Just 10 days out of the womb, Alex’s mother, Beth Lehman-Brooks of Seattle, propped him up in front of an iPad for what she hoped was a good reason, ABC News reports. “I guess I didn’t think it was going to hurt,” Beth Lehman-Brooks, told ABC News. “So why not give it a try, and he seemed to like it.” A quick search on YouTube will reveal plenty of proud parents sharing their infant’s touch-screen skills. But some are wondering if this embracement of tablets could help spawn a generation of babies addicted to technology. For the diapered set, tapping and swiping is like second nature. Urvashi Sen of New York City claims her 11-month-old son Ishaan could swipe before he was 9 months old…
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‘Google Keep’ keeps your phone and web notes synced
Watch out Evernote, OneNote and all you other to-do lists apps out there, Google’s coming after you with its new Google Keep service, ABC News reports. The app, announced by Google this afternoon, allows you to sync your notes and to-do lists across your computer, phone and tablet using your Google account.
“With Keep you can quickly jot ideas down when you think of them and even include checklists and photos to keep track of what’s important to you,” Google’s Katharine Kuan detailed on Google’s blog today. Google then uses its Google Drive service and servers to sync your content so you can get those important thoughts or notes anywhere.
The app works very similarly to the other note apps, like Evernote and OneNote. You download the app, which is avilable for only Android 4.0 phones right now, take your notes and then you can access them via the app on the web, which is located in your Google Drive or at https://drive.google.com/keep. You are able to upload voice notes, which can be transcribed, and even photos. You can also color code notes and turn some notes into checklists by adding check boxes……Read More
Pheed: The social network that’s winning over teens from Facebook and Twitter
As Facebook slowly rolls out its updated News Feed design, featuring content-sorted feeds dedicated to photos and music, a popular social networking alternative has emerged, ABC News reports. Pheed, a small start-up out of Los Angeles, is not only capitalizing on dedicated photo and audio streams, but it also offers feeds for text, video and live broadcasts, not to mention an in-your-face homepage … tattooed hands interlaced behind a young man’s head boldly announce this is not your grandma’s social network. In February, Pheed became the No. 1 free social networking app in Apple’s App Store, ruling the charts ahead of competitors like Twitter and Facebook for more than a week. The audience driving Pheed’s spike in downloads? Young adults in their late teens, a demographic often said to be losing interest in Facebook. Eighty-four percent of Pheed’s users are ranking in at between the ages of 15 and 24. Pheed’s self-funded website and iOS app launched in late 2012, claiming a few notable celebrities as early adopters…
…Read MoreMicrosoft making more Surface products
Despite tepid reviews of Microsoft’s new Surface Pro Windows 8 tablet last week, the company says it has seen solid demand since it went on sale Saturday in the United States. The company says the Surface line is just getting started, ABC News reports. Many stores reported that they sold out of the initial stock of the 128GB 10.6-inch Surface Pro tablet, which comes with a stylus and can be bought with a $100 attachable keyboard. The tablet starts at $899 with 64GB of storage; the 128GB version begins at $999. Microsoft stores and Staples reportedly sold out of the first batch of tablets. Microsoft would not disclose the number of tablets sold or the number in the initial stock batch.
“We are pleased that the demand for the Surface Pro is so great. Our focus is to get ordered Surface units delivered to our customers as quickly as possible,” Microsoft said in a statement today…
Senators reach agreement on immigration reform
A bipartisan group of leading senators has reached agreement on the principles of sweeping legislation to rewrite the nation’s immigration laws, ABC News reports. The deal, which was to be announced at a news conference Monday afternoon, covers border security, guest workers and employer verification, as well as a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in this country. Although thorny details remain to be negotiated and success is far from certain, the development heralds the start of what could be the most significant effort in years toward overhauling the nation’s inefficient patchwork of immigration laws….According to documents obtained by the Associated Press, the senators will call for accomplishing four goals: Creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already here, contingent upon securing the border and better tracking of people here on visas; reforming the legal immigration system, including awarding green cards to immigrants who obtain advanced degrees in science, math, technology or engineering from an American university…
…Read MoreNo-book library? BiblioTech is coming
A book-less library. It sounds like an oxymoron, but come the fall of 2013, San Antonio’s Bexar County is going to be home to the BiblioTech, the country’s first book-less public library, ABC News reports. Of course, there will be books — just eBooks, not physical books. The 4,989 square-foot space will look like a modern library, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, who was inspired to pursue the project after reading Walter Issacson’s Steve Jobs biography, told ABC News. (A glance at the photo shows that its inspired by Apple in more ways than one.) Instead of aisles and aisles of books there will be aisles and aisles of computers and gadgets. At the start, it will have 100 e-readers available for circulation and to take out, and then 50 e-readers for children, 50 computer stations, 25 laptops and 25 tablets on site…
…Read MoreWatch: Cell phone runs on one AA battery
Sure, CES 2013 is full of groundbreaking smartphone technology – the newest screens, processors and connectivity for our powerful phones – but sometimes all those fancy features can fail you, especially if they drain your batteries, ABC News reports. That’s why SpareOne decided it was time to make a really low-powered cellphone that runs on a single AA cell. Just put one in the back of the dumbphone and you can make calls for up to 10 hours. You can also pop your SIM card in to use your regular phone’s number. It’s really that simple. SpareOne says the idea really isn’t to replace your more complicated and powerful smartphone. “This is meant to be an emergency and secondary phone for outdoor use or travel use,” Christian Scheder, the president of SpareOne, told ABC News. “The battery life of phones s getting worse and worse. We know there are a lot of times and people who cannot charge their phone.” Scheder cited Hurricane Sandy and other natural disasters as proof that it’s good to have a spare phone around to make emergency calls…
…Read MoreObama credits education with boosting ‘mixed kid’ and ‘little black girl’ to White House
President Obama today credited an affordable college education with helping a “mixed kid from Hawaii” and a “little black girl from the South Side of Chicago” make history in the White House, ABC News reports.
“Education was a gateway of opportunity for me,” Obama told the crowd here. “Let’s face it. You know, a mixed kid from Hawaii born to a single mom is not likely to become president of the United States. But in America, it can happen because of education, because somebody gave me opportunity.
“You know, a little black girl from South Side of Chicago whose mom’s a secretary and dad’s a blue-collar worker, you know, not likely to become first lady of the United States,” he said, referring to his wife, Michelle. “But it happened because she got a great education even though her folks didn’t have a lot of money.”…Read More
Student critically wounded on first day of school, teacher subdues gunman
A 17-year-old student is in critical condition after he was shot on the first day of school today in a Baltimore suburb and a quick thinking teacher subdued the teenage gunman, ABC News reports. The alleged shooter was another student who was 15, Baltimore County Police Chief Jim Johnson said. The suspect was arrested, Johnson said. The school, Perry Hall High School, was evacuated. The 15-year-old student, whose name was not released, walked into the school cafeteria at 10:45 a.m. and fired one shot, the chief said. A student described the weapon to ABC News affiliate WMAR as a shotgun. Police haven’t confirmed the type of weapon used. A teacher grabbed the boy with the gun and wrestled him against a wall, holding the gun away from the shooter. A second staffer, a school resource officer, was outside the cafeteria and rushed in to help the teacher subdue the suspect until cops arrived, police said…
…Read MoreDon’t believe the outrage: First grader rightfully suspended
According to ABC News, a first grader in Aurora, Colo., was suspended for singing “I’m sexy and I know it” during school. , quoting a lyric from a popular LMFAO song. Though many are outraged D’Avonte Meadows was banned for three days from Sable Elementary, the move is justified and Meadows was a repeat offender, says Calvin Wolf for Yahoo! News. Meadows was not just singing the song. He had been antagonizing a girl with the song and apparently had done so multiple times. The incident that landed him the suspension involved “shaking his booty” near the girl’s face. A three-day suspension was necessary to convey the seriousness of harassment, especially since previous disciplinary actions apparently didn’t take. While D’Avonte’s mother thinks the school went too far, many schools do not go far enough. As a high school teacher, I deal with several students who behave in ways that will earn them pink slips as adults. They think their lewd comments, innuendos and hands-on behaviors are in fun but fail to recognize they are unacceptable on the job…
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