Facebookers Get Into Philanthropy: A3 Foundation Launches At Sundance To Support Asian-American Artists

a3-foundationWith Facebook’s incredibly hyped IPO now over, longtimers at the company are naturally exploring the question: what does life after Facebook hold? Some are years into new startups of their very own, while others are funemployed. But a small group is getting into philanthropy and giving back. The latest of these projects is the A3 Foundation, which is launching at the Sundance film festival today and supports Asian-American artists in film and other creative industries. It’s the project of Philip Fung, a seven-year Facebook veteran who is now an engineering manager on the Facebook for Android team, Julia Lam, who co-founded an unlaunched startup called Optimistic Labs after leaving Facebook and Franklyn Chien, who co-founded LearnSprout also after leaving Facebook. “When Phil was growing up, he didn’t see a lot of role models on television. He wanted to help fix that,” said Lam, who was part of an Asian American theater group while an undergraduate at UCLA. “Our feeling is that there is a lot talent out there. They just need a longer runway to help develop their skills. It’s something that we felt like we could help with.” At the same time, social networking and sites like YouTube have allowed Asian American artists to flourish and reach audiences in ways that the traditional film and television industry have not. The top four independent YouTube creators, like Ryan Higa, FreddieW, Michelle Phan, Kevin Wu/Jumba, have seen more than 3.5 billion views and attracted 20 million subscribers. A3 is running two programs at the moment. One gives artists $10,000 to $20,000 in grants along with mentors and other connections. There are currently three fellows including Christopher Dinh, Jerome Villarin and Samuel Bay. You can see some of their work here: Sam Bay from Sam Bay on Vimeo. A second program is a partnership with the Sundance Institute to sponsor a fellow in their Director or Screenwriting Lab in 2013 or 2014. The normal Sundance fellowship is very competitive with about 2,000 applications for about 25 slots. Grantees don’t actually have to be Asian-American. They just have to be passionate about telling stories about the Asian-American experience in the media. They also don’t necessarily have to be filmmakers. Lam said they would be open to artists in dance, and other creative fields. They’ll be self-funded the first year, and hope to see about five to 10 fellows in the next year. Lam,

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With The Xperia Z And Xperia Tablet Z, Sony Has Finally Found Its Mobile Soul

se-nostalgia3There was a time when Sony defined mobile. Its products, along with wares from its partner Ericsson, where the very best looking and performing mobile devices. But that was a decade ago. Sony hasn't been part of the mobile conversation since before Apple crashed the party and it never picked itself up in the aftermath. But it seems Sony might be back. Its latest mobile products are stunning and have clear design message. Sony isn't taking 2013 lying down.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/dvfHtZOrx6Y/

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Words With Friends for Android updated, promises "smoother game experience"

wordswithfriends
As several of you noted in the comments to our post asking for cross-platform iOS/Android games, Words With Friends for Android does not provide the smoothest gaming experience... and that's being rather charitable.

You might be happy to hear that a couple of days ago Zynga released an update which promises to solve many of the Android-specific issues, such as notifications not popping up.

Sadly, installing the update is not a smooth experience; you have to manually uninstall the previous version, and then go to the Android Market and install it. What's nice is that it doesn't lose your saved games - this screenshot shows a game I've started before the update and continued after updating.

How's the new update working out for you? Let us know in the comments!

Words With Friends for Android updated, promises "smoother game experience" originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/04/words-with-friends-for-android-updated-promises-smoother-game/

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UK trials updated 1950s naval tech, avoids GPS jamming risk

UK trials eLoran navigation system based on 1950s naval tech, avoids GPS jamming issues

It's always nice to see an old tech stage a comeback and this time it's happening around the coasts of Europe, with nine low-frequency radio transmitters substituting for GPS' satellite-based system. eLoran's radiowave-based system is stronger than satellite signals and less jammable, based on the Loran system that was previously used for shipping navigation by both the British and US navy over 50 years ago. But despite its age, the tech has proven remarkable hardy against unwanted interference. In trials conducted by the General Lighthouse Authorities of UK and Ireland, a 1.5W radio jammer was able to knock out GPS signals over a range of 30 kilometers. However, to do the same to the Loran system, you'd need a 40ft tower -- and around 25kW of juice to power it.

The basics behind Loran and GPS are largely the same, with devices measuring the time it takes for a signal to travel between a transmitter and your receiver. Loran requires three singles, with locations then calculated through "trilateration". More signal input subsequently equals a more secure position read-out, with the elderly base system offering initial location accuracy to around 100 meters. However, the updated eLoran signal (currently only being broadcast on the east coast of the UK, around Dover) will narrow that down to the nearest 10 meters. The GPS back-up will be gradually rolled out across the entire British coastline.

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Source: WSJ

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/ENKGoVLJuow/

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Gadgets Week In Review: Flying Discs

1397Here is a selection of posts from the past week on TechCrunch Gadgets: Nerf?s New Vortex Blasters Shoot Discs! And They?re Awesome! Skimming Jonathan?s Card For Fun And Philanthrophy CableKeeps Keep Your Jumbled Mass Of Apple Chargers Nice And Neat Bevy Of Apple Patents Granted, From Visual Voicemail To PCI Card Brackets Video: Functioning CNC Mill Created From LEGO

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/15/gadgets-week-in-review-flying-discs/

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Google Denies Killing Donkey on Street View Expedition

Google seems to have had a dustup with a donkey -- literally. Images plucked from Google Street View have raised questions about whether a Google Street View car ran over a donkey in the African nation of Botswana. Images culled from Street View show a donkey lying in the road. One of the images also shows dust hovering over the donkey, possibly suggestive of a recent tumble.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/27a0b532/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C7710A90Bhtml/story01.htm

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Mozilla Messaging reintegrates with Labs, unifies focus on Web-based communication

Mozilla Messaging, citing Mozilla's increased focus on Web-borne communications, will be reintegrating with Mozilla Labs.

The Messaging subsidiary was formed in 2008 to focus on Thunderbird, but given Mozilla Labs' current focus on identity and contact management, it now makes sense for the groups to be merged. Thunderbird will be unaffected by the change -- some URLs might change, but that's it -- and presumably Messaging's F1 and Raindrop will thrive in the Labs playground.

What this means for the end user -- for the hundreds of millions of Firefox users -- is that the next big additions will be communication- and messaging-oriented. Contacts and F1 will be almost certainly be baked into Firefox 5 or 6, both of which will be released this year -- and, who knows, there might be something else even more exciting up Mozilla Labs' sleeve!

Mozilla Messaging reintegrates with Labs, unifies focus on Web-based communication originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/05/mozilla-messaging-reintegrates-with-labs-unifies-focus-on-web-b/

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Iterate 38: Aged & Distilled and Napkin

Iterate 38: Aged & Distilled and Napkin

Marc, Seth, and Rene talk to Guy English, Chris Parrish, and Thomas Unterberger about Aged & Distilled's new image annotation app, Napkin, it's origins, the choices they made, and how they got it shipped.

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Yell at us on Twitter via the above accounts. Loudly.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/3hvamOWNnAI/story01.htm

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Facebook's Graph Search Turns Up Privacy Issues

Facebook's introduction of Graph Search has been greeted with -- wait for it -- complaints about privacy. Graph Search is a feature Facebook introduced to allow users to enter parameter-based searches to find friends -- and friends of friends -- who share certain interests. A search for "friends who ski" or even more specifically "friends who ski in Arizona" will narrow the results within that field.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/27b00933/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C771270Bhtml/story01.htm

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Bing begins roll out of HTML5-enhanced search interface

Bing transitions
Bing's new HTML5-and-CSS3-enhanced search interface, which was first demonstrated back in September 2010 to showcase the power of IE9, has started to roll out.

The most notable addition to the new interface is is smooth page transitions -- the fade in and out -- and navigation tabs (maps, images, videos, etc.) now persistently float at the top of the page. WinRumors is also reporting that a feature reminiscent of Google Instant search is being added to Bing, with page elements smoothly transitioning in and out as you type in your search query.

If you want to try out the new Bing UI, your best bet is to set your locale to United States - English and pray that you're part of the initial roll out. Alternatively, just wait a few days until MIX 2011, Microsoft's Web developer conference, which is when the new Bing UI should be officially launched.

Bing begins roll out of HTML5-enhanced search interface originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/08/bing-begins-roll-out-of-html5-enhanced-search-interface/

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