own family sounds at best unnerving, the OLV actually helps the ecosystem by making sure there&#8217;s enough algae for other critters to eat. If the Phycodnaviruses had their way, they&#8217;d consume all the green moss, starving others along the food chain. The first virophage, Sputnick, was only just discovered in 2008, and scientists have been looking for another large-scale discovery to confirm their findings. The hope is that these living organisms might hold the key to defeating the viruses that attack our own immune systems. (via Nature)<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=73744&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>News</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/news/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>Artist Transforms Video Game Stills Into Photographic Art</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/30/artist-transforms-video-game-stills-into-photographic-art/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/30/artist-transforms-video-game-stills-into-photographic-art/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:28:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Gaming & Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[photography]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video Games]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=73734</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We at Techland hold firmly that video game designers are some of today&#8217;s best artists. But we also realize that mainstream art snobs sometimes dismiss the genre as not real art. That&#8217;s why we love the work of Thibault Brunet, a photographer who&#8217;s capturing and retouching screenshots to capture the landscapes and portraits found in today&#8217;s top games. His latest works can be found in the Aperture Foundation&#8217;s new book, Regeneration 2: Tomorrows Photographers Today. The gallery also features a sampling of Brunet&#8217;s works from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in 2008. The pieces were matted and framed like traditional art photography, challenging preconceived notions of photographic art. Brunet said walks through virtual universes inspired his work, and that he explored the spaces he believed most players ignored because they weren&#8217;t crucial to game play, say the outskirts of player-vs-player maps and industrialized zones. “These games are inspired by American popular, historical and political culture,&#8221; he told TIME Lightbox. &#8220;They involve getting through missions&#8211;murder, blackmail, theft and escape, enemy liquidation, bombing or even the occupation of territories such as Afghanistan. I chose to explore these games against the natural will of my avatars, the one that the usual player would use. I chose to do it as a photographer.” To see more of his art, head over to TIME Lightbox. More on TIME.com: L.A. Noire Becomes First Video Game Ever Featured at Tribeca Film Festival From OK Go to Google: Syyn Labs&#8217; Rube Goldberg Machines Instaprint Instaprints Your Instaparty Instagrams Instantly<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=73734&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Gaming &amp; Culture</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/apps-web/gaming-%c2%a0culture/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>Location Based Music is Finally Here</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/29/location-based-music-is-finally-here/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/29/location-based-music-is-finally-here/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 30 Mar 2011 01:30:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Apps & Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gadgets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gaming & Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iphone apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[location based]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[music]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=73534</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Get ready to experience the National Mall like you’ve never heard it before. Bluebrain, two experimental musicians based out of D.C., have created a location based album that actually syncs with the sights at the famous D.C. landmark. How does &#8220;The National Mall&#8221; album work? The two brothers behind Bluebrain created an app that uses a listener’s position, determined with the device&#8217;s built-in GPS, to choose what composition to play. Areas of the Mall have been tagged with a specific melody, so as you visit each zone, you’ll hear the music the composers picked for that location. It also means that each time you change up your walking path, you’ll get a new experience. “It is truly the first location-aware album in the sense that it is a work of authored music-different melodies, different rhythms, different instrumentation, and different songs entirely are to be heard at their designated locations,” Bluebrain explained on their website. The site-specific album will be released later this spring for the iPhone, Android, and iPad (in that order). They hope to expand the project and create pieces for Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York and Highway 1, known as the Pacific Coast Highway, in California. While this might arguably be the first location based site-specific album, this isn’t music’s first foray into the location based realm. Apps like SoundTracking allow you to tag an area with the song you&#8217;re listening to at any moment, along with a picture and comment. That info gets posted on the SoundTracking site as well as other social media services, and visitors can opt to listen to a 30-second sample of the song and comment on your experience. Spotisquare lets premium Spotify account holders create a community playlist for a specific venue. And take Soundtrckr, easily one of our favorites, which creates local digital mix tapes out of songs that users select for a given place. It works like an Internet radio station instead of a streaming playlist, which helps ensure that everyone is experiencing the same music at the same time. You<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=73534&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Gaming &amp; Culture</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/apps-web/gaming-%c2%a0culture/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>Creepy Crawlers Show Robot Researchers How To Get Around</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/28/creepy-crawlers-show-robot-researchers-how-to-get-around/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/28/creepy-crawlers-show-robot-researchers-how-to-get-around/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Mar 2011 03:35:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Accessories & Peripherals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gadgets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[robots]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=73319</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Scientists are now studying the walking patterns of spiders, crabs and other invertebrates to figure out how to control motion in robots. Invertebrates&#8217; neural systems, which govern how they move, are relatively basic &#8212; which makes them the ideal study subject. Researchers figured out that rhythmic impulses known as central pattern generators (CPGs) let the entity continue doing repetitive tasks like chewing or walking. Once the entity &#8212; let&#8217;s call him Spidey &#8212; knows that it has to get moving, the circuit-like CPGs kick in and keep it going. CPGs can then be linked together via neural impulses to create more complex actions, much like Spidey&#8217;s individual leg segments work in concert to clamber onto your face while you&#8217;re asleep at night. So, having discovered this nifty fact, researchers are taking the next obvious step and using it in robots. Instead of having to program the robot so that an entire limb is coordinated, controller mini-CPGs can be placed on each joint and then linked via electronic messages. &#8221;You can concentrate first on each part of each leg, and design a controller mini-CPG for the ankle, for the knee, the hip and so on,&#8221; researcher Fernando Herrero said to the BBC. &#8220;Then, you connect them in such a way that you get a leg-CPG, that is, the ankle, knee and hips mechanism act co-ordinately.&#8221; Researchers have already put this knowledge to use inside the control systems of a segmented robot worm, and one suspects that Dune-like sandworms are only a matter of time. &#8220;The key is to combine the right set of bio-inspired strategies with human engineering approaches to build a new generation of more autonomous robots,&#8221; Herrero explained. Yeah, that&#8217;s not creepy at all. So, stop doing the robot. Instead, you should brush up on your crab walk or spider shuffle. [via BBC]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=73319&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Accessories &amp; Peripherals</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/gadgets/accessories-peripherals/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>&#8220;Farmville&#8221; Enters the &#8220;English Countryside&#8221; to Entice Old Players to Return</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/28/farmville-enters-the-english-countryside-to-entice-old-players-to-return/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/28/farmville-enters-the-english-countryside-to-entice-old-players-to-return/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:30:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gaming & Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farmville]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Gaming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zynga]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=73216</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What’s better than having one farm on Farmville? Having two farms –- and subsequently no social life –- of course! Last week, Zynga slowly rolled out Farmville English Countryside, the biggest expansion to Farmville since the launch of the game. English Countryside gives players level 20 and above an additional farm to tend to. “We’re hoping to get players who used to play Farmville back into the game,” Farmville general manager Todd Arnold told Techland. “It’s really something to keep our best fans engaged. They’ve been waiting for something big.” Let&#8217;s be clear: This is not a separate entity, but an expansion of the original game. In the English Countryside, you have unique items like a sheep pen and new crops including barley and hops to work with. The game addition also integrates features used in newer Zynga games like Cityville. You’ll finally get a coherent storyline, which is something Farmville has always been missing, and in-game missions. By now, if you’re a hardcore farmer, you’ve probably zipped through the mini-goals and are on your second farm in England. However, the majority of players are still fixing their zeppelin to the U.K.  Arnold estimates it will take most players a couple of weeks before they’ll touch English soil. “We need to do that to make sure we aren’t releasing a buggy experience,” he explains. “When you have a user base daily of 14 million people playing the game, you have to roll it out in a controlled fashion.” Okay, but what’s the real reason Zynga doesn’t want to make it that easy to get to the English Countryside? It’s all part of their master plan to get old players who have abandoned their farms back on the plow. Getting to the England involves a lot of additional help from other gamers, and Zynga is hoping that if you annoy your friends who have fallen by the wayside to help you on your U.K. mission they’ll get suckered into playing the game again. In fact, it’s impossible to play the new<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=73216&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>10</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Gaming &amp; Culture</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/news/gaming-culture/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>What Went Viral This Week</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/25/what-went-viral-this-week-20/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/25/what-went-viral-this-week-20/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:50:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family guy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[What Went Viral]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[What Went Viral This Week]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=72990</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[March 25, 2011 &#8211; Milton&#8217;s Not A Fan Not all dogs want to go out on a W-A-L-K. Dating Site Murderer For the record, I do not fear the number 4. Also, seriously, who among you asked why hispanic people speak spanish? [via Buzzfeed] The Simpsons and Family Guy are &#8220;Sharing Jokes&#8221; circa 2002 vs. circa 2011 Conspiracy theory anyone? [via Warming Glow] Duke Nukem Delayed&#8230; Again How about instead of making this Youtube video, Gearbox, you release the game? [via Techland] Dimitri Finds Out Today is Friday This might be my favorite one, right after Dimitri&#8217;s reaction to Mass Effect 3. Maybe Your Roommate Isn&#8217;t Stealing Your Food And, he forgot to close the door!?<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=72990&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>News</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/news/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">490DatingSiteMurderer</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">490Google</media:title>
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		<title>Zynga Poker Hacker Gets Two Years in Jail</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/25/zynga-poker-hacker-gets-two-years-in-jail/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/25/zynga-poker-hacker-gets-two-years-in-jail/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Mar 2011 11:05:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Gaming & Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hacker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zynga]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=72744</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A 29-year-old former UK council accounts clerk was just sentenced to two years in prison, plus a 30-week suspended sentence. His crime? Impersonating two employees, Ashley Mitchell repeatedly hacked into Zynga&#8217;s database and transferred more than $12 million worth of in-game currency to his own accounts. He then went on the Zynga black market&#8211;that&#8217;s right, it exists&#8211;and sold some of the 400 billion virtual gaming chips he stole. Mitchell could have become a millionaire, cinching a sordid tale worthy of a Lifetime made-for-TV drama. Instead, he only finagled $85,870 before he was caught. His over $1600 a day gambling outlay didn&#8217;t help, and much of the money he made off Zynga went to feed his online habit. Zynga first noticed that vast quantities of chips were going missing in August 2009, but at some point Mitchell must have been looking for fast cash, because he slipped up and logged in using his real Facebook account (oops) and used an unsecured wireless connection from his neighbor (double oops) to hack into the Zynga mainframe. With his fingerprints everywhere and traceable, Zynga and the authorities quickly found him. Mitchell&#8217;s defense attorney Ben Darby claims that the two-year sentence was too harsh. After all, he said, it&#8217;s not like Zynga poker chips are real money. There&#8217;s no way to quantify how much virtual money is really worth, Darby argued, but the judge wasn&#8217;t persuaded. Not only does the Zynga let players pay real money to load up on poker chips, Mitchell made actual cash off his scam. It could be worse. Imagine if he was off to the big house for pulling a Farmville Farm Cash scam. Or, more embarrassingly, if he was going to jail because he tried to sell YoVille Cash to the handful of Zynga minions still playing that one.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=72744&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/25/zynga-poker-hacker-gets-two-years-in-jail/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Gaming &amp; Culture</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/news/gaming-culture/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>Spammers Like &#8220;Use Facebook as Page&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/24/spammers-like-use-facebook-as-page/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/24/spammers-like-use-facebook-as-page/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Mar 2011 03:58:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Networking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=72638</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Do you &#8220;like&#8221; things on Facebook? Spammers like things, too, and they&#8217;re using Facebook&#8217;s &#8220;Like&#8221; function to put their obnoxious schemes and shameless missives everywhere. Facebook assumed they were doing Facebook Page administrators a favor when they added the option to “Use Facebook as Page.” This meant that customized Facebook pages could Like, post, and comment around the site just as regular profile users do. It didn&#8217;t take long for spammers to realizes by using their page as a profile and &#8220;Liking&#8221; others&#8217; pages, they could spread their message and elude the Facebook police. It works like this: If you Like a post on someone&#8217;s Facebook page, your user name automatically links back to your page or profile. While you can ban users for posting spam on your wall and delete the offending posts or comments, you can&#8217;t automatically banish someone for Liking one of your posts on your profile or page. You can’t even unlike their Like. You have to report the user as a spambot, then wait for Facebook’s administrators to deal with them. Not that we&#8217;re encouraging anyone, but there&#8217;s another method to use Like spam. ReadWriteWeb showed how easy it is to create your own Like button for your Facebook page that surreptitiously causes the user to Like another page they&#8217;ve never visited. University of Michigan computer science Ph.D. candidate Arnab Nandi explained that by tricking someone into Liking a page, you automatically place a link to the other page in that user’s Newsfeed. Since the average Facebook user has about 130 friends, the spammer’s message reaches a fair lot of people without minimal effort. Even worse, since it looks like the original poster approved of the spammer&#8217;s venture through their Like, their friends are more likely (no pun intended, really) to check it out. Facebook recently added new spam prevention measures like hiding posts with suspicious links and turning the text in questionable posts grey so that page administrators can quickly identify problems. But since the two Like spam methods above are relatively new, it&#8217;s carte blanche for enterprising &#8220;Like&#8221; spammers. We’re pretty sure Facebook&#8217;s working on a<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=72638&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Social Networking</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/apps-web/social-networking-apps-web/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>A Solar-Powered iPhone? Maybe!</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/24/solar-powered-smartphones-soon-to-become-reality/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/24/solar-powered-smartphones-soon-to-become-reality/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2011 23:58:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Gadgets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smartphones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Solar Power]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=72350</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I know you&#8217;ve all been sitting around today, wondering just when your smartphone might be able to use solar energy to remain charged. Well, wonder no more! That sun-powered technology is finally here. Sort of. Wysips unveiled their solar powered cell phone charger at CTIA Wireless 2011 a couple of days ago. The solar panel is made out of a thin photovoltaic film. You place the clear charger on top of smartphone’s screen, and ta-da, you’re good to go. Don&#8217;t worry, because the transparent solar panel is less than 0.1 millimeters thick, it won’t interfere with any of your touchscreen functions, or dim the LCD, or even muddle up glasses-free 3D screens. The best part about the see-through solar panel? It can use any type of light to charge your phone, and it only requires six hours of sunlight for your phone to be fully charged. Wysips claims that their next generation panels will provide 30 minutes of talk time for every hour of full sunlight. The company is talking to Corning, the manufacturers of the Gorilla Glass used on the iPhone 4, and hopes to embed solar-charging film into the smartphone’s glass in the near future. They’re also working on adapting their environmentally friendly solar chargers for different types of phones, tablets and eBook readers. We should see a retail product for the smartphone within the next 12 months.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=72350&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Smartphones</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/gadgets/smartphones/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>Yes, Your Cell Phone Reception is Getting Worse</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/23/yes-your-cell-phone-reception-is-getting-worse/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/23/yes-your-cell-phone-reception-is-getting-worse/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Mar 2011 23:00:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Gadgets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smartphones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cell phone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[study]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=72124</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Do you feel like your calls are dropping more frequently or more of your calls are not connecting? Don&#8217;t throw your cell phone on the ground in frustration and start cursing the phone&#8217;s poorly manufactured antenna. Studies are showing that your reception &#8212; not your equipment &#8212; may be the problem. According to consumer ratings firm J.D. Power and Associates, the quality of wireless phone calls has become worse over the last six months. Overall cell phone call clarity and connection reached its best levels in 2009. Sadly, it hasn&#8217;t improved since then. Who is having the most problems? Smartphone users. They&#8217;re more likely to complain about call quality over other wireless phone owners. J.D. Power and Associates said that part of what’s lowering the average quality of wireless calls is that people are using their cell phones at home in lieu owning a landline. Calls placed or received indoors are traditionally less clear because the signal has to travel through walls and windows. More people reporting they have bad reception because they&#8217;re trying to use their phones from inside a building. Then again, Consumer Reports did name AT&#38;T the worst service provider this past year. Hey J.D. Power and Associates, is there a chance that the cell phone service providers, not the consumers, are to blame? It&#8217;s been reported that networks can&#8217;t handle the influx of people who are growing increasingly dependent on their cell phones. What is worst city to make or get a phone call? Washington D.C. wins this losers’ race. Eighteen out of every 100 calls had problems. What is the best city to use a cell phone? Only six percent of all calls in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati had service issues. [via NY Times]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=72124&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/23/yes-your-cell-phone-reception-is-getting-worse/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Smartphones</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/gadgets/smartphones/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>Senators to App Stores: Get Rid of Pro-Drunk Driving Apps!</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/23/senators-to-app-stores-get-rid-of-pro-drunk-driving-apps/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/23/senators-to-app-stores-get-rid-of-pro-drunk-driving-apps/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:43:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Apps & Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gadgets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[legal]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=72400</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Four U.S. senators are asking Apple, Google, Research in Motion and BlackBerry App World to stop selling apps that the senators believe encourage drunk driving. Though no apps were named specifically, U.S. Senators Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) wrote that they were concerned about programs that alerted drivers to the location of DUI checkpoints in their vicinity. &#8220;Police officers from across the country have voiced concern about these products, with one police captain saying, &#8216;If people are going to use those, what other purpose are they going to use them for except to drink and drive?&#8217;&#8221; the senators wrote in a letter to the companies. &#8220;With a person dying every 50 minutes in a drunk-driving crash, this technology should not be promoted to your customers&#8211;in fact, it shouldn&#8217;t even be available.&#8221; The apps in question include programs like Checkpointer by Ace Baron, which updates users about the location of DUI or DWI checkpoints daily. Other apps like Fuzz Alert Pro by Fuzz Alert tell people about speed traps, red light cameras and DUI/DWI check points in their area. In Checkpointer&#8217;s product description, they pointed out that their app might prevent people from drinking and driving if they know there is a high possibility they could get caught on the way home, but the senators aren’t buying it. They are more concerned that people are using these apps to find a route home that won&#8217;t slap them with a DUI or DWI. So far, only Research in Motion has responded by saying they will remove the apps from their store. The App Store did change its guidelines in September to block any apps that &#8220;encourage excessive consumption of alcohol or illegal substances, or encourage minors to consume alcohol or smoke cigarettes.&#8221; Technically, these apps aren&#8217;t telling their subjects to go have a drink and drive home, but they are making it easier for them to do so. It will be interesting to see how Apple and the other companies rule on this issue and other recent cases<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=72400&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/23/senators-to-app-stores-get-rid-of-pro-drunk-driving-apps/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Apps &amp; Software</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/apps-web/apps-software/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>Yelp Makes &#8220;Hipster&#8221; a Category to Describe Ambience</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/23/yelp-makes-hipster-a-category-to-describe-ambience/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/23/yelp-makes-hipster-a-category-to-describe-ambience/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:10:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yelp]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=72197</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Are you searching for that rare can of Pabst Blue Ribbon? Do you need a restaurant that has a place to chain up your fixie bike? Does your definition of “business attire&#8221; include a pair of rolled up skinny jeans and a flannel shirt? You can now find a restaurant that caters to your eclectic taste. Yelp has added “hipster” as one of the descriptions in their ambience category. In addition to describing a place as “dive-y” or “romantic,” you can now say that establishment is perfect for barely employed 20-somethings who think they are too cool to eat at your business. So, what exactly is a hipster restaurant? Let’s look at some of the reviews about Roberta’s, a so-called hipster pizza joint in between Bushwick and East Williamsburg in Brooklyn. We’ll let you adjust your gigantic black plastic frame glasses so you can read these better. (Copied verbatim from the Yelp page for the business. Don’t blame us for the errors.): “For me, the atmosphere give a sense of child-like playfulness. Perhaps it&#8217;s the toy truck parked atop of the shelf on the wall, or is it the absurd presence of all the christmas lights loosely dangling against the roof column?” – Jim K. “The staff are a mixed bag. The girl with the ironic heart tattooed on her sleeve is great, others are inept on their best days.” – Chrstoff F. “&#8217;Its definitely a scene. I haven&#8217;t had so many people look me up and down in a long time,” – Lindsay D. “But most importantly since I am a burgeoning scotch fiend, they had Balvenie.  Which, if you are only going to have one scotch, is a great choice because it&#8217;s excellent for it&#8217;s price range.  And is pretty non typical. Which like bumped them from 3 stars to 4.” – Shibbie I. “It&#8217;s the kind of place where you&#8217;ll spot something unusual on the menu, and the hipster-waiter will say, &#8216;Oh, it&#8217;s nothing, it&#8217;s just, um, I think it&#8217;s some cured meat from Spain that&#8217;s been around<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=72197&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>News</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/news/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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		<title>(BONUS) Joint Venture 203: The Venture Bros. from the Very Beginning</title>
		<link>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/21/bonus-joint-venture-203-the-venture-bros-from-the-very-beginning/</link>
		<comments>http://techland.time.com/2011/03/21/bonus-joint-venture-203-the-venture-bros-from-the-very-beginning/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Mar 2011 03:15:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Castillo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Gaming & Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[adult swim]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Venture Bros.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tv]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Venture Bros]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://techland.time.com/?p=72049</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here at Techland, only one television program manages to tie into so many of our geeky obsessions all at once. Superheroes, mythical creatures, action figures and barely believeable sci-fi all flop onto each other on the glorious cavalcade that is The Venture Bros. Cartoon Network&#8217;s just started airing the series from the start and Techland&#8217;s Hive Mind is taking the occasion to re-watch the exploits of Hank, Dean, Brock and Dr. Thaddeus Venture. Join us as we witness how Venture Bros. evolved over its four stellar seasons. [Programming note: Anyone who's been actually watching the Venture Bros. re-runs has noticed by now that they're not showing the series in order. Rather than jump around like that, this Joint Venture feature's going to keep going on in series order. This is because we love you, dear reader.] This week, Evan Narcisse, Michelle Castillo and Graeme McMillan talk about Season 2/Episode 3: &#8220;Assassinanny 911&#8220; GRAEME: If there is a better moment in all of the Venture Bros. than Dean thinking that Hank’s erection is because his pants are haunted by native Americans who’ve set up a teepee in there, I really don’t know what it could be. It’s such a great collision of innocence, the real world and the awkward space in between that this show occupies, I love it. EVAN: The thing I love about Molotov is that she totally crosses the line of faux innocence that surrounds the show’s main concept. If we look at VB as an analogue to Jonny Quest, then she’s the one kind of character that wasn’t really prevalent on that show. (Yes, Race had his counterpart/love interest Jezebel Jade, but the tension there was mid at best.) With Molotov, it’s like the Baronness from G.I. Joe showed up on Jonny Quest and proceeded to act just as she would in her own, slightly more effed-up milieu. Speaking of G.I. Joe, this episode only teases what will become amajor subplot in the series, that being the transformation of OSI and Brock’s relationship with them and Col. Gathers. MICHELLE: Molotov is one of<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=techland.time.com&#038;blog=5290478&#038;post=72049&#038;subd=timenerdworld&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Gaming &amp; Culture</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://techland.time.com/category/apps-web/gaming-%c2%a0culture/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">mishscastillo</media:title>
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