.::REALITYRECALL::.

Japan suffered a massive earthquake last night, measuring nearly magnitude 9. This is one of the largest quakes in its history, causing widespread and severe da

The photos and footage of the disaster are chilling enough—but sometimes letting ourselves be in awe of nature is even more powerful. This tsunami projection from NOAA shows the quake’s predicted energy launching through the very planet itself. More »

The Pwn2Own competition just wrapped up at the CanSecWest security conference, and Google emerged as the ultimate victor. Not only was Google Chrome the only browser that could stand up to a hacker’s might, but Android was also the only smartphone to absorb the beating those brainiacs tried to give it.

I used the tag “irony” on this post due to the huge Droid Dream scare that had everyone and their pet dragonflies questioning Android’s security. We’re not sure what methods to try and crack Android were used and we’re not clear on the details of how a hacker can go about their business. (We’re also not sure which platform they hacked – Droid Dream was ineffective against devices running Android 2.3+.)

Android’s supposed strong security hasn’t exactly translated to a clean end-user experience with dozens of applications both outside and inside of the market able to execute malicious code on a handset. Although Google has a damage control feature they elect to employ in situations like that, the malicious code has to be found and reported before they usually take action.

Google is said to be making even more changes to ensure outbreaks like this don’t happen. (Or to make sure they can’t affect anyone.) We’ve already seen this in security updates to Android 2.3 – those with that version of Android were not at all vulnerable to Droid Dream. Let’s hope they make some changes to how they handle the market to ensure security remains the least of our concerns regardless of which platform version we’re on. [IBTimes via Android Community]

The Pwn2Own competition just wrapped up at the CanSecWest security conference, and Google emerged as the ultimate victor. Not only was Google Chrome the only browser that could stand up to a hacker’s might, but Android was also the only smartphone to absorb the beating those brainiacs tried to give it.

I used the tag “irony” on this post due to the huge Droid Dream scare that had everyone and their pet dragonflies questioning Android’s security. We’re not sure what methods to try and crack Android were used and we’re not clear on the details of how a hacker can go about their business. (We’re also not sure which platform they hacked – Droid Dream was ineffective against devices running Android 2.3+.)

Android’s supposed strong security hasn’t exactly translated to a clean end-user experience with dozens of applications both outside and inside of the market able to execute malicious code on a handset. Although Google has a damage control feature they elect to employ in situations like that, the malicious code has to be found and reported before they usually take action.

Google is said to be making even more changes to ensure outbreaks like this don’t happen. (Or to make sure they can’t affect anyone.) We’ve already seen this in security updates to Android 2.3 – those with that version of Android were not at all vulnerable to Droid Dream. Let’s hope they make some changes to how they handle the market to ensure security remains the least of our concerns regardless of which platform version we’re on. [IBTimes via Android Community]

At 2:46 p.m, Tokyo time, an 8.9 magnitude earthquake off the northeast coast of Japan sent a powerful wall of water inland, destroying coastal towns and property. More »

The Saskatchewan government has decided not to hold a province-wide vote on whether to change the clocks each spring and fall.

The Dalai Lama said Thursday that he will give up his political role in Tibet’s government-in-exile, shifting that power to an elected representative.

Major NHL sponsor Air Canada threatened to withdraw its sponsorship unless the league moves to impose sanctions to reduce potential serious injuries such as the one that Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty suffered this week.

Do you have a go-to restaurant you love – a place where everybody knows your name? If you’ve been checking in there from Google Latitude in Google Maps for Android, we want to help you get a little extra love right back. After launching check-ins for Latitude last month, today we’re rolling out our first check-in offers at more than 60 great places in Austin, Texas.

Checking in from Google Latitude lets you easily share the places you go with friends, and you can even choose to get check-in notifications or automatically check in to make it even easier. In addition to sharing places, you can also gain status as a “Regular”, “VIP”, or “Guru” at places depending on how often you’ve checked in there. You can even see your progress along the way by tapping your current status. I’ve been checking in almost everywhere I go, and after a steady stream of caffeination at my favorite coffee shop, I’m proud to be a Guru there!

From the Place page, find available check-in offers (left); tap your status to see where you stand and find your check-in history (right).

In addition to pride, you can now unlock check-in offers that places have created for your status level. So, a restaurant or shop can give their Regulars a reason to keep coming back and their Gurus an awesome reward for their loyalty. Check-in offers can be as creative as places want for any of the three status levels. You can find places where check-in offers are available in Google Maps for Android search results and Place pages.

See if a place has check-in offers available in your Google Maps for Android search results.

You’ll be able to see both available and locked check-in offers. And once you gain status and unlock a check-in offer, just tap Redeem and show your phone to use it. Learn more at google.com/mobile/checkin.

See locked offers and ones available at your status level (left); tap an unlocked one and redeem it (right).

• Free coffee for Regulars at Frank
• Free sundae from the cafe for VIPs at Toy Joy
• Buy a slice and get one free during certain hours for VIPs at East Side Pies
• 10% off any upcoming event book for Gurus at BookPeople
• 20% off select merchandise for Gurus at Waterloo Records

Charlie Sheen brought his verbal war against Warner Bros. and the executive producer of ‘Two and a Half Men’ to the courtroom on Thursday, filing a $100-million US lawsuit seeking to recoup his salary and wages for the show’s crew.

The developers behind Angry Birds, Rovio, had been searching for investors for a while and today, the Finland-based company announced that it has managed to secure over $40m from a collection of investment companies, one of which is connected to Skype. The companies to come on board are Accel Partners,…

No surprises here, just the straight-up news that RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook is one small step closer to retail: it’s gotten FCC clearance. Well, at least the WiFi-only version has — no sign of the WiMAX-capable version for Sprint yet — but RIM’s actually sneaked all three capacities of the device through on one filing (16GB, 32GB, and 64GB). There’s still quite a bit of material protected under the company’s confidentiality request with the feds, so we can’t see internal or external pictures or the all-important user’s manual… yet. But that label document is certainly cute in blue, isn’t it?

BlackBerry PlayBook hits FCC in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB flavors originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What you’re looking at in the psychedelic photograph above is the result of an overturned tractor-trailer in Peabody, Massachusetts that was carrying a load of — you guessed it — printer ink. Fortunately the spillage isn’t believed to cause any environmental damage, but unfortunately you can’t just take your empty cartridges down to Peabody for a quick fill-up. No word on how this may affect HP’s bottom line, but since the markup on ink is absurd, we’re sure they’ll have enough dough to cover the loss. Bonus shot after the break.

[Image: Boston.com]

Continue reading Visualized: Overturned ink-carrying tractor-trailer paints the town red… literally

Visualized: Overturned ink-carrying tractor-trailer paints the town red… literally originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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