VaNYPD helicopter makes hard emergency landing in Brooklyn, cause unclear

An NYPD helicopter made an emergency landing Wednesday near the department's aviation base in Brooklyn.

It was not clear what caused the aircraft to suddenly go down, but it appeared to land in Jamaica Bay near Floyd Bennett Field just before 4 p.m., FDNY officials said.

Five police officers were inside the chopper when it landed. There were no serious injuries.

In August of 2009, one of the helicopters in the NYPD fleet made two emergency landings in a three-day span. The first happened at a soccer field in Maspeth, Queens. The second happened in Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

Both incidents were attributed to a faulty indicator light in the chopper's control panel.

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New BMWs To Sport Apple Interface, iPad And iPod Out Integration

The Paris Motor show is going on now. The usual car unveilings are a given, but also the shows are becoming a place for automakers to showcase and release exciting new tech. Take BMW, for example: they are known around the globe for making the “ultimate driving machines.” Now, they are entering the realm of being the ultimate connectivity machines.

Right now, we are witnessing a convergence in the way we run and drive our lives. We want to be connected at all times—to anything—so long as we are stimulated. For car companies, that means giving the people what they want. And what is that? Well we don’t want any more half-baked attempts at a third-party interface, no more reinventing the wheel with the interface. Instead, how about a continued consistent look pulled straight from things we’re already accustomed to. I use an iPhone; I like the interface; why can’t my car’s display duplicate that? Apple isn’t getting into the car business anytime soon.

Since the automakers are still lost, Apple has gone ahead and built a feature into iOS4 called iPod out, practically giving the people what they want — now automakers just need to accept the loss and go for the win.

BMW doesn’t want to make you learn another interface, because they know you really don’t want to. Remember, they were one of the original OEMs to support the iPod.



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HRP-4: Meet Japan’s New And Awesome Humanoid Robot (Video)

Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) has done it again. After having developed one of the most advanced cybernetic human robots out there (namely the HRP-4C we covered previously), it is now time for the next humanoid. Meet the HRP-4 [JP].

The HRP-4 is primarily designed for use at R&D facilities at universities and companies. It stands 151cm tall, weighs 39kg, and boasts a total of 34 degrees of freedom. Buyers can mount a laptop on its bag to add further functionality.

The robot can strike poses in response to voice commands, and it can also detect and track human faces and certain objects.

AIST and co-developer Kawada Industries plan to start selling the HRP-4 in January next year. The robot itself plus the software necessary to control it will cost $325,000.

Here’s a quite impressive demo video



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About Google Instant

Google Instant is a new search enhancement that shows results as you type. We are pushing the limits of our technology and infrastructure to help you get better search results, faster. Our key technical insight was that people type slowly, but read quickly, typically taking 300 milliseconds between keystrokes, but only 30 milliseconds (a tenth of the time!) to glance at another part of the page. This means that you can scan a results page while you type.

The most obvious change is that you get to the right content much faster than before because you don’t have to finish typing your full search term, or even press “search.” Another shift is that seeing results as you type helps you formulate a better search term by providing instant feedback. You can now adapt your search on the fly until the results match exactly what you want. In time, we may wonder how search ever worked in any other way.
Benefits

Faster Searches: By predicting your search and showing results before you finish typing, Google Instant can save 2-5 seconds per search.

Smarter Predictions: Even when you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, predictions help guide your search. The top prediction is shown in grey text directly in the search box, so you can stop typing as soon as you see what you need.

Instant Results: Start typing and results appear right before your eyes. Until now, you had to type a full search term, hit return, and hope for the right results. Now results appear instantly as you type, helping you see where you’re headed, every step of the way.

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Obama taps Elizabeth Warren to launch Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

President Obama picked a woman Wall Street loathes to crack down on unscrupulous behavior in the financial industry.

Harvard Law School Prof. Elizabeth Warren will launch the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, answering directly to Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the President announced Friday.



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Credit cards that hide the account number and store multiple accounts

If you’re anything like me, there’s a stack of credit cards bulking up the size of your wallet (or purse), making it fit to burst in a Costanza-like explosion of receipts and unused condoms. New technology from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania startup Dynamics Inc. could help cut the number of cards cluttering up your wallet by allowing you to access multiple credit card accounts on a single card. To enhance security, the technology also allows the credit card number that appears on the front of a card to be hidden until the correct code is entered.

The technology, which Dynamics Inc. has dubbed Card 2.0, includes the world’s first fully card-programmable ‘Electronic Stripe’ in place of the traditional magnetic stripe. While the Electronic Stripe can be read at any existing point-of-sale (POS) magnetic stripe reader, it also allows any bit of information stored on the programmable stripe to be changed at any time using the card itself. The device is as thin, flexible and durable as current credit cards and will last over three years on a single battery charge.

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Is Another Deepwater Disaster Inevitable?

The largest U.S. oil discoveries in decades lie in the depths of the Gulf of Mexico—one of the most dangerous places to drill on the planet.

By Joel K. Bourne, Jr.
Photograph by Joel Sartore

On a blistering June day in Houma, Louisiana, the local offices of BP—now the Deepwater Horizon Incident Command Center—were swarming with serious men and women in brightly colored vests. Top BP managers and their consultants wore white, the logistics team wore orange, federal and state environmental officials wore blue. Reporters wore purple vests so their handlers could keep track of them. On the walls of the largest "war room," huge video screens flashed spill maps and response-vessel locations. Now and then one screen showed a World Cup soccer match.




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Maldonado calls for quicker investigation into San Bruno explosion

California's acting governor, Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado, called the timeline for an investigation into the rupture of a natural gas pipeline in San Bruno "unacceptable."

The explosion and fire killed seven people, injured dozens more and destroyed nearly 40 homes.

National Transportation Safety Board members investigating the disaster said it will take at least a year to complete their investigation.

Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado said California can't wait that long. He called on the Public Utilities Commission to immediately ensure the safety of California's natural gas transmission lines.


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Now!Watch Sons of Anarchy Season 3 Episode 1 online free streaming Read more: Press-Banner - nowwatch sons of anarchy season 3 episode 1 online free

Watch Sons of Anarchy Season 3 Episode 1 Online - The New Season in HD -Watch Sons of Anarchy Season 3 Episode Online as it premieres today and get the first hand info on the latest happenings of the lives of all the characters involved in this epic TV show. This show grabbed a lot of atention because of the weird nature of how a dad is juggling his family life and his involvement in a motorcycle gang at the same time.


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Apple TV - First Look review

Apple have said that Apple TV is just a hobby for them, reiterating the joke at the company's September update. To some, Apple TV stole the show, wowing with its new tiny dimensions, and a price that's difficult to ignore. We got our eyes on the new box at the launch event and here is what we thought.

As you'd expect, Apple have done a great job on designing the new Apple TV. The small black box measures just 2.29cm high, by 9.91cm square. The market is flooded with similar TV streamers, but so many are glossy black plastic that you'll want to hide from view; Apple TV by contrast looks every bit as good as the rest of the Apple range.

The black - rather than white - design means it will also fit in well with your existing home cinema kit, which is predominantly black, unless you are a massive Loewe fan. The small size, however, might see it getting lost amongst the rest of your kit, but be careful not to overlook this mighty device.

Around the back the connections are simple: power, HDMI, optical audio and Ethernet. Internally you also get Wi-Fi a/b/g/n so both connection routes to your network are covered, which is to credit to Apple as not all manufacturers will give you both. (A Micro-USB connection hides under the HDMI, but is indicated as for service and support only.)

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Verizon iPhone and New iPod touch at Apple’s Sept 1st event?

Apple is scheduled a press event in which it is expected to announced new iPod touch or possible smaller nano iPod and new Apple TV. There are a lot speculations that Apple could take an opportunity to provide information for Verizon iPhone.

There is a lot of curiosity of what Apple will present during the conference. While looking through historically, Apple will stick with new iPod or possibly offers some insight about the revamp of Apple TV. It is difficult to believe that Apple may introduce Verizon iPhone especially during this conference. Well, this event is completely dedicated to music.

Ref: moretechnews.com