This Week's Top Downloads [Download Roundup]

Jan 7, 2012 5:00 PM 11,088 0

• CloudOn Brings Microsoft Office to Your iPad, Complete with Cloud Storage (iPad) CloudOn brings a fully-loaded version of Microsoft Office to the iPad, so you can edit documents on-the-go using all of Office's features, and store your documents right in your Dropbox.
• ClockworkMod Tether Tethers Your Android Phone for Free, No Root Required (Android and Windows/Mac/Linux) Most tethering apps require root, or at the very least cost a fair amount of money. ClockworkMod Tether is a completely free wired tether app for unrooted Android phones.
• Unlock Root Roots Nearly 250 Android Devices in One Click [UPDATED] (Android) If you're looking to root your phone but don't want to pore over complicated instructions, a new program called Unlock Root claims to root a ton of different phones with ease.
• Unofficial Steam Client for Android Offers Everything But Gameplay (Android) Steam, the popular online service for distributing and discussing computer video games has been out for several years but has not tapped into the mobile market yet, so fans and third parties are creating their own apps. Steam for Android is developed by IBF Programs and allows Android users to browse game sales, give a summary of your Steam profile, keep up with friends and groups from the website, and view stats for all the games you play. Everything possible about games except for actually playing them.
• Fully Use Your Apple Keyboard in Windows with Apple Wireless Keyboard Helper (Windows) If you use multiple OSes or just prefer using an Apple keyboard you'll know that many keys such as print screen, volume control, and eject do not work in Windows. Apple Wireless Keyboard Helper is a free executable program that restores many of these key combinations.
• 20 Cubed for Chrome Reminds You to Rest Your Eyes and Take a Break (Chrome) We've discussed the 20-20-20 Rule before, where every 20 minutes you take a 20 second break and look at an object 20 feet away to relieve eyestrain and rest your eyes. The 20 Cubed add-on for Chrome will automatically remind you to take those breaks so you don't have to set your own timer.
• Windows Live SkyDrive Available for iOS, Offering 25GB of Cloud Storage for Your iPhone (iOS) Microsoft's popular Windows Live SkyDrive file storage service in the cloud is now available for iOS, allowing users to easily access files in their SkyDrive directly from their iDevices. (If you don't have a SkyDrive account, you can get a free account that comes with 25GB of storage.) The new app works like most cloud storage apps on iOS, in that you have access to all your files and can save any directly to the device if you wish. Like the SkyDrive service, the app is available for free.
• Bookolio Puts Your Favorite Sites and Popular Search Engines in Chrome's New Tab Page (Chrome) Bookolio customizes the new tab page to make it more useful. The extension gives you instant access to all your bookmarks and sites you visit the most, as well as quick switching between all types of search engines.
• Smart Folders Lets You Create Folders Via Drag-and-Drop, iOS-Style (Windows) Creating a new folder in Windows is easy, but not necessarily fast. Smart Folders is a simple little app that turns folder creation into a simple, one-step process.
• Nexus Image Is a Fast, Free Image Viewer for Windows (Windows) Nexus Image (no relation to Google or the Nexus line of phones) is a free, sharp-looking image viewer that loads images quickly, displays EXIF information in a transparent overlay, lets you browse images via keyboard shortcuts, and can even dim your desktop to provide a lightbox effect while you browse.

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/OfCzccS7zV4/this-weeks-top-downloads

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'Descendants,' 'Bridesmaids' earn writers noms

In this publicity image released by Universal Pictures, from left, Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig are shown in a scene from "Bridesmaids." The film, written by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, was nominated for a Writers Guild Award, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012 for best original screenplay. Winners will be honored at the 2012 Writers Guild Awards on Sunday, Feb. 19, during simultaneous ceremonies in Hollywood and New York.(AP Photo/Universal Pictures, Suzanne Hanover)

In this publicity image released by Universal Pictures, from left, Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig are shown in a scene from "Bridesmaids." The film, written by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, was nominated for a Writers Guild Award, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012 for best original screenplay. Winners will be honored at the 2012 Writers Guild Awards on Sunday, Feb. 19, during simultaneous ceremonies in Hollywood and New York.(AP Photo/Universal Pictures, Suzanne Hanover)

In this image released by Fox Searchlight Films, George Clooney, left, and Shailene Woodley are shown in a scene from "The Descendants." The film was nominated for a Writers Guild Award, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012 for best adapted screenplay. Winners will be honored at the 2012 Writers Guild Awards on Sunday, Feb. 19, during simultaneous ceremonies in Hollywood and New York. (AP Photo/Fox Searchlight Films, Merie Wallace)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? George Clooney's "The Descendants," Brad Pitt's "Moneyball," Kristen Wiig's "Bridesmaids" and Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" are among nominees for the Writers Guild of America Awards.

Clooney's family drama "The Descendants" earned an adapted-screenplay nomination Thursday for director Alexander Payne and co-writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. Pitt's sports tale "Moneyball" is up for the same prize for writers Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin.

Zaillian has a second adapted-screenplay nomination for director David Fincher's thriller "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.

"Bridesmaids" star Wiig shared an original-screenplay nomination for her wedding comedy, which she co-wrote with Annie Mumolo. Director Allen also was nominated for original screenplay for his romantic fantasy "Midnight in Paris."

Other contenders for original screenplay: Will Reiser for the cancer story "50/50," starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen; Tom McCarthy for the family tale "Win Win," featuring Paul Giamatti; and Diablo Cody for the dark comedy "Young Adult," with Charlize Theron.

Also nominated for adapted screenplay: writer-director Tate Taylor for the Deep South drama "The Help," with Viola Davis, Emma Stone and Octavia Spencer; and John Logan for filmmaker Martin Scorsese's Paris adventure "Hugo," featuring Ben Kingsley and child stars Chloe Grace Moretz and Asa Butterfield.

Some acclaimed films, including the silent movie "The Artist," were ineligible because they were not made under the guild's contract guidelines.

Nominated for documentary screenplay: Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega, "Better This World"; Marshall Curry and Matthew Hamachek, "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front"; Patricio Guzman, "Nostalgia for the Light"; Wim Wenders, "Pina"; Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich and Leonard Retel Helmrich, "Position Among the Stars"; and Manish Pandey, "Senna."

Honors from Hollywood trade groups such as the writers, actors and directors guilds help sort out likely contenders for the Academy Awards, whose nominations come out Jan. 24.

Writers Guild winners will be announced Feb. 19.

___

Online:

http://www.wga.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-05-Writers%20Guild%20Awards/id-2bffb3b2618b44f991dec3eb24eef8bf

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Brad Goreski: 'A Voice Said I Had To Move On' From Rachel Zoe

Rachel Zoe's ex-assistant, Brad Goreski, recently launched his own spin-off career on the same network that made Zoe a household name. And although the critical response to "It's a Brad Brad World" on Bravo has been largely negative, so might his ex-boss's reaction to his new venture.

"Rachel gave that ungrateful kid everything," a friend of Zoe's tells me. "Not only did she give him a job, working with the biggest designers and celebrities on the planet, Rachel also made him a star by putting him on her reality show. And this is the thanks she gets? It's disgusting."

Although many are not surprised by rumors of a conflict, Brad said he thinks it's sad.

"We left on really great terms," Brad told me on the set of "New York Live." "Unfortunately, for her, not. I'm 34 years old, I've been with her for three years and had a voice that said I had to move on. I'm so grateful [new client] Jessica Alba took a chance on me."

If Brad is looking to mend his relationship with Rachel, he needs to think again.

"That will never happen," a Bravo insider tells me.

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US: Iran 'flailing' for friends in Latin America (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's upcoming four-nation tour of Latin America is a sign of desperation as sanctions increasingly isolate his country, the Obama administration said Friday, as it warned the leader's hosts against expanding ties with Iran.

The State Department dismissed Ahmadinejad's planned visits to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador next week as Iran "flailing" for new friends as the sanctions bite. Some lawmakers have expressed deep concern that Iran is boosting its presence in the Western Hemisphere to the detriment of U.S. national security interests.

"As the regime feels increasing pressure, it is desperate for friends and flailing around in interesting places to find new friends," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. "We are making absolutely clear to countries around the world that now is not the time to be deepening ties, not security ties, not economic ties, with Iran."

"Rather, it's in the entire international community's interest to make clear to Iran that it's got a choice," she said. "It can remain in an international isolation, or it can comply with its obligations and start cooperating and rejoin the community of nations."

Nuland said Iran must stop defying international pressure to prove that its nuclear program is peaceful and that countries must make it clear that the only way to end its isolation is to come clean about its atomic ambitions. The U.S. and its allies accuse Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear energy program. Iran denies the charge.

Ahmadinejad has courted leftist, populist and anti-U.S. Latin American leaders for some time, notably Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. During his stop next week in Managua, Ahmadinejad is to attend Ortega's inauguration. The U.S. will be represented at the ceremony by a mid-ranking diplomat from the U.S. embassy, officials said.

In Venezuela, Chavez said on Friday that Ahmadinejad is coming to the region despite tensions in the Persian Gulf.

"The Yankees are determined to provoke wars, provoke tensions," Chavez said on television during a visit to the central state of Portuguesa.

Chavez said the "central purpose" of Ahmadinejad's visit is to attend Ortega's inauguration in Nicaragua.

Ahmadinejad's visit to Washington's backyard has raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill where the chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., likened it to a "tour of tyrants" that is proof of Iran's expanding interest in the region.

"Ahmadinejad's desire to strengthen ties with anti-American dictators and expand Iranian influence in the Western Hemisphere directly threatens U.S. security interests," she said in a statement.

"This is a threat which we cannot ignore," Ros-Lehtinen said, pledging to hold hearings on the matter to discuss what the administration is doing to counter Iranian outreach in the Western Hemisphere.

___

Associated Press writer Fabiola Sanchez in Caracas, Venezuela contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120107/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_iran_latin_america

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Nikon announces D4 DSLR camera: full-frame 16.2 MP sensor, 204,000 extended ISO, XQD support, $6,000 price tag

More than two years after the D3S began shipping and roughly a half-decade after we first got a peek at the D3, Nikon has finally announced the full-frame DSLR's long-awaited successor. As expected, the Nikon D4 boosts both megapixel rating (to 16.2) and extended ISO (204,800 at Hi-4), and includes a brand new full-frame FX-format sensor. Video capture also jumped from 720/24p to 1080/30p, but so did the camera's somewhat-out-of-reach price tag -- you'll be dropping $5,999.95 when the D4 hits stores in late February. You're clearly not spending all that hard-earned photo dough for nothing, though. There's also a 91k-pixel RGB 3D Color Matrix Meter III, compared to a 1,005-pixel meter in the D3S, enabling the camera to evaluate the color and brightness of a scene with much greater precision, yielding much more accurate results. And since the D4 reportedly offers phenomenal low-light performance, you'll probably be using it quite often in the dark -- letting you get good use out of the new back-lit controls.

Photographers can preview images using the 921k-dot 3.2-inch LCD, which offers a 170-degree viewing angle and ambient light sensor. HD video can be previewed on the display as well, or directly through the HDMI port, which also supports uncompressed 8-bit preview video output with optional overlay. Naturally, the D4 is fast. It can power on and be ready to shoot in approximately 0.012 seconds, and can capture 10 fps stills at full resolution with full auto focus and exposure. Willing to lock both AF and AE? The D4 goes to 11. A new 51-point AF system offers full cross-type focusing that's compatible with all Nikon lenses, even when paired with a teleconverter. The D4 includes two card slots with support for both UDMA-7 CF and the recently-announced XQD format, which brings write speeds of up to 125 MB/s -- enough to capture 105 consecutive RAW images at 10 fps. You'll find full details and specs on the D4 just past the break, along with an overview of Nikon's new AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G FX-format lens, which is set to ship in March for $499.95.

Gallery: Nikon D4

Continue reading Nikon announces D4 DSLR camera: full-frame 16.2 MP sensor, 204,000 extended ISO, XQD support, $6,000 price tag

Nikon announces D4 DSLR camera: full-frame 16.2 MP sensor, 204,000 extended ISO, XQD support, $6,000 price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FBI crackdown on unproven stem cell therapies

They are the modern equivalent of snake oil merchants: clinics that charge desperately ill people thousands for unproven stem cell "cures". Now the US federal government is cracking down on one of the most notorious ? and the defendants include a scientist at a leading research university.

Vincent Dammai, of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, is named in a federal indictment as part of a team that allegedly received more than $1.5 million from people with cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

The charges follow an investigation by CBS News into Lawrence Stowe of Fort Worth, Texas.

Stowe was filmed claiming that infusions of stem cells, given by his associate Francisco Morales at a clinic in Mexico, could reverse symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ? a fatal and incurable form of motor neuron disease.

Dammai's role, according to the indictment, was to extract stem cells from umbilical cord blood collected by Jesus Alberto Ramon, a midwife in Del Rio, Texas. Dammai and Ramon allegedly worked with Global Laboratories of Scottsdale, Arizona, which supplied the cells to Morales. Fredda Branyon, who ran Global Laboratories, pleaded guilty to supplying an unapproved treatment in August.

Morales, Dammai and Ramon, all named in the indictment, were arrested in December. Stowe, named in a second indictment, is still at large and "considered a fugitive", according to the FBI.

Warning signal

The case underlines concerns that some mainstream researchers could be abetting clinics offering unproven stem cell therapies. "I'm personally very happy that the FBI and the Food and Drug Administration has stepped in," says Larry Goldstein, a stem cell biologist at the University of California, San Diego. "I hope that it serves as a warning signal."

While Dammai is alleged to have been a knowing participant, other scientists may have been duped into supplying cells that are later used by rogue clinics. To avoid this, biologists should ask for credentials when responding to requests for stem cell samples, argued bioethicists Zubin Master of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and David Resnik of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, in the journal EMBO Reports last July (vol 12, p 992). They should also make recipients sign contracts detailing how the cells will be used, the pair added.

Internet searches reveal several hundred clinics offering unproven stem cell treatments, says Douglas Sipp of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan. How many, if any, have obtained cells from mainstream biologists remains a mystery. "By nature these clinics are opaque and secretive," says Sipp. "We really don't know what's in the vials."

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Know any good recipes for endangered prehistoric fish? Plus: Do caribou like the Alaska oil pipeline?

I've been reading about the coelacanth, the fish thought to have gone extinct 65 million years ago that turned up in an Indonesian fish market. Do you know any good coelacanth recipes? Seems like this would be a nice change from a Filet-o-Fish. ? Jim, Pawhuska, Oklahoma

I hear you. Every so often you think: right now a tasty morsel of endangered species would really hit the spot. However, one does have to consider the diarrhea.

Though occasionally sold to chumps in Asian markets, the coelacanth (SEE-luh-kanth) for the most part is shunned by fishermen. Paleontologist Peter Forey, an expert on coelacanths, advises us that in the Comoros Islands, where several hundred of the rare fish live, the local name for them is gombessa, meaning "taboo." That's not for religious reasons but for practical ones. Eating the critters will make you sick.

The flesh of the coelacanth is high in oil, urea, wax esters, and other compounds, adding up to an indigestible mix. Field reports on the consequences of eating coelacanth speak vaguely of "a kind of diarrhea," but we get a clearer picture from medical accounts of culinary encounters with fish that are similarly constituted. "It was difficult," we're told, "to contain the oil that was pooling in substantial quantities in the lower rectum." I say we stop right there.

Hideous as all this sounds, one wonders whether it at least partly accounts for the coelacanth's longevity as a species. The earliest recognizable coelacanth fossil is something like 360 million years old, while more recent ones date back 65 million years, around the time the dinosaurs disappeared. It was initially thought coelacanths had followed the big lizards into oblivion, but then fishermen landed one off the coast of southern Africa in 1938. In addition to the population living near the Comoros Islands, between Mozambique and Madagascar, a couple more have been found in Indonesia.

The question is why the coelacanth, sometimes referred to as a living fossil, has evolved so little in that vast span of time. You'll forgive me for thinking it may have stumbled upon the perfect defense mechanism. We toothsome mammals were obliged to adapt quickly lest we wind up as lunchmeat. But potential coelacanth predators were more likely to conclude: no way am I eating that.

Do Alaska caribou really like the oil pipeline from Prudhoe Bay, which was predicted to be such an environmental disaster? Right-wing pundits claim the herd has thrived because the caribou like the warmth, but we're suspicious. ? Charlie and Mike, Chicago

And well you might be. The happy-caribou story was circulated in 2008 by, among others, Michele Bachmann, famous for her rigorous command of the facts. Rush Limbaugh and columnist Jonah Goldberg also chimed in. These people have their axes to grind, and the idea that the pipeline has been a boon to the caribou goes beyond what I've seen in the professional literature. But the important point is this: while one may argue whether the Prudhoe Bay pipeline helped the caribou, it sure didn't hurt.

The caribou population living in the region through which the pipeline passes, known as the Central Arctic Herd, has thrived since the oil began flowing in the late 1970s. In 1975 the herd numbered just 5,000; as of 2008 it had reached 67,000. Meanwhile some caribou populations more distant from the pipeline, such as the Porcupine Herd in the northeast corner of the state, have declined. That may superficially suggest that living near the pipeline is a plus, but charts of fluctuating caribou numbers don't track in an obvious way with the pipeline's presence. For example, the size of the Central Arctic Herd, which had increased at a moderate rate until the early 2000s, doubled between 2002 and 2008. Why, nobody knows.

Wildlife biologists report some behavioral differences in caribou possibly linked to the pipeline, but the overall impression is it didn't make much difference ? an interesting commentary in itself, given the predictions of disaster when the pipeline was being planned. One much-touted fear was that an earthquake might rupture the pipe, but a 2002 quake registering 7.9 on the Richter scale caused only minor damage and no spill. The biggest fiasco connected with the project didn't happen on land at all, namely the 1989 wreck of the Exxon Valdez.

None of this is to suggest caribou defenders have nothing to worry about. Whatever may be happening in Alaska, the worldwide caribou population is in steep decline, with average herd size having fallen 57 percent from historical peaks. Disrupted weather stemming from global warming is widely blamed.

Using the above facts, you can draw whatever conclusion suits you. An optimist can say the political process worked ? environmental concerns didn't warrant canceling the pipeline, but the nagging led the builders to take precautions. To which the pessimist will reply: Get out. Because of the headlong rush to exploit the fossil fuel endowment, of which this project was a prime example, the caribou are still screwed.

? CECIL ADAMS

Send questions to Cecil via straightdope.com or write him c/o Chicago Reader, 11 E. Illinois, Chicago 60611. Subscribe to the Straight Dope podcast at the iTunes Store.

Source: http://clatl.com/atlanta/know-any-good-recipes-for-endangered-prehistoric-fish-plus-do-caribou-like-the-alaska-oil-pipeline/Content?oid=4504366

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