CHRISTINE ARMARIO The Associated Press TAMPA, Fla. – In a small room at the University of South Florida, Maya Ueda and two classmates prepare for a Mandarin exam. A pot of green tea idles nearby and Chinese folk instruments, games and movies fill the cabinets and bookcases. Although the students are doing their work at a state school on Florida’s Gulf Coast, the center they are studying in is part of a global outreach by the government of China called the Confucius Institute. The cultural and language centers have sprung up around the world, hosted at universities eager to boost their Mandarin offerings as China’s economic influence grows. The Confucius Institute at South Florida is one of…

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WASHINGTON – Hours after a personal encounter with the grim cost of war, President Barack Obama said Thursday that the sight of 18 flag-covered cases holding the remains of Americans killed this week in Afghanistan can’t help influencing his thinking about sending more troops overseas. “It was a sobering reminder of…

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Filed under: Laptops

ASUS’ Android-based ‘secret weapon’ smartbook launching in Q1 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Both Intel and Numonyx have been talking up phase change memory for years now, but for some reason, we’re slightly more inclined to believe that the latest breakthrough is actually one that’ll matter to consumers. In a joint release, the two have announced a new non-volatile memory technology that supposedly “paves the way for scalable, higher density phase change memory products.” Put as simply as possible, researchers have been testing a 64Mb chip that “enables the ability to stack, or place, multiple layers of PCM arrays within a single die,” and the two are calling the discovery PCMS (phase change memory and switch). We know, you’re drowning in technobabble here, but if these two can really apply Moore’s Law to density scaling, you’ll be thanking ‘em as you pick up your $50 6TB hard drive in 2014.

Filed under: Storage

Intel and Numonyx pave the way for scalable, higher density phase change memory originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today, Wednesday (October 28), Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor will walk the ramp in Delhi for designer Rohit Bal at the conclusion of the Couture Week in Delhi. Both Katrina and Ranbir have known Rohit Bal socially though this is the…

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Hema Malini has got four international cinematographers for Esha’s comeback film, Tell Me Oh Khuda Hema Malini has decided to go all out to restart her daughter Esha’s Bollywood career…

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We’ve seen no shortage of homegrown clocks in our day, and while most are cute for their time, few are worthy of being lauded in this manner. Alan Parekh’s Gear Clock is a delightful mishmash of machined gears, thrown together in a fashion that resulted in an actual time-telling gizmo. Hop on past the break to watch this thing spin, but be sure to hold the mute button for the lead-in. Clearly ‘Sound Check’ wasn’t activated.

Continue reading Machined Gear Clock makes watching the time pass a true joy (video)

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Household

Machined Gear Clock makes watching the time pass a true joy (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sorry Litl, but the FCC just spoiled your surprise party. Described as “a web computer” running Litl OS (sorry Microsoft), the 3.38-pound Litl Easel (built by FIC) packs a 1.86GHz Atom Z540 processor beneath that 12.1-inch 1280×800 pixel display, a meager 2GB of storage, 1GB of DDR2 memory, 802.11b/g WiFi, and webcam all powered by a 2600MAh battery. There’s also HDMI, a single USB jack, and an IR receiver for a Litl remote. A dedicated baby-blue “Litl” key on the keyboard would appear to act like a home key that takes you back to the “Card View” home page. Based on the description from the manual, the Litl OS will present information in stacks of cards: blue cards are “permanent” cards for the card catalog, family and friends, and settings; white cards are web cards displayed in a Mozilla browser; and black “channel” cards (known as widgets everywhere else) feature a Litl alarm clock, New York Times headline ticker, and weather channel. And if the cutsie-wutsie factor of the Litl Easel is lost on you then perhaps the “best results if plugged in” label on the power brick will help drive the message home. Litl already has a teaser page up so we expect this to launch Stateside sometime before the holidays.

Read — FCC document
Read — Lilt teaser

Filed under: Laptops

Litl Easel ‘web computer’ is cute as a baby-blue button originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WASHINGTON — The Obama White House, stepping in where other Democrats have feared to tread, has launched a potentially risky fight with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — attempting to bypass the nation’s most powerful business organization and develop independent ties to corporate America. In recent weeks, President Barack Obama, his Energy secretary and one of his most senior advisers have begun criticizing the Chamber publicly, casting it as a profligate lobbying organization at odds with its members in opposing the administration on issues including consumer protection and climate change. At the same time, the administration has been meeting privately with prominent corporate leaders — more…

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. healthcare system is just as wasteful as President Barack Obama says it is, and proposed reforms could be paid for by fixing some of the most obvious inefficiencies, preventing mistakes and fighting fraud, according to a Thomson Reuters report released on Monday. A healthcare poster is seen at George Washington University in Washington May 24, 2007. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/Files) The U.S. healthcare system wastes between $505 billion and $850 billion every year, the report from…

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