Netflix Headed to New Apple iTV Tomorrow [REPORT]

t Apple’s special event Wednesday, the company is expected to roll out a new Apple TV that includes support for Netflix.

These latest reports from Bloomberg corroborate rumors of an iOS-based Apple TV that surfaced this spring. With Netflix available on theiPad and the iPhone, an offering for the television set certainly makes sense.

I’ve long argued that the original Apple TV failed to really gain traction with buyers because it was too limited in its media offerings. The reason that Boxee was such a gift to Apple TV owners circa 2008/early 2009 was because it connected the device to lots of different online media sources, including Netflix.

As we’ve noted in past articles, however, the connected device landscape of 2010 is very different than that of 2007, when the Apple TV was first released. In fact, the landscape is very different from even a year ago.

Netflix has successfully executed its “Watch Instantly” strategy and is available on a bevy of devices in the U.S., including the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii and Roku — not to mention countless Blu-ray players and HDTV sets.

Frankly, we would be surprised not to see Netflix on the new Apple TV. At this point, it almost seems a given. The only question now is whether the connectivity will be built into the device OS or if it will come as an app available on iTunes.

If it is the latter, Apple might just show off some other content partnerships and connectivity options via theApp Store beyond Netflix, like Hulu for iTV.

Apple’s press event is tomorrow morning and we’ll keep you abreast of all the announcements and new products as they are announced.

Would Netflix support make you more willing to buy a new Apple TV?

Gmail Priority Inbox Launches: Your E-mail Will Never Be the Same

Today, Google will begin rolling out Priority Inbox for Gmail, a new feature for managing massive amounts of e-mail. Your inbox will never be the same again.
Priority Inbox is Google’s attempt to solve the e-mail woes of Gmail power users. At its core, the feature is an algorithm; Priority Inbox uses information such as keywords, the people you e-mail the most and your e-mail habits to select the most pressing e-mails in your inbox. Those e-mails are brought to the top of your Gmail and marked as important so you deal with them first.
Priority Inbox is also an adaptive algorithm. Marking items as important or unimportant teaches the system what types of messages you deem the most urgent. You can also use Gmail’s filters to automatically mark certain messages as important (for example, from your boss or your spouse),
The new feature appears as a new menu item just above the “Inbox” link. Instead of indicating how many unread e-mails you have in your inbox, Priority Inbox only displays how many priority e-mails still require your attention. These appear at the top of Gmail as “Important and unread.”
The second layer of the new layout is your starred e-mails. These messages appear in their own section under the Priority Inbox. The goal is to get users to star important e-mails they have read but for whatever reason still need in their inboxes. Under the “Starred” section is “Everything else,” which contains the rest of your unarchived inbox.

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The Impact of the Priority Inbox

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During the many months of testing the feature internally, the search giant found that users spent 16% less time reading insignificant e-mail. If you do the math, that’s about a full week’s worth of time saved. According to Google, once someone switches to Priority Inbox, he or she never needs or wants to go back.
We can see why. We’ve had the chance to test out Priority Inbox for the last few days and discuss the new feature with Gmail Product Director Keith Coleman, and we’re impressed. Our inboxes get filled with hundreds of e-mails daily, but only a few of them require our immediate attention. Even with dozens of Gmail filters, important messages often get lost in the pile, leading to lost opportunities or missed meetings.
Priority Inbox, while not perfect, is a dramatic step toward solving that problem. Important messages bubble to the top, while e-mails that still require attention can sit in the Starred section until they’re addressed. It basically takes the Gmail Multiple Inboxes feature and adds a smart algorithm for cherry picking the threads that require your attention.
Coleman says that the company has been working on the feature for 18 months, but the original version of Gmail had something similar to this before it launched, but was removed because it simply wasn’t ready for mass consumption. Now it is refined enough for use by all.
Today, Google will begin rolling out Priority Inbox for Gmail, a new feature for managing massive amounts of e-mail. Your inbox will never be the same again.
Priority Inbox is Google’s attempt to solve the e-mail woes of Gmail power users. At its core, the feature is an algorithm; Priority Inbox uses information such as keywords, the people you e-mail the most and your e-mail habits to select the most pressing e-mails in your inbox. Those e-mails are brought to the top of your Gmail and marked as important so you deal with them first.
Priority Inbox is also an adaptive algorithm. Marking items as important or unimportant teaches the system what types of messages you deem the most urgent. You can also use Gmail’s filters to automatically mark certain messages as important (for example, from your boss or your spouse),
The new feature appears as a new menu item just above the “Inbox” link. Instead of indicating how many unread e-mails you have in your inbox, Priority Inbox only displays how many priority e-mails still require your attention. These appear at the top of Gmail as “Important and unread.”
The second layer of the new layout is your starred e-mails. These messages appear in their own section under the Priority Inbox. The goal is to get users to star important e-mails they have read but for whatever reason still need in their inboxes. Under the “Starred” section is “Everything else,” which contains the rest of your unarchived inbox.

---

The Impact of the Priority Inbox

---

During the many months of testing the feature internally, the search giant found that users spent 16% less time reading insignificant e-mail. If you do the math, that’s about a full week’s worth of time saved. According to Google, once someone switches to Priority Inbox, he or she never needs or wants to go back.
We can see why. We’ve had the chance to test out Priority Inbox for the last few days and discuss the new feature with Gmail Product Director Keith Coleman, and we’re impressed. Our inboxes get filled with hundreds of e-mails daily, but only a few of them require our immediate attention. Even with dozens of Gmail filters, important messages often get lost in the pile, leading to lost opportunities or missed meetings.
Priority Inbox, while not perfect, is a dramatic step toward solving that problem. Important messages bubble to the top, while e-mails that still require attention can sit in the Starred section until they’re addressed. It basically takes the Gmail Multiple Inboxes feature and adds a smart algorithm for cherry picking the threads that require your attention.
Coleman says that the company has been working on the feature for 18 months, but the original version of Gmail had something similar to this before it launched, but was removed because it simply wasn’t ready for mass consumption. Now it is refined enough for use by all.

Facebook Alternative Diaspora Launches September 15

Diaspora, the much-hyped open source alternative to Facebook, will release its code to the world on September 15, but promises that its creators are just getting started.

Earlier this year, Facebook was embroiled in controversy after it made significant privacy changes. Users didn’t like having more of their information public, so they revolted.

During the height of the crisis, four NYU students decided to create an open source alternative to Facebook. Their goal was to raise $10,000 for their summer project, but dramatic interest helped them raise over $100,000 through donations. Even Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg donated to the project.

Since then, the Diaspora team has been mostly silent, coding away on their project. However, in a blog postearlier today, they revealed that the project is on track for release on September 15.

“We have Diaspora working, we like it, and it will be open sourced on September 15th,” the Diaspora team said in its announcement.

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Only the Beginning

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Diaspora was originally intended to be just a summer project, but the high interest in the project has changed the team’s plans. Diaspora’s development schedule has been extended.

“We aren’t going to stop working after we release,” Diaspora stated in its blog post. “Ilya and Raphael are taking leave from NYU, and we will continue to develop and maintain Diaspora as a long term project.”

What will Diaspora look like? According to the team, it’s focusing on “on building clear, contextual sharing.” One of the open source social network’s features will be making it easy and intuitive for users to decide what content gets added and shared to their social circles.

We’re looking forward to seeing the final product and trying it ourselves. What do you think of the Diaspora project?

Gmail Add-on Makes E-mail Smarter

Rapportive makes an add-on for your Gmail inbox that instantly adds context to the people you e-mail, as you e-mail them. The Y Combinator startup demoed its social intelligence utility for Gmail at a Mountain View event on Tuesday.

Rapportive exists as a Firefox, Safari, Mailplane and Chrome add-on for Gmail. Once installed, the section to the right of each e-mail message — typically occupied by Google ads — is replaced with rich information about the e-mail sender.

The add-on is a clean and lightweight way to get an instant glimpse at who the e-mail sender is and what his/her online footprint entails. Rapportive displays a photo for each contact, highlights professional information, includes links to various social profiles and even pulls in a few of the individual’s recent tweets, should the contact in question be a Twitter user.

As a Rapportive user, you can control exactly what your Rapportive profile shows to other Gmail users — perhaps the best motivation of all to download and install the utility.

With Rapportive, you can also add and save notes about contacts and install Raplets, which are third-party apps that add additional context or information to your contacts. The service even includes integration withTungle.me, so that users can check a contact’s schedules and organize a meeting without ever leaving the e-mail message.

Rapportive exists in a growing space of applications and services that aim to add social context and web intelligence to contacts in the e-mail inbox. Xobni is a similar tool specifically for Outlook users. Gist, which offers a full-featured cloud-based contact management service, also offers sophisticated social integrations and a Gmail Google Apps tool of its own.

To date, the early stage startup has raised upwards of $1 million in angel investments from notable names, including Paul Buchheit (Gmail creator) and Gary Vaynerchuk.

The mother-son relationship is always “special”

At the local community centre, Isabel in Bolton, England (Home of the “White Men”) spotted this board put together by some Sunday School children entitled “My Mum is Special.” (Kudos to the teachers for allowing the kids considerable latitude in how they chose to define “special.”)

France increases aid, offers transport

PARIS: France announced Sunday it would send a plane loaded with 60 tonnes of aid to flood-hit Pakistan, and signaled it is ready to use its military equipment to help transport relief. "Given the exceptional seriousness of the situation, Bernard Kouchner has decided to send a plane carrying 60 tonnes (60,000 kilograms) of humanitarian aid," the foreign ministry said in a statement. In a letter to the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, French President Nicolas Sarkozy also said the country was prepared to use its military aircraft to help transport aid. "It strikes me as essential, for obvious humanitarian and political reasons, that Europe shows its solidarity with the Pakistani population in a visible manner," Sarkozy said. It was "in the interest of Europe to also ensure the development and stability of this country," the president added. The aircraft carrying the 60 tonnes of aid will leave France on Wednesday to reach Islamabad Thursday, and will include emergency equipment, makeshift shelters and drinking water. This adds to the one million euros (1.3 million dollars) that France has already allocated to Pakistan since the start of the disaster, which the UN says has ravaged one fifth of the country and 20 million people. The UN estimates that 1,600 have died since July 29, when flash floods and landslides caused by monsoon rains hit northwestern Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir. The government in Islamabad has confirmed 1,384 deaths. UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived in Pakistan on Sunday and sent out an urgent appeal to the international community to speed up its aid, warning that the country''s worst humanitarian crisis was far from over. Humanitarian organisations have warned of outbreaks of epidemics and the UN has confirmed the first cholera case.

NDMA yet to reach millions in need

ISLAMABAD: The National Disaster Management Authority has so far not covered itself with glory in the delivery of relief goods in flood-hit areas.

According to NDMA’s own statistics, it does not appear to have reached the millions in need of shelter, food and medicine.

The authority has so far sent only 59 emergency medicine kits — 17 to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 24 to Punjab and 18 to Sindh. Balochistan, Azad Kashmir and Gilgilt Baltistan have not received any medicine kit.

And this was the authority’s own admission on Friday, two weeks after the calamity struck the country.

The large-scale displacement in hot, humid weather, where camps are makeshift and amenities minimal has increased the chances of outbreak of diseases such as cholera. The NDMA has distributed 149 cholera kits — all in Punjab. The other provinces got nothing.

The authority has distributed 3,500 mosquito nets among the affected people — 600 in Balochistan, 750 each in KP and Punjab and 1,500 in Sindh. But whether or not the distribution has been driven by some empirical evidence of more mosquitoes in Sindh remains unknown.

For general health and welfare of the flood victims, the NDMA has sent 59 emergency medicine kits of which the lion’s share of 24 went to Punjab and 17 to KP.

Clean drinking water is a major issue. According to NDMA data, it has provided 41 water purification plants — 13 to KP, 15 to Punjab, 13 to Sindh. Balochistan, AJK and GB have received nothing.

The authority has so far distributed 1,272 water bottles — 300 each in KP and Sindh and 672 in Punjab. With the millions affected, it does appear to be the proverbial drop in the ocean, but then the authority has provided 80 more water tanks — 35 in Balochistan, 13 in KP, 19 in Punjab and 13 in Sindh.

But where the flood victims are desperate for basic things such as clothes, the NDMA has generously distributed over 2,000 towels, but strategically so — only Sindh and Punjab got this amenity; perhaps the people in KP, AJK and Balochistan did not need any. A similar logic was followed for soap which too only went to the two bigger provinces and not to other regions.

All the buckets, however, went to KP as did the 24 foam beds, a luxury that the other areas did not get. Punjab got all 15 tons of dates distributed by NDMA.



When it came to provision of other food items, the NDMA said it had so far distributed 2300 bags — 650 each in KP and Sindh and 1,000 in Punjab. However, all 437 food bags and their unknown contents were sent to KP, perhaps in exchange for all dates that were sent to Punjab.

Twitter Allows Tweets Longer Than 140 Characters (By Accident)

If you’re crafty, you can now publish a tweet longer than 140 characters. It’s not a feature but rather a bug of course, so don’t expect it to be possible for much longer.

We first read about the bug in the Twitter Development Talk Google Group, where forum user Chris White posted a step-by-step of how to make it happen. He wrote that you go directly to the Twitter Share URL (http://twitter.com/share?url=) in theFirefox web browser and put your tweet’s text after “url=” — for example, “http://twitter.com/share?url=This is a test of the Twitter 140 character bug.”

The result is a tweet box with a shortened http://t.co/ link (that’s Twitter’s URL shortener). Then you can just click the tweet button and the full-length tweet will go out on your account. It will display properly on Twitter’s website, but many third-party web, desktop or mobile apps will fail to show the whole message.

Twitter user TenhoMania published a tweet that included the entire first chapter of the book of Genesis from the Hebrew Bible — not a wholly original idea at this point, but special for its 3,000+ character length, at least. That and several other lengthy tweets have been retweeted numerous times.

Twitter employee John Adams posted a thanks to Chris White on Google Groups for exposing the bug, and said “I filed a bug with our webclient team,” so a fix is sure to come in the very near future.

Update: Twitter just fixed it. Tweets now display properly or not at all.

   

Independence Day -- Will you celebrate?

World's most expensive home: $220 million penthouse

The $150 million price tag for Candy Spelling's 123-room megamansion has been surpassed by a six-bedroom property in London.Maybe space just 
isn't the commodity it used to be.

As Candy Spelling's $150 million megamansion in Bel Air, Calif., has languished for more than a year on the market, an unidentified buyer has snatched up what's believed to be the world's most expensive piece of residential real estate for about $220 million, and it's hardly the 123-room, 56,500-square-foot estate that Spelling lived in with her late TV-producer husband, Aaron Spelling.
No, the world's most expensive home is actually a six-bedroom penthouse in London that's not even finished yet, according to Luxist.

The penthouse is part of the posh, 86-unit One Hyde Park development, which is slated for completion in December and boasts prices starting at $30 million, Luxist says.
Meanwhile, America's most expensive recorded residential sale this year was for a sprawling, 3,500-acre ranch in Colorado that energy executive and billionaire Kelcy Warren bought for $46.5 million, nearly half off the original $88 million asking price.

6 Questions You Should Never Ask at the Interview

Candidates who ask these questions don't remain candidates for long

What were they thinking? Whenever I talk to human-resources professionals or recruiters, I always ask them to tell me the worst question they were ever asked in a job interview. How could any applicant actually believe questions like these are in his interests?

Unfortunately, job seekers continue to ask dumb questions every day. These questions demonstrate poor judgment and effectively ensure their rejection.

It's hard to generalize about such stunningly bad interview questions, but they all are "me" questions. These are questions that appear to put your needs before those of the employer. The best interview questions focus on what the applicant can do for the company, not what the company can do for applicant.

Be certain that the questions you ask don't raise barriers or objections. For example, don't ask, "Is relocation a necessary part of the job?"

The very question raises doubts about your willingness to relocate. Even if the person selected for the position is not tracked for relocation, the negativity of the question makes the hiring manager wonder whether you are resistant in other areas as well.

If the issue of relocation is important to you, by all means ask, but go with a phrasing that reinforces your flexibility, not challenges it. A good approach: "I'm aware that relocation is often required in a career and I am prepared to relocate for the good of the company as necessary. Could you tell me how often I might be asked to relocate in a five- or 10-year period?"

Here are five more bad questions you might be tempted to ask and what hiring managers will think when they hear them:

What you ask: Is job-sharing a possibility?
What they think: Possibly, but does this mean you can't give us a commitment for full-time work?

    

What you ask: Can you tell me whether you have considered the incredible benefits of telecommuting for this position?
What they think: Why do you want to get out of the office before you have even seen it?

What you ask: I understand that employee paychecks are electronically deposited. Can I get my paycheck in the old-fashioned way?
What they think: You are already asking for exceptions. What's next? And are you afraid of technology?

What you ask: I won't have to work for someone with less education than I have, will I?
What they think: You clearly have a chip on your shoulder. Why should we take a chance that you don't have other interpersonal issues?
     
What you ask: The job description mentions weekend work. Are you serious?
What they think: We're serious about the job description. We're suddenly less serious about you.

Blighted Ovum!

 Chances are you didn’t even know you were pregnant or had just found out you were expecting when you received the shattering news that there is no visible developing embryo on the ultrasound. You are probably feeling sad and confused. As you take time to understand what this means, also take time to grieve as you would for any loss. And remember you are not alone

What is a blighted ovum?

A blighted ovum (also known as “anembryonic pregnancy”) happens when a fertilized egg attaches itself to the uterine wall, but the embryo does not develop. Cells develop to form the pregnancy sac, but not the embryo itself. A blighted ovum usually occurs within the first trimester before a woman knows she is pregnant. A high level of chromosome abnormalities usually causes a woman’s body to naturally miscarry.

How do I know if I am having or have had a blighted ovum?

A blighted ovum can occur very early in pregnancy, before most women even know that they are pregnant. You may experience signs of pregnancy such as a missed or late menstrual period and even a positive pregnancy test. It is possible that you may have minor abdominal cramps, minor vaginal spotting or bleeding. As with a normal period, your body may flush the uterine lining, but your period may be a little heavier than usual.

What causes a blighted ovum?

A blighted ovum is the cause of about 50% of first trimester miscarriages and is usually the result of chromosomal problems. A woman’s body recognizes abnormal chromosomes in a fetus and naturally does not try to continue the pregnancy because the fetus will not develop into a normal, healthy baby. This can be caused by abnormal cell division, or poor quality sperm or egg.

Should I have a D&C or wait for a natural miscarriage?

This is a decision only you can make for yourself. Most doctors do not recommend a D&C for an early pregnancy loss. It is believed that a woman’s body is capable of passing tissue on its own and there is no need for an invasive surgical procedure with a risk of complications. A D&C would, however, be beneficial if you were planning on having a pathologist examine the tissues to determine a reason for the miscarriage. Some women feel a D&C procedure helps with closure, mentally and physically.

How can a blighted ovum be prevented?

Unfortunately, in most cases a blighted ovum cannot be prevented. Some couples will seek out genetic testing if multiple early pregnancy loss occurs. A blighted ovum is often a one time occurrence, and rarely will a woman experience more than one. Most doctors recommend couples wait at least 1-3 regular menstrual cycles before trying to conceive again after any type of miscarriage.

Many women assume their pregnancies are on track because their hCG levelsare increasing. The placenta can continue to grow and support itself without a baby for a short time, and pregnancy hormones can continue to rise, which would lead a woman to believe she is still pregnant. A diagnosis is usually not made until an ultrasound test shows either an empty womb or an empty birth sac.

   

First Trimester Bleeding -- Bleeding in 1st Month Pregnancy

You’ve shared the exciting news of your pregnancy with your friends and family. Then, one morning you wake up and notice a spot of blood on your underwear, and suddenly you're as frightened as you've ever been.

Don't panic. Although bleeding during pregnancy is never considered "normal," bleeding during the first trimester is very common. In fact, approximately one-quarter of all women who deliver healthy babies experience some bleeding in the first trimester.

Of course, bleeding can also be a sign of impending miscarriage, so it's important to discuss any bleeding with your midwife or doctor. She or he will probably wish to examine you (though not necessarily on an emergency basis), and will most likely order an ultrasound test to further evaluate your pregnancy.

What causes bleeding in the first trimester? And what type of bleeding is likely to indicate a miscarriage? One possible cause of light bleeding in the first trimester is related to the aggressive growth of the placenta. As the placenta establishes contact with the maternal circulation, some bleeding of the uterine wall may occur. This could cause retro-placental bleeding (a small collection of blood behind the placenta) and some of the blood may escape, causing vaginal bleeding.

There are several signs that may indicate the bleeding is a symptom of impending miscarriage. The most sensitive sign, and the one that your practitioner will probably ask you about first, is pain. In an impending miscarriage, bleeding is almost always associated with some lower abdominal cramping. Also, the volume of bleeding is generally quite a bit heavier in an impending miscarriage than in a normal pregnancy.

A blighted ovum is the most common cause of miscarriage. This term is somewhat misleading because it is not necessarily the ovum that is abnormal, but rather the combination of the ovum and sperm. The resulting chromosomal defect is so severe that although the pregnancy advances, development cannot proceed beyond the earliest stage. In most cases of blighted ovum, only the placental tissue, not the embryo, has developed. A blighted ovum does not indicate that either parent has a chromosomal abnormality. It affects only the fertilized ovum in question. There is no reason to believe that it will happen again in a future pregnancy.

This has important implications for dealing with miscarriage, both medically and psychologically. Because a blighted ovum is determined at the moment of conception, nothing can be done to prevent a miscarriage. If it's going to happen, it's going to happen. This also means that if you do have a miscarriage, you should never blame yourself. Virtually nothing you do can disrupt a normal pregnancy and, conversely, there is nothing you can do to save an abnormal one.

Lastly, bleeding may also be a sign of a much less common condition-ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancy, also known as tubal pregnancy, occurs when the fertilized ovum fails to travel all the way down the fallopian tube to the uterus. Instead, it implants in the wall of the fallopian tube. Such a pregnancy can never be successful. It may also cause serious health complications for the mother. An ultrasound test is often very helpful in diagnosing ectopic pregnancy.
  

25 Essential Social Media Resources You May Have Missed

Another beautiful summer week brings another beautiful social media round-up. In case you missed any of the resources published here on Mashable, we’ve got them all laid out in neat little sections for your perusal.

This week we looked at some great podcasts for summer listening, some hilarious infomercials on YouTube and some awesome trailers from Comic-Con 2010.

Tech and mobile fans will be pleased to see stories on the new Samsung Galaxy S, a look back at the last five years in mobile, and an interview with superb designer Jesse Thomas.

If you need some business tips and advice, we’ve got ways to promote your brand on YouTube, how social media can make you more productive, and ways to include multimedia on your website.

Looking for even more social media resources? You can find this guide every weekend, and check out all of the lists-gone-by.