EFF Raises Privacy Concern Over Online Search In Ubuntu 12.10

EFF Raises Privacy Concern Over Online Search In Ubuntu 12.10
How Nexus 10 Beats The iPad And Microsoft Surface
Disney Buys Lucasfilm, Promises More Star Wars
Research Pane Now In Google's Slides And Drawings
You Don't Have To Go To Art Galleries, Google Brings Hangout To Art Project

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 01:35 PM PDT

Ubuntu 12.10 met with some controversy before and after it's launch. Initially it was about the inclusion of Amazon Ads and privacy in the latest edition of Ubuntu. Now, EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation, has also raised concern around data leak and Amazon ads.

How Nexus 10 Beats The iPad And Microsoft Surface

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 04:00 AM PDT

First thing that people want to see is which one has better hardware. Here is the hardware spec comparison.

Disney Buys Lucasfilm, Promises More Star Wars

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 04:01 PM PDT

George Lucas is $4.05 billion richer after selling his100% owned, Lucasfilm to Disney who has promised to make a 7th Star Wars for release in 2015.

Lucas semi-retired in January 2012, wanting to focus on smaller, independently budgeted films. He said, "For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next. It's now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I've always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I'm confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come."

Lucasfilm was started by George in 1971 and made its name with the 'Star Wars' films with little oddities along the way, like, Twice Upon a Time, Latino, Radioland Murders and unfortuntaly, Howard the Duck. I wonder if Disney will try and reboot that irritating gem.

From the sound of the news release, Disney plan to exploit Lucasfilm's back catalogue to the hilt, "creates extensive opportunities for Disney to deliver the content (back catalogue) across its diverse portfolio of businesses including movies, television, consumer products, games and theme parks. The franchise provides a sustainable source of high quality, branded content with global appeal and is well suited for new business models including digital platforms, putting the acquisition in strong alignment with Disney's strategic priorities for continued long-term growth."

Lucasfilm will now find itself back in the stable with Pixar the company it created in 1979, gobbled up by Steve Jobs in 1986 and sold to Disney in 2006 for $7.4 billion, a transaction which made Jobs Disney's largest shareholder. George didn't foretell the future so well there.

Kathleen Kennedy, (a familar name on Spielberg movies) will move up to President of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. The present intent is for Lucasfilm employees to remain in their current locations.

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Star Wars

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Sci-Fi

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News

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Research Pane Now In Google's Slides And Drawings

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 03:49 PM PDT

The research pane in Google Docs is now available in Slides and Drawings, and searches now include your stuff in addition to web results.

Google Docs got the research pane a few months ago and it proved itself by making it easier to search for and add web results, images, quotations, maps, and articles to your document.

With the research pane, you can now quickly find and use your stuff: include part of a presentation stored in Drive, insert an image from your Picasa albums, or grab a quote from a friend's Google+ post. (Google Apps customers will only see web results in their research panes.)

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Google Docs

Source:

Google Blog

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Chrome

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News

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Google

You Don't Have To Go To Art Galleries, Google Brings Hangout To Art Project

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 01:50 PM PDT

Google's amazing Art Project, where the world's best art can be seen in impressive detail on your device/PC, has received a 'Compare' button and new Hangout app within the Art Project.

The 'Compare' button is on the left toolbar and lets you, 'examine two pieces of art side-by-side to look at how an artist's style evolved over time, connect trends across cultures or delve deeply into two parts of the same work.'

After you've created your own art collection/online gallery you can bore -excite-or lose- your friends with a private tour with the hangout app.

It's certainly a case of 'bringing art to the masses' without the sweaty tourists crowding you while you stand there trying to admire Cezanne's 'Bathers.' You can swan through art galleries of your choosing with the Virtual Gallery Tour which uses the same technology as Google Street View.

You can study all the brush strokes your heart desires with the Artwork View (Microscope View). Some of the museums partnered with the project now have guided tours or welcome videos of their galleries. The same as being at a real gallery, with an audio guide or following expert art guides on a video tour, but without the walking.

Teachers get to impress art upon their reluctant-excited-or apathetic- charges, with a smattering of educational tools and resources, like educational videos via a YouTube channel embedded on the Art Project's web page.

What's next for Google and their 360-degree camera? Going up the Eiffel Tower in the lift and running up a pyramid? Visit the worlds tourist attractions from the comfort of your home with Google Wonders. (I'm claiming ownership of this idea!)

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