Extra SciTechSpace: 1/23/11

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Mark Zuckerberg appears alongside Jesse Eisenberg on SNL [Video]

Well its official, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is a celebrity and household name.

Despite playing no role in the development of The Social Network, Mark Zuckerberg decided to make a surprise appearance on tonights episode of Saturday Night Live.

The appearance saw Zuckerberg play alongside Jesse Eisenberg, the actor who played him in the movie, interestingly this is apparently the first time the two have ever met.

There had been rumors that he may appear on the show but Zuckerberg was reportedly reluctant, thankfully he came through and the response on Twitter and Facebook seems positive if a little awkberg (youll understand).

My personal favorite part?

Eisenberg asks You ever end up seeing the film? You know, The Social Network?

Zuckberg nods.

And what did you think? Eisenberg asked.

It was interesting, Zuckerberg replied.

You know what, ok, Ill take it and they high five.

Ok, enough background, enjoy this snippet via Mediaite:

Image Credit

Mark Zuckerberg appears alongside Jesse Eisenberg on SNL

Well its official, Zuckerberg is now a celebrity and a household name.

Despite playing no role in the development of The Social Network, Mark Zuckerberg has made a surprise appearance on tonights Saturday Night Live.

The appearance sees Zuckerberg play alongside Jesse Eisenberg, the actor who played Zuckerberg in the movie. This is apparently the first time the two have ever met.

There were rumors that he may appear on the show but Zuckerberg was reportedly reluctant thankfully he came through and the response on Twitter and Facebook seems positive.

Were doing all we can to get our hands on the video as soon as its available. Stay tuned.

Updating, please refresh for updates.

The Engadget Mobile Podcast returns tomorrow, January 30th!

If you're starting to get a little jittery over the lack of a podcast episode on Friday, consider this news a calming salve for your frayed nerves: we'll be broadcasting live tomorrow, Sunday, January 30th! Between that and The Engadget Show with special guest Steve Wozniak, we'd say there's a lot to be excited about -- and let's be honest, with nothing but the Pro Bowl to entertain you football-wise, you need all the excitement you can get. See you tomorrow!

Note: We don't have a time yet, but we'll give you a heads-up on the site (and on our Twitter account) just as soon as we know.

The Engadget Mobile Podcast returns tomorrow, January 30th! originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 21:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba Dynabook Qosmio T750 laptop has a lid that changes color on both sides

Toshiba Dynabook Qosmio T750 laptop has a display that changes color on both sides

It's been a long time since we used a laptop that had a monochromatic display -- it was a giant white block of a thing that is not missed -- but flip around just about every laptop we use today and you find a backside that stubbornly refuses to change color no matter the light that hits it. Is that a problem? Not really, we think it's quite fine since we're not often staring at that bit, but for Toshiba such tedium simply won't do, so it's introducing the Dynabook Qosmio T750 with a color-shifting lid. Turn it in the light and it shifts and shimmers, just like the chameleon paint tuners have been using on custom rides for decades. Here, though, we're told it's done with multiple layers of film, no paint at all. Oh, the inside? A 2.66GHz Intel Core i5-480M, 4GB of DDR 3 memory, and a 15.6-inch, 1366 x 768 display that's LED backlit -- which is also capable of displaying multiple colors, in case you're interested.

Toshiba Dynabook Qosmio T750 laptop has a lid that changes color on both sides originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 21:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Its Not Twitter or Facebook, Its the Power of the Network

Just as it was during the recent uprisings in Tunisia, the role of social media in the recent upheaval in Egypt has been the subject of much debate since the unrest began on Thursday. Daily Show host Jon Stewart on Friday poked fun at the idea that Twitter might have played a key part in the demonstrations, and there are many observers who share his skepticism. The real trigger for the uprisings, they argue, is simply the frustration of the oppressed Egyptian people which is undoubtedly true. But it also seems clear that social media has played a key role in getting the word out, and in helping organizers plan their protests. In the end, its not about Twitter or Facebook: its about the power of real-time networked communication.

Foreign Policy magazine columnist Evgeny Morozov has argued that Twitter and Facebook should not be credited with playing any kind of critical role in Tunisia, and suggested that doing so is a sign of the cyber-utopianism that many social-media advocates suffer from: that is, the belief that the Internet is unambiguously good, or that the use of Twitter or Facebook can somehow magically free a repressed society from its shackles. Morozov, who has written an entire book about this idea called Net Delusion, made the point in his blog post after the Tunisian uprising that while social media might have been used in some way during the events, tools li! ke Twitt er and Facebook did not play a crucial role that is, the revolution would have happened with or without them.

Zeynep Tufekci, a professor of sociology who has also looked at this issue, described in a post following the revolution in Tunisia how professional observers distinguish between what she called material, efficient and final causes in other words, things that are required in order to produce a certain outcome, and things that are nice to have but are not a requirement. Tufekci argues that social media was a crucial factor in Tunisia, while Jillian York of Global Voices Online believes that social media tools are useful, but not necessary. Ethan Zuckerman, one of the founders of Global Voices Online, has also written about how the uprisings in both Tunisia and in Egypt have more to do with decades of poverty and repressive dictatorships than they do with social media.

But is anyone really arguing that Twitter and Facebook caused the revolutions in Tunisia or Egypt, or even the earlier public uprisings in Moldova or Iran for that matter? Maybe cyber-utopians somewhere are doing this, but I havent seen or heard of any. The argument I have tried to make is simply that they and other social media tools can be incredibly powerful, both for spreading the word which can give moral or emotional support to others in a country, as well as generating external support as well as for organizational purposes, thanks to the power of the netwo! rk. As J ared Cohen of Google Ideas put it, social media may not be a cause, but it can be a powerful accelerant.

Did Twitter or Facebook cause the Tunisian revolt? No. But they did spread the news, and many Tunisian revolutionaries gave them a lot of credit for helping with the process. Did Twitter cause the revolts in Egypt? No. But they did help activists such as WikiLeaks supporter Jacob Appelbaum (known on Twitter as @ioerror) and others as they organized the dialup and satellite phone connections that created an ad-hoc Internet after Egypt turned the real one off which, of course, it did in large part to try and prevent demonstrators from using Internet-based tools to foment unrest. As Cory Doctorow noted in his review of Evgeny Morozovs book, even if Twitter and Facebook are just used to replace the process of stapling pieces of paper to telephone poles and sending out hundreds of emails, they are still a huge benefit to social activism of all kinds.

But open-network advocate Dave Winer made the key point: its the Internet that is the really powerful tool here, not any of the specific services such as Twitter and Facebook that run on top of it, which Winer compares to brands like NBC. They have power because lots of people use them, and in the case of Twitter because they have open protocols so that apps can still access the network even when the companys website is taken down by repressive governments (athough they didnt mention Egypt or Tunisia by name, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and general counsel Al! exander Macgillivray wrote a post about the companys desire to keep the information flowing).

In the end, the real weapon is the power of networked communication itself. In previous revolutions it was the fax, or the pamphlet, or the cellphone now it is SMS and Twitter and Facebook. Obviously none of these things cause revolutions, but to ignore or downplay their growing importance is also a mistake.

Related GigaOM Pro content (sub reqd):

Post and thumbnail courtesy of Flickr user Ahmad Kavousian

Android devices have a new Media Center remote app

If you're running a Windows Media Center HTPC setup there's more than a few remote control options available on iOS and Windows Phone 7, but The Digital Lifestyle points out the new Remote Media Center App as a new option for Android users. Priced at the low, low cost of free it has a guide grid, the ability to brows channels and programs, schedule recordings, listen to music, browse pictures and even watch videos or recorded TV. It does require users run at least version 0.98.6 of the Remote Potato Server, check out the original post on The Green Button Forums or Appbrain for more information, QR code is to the right.

Android devices have a new Media Center remote app originally appeared on Engadget HD on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 17:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HANDS ON: Garmin StreetPilot for iPhone [PICS & VIDEO]

Garmin has finally created a navigation app for the iPhone, and now StreetPilot for iPhone is available in the App Store for $40. Heres a review where we compare the iPhone version to another Garmin hardware GPS navigator, the Nuvi 1690.

Ive been using Garmin GPS navigation since the days when the hardware cost $800, and so I was interested in seeing if Garmin could translate the excellent user interface and responsiveness of its hardware navigation units to the iPhone.

Delayed for years because of Garmins foray into its own smartphone hardware, the companys done a respectable job of moving its software onto the iOS platform. A big plus with the software is its continuously updated maps, where small parts of the map software reside on the iPhones hard drive, but most are downloaded vi! a the 3G network.

This can be good and bad. While the maps are the freshest available, if you stray outside AT&Ts 3G network, you might not see a map until you get closer to a 3G tower. However, in my testing in the Milwaukee metropolitan area, this wasnt a problem at all.

Most of the features youll get on Garmin hardware units are there in the software, including extensive points of interest such as gas stations and restaurants, helpful lane assist capabilities, and spoken street names.

In my testing, this iPhone version offered more information, and sooner than its hardware brandmate, a Garmin Nuvi 1690. In some cases, the iPhone version was slower, but as you can see in the video below, the speed difference was slight, and didnt matter as much as the iPhone versions useful tendency of offering additional street names in advance.

On the left of the navigation screen, theres a small iPod icon, and when you select it, you can pause your music, skip to the next song, and go to your iPhones music player to select different playlists and songs. Unfortunately, its not as friendly with Pandora Radio, where if you try to listen to Pandora music, as soon as the voice kicks in, Pandora is gone for good.

Some users have complained about the sound quality of the voices in the iPhone StreetPilot, but thats been improved with the recent update, although the sound quality of the voices is still not as good as that of the hardware versions. This seems like it would be an easy thing to fix, but in my testing, the voices were still clearly audible. You can hear the difference in the video below.

Overall, Garmin has done an admirable job of bringing its elegant user interface to the iPhone. The softwares $40 price is reasonable, especially since it includes live updates of road conditions and the freshest possible maps. However, given the unpredictability of AT&Ts network, taking a long trip with its constantly updating maps might be a problem if youre traveling through sparsely pop! ulated a reas. In addition, Id like to see better integration with Pandora, and higher-quality voices.

To get an idea of Garmin StreetPilot for iPhones performance, take a look at this video where you can see which device won my informal and unscientific competition, and then dont miss the gallery where Ive made additional comments and observations.

Garmin StreetPilot for iPhone

Here's the main screen, and it looks a lot like the hardware Garmin.

Garmin StreetPilot for iPhone

the map presents in 3-D, notice the iPod icon on the left.

Garmin StreetPilot for iPhone

Tap that icon, and audio transport controls appear.

Garmin StreetPilot for iPhone

You can navigate through spaghetti bowl of roads with ease.[This graphic courtesy Garmin]

Garmin StreetPilot for iPhone

The Lane Assist feature is particularly useful.[This graphic courtesy Garmin]

Garmin StreetPilot for iPhone

This is the screen you get if there are no traffic problems in the area.

Garmin StreetPilot for iPhone

Here's the list view.

Garmin StreetPilot for iPhone

There are plenty of points of interest to which you can navigate.

Garmin StreetPilot for iPhone

There are even more points of interest.

Garmin Street! Pilot fo r iPhone

Here, I'm looking for the nearest gas station.

Garmin StreetPilot for iPhone

There's a handy weather forecast available.

More About: apps, Garmin StreetPilot for iPhone, gps, hands-on, navigation, reviews

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Amazon rolling out Netflix-like video streaming for Prime subscribers?

Rumors of Amazon either purchasing Netflix or launching a competing option have been circling and now one of our readers says he's seeing an unlimited video streaming section to complement the current Amazon VOD options. That's a nice bonus for the $79/year package that currently adds a few free shipping bonuses and it would be cheaper on a yearly basis than Netflix's Watch Instantly ($95.88.) As seen above and in the gallery, it consists of "unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of 5,000 movies and TV shows" with selections that mirror the Watch Instantly catalog closely. Resolution is apparently limited to a "pretty solid" 480p SD, but there's no word on audio or subtitle options. We'll wait to hear if anyone else is seeing a similar page before assuming a wide rollout, but it certainly appears that there could finally be a viable competitor to the Netflix juggernaut.

[Thanks, Pavel]

Amazon rolling out Netflix-like video streaming for Prime subscribers? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat! , 29 Jan 2011 15:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Another 10 Creative Uses of the New Facebook Profile [PICS]

Its clear that there are many, many ways to hack your Facebook profile. New profiles began appearing in December and here at Mashable we rounded up some of the best initial ones and then 10 more creative profiles from readers. Now, here are another 10 that illustrate the open-ended nature of Facebook profile page designs.

Do you have a good one? Please send it our way.