Frank Zamboni Honored With Playable Google Doodle

From:<a href="http://www.pcmag.com/">http://www.pcmag.com</a> <strong class="author" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #006699; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 8px 4px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;">By <span class="reviewer hcard" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="url fn" href="http://www.pcmag.com/author-bio/chloe-albanesius" style="border: 0px; color: #006699; display: inline-block; float: none; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Chloe Albanesius</a></span></strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 19px;">January 16, 2013 10:51am EST</span><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Frank Zamboni" height="400" src="http://www9.pcmag.com/media/images/371656-frank-zamboni.jpg?thumb=y" width="400" /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">Google has provided users with a new way to waste time today, thanks to an interactive homepage doodle in honor of entrepreneur Frank Zamboni.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">Anyone who has spent any time at an ice-skating rink has undoubtedly laid eyes on Zamboni's most well-known invention - the Zamboni ice resurfacers. Today, in celebration of Zamboni's 112th birthday, Google's doodle lets you play Zamboni driver.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">Visit Google.com and press the "play" button to enter Google's digital ice rink. Using the arrow keys, navigate the Zamboni around the rink, erasing scratch marks made by the skaters. Erasing all the marks will take you to higher levels, where you can also earn gas for your Zamboni. The game is complete with old-school video-game sounds, though they can be turned off. The more levels you complete, the more intricate the ice scrapings become.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">Frank Zamboni was born in 1901 in Utah, but relocated to California in 1920, where his older brother George had an auto repair business, according to <a href="http://www.zamboni.com/about/zamboni-archives/the-zamboni-story/" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">his bio</a>. The family eventually shifted into refrigeration, and built a skating rink in Paramount, Calif. in 1939. At the time, the ice was resurfaced by pulling a scraper behind a tractor, while workers collected ice shavings and wiped away dirty water. The process took more than an hour, however, so Frank Zamboni started experimenting with other options in 1942.</div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Frank Zamboni Google Doodle" border="0" class="right" src="http://www6.pcmag.com/media/images/371657-frank-zamboni-google-doodle.jpg?thumb=y" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat repeat; border: 0px; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"></span><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">A prototype for the Zamboni we know today, however, was not developed until 1947, while it took another two years before Frank could adequately clear ice from a rink. At that point, he applied for a patent, which was awarded in 1953.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">Frank Zamboni passed away in 1988, but his company lives on. In April 2012, Frank J. Zamboni & Co., Inc. <a href="http://www.zamboni.com/press/zamboni-company-to-deliver-machine-10000-2/" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">delivered</a>its 10,000th production machine to the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">This is not the first interactive doodle for Google, meanwhile.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">A May 2012 <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404767,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">playable doodle</a> featured Robert Moog's signature Moog synthesizer, with all the accompanying bells and whistles. A <a href="http://www.moogmusic.com/content/google-doodle-how" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">quick-start guide</a> on moogmusic.com provided details on how to play the doodle, which also allowed users to record their creations and share them with friends.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">On Sept. 7, meanwhile, <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409414,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Google paid homage</a> to Star Trek with an interactive homepage doodle that celebrated the 46th birthday of the original TV series. Google dressed up the letters in its logo as Star Trek cast members, and with the click of a mouse, you could beam Kirk to an adventure beyond the confines of the starship USS Enterprise.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">Back in 2010, Google's <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2364064,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">playable Pac-Man doodle</a> collectively consumed about 4.8 million hours of our time. Google eventually <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2364106,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">created a standalone site</a> so people could continue their playtime.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">For more of Google's doodles, see the <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/0,1206,l=262220&a=262220,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">slideshow</a> below. Recently, the company has honored the first computer programmer <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2413020,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ada Lovelace</a>, <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2407571,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amelia Earhart</a>, as well as <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403995,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">artist Keith Haring</a>, zipper pioneer <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403445,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Gideon Sundback</a>, and even commemorated its own <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410259,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">14th birthday</a>with a birthday cake doodle.</div>

World's Hot Daily News Frank Zamboni Honored With Playable Google Doodle

From: http://www.pcmag.com   By  Chloe Albanesius January 16, 2013 10:51am EST Google has provided users with a new way to waste time today,...

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Aaliyah reworked: 10 mashups to celebrate her birthday

From: <a href="http://www.latimes.com/">http://www.latimes.com</a><br /><img alt="Aaliyah" src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-50f71998/turbine/la-et-ms-aaliyah-reworked-10-mashups-to-celebr-001/600" /><br /><br /><div class="small" style="background-color: #f2f2f2; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 6px; padding: 0px;">The singer Aaliyah would have been 34 on Wednesday. <span class="credit">(<span class="photographer">Jim Cooper / Associated Press</span>)</span></div><div></div><br /><br /><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #292727; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px;">By Randall Roberts</span><br /><div class="byline" style="color: #292727; float: left; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit"><span class="toolSet" style="background-color: white; display: inline-block; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-right: -50px; margin-top: 6px; width: 335px;"><span class="titleline" style="display: block;">Los Angeles Times Pop Music Critic</span><span class="titleline" style="display: block;"><span class="dateString" style="color: #930000; display: inline; font-style: italic;">January 16, 2013</span><span class="dateTimeSeparator" style="border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; color: white; display: inline; font-size: 10px; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: -1px; margin-left: 6px;">, </span><span class="timeString" style="color: #930000; display: inline; font-style: italic; text-transform: lowercase;">1:14 p.m.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="clear" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.43;">You know the songs, tragically frozen in time after R&B singer </span><a class="taxInlineTagLink" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/music/aaliyah-PECLB000001.topic" id="PECLB000001" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.43; text-decoration: none;" title="Aaliyah">Aaliyah</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.43;">'s untimely death: "Try Again," "Are You That Somebody" and "We Need a Resolution." We've heard them, sung them aloud while cruising the city, romanced to them, danced to them. And we've also adapted them. By reworking those </span><a class="taxInlineTagLink" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/music/timbaland-PECLB004718.topic" id="PECLB004718" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.43; text-decoration: none;" title="Timbaland">Timbaland</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.43;">-produced jams, their sheen and joy pops in new ways. The singer would have been 34 on Wednesday.</span><br /><div id="story-body-text" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.43; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit">Below are a few inspired Aaliyah reworkings that have popped up on <a class="taxInlineTagLink" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/arts-culture/computer-networking-internet/social-media/youtube-ORCRP00000211004.topic" id="ORCRP00000211004" style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none;" title="YouTube">YouTube</a>, which, combined, not only push the singer's work in new directions but also confirm her influence on the generation of singers who followed. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit">Kendrick Lamar versus Aaliyah: Lamar's killer "Swimming Pools (Drank)" combined with Aaliyah's "We Need a Resolution." Writes mashup artist Raheem D: "These two tracks were similar BPM's and had similar themes to do with drink so I decided to make it seem as if Aaliyah was fed up with Kendrick's alcohol intake during his party going which leads her to ask 'Where you were last night' and 'Where'd you go instead?' </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 1.43;">Aaliyah's "Rock the Boat" mixed with </span><a class="taxInlineTagLink" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/music/rihanna-PECLB005404.topic" id="PECLB005404" style="color: #666666; line-height: 1.43; text-decoration: none;" title="Rihanna">Rihanna</a><span style="line-height: 1.43;">'s "Rude Boy," all mashed with the killer Enur rhythm for "Calabria." </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit">Rihanna is an Aaliyah inheritor, as evidenced by this killer combo of RiRi's "Umbrella" with the rhythm and a cappella of Aaliyah's "More Than a Woman."</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit">Drake's "Marvin's Room" versus Aaliyah's "If Your Girl Only Knew." Aaliyah's tough track tempers Drake's boasts, killer combo ensues. (Note, because of Drake's potty mouth, we can't embed this -- and it's not safe for jamming at work. But <a href="http://youtu.be/4v2t1pFHr88" style="color: #2262cc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">click to listen</a>.)</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit">Frank Ocean "Thinkin' Bout You" versus Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody." </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit">Miguel's "Sure Thing" versus  Aaliyah's "One in a Million."</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit">Yes, Aaliyah can rock too. This would be the Disturbed backing Aaliyah.</span></div></div><span class="credit"></span></div>

World's Hot Daily News Aaliyah reworked: 10 mashups to celebrate her birthday

From:  http://www.latimes.com The singer Aaliyah would have been 34 on Wednesday.  ( Jim Cooper / Associated Press ) By Randall Roberts Los ...

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Obama invokes Constitution in arguing for gun control

From: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/">http://www.washingtonpost.com</a><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/U4ND6cGQIns?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br /><strong style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>Video: </strong></strong><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">President Obama and Vice President Biden formally announced the specifics of their gun-control proposals in a press conference Wednesday.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br /><div class="module byline" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-style: none; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 10px; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><h3 property="dc.creator" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: normal; margin: 17px 0px; padding: 0px;">By <span class="author vcard" style="color: #666666;"><span class="fn"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/scott-wilson/2011/03/02/ABt5vmP_page.html" rel="author" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">Scott Wilson</a></span></span>, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-invokes-constitution-in-arguing-for-gun-control/2013/01/16/d5397cb4-600d-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712_story.html#license-d5397cb4-600d-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712" id="license-d5397cb4-600d-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712" rel="item-license" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"></a><span class="timestamp updated processed" contenttype="article" datetitle="published" epochtime="1358368872000" pagetype="leaf" style="color: #6e6e6e;">Wednesday, January 16, <span class="time special" style="color: #cc131e;">12:41 PM</span></span></h3></div><div class="relative" id="article" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; line-height: 10px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><div id="article_body" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="article_body entry-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /><article><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;"><span class="dateline"></span>In making his case Wednesday for tighter controls on gun ownership, President Obama used the document most often cited by firearm advocates to show that such restrictions violate the founding spirit of the nation — the Constitution.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">By doing so, Obama sought to turn a perceived political weaknesses — his image as an aloof intellectual — into a strength, and, at the same time, to turn a perceived strength of gun advocates — the constitutional right to bear arms — into a potential weakness.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;"></div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Obama, a former constitutional law lecturer at the University of Chicago, has been forced in the past to defend the legality of his legislative ambitions, <a data-xslt="_http" href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-06-28/politics/35462035_1_health-insurance-health-care-law-elena-kagan" style="color: black;">particularly the health-care law</a> he secured nearly three years ago.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">But he did so in a different way Wednesday and with a different audience in mind — the moderate America beyond the Beltway that may find the <a data-xslt="_http" href="http://home.nra.org/" style="color: black;">National Rifle Association</a> and its arguments against any gun restrictions as frustrating as Obama says he does.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Where his past legal arguments have been directed at Congress or the Supreme Court, Obama used what he suggested was a clash of sometimes-competing rights guaranteed by the Constitution to assure Americans across party lines that his proposals amount to a modest approach to a societal problem.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;"><a data-xslt="_http" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-says-hell-offer-plans-to-stem-gun-violence-this-week/2013/01/14/b7ad8ea8-5e6c-11e2-90a0-73c8343c6d61_story.html" style="color: black;">Polls show that a majority</a> of the electorate shares his views. But he warned Wednesday that those who do must apply pressure to interest groups and members of Congress in Washington.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">“The only way we can change is if the American people demand it,” <a data-xslt="_http" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/president-obamas-remarks-on-new-gun-control-proposals-jan-16-2013-transcript/2013/01/16/528e7758-5ffc-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712_story.html?hpid=z1" style="color: black;">Obama said before an audience that included victims of gun violence</a> and their families, including parents of children <a data-xslt="_http" href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-12-15/national/35847080_1_new-details-medical-examiner-interfaith-service" style="color: black;">killed last month in Newtown, Conn</a>.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">He added that that “doesn’t just mean from certain parts of the country,” the liberal states and enclaves where gun control has the most support.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">“We’re going to need voices in those areas and those congressional districts where the tradition of gun ownership is strong to speak up and to say this is important,” he said.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">His challenge became evident immediately, as a number of congressional Republicans from just the kind of conservative districts Obama referred to issued statements denouncing his plans.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Using Obama’s unequivocal position toward Congress on the need to raise the nation’s borrowing limit next month, Rep. Tim Huelskamp (Kan.) said in a statement that “the Second Amendment is non-negotiable.”</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">“The right to bear arms is a right, despite President Obama’s disdain for the Second Amendment and the Constitution’s limits on his power,” Huelskamp said. “Congress must stand firm for the entirety of the Constitution.”</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Other Republicans followed suit, citing the Second Amendment in each case.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">But Obama made clear that he is eager to have an argument on constitutional grounds over whether a ban on the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well other elements of his gun-control package, are legal.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Citing a series of recent mass shootings, Obama listed several amendments, as well as the defining phrase of the Declaration of Independence, to argue that a gunman’s right should not compromise any others’.</div></article></div></div></div>

World's Hot Daily News Obama invokes Constitution in arguing for gun control

From:  http://www.washingtonpost.com Video:  President Obama and Vice President Biden formally announced the specifics of their gun-control ...

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