Cine a castigat Cupa Africii in 2012 – Zambia

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zambia castiga cupa africii 2012

zambia castiga cupa africii 2012

O competitie eclipsata (cel putin la noi in tara) de evenimentele politice si fenomenele meteorologice dar si de faptul ca a fost transmisa doar pe Eurosport. Zambia a castigat aseara African Cup of Nations 2012 in fata Coastei de Fildes (din care nu au lipsit Didier Drogba si fratii Toure) la loviturile de la 11 metri cu 8-7 dupa ce la finalul celor 120 de minute scorul a fost 0-0. Ati urmarit evenimentul? Stiti unde s-a jucat meciul?

[foto: BBC]

S-a mai pus un strat de zapada

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troiene in Bucurestiinfernul alb din Bucurestinivelul zapezii in balconiarna grea in Bucuresti

Ninge iar de aproape 24 de ore in Bucuresti, muntii de zapada de pe marginea drumului depasesc inaltimea masinilor iar la mine in balcon s-au mai pus 15 cm de zapada. Primavara e departe…

Is Google reading your Gmail messages?

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Have you noticed that whenever you open an email in Gmail web interface the ads served to you are connected to the email content? If you don’t believe this, look at the pictures below to see the connection between an email received from a bank and the add for another bank and an email received from trip advisor and ads related to travels.

imageimage

Google is having an explanation: “This ad is based on emails from your mailbox. Visit Google’s Ads Preferences Manager to learn more, block specific advertisers, or opt out of personalized ads.” And if you dig more you can see that your emails are scanned in order to get the most relevant ads:

How ads are personalized on Gmail

In Gmail, most of the ads we show appear next to an open email message and are related to the contents of the current email conversation or thread. These ads appear on Gmail regardless of your preferences or settings. In your inbox, you might also see ads that match the contents of one of the emails in your inbox.

When we personalize ads, we display ads based on the contents of all your emails. For example, if you’ve recently received lots of messages about photography or cameras, we might show you a deal from a local camera store. In your inbox, we might also show you ads related to information from different emails in your inbox

Even if this is not done by humans and even if Google assures the users that their privacy is respected, the concern is still there. And Microsoft is taking advantage of this, trying to promote their Hotmail and Office 365 services in a blog article posted recently on their official blog (full article can be found here) and criticizing Google for scanning your emails:

Some email services, like Gmail, actually read the contents of your mail (both sent and received, even if you aren’t a Gmail user but just sending to someone who is) in order to decide what kind of ads to serve up to you. They may call it “scanning” and attempt to equate it with less invasive activities like “checking for spam” but it’s quite different. For you, and the people you send mail to, it’s not spam, it’s personal.

Does this sounds scary? Here is some more stuff to think about: answering the question on Quora: “How many Google employees can access Gmail data?” Christopher Cuong Nguyen, former responsible for Google Apps operations at Google Gmail says:

A small number of Gmail-related engineers have access to the servers as a matter of necessity to do their jobs; a very small number of people actually access the contents as a matter of necessity to do their jobs, and even then, almost always only the associated metadata. The rest have to file a request and justify any access they ever need, which is extremely rare. All have to sign paperwork re users’ privacy at the risk of dismissal & legal action, knowing that whatever they do is discoverable. And ultimately, an internal culture of respecting users’ privacy helps keep one another in check.

So the risk is never zero, but minimized by the factors above.

Personalized search results from Google

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You probably noticed that lately Google offers the option to personalize your search results. This means that they will serve you results based on your interests (if you have a Google profile), your friends interests and your internet behavior. You are probably aware that if you access their search service (or any Google service) your public data (like IP address, browser, operating system, country, city, search history, etc.) is stored on their servers. All the search results they will serve you will be somehow connected to this. More than that, if you have friends in your Google plus circles that recommends content on Google (using +1), that content appears in your searches if it’s relevant to your search. As an example on how Google is doing this, see below two screenshots of the same search term (India) using different browsers and different Google accounts. I am curious how your Google search results on India looks like.

google results on indiagoogle results on india

Up to a certain extent this is good because sometimes you will get only the most relevant results in your searches. But as we know, internet is full of hackers and spammers that for sure will take advantage of this (like creating +1 exchange networks) because they say +1 was added as a criteria for ranking sites relevance so +1 is becoming the new SEO tool (you can also buy +1s to promote your site).

Is it relevance the only criteria needed to filter and rank my search results? Eric Schmidt from Google sais: “It will be very hard for people to watch or consume something that has not in some sense been tailored for them.” What scares me the most is that the same philosophy is having another important person from the online business, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO Facebook: “A squirrel dying in front of your house may be more relevant to your interests right now than people dying in Africa.” And this is actually reflected on the feeds I am seeing on my Facebook wall, I am getting there only relevant feeds (feeds that Facebook considers are relevant for me based on my past activities on their website). If you don’t believe this, read this interesting article about the algorithm used to determine which friends you interact with – and so appear most often on your news feed: http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/22/facebook-edgerank/

But do we need only relevant results? Should we also get important, uncomfortable, challenging results? Or other points of view? Shouldn’t we have the freedom to filter what we consider is relevant for us and not a machine or an algorithm?

@Later edit: Do you consider this article relevant? Than hit the +1 button below, it might get exposed to other interested readers!

Muffin cu ciocolata, stafide si nuci

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O reteta de desert rapida si convenabila: se face aluatul cu faina, zahar, oua, unt si praf de copt. Se toarna in formele de muffin si se adauga ciocolata, stafide si nuci pe deasupra. Se pune la cuptor la 180 de grade circa 10 minute (pentru siguranta se verifica cu o scobitoare)

muffin cu ciocolata stafide si nuci

Restaurant tailandez in Bucuresti – Siam

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Astazi am decis sa-mi scot familia in oras si sa incercam mancare exotica: Mihaela a propus un restaurant tailandez pentru ca in India i-a placut foarte mult acest tip de mancare. Am cautat repede pe net si am descoperit ca in apropiere de bulevardul Lascar Catargiu, intre Piata Victoriei si Piata Romana pe o strada laterala se gaseste restaurnatul tailandez Siam. Am cautat cateva review-uri pe diverse site-uri si cum acestea erau in general bune am facut rezervare pentru pranz. Desi sambata, nu era multa lume, doar vreo trei mese erau ocupate.

Am comandat niste aperitive cu spring rolls, pachetele cu legume, frigarui de pui cu sos dulce si creveti pane iar la felul principal fiecare si-a comandat ce-a vrut. Catalina a fost cea mai norocoasa alegand niste taitei cu ou grozavi. Nici Serban nu a avut o alegere gresita, orezul prajit in stil Bangkok fiind foarte bun. Mihaela a nimerit cea mai picanta mancare din meniu, carne de porc in sos de curry rosu, atat de picanta ca nu s-a prea putut atinge de ea. A fost o masa de pranz reusita, cu un serviciu bun la un pret mediu (preturile se pot gasi pe site-ul restaurantului: http://siamthairestaurant.ro/ro/meniu/). Un singur minus, din cauza frigului de afara in restaurant era destul de frig (in jur de 18 grade).

Restaurant tailandez in Bucuresti – SiamOOREZ PRĂJIT BANGKOK STYLEOREZ THAI JASMINE FIERTmancare tailandezaCARNE DE PORC IN SOS DE CURRY ROSUCARNE CU GINGER SI FUNGUSTĂIŢEI CU OU Restaurant tailandez in Bucuresti – Siam - interiorpofta buna

50 things my Xperia Arc can do that an iPhone 4s can’t

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  1. It can have homescreen widgets
  2. It can send pictures, music, movies to other devices using Bluetooth (even non-Android devices and phones)
  3. It is not tied to any particular PC software, I can choose how to manage my media
  4. It can sync my media using Wifi out of the box
  5. I am allowed to install non-marketplace applications if I choose to without rooting/jailbreaking
  6. My phone uses open and inter-operable file formats and codecs.g
  7. My phone uses standardized and inter-operable connectors and leads
  8. I can replace the battery when it no longer performs as well as it should
  9. I can add additional storage using standard MicroSD cards
  10. I can do Panorama and 3D panorama pictures
  11. I can playback on a TV using a standard HDMI lead
  12. I don’t need to cut down my SIM card to make it fit.
  13. I am not tied to a single vendor by my application purchases. I can move them to any other Android device from any other Android manufacturer.
  14. I can hold my phone any way I wish when I want to make phone calls
  15. I can beam my media to my TV using DLNA.
  16. I can browse my devices filesystem, it’s not hidden from me.
  17. Supports Flash
  18. My Arc has 460 hours standby (4s is only 200)
  19. Dedicated Camera Button
  20. I can tether using Wifi, Cable or Bluetooth.
  21. Supports Game Controllers
  22. Noise Canceling Microphone for calls
  23. Continual Autofocus whilst filming
  24. Zooming whilst filming
  25. Wrist Strap slot
  26. Replacable keyboard/lockscreen/launcher
  27. OS supported by the community long after the vendor drops support.
  28. You can customise SMS tones
  29. You can customise icons
  30. I can have live wallpapers
  31. I can use Bravia Engine to enhance pictures and playback.
  32. I have much better audio quality
  33. I have a much bigger screen.
  34. More plentiful and better quality free apps on Android
  35. Turn by Turn SatNav out the box for free.
  36. The Arc S has an FM radio included
  37. USB Host mode allows me to connect other USB peripherals.
  38. The Xperia’s camera and chipset work great even in low-light.
  39. My Arc wasn’t made in a factory exploiting workers.
  40. My Arc has a notification LED to signify I have unread mail/texts
  41. My Arc has PROPER multitasking for ALL applications.
  42. Android gives me intents that allow me to share anything with anyone.
  43. Android allows me to replace build in components like browser and keyboard with alternatives.
  44. On Android I can use Google Voice, which is an unlocked and open Facetime.
  45. On Android all my contacts, calendar and todo are all automatically cloud sync’d and I can do group invites.
  46. Android market gives me a refund window on purchases.
  47. I have a choice of lockscreen style (code, pattern, soon face unlock)
  48. On my Arc I can turn the LED on during video filming.
  49. My Arc S is 20% lighter, despite having a bigger screen and removable battery.
  50. I don’t buy my phone based on what the television and internet tells me to buy.

And all of this is without rooting the phone. This list is collected from XDA Developers forum. Comments?

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