-
-
YouTube adds iTunes click-to-buy links
YouTube has partnered with Amazon and iTunes to to incorporate an e-commerce element into its video pages. The idea is that, with a click, you can buy and download anything from music, books, games and other products related to the content within the YouTube video directly from the YouTube platform. YouTube has partnered with Amazon and iTunes to to incorporate an e-commerce element into its video pages. The idea is that, with a cl... more
-
TuneGlue
Whether you fancy branching out, or just winning at the pub quiz, TuneGlue matches like with like throughout the musical ages.
-
Amazon's Kindle 2 leaked
After rumors surfaced on the Web a few months back that a new Kindle might be on the way, Amazon.com did its best to shoot them down, saying a new Kindle was not coming this year. Well, Boy Genius Report has gotten ahold of some photos that appear to be the Kindle 2, so we're curious what Amazon has to say now.
From the looks of the new device, Amazon has tried to address some of the criticisms of the Kindle, most of which revolve around its somewhat homely design and a few poorly placed buttons. The shape has been modified to make the new Kindle more attractive, but it appears Amazon is sticking with the same off-white color scheme--for better or worse.
The Boy Genius Report's mole or "ninja," has some comments about the new Kindle. First, ninja says the device is basically the same size as the older model, but is thinner and has "a slightly heavier feel, and it feels much sturdier." The source indicates the new model uses the same cellular EV-DO network for downloads (it's Sprint's network in the current model) and a metal back is visible in some of the pictures. After rumors surfaced on the Web a few months back that a new Kindle might be on the way, Amazon.com did its best to shoot them down, ... more -
Brazilian Gov't Agency Listed as Biggest Illegal Logger of Amazon
"Brazil’s environment minister announced yet another series of measures to halt deforestation of the Amazon this week, but their impact was weakened not only by the fact that destruction had increased sharply once again but that the government itself was among the worst culprits.
A federal agency charged with implementing agrarian reform and giving land to the poor filled the top six spots on a list of the nation’s 100 worst deforesters since 2005, according to the list, published by the environment ministry on Monday. The top 100 deforesters cut down the equivalent of 160,000 soccer fields, said Environment Minister Carlos Minc."
The Agency of Land Reform (INCRA) was fined 264 million reais (about $137 million) but denied responsibility for the deforestation.
This list was released on the same day as deforestation numbers show a 134% increase for the month of August; the monthly total increased from 568 acres in 2007 to 1,868 acres this year.
Full story at link... "Brazil’s environment minister announced yet another series of measures to halt deforestation of the Amazon this week, but their ... more -
Amazon Deforestation Doubles
This is really sad. The Amazon is being deforested more than twice as fast as last year, Brazilian officials said Monday, acknowledging a sharp reversal after three years of declines in the deforestation rate. This is really sad. The Amazon is being deforested more than twice as fast as last year, Brazilian officials said Monday, acknowledgi... more
-
Exotic bird..err and a rugby day
Guinness Premiership rugby union double header opener at Twickenham, beer and fun and romans
-
Wal-Mart Gives Consumers Number 1 Reason Why DRM is Not the Answer
The music industry is struggling to gain a foot-hold in the battle with online piracy. The options available for music lovers to grow their music collection digitally is tremendous and free. So much so that music companies and publishers have struck up agreements with some of biggest names offering digital music: iTunes, Last.FM., Amazon, Myspace, and Wal-Mart.
While the options are appreciated, a certain restriction that comes with the music files is not. To help music labels combat piracy, digital music providers such as iTunes and Yahoo introduced DRM restricted music files to consumers. Today, Wal-Mart has given consumers the number 1 reason as to why DRM was the worst thing ever. The music industry is struggling to gain a foot-hold in the battle with online piracy. The options available for music lovers to grow ... more -
New manatee species discovered!
NEW SPECIES OF LIVING MANATEE!
'A New Species, the Dwarf Manatee, Amazon Association for the Preservation of Nature'
Discovered in AAPN Manus-Amazonas, Brazil.
Shallow clear-water adapted dwarf manatee is already on the edge of extinction due to rainforest deforestation, hunting...
THERE ARE NO LAWS TO PROTECT THIS CRITICALLY ENDANGERED DWARF MANATEE.
http://www.care2.com/news/member/785844898/889616
http://www.marcvanroosmalen.org/dwarfmanatee.htm
CRITICALLY ENDANGERED! NEW SPECIES OF LIVING MANATEE! 'A New Species, the Dwarf Manatee, Amazon Association for the Preservation of Nature' ... more -
IMDb now showing free movies online
The Internet Movie Database, a subsidiary of Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN).com, has begun showing more than 6,000 feature films and television shows on its site for free.
Col Needham, founder and managing director of IMDb.com, said in a statement that the move reflects IMDb's mission to be the world's most comprehensive source of movie, TV, and celebrity information, products, and services.
More Personal Tech InsightsWhite PapersKleer Advantages Over BluetoothWhy Virtual Worlds Can Matter "We're excited to offer our users a simple online experience to watch full-length movies and TV episodes for free," he said. "Our goal is to show our users every movie and TV show on the Internet for free on IMDb.com."
But the distance between the present and that goal represents a revenue opportunity for Amazon.
"On title pages where IMDb does not have the content available for free, users can click on the Amazon Video On Demand button to rent or purchase the video from Amazon," an Amazon spokesperson said via e-mail. "It's great to offer customers choice. They can decide whether to watch an ad-supported movie or show on IMDb for free or rent or purchase a movie and show immediately from AVOD without commercials. So it's really the best of both worlds for TV and movie fans."
This is perhaps not the best news for Apple and its iTunes ecosystem, which faces an increasingly appealing and diverse set of film and video offerings from Amazon and IMDb.
[Editor's Note: Unfortunately the service is currently only available to US users due to licensing issues.] The Internet Movie Database, a subsidiary of Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN).com, has begun showing more than 6,000 feature films and television s... more -
Coke is world's most valuable brand
Google is fastest-rising brand and Ford fell the most, according to report
-
Brazil offered $1 billion to save Amazon - World environment- msnbc.com
Norway will give Brazil $1 billion by 2015 to preserve the Amazon rain forest, as long as Latin America's largest nation reduces deforestation, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday.
AMERICANS WE COULD DO THIS OURSELVES WITHOUT THE HELP OF THE FEDS>>>> LETS PICK A CAUSE AND DO IT PEEPS Norway will give Brazil $1 billion by 2015 to preserve the Amazon rain forest, as long as Latin America's largest nation reduces ... more -
INTERNET/ AMAZON FA VEDERE ONLINE GRATIS I FILM E LE FICTION TV
Online aumenta in modo esponenziale lo spazio dedicato ai contenuti video da parte di un po’ tutti i big della Rete. La strategia verosimilmente segue le logiche della pubblicità che vedono gli investimenti sui video online salire in modo più pronunciato rispetto al resto del web advertising.
Amazon.com attraverso la sua società Internet Movie Database, consentirà agli utenti di guardare film e programmi televisivi gratis Online aumenta in modo esponenziale lo spazio dedicato ai contenuti video da parte di un po’ tutti i big della Rete. La strategia vero... more -
IMDB.com Finally will Stream Movies
Internet Movie Database, the company behind the popular imdb.com site, wants to give visitors a free viewing of every movie and TV show on the Internet and filmmakers a chance to show the world their films.
The Amazon.com subsidiary, which was started by an international group of movie fans, said Monday that users can watch 6,000 feature films such as Fever Pitch and Fiddler on the Roof, TV episodes such as Big Brother and CSI, and old classics such as Star Trek and Charlie's Angels on its Web site.
Users can access a featured list, but not all the available films and shows are listed. Instead, users need to type in the shows they want to view one at a time.
Along with full-length movies and shows, Imdb catalogs every detail about a movie, from who is featured to who created it. The company also posts information on filming locations, reviews and fan sites.
"We're excited to offer our users a simple online experience to watch full-length movies and TV episodes for free," said Col Needham, company founder and managing director, who claims he has watched more than 7,000 movies.
-More at Link- Internet Movie Database, the company behind the popular imdb.com site, wants to give visitors a free viewing of every movie and TV sho... more -
New ant species discovered in the Amazon
This new ant species discovered in the Amazon likely represents the oldest living lineage of ants. It's also the first species of ant discovered since 1923. Very cool story.... This new ant species discovered in the Amazon likely represents the oldest living lineage of ants. It's also the first species of... more
-
Sarah Palin bio beating Obama book on Amazon.com
Currently on Amazon, Sarah, is #10 in book sales! Not bad for an known. Meanwhile, Barack Obama’s Audacity of Hope is further down @ #29 on the best seller list. Talk about change of momentum. Currently on Amazon, Sarah, is #10 in book sales! Not bad for an known. Meanwhile, Barack Obama’s Audacity of Hope is further down @ #... more
-
Amazon Deforestation Slows Last Year, but 8,147 Square Kilometers Still Chopped Do...
Though Brazil has made a number of moves towards monitoring and slowing rates of Amazon deforestation of late which seem to be beginning to work, the Amazon's future still does not look so good, Worldwatch Institute reports.
The bad news is that between August 2007 and July 2008, 8,147 square kilometers of forest were cleared, with 84% of that occurring between August 2007-April 2008. The good news is that this amount is the lowest increase since deforestation first was monitored in the 1970s, and only a 69% increase from last year.
So, what’s Brazil doing to address the situation? He’s a (very) brief rundown: Though Brazil has made a number of moves towards monitoring and slowing rates of Amazon deforestation of late which seem to be beginni... more -
Amazon deforestation on the rise
Amazon deforestation jumped 69% in the past 12 months — the first such increase in three years — as rising demand for soy and cattle pushes farmers and ranchers to raze trees, officials said Saturday.
Some 8,147 square kilometers (3,088 square miles) of forest were destroyed between August 2007 and August 2008 — a 69% increase over the 4,820 square kilometers (1,861 square miles) felled in the previous 12 months, according to the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, which monitors destruction of the Amazon.
"We're not content," Environment Minister Carlos Minc said. "Deforestation has to fall more and the conditions for sustainable development have to improve."
Brazil's government has increased cash payments to fight illegal Amazon logging this year, and it eliminated government bank loans to farmers who illegally clear forest to plant crops.
The country lost 2.7% of its Amazon rain forest in 2007, or 11,000 square kilometers (4,250 square miles). Environmental officials fear even more land will be razed this year — but they have not forecast how much.
Minc says monthly deforestation rates have slowed since May, but environmental groups say seasonal shifts in tree cutting make the annual number a more accurate gauge.
Most deforestation happens in March and April, the start of Brazil's dry season, and routinely tapers off in May, June and July: Last month, 323 square kilometers (125 square miles) of trees were felled, 61% less than the area razed in June.
Environmentalists also argue that INPE's deforestation report wasn't designed to give accurate monthly figures, but to alert and direct the government to deforestation hot spots in time to save the land.
The Amazon region covers about 4.1 million square kilometers (1.6 million square miles) of Brazil, nearly 60% of the country. About 20% of that land has already been deforested. Amazon deforestation jumped 69% in the past 12 months — the first such increase in three years — as rising demand for soy and cattle p... more -
A Splash at the Aquarium
The Graham Amazon Gallery and the Arctic Canada Exhibit (beluga whales) are the best in my opinion. I was lucky enough to see the new baby beluga and her mother, Qila. (see a video of the baby beluga being born here). They haven ’t named the baby yet. I suggest calling the baby Marshmallow. What do you think? The Graham Amazon Gallery and the Arctic Canada Exhibit (beluga whales) are the best in my opinion. I was lucky enough to see the new ... more
-
'Lost towns' discovered in Amazon
The remote Amazon river basin was once home to densely populated towns and villages, Science journal reports.
This part of the Amazon, once thought to be virgin forest, has in fact been touched by extensive human activity.
Researchers found traces of a grid-like pattern of settlements connected by road networks and arranged around large central plazas.
There is also evidence of farming and wetland management, including possible remains of fish farms.
The settlements are now almost completely overgrown by rainforest.
The ancient urban communities date back to before the first Europeans set foot in the Upper Xingu region of the Brazilian Amazon in the 15th Century.
Urban planning
Professor Mike Heckenberger, from the University of Florida, in Gainesville, said: "These are not cities, but this is urbanism, built around towns."
"They have quite remarkable planning and self-organisation, more so than many classical examples of what people would call urbanism," he said.
Dam used to funnel fish into submerged weirs (Science)
In modern settlements, dams are used to funnel fish into weirs
Although the remains are almost invisible, they can be identified by members of the Kuikuro tribe, who are thought to be direct descendents of the people who built the towns.
The tell-tale traces included "dark earth" that indicated past human waste dumps or farming, and concentrations of pottery shards and earthworks.
The researchers also made use of satellite images and GPS navigation to uncover and map the settlements over the course of a decade.
The communities consisted of clusters of 60-hectare (150-acre) towns and smaller villages spread out over the rainforest.
Road network
Like medieval European and ancient Greek towns, those forming the Amazonian urban landscape were surrounded by large walls. These were composed of earthworks, the remains of which have survived.
Concentrations of pottery and earthworks were found at the site
Each community had an identical road, always pointing north-east to south-west, which are connected to a central plaza.
The roads were always oriented this way in keeping with the mid-year summer solstice.
Evidence was found of dams and artificial ponds - thought to have been used for fish farming - as well as open areas and large compost heaps.
The people who once lived in the settlements are thought to have been wiped out by European colonists and the diseases they brought with them.
We've alot to learn from the past... I kinda like the way they all had a solstice road system. The remote Amazon river basin was once home to densely populated towns and villages, Science journal reports. ... more -
Justicia Now
Justicia Now! is a documentary about Chevron Texaco's toxic legacy in the Northern Ecuadorian region of the Amazon rainforest - and a courageous group of people called Los Afectados (The Affected Ones) who are seeking justice for the ensuing cancer, sickness and death in the largest environmental class action lawsuit in history.
find out more and get involved here...
http://www.mofilms.org/justicianow/
http://www.amazonwatch.org/
http://www.sosyasuni.org/
http://www.carbonfund.org/ Justicia Now! is a documentary about Chevron Texaco's toxic legacy in the Northern Ecuadorian region of the Amazon rainforest - a... more
-
related topics
Amazon
Contributors (380)
Amazon
