Alpha Centauri, Nearest Star, Has Earth-Sized Planet

Artist's conception of planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B. Image: ESO/L. Calcada

How many science fiction stories have been written about Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our own?  How many serious scientists, in their quest to determine just how lonely we are in the universe, have wondered whether there are planets there, only four light-years away?

The first results are in — and yes, there is at least one planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B, one of the three stars clustered together there.  European astronomers, using a 3.6 meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, report it is remarkably small — about as massive as Earth.  Worlds that small have been beyond earthlings’ capacity to detect them until just very recently.

Let’s get some details out of the way quickly.  The newly found planet is probably hellish, only about 4 million miles from its host star (we’re 93 million miles from ours). It’s also fast, completing one orbit — one “year” — in only 3.2 of our days.

For now, the most remarkable thing about the planet, say the astronomers, is that they found it at all.  It is much too distant to be seen directly.  Instead, they watched the planet make its star wobble slightly, pulled around by the planet’s gravity as it circled from one side to the other.

Their measurements showed the star moved from side to side at a top speed of 1.8 km (about 1.1 miles) per hour — “about the speed of a baby crawling,” they said.

“It’s an extraordinary discovery and it has pushed our technique to the limit,” said Xavier Dumusque of the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland, who is lead author of the paper reporting the find in this week’s edition of the journal Nature.

So the astronomers were able to detect the little world over a distance of 25 trillion miles, but just barely.  They kept watching for four years until they were sure.

It’s hardly a twin of Earth, but it is a neighbor of sorts, one more sign that the Milky Way galaxy is thick with planets.

Source : abcnews[dot]go[dot]com

Squeezed out by Twitter, Tweetbot makers introduce the App.net-friendly version, Netbot

After Twitter's API restrictions hurt its alpha testing, Tweetbot makers went the developer-friendly route with Netbot, the App.net iPhone and iPad apps.

Fan-favorite iOS Twitter client Tweetbot recently announced it would be shutting down its alpha testing as a result of Twitter’s recent API restrictions. Initially, Tweetbot developer Tapbots reassured us all that the application would be just fine, and the team was working closely with Twitter on the project. Unfortunately that was not the case, as user tokens became limited and so did Tweetbot’s ability to functionally test its app.

So while Tweetbot for Mac waits in the proverbial wings, Tapbots decided to take action where it could – over at App.net. The anti-Twitter, microblogging platform has been developer-friendly from the get-go, launching in reaction to tide of API restrictions Twitter began whispering about early last summer. App.net recently announced it would be incentivizing — allowing developers to build for its platform by offering them a crack at a $20k pool.

App.net also recently dropped its user fees from $50 a year to $36 a year, or $5 a month. The quick assumption there is that the platform is trolling for new users as its initial hype begins to fade, but App.net is spinning this as good news, saying it’s nearing 20,000 users, easily surpassing its 10,000 paying members goal.

Of course, it’s still no Twitter – which, this summer, was estimated to have more than 300 million registered users. But given the platform’s distancing from developers, it’s only natural that app builders are starting to look elsewhere, Tapbots included.

Which is what brings us Netbot. “If you love Tweetbot and are on App.net, you’ll want Netbot,” co-founder Paul Haddad wrote in a blog post introducing the new client. “We’ve been working very closely with App.net. Their goals of always putting users first resonates with what we believe at Tapbots. Even though App.net is currently a small network, we expect big things from them and are proud to be a part of the community.”

Haddad says App.net is also working on bringing expected features like push notifications and private messaging to the platform, and once available, they will be integrated into Netbot as well.

Netbot for iPhone and iPad is available today (both cost $4.99 — Tweetbot for iPhone is $2.99, for the record), and the app is incredibly reminiscent of what we all fell in love with in Tweetbot for iPhone (the long-awaited iPad version was in the works when the Twitter hammer fell). App.net iOS users will absolutely want to turn to this client for their mobile use. Getting Tapbots – a very respected and creative team – on board with the platform speaks well of where mobile development for App.net is going and the kind of talent it’s attracting. But it’s important to remember that App.net is not a Twitter-as-we-know-it-now killer – it’s just trying to resurrect what Twitter was and could have been. 

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Maingear’s new Alpha 24 all-in-one has game

Maingear's new Alpha 24 blends gaming PC DNA with all-in-one style.

All-in-ones are good for many things, but gaming usually isn’t one of them. The small size of these trendy systems often demands the sacrifice of graphics performance. The discrete GPU is usually a laptop component – if one is included at all.

Maingear is seeking to break that mold with its new Alpha 24 Super Stock gaming system. This 24-inch touchscreen all-in-one comes with a Core i7-3770K processor and an Nvidia GTX 680 graphics card when configured for maximum performance. Others models will have less powerful hardware, but even the entry-level variant offers a Core i3-3240 and GeForce GTX 650. Other options include solid-state drives, gobs of RAM and various Intel third-generation processors.

Nvidia’s desktop version of Optimus is used in the system to keep its power draw low when the computer is not being used for gaming. The discrete card is turned off and graphics duty is switched over to the Intel IGP. As with the laptop version of Optimus, this transition is seamless and doesn’t require user action.

The company also stressed that the components are user serviceable and upgradable. Intel’s Mini-ITX form factor serves as the basis of the machine, and makes it possible to pack in customizable hardware of immense power while keeping the size of the system down.

Other features haven’t been sacrificed to cram in the powerful hardware. The display is 1080p, a CableCard TV tuner is optional, and HDMI-in is available. This could make the Alpha 24 Super Stock a perfect compact gaming center because consoles can be connected to it and played via the monitor while the PC is turned off.

Pricing for the Alpha 24 starts at $1,349. The system is available to order immediately.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Hands on with App.net, the pay-for Twitter disruption platform

In the wake of Twitter's harsh words for outside developers, App.net managed to surpass its funding goals and launch an alpha service. Check out our first impressions.

The Dalton Caldwell blog post-inspired App.net has been hatching plans to take on Twitter with its pay-for model for weeks now. At last report, the platform was well short of its $500k goal, but over the last week, the hype and interest was enough to tip App.net over the edge ahead of its deadline.

“Thank you for believing,” Caldwell wrote on Saturday. “I know in my heart that what made join.app.net succeed was your willingness and openness to give App.net the benefit of the doubt, to read our github documentation, to ask to participate in the alpha, to write blogposts in our support. Thank you.”

Now, the alpha version is up and running.

Interface

App.net’s interface is, to summarize, bare bones. You have a mere four landing pages you can check out: Your personal stream (posts from those you’re following), your posts, mentions, and the global feed. It’s certainly more sparse than Twitter, both in what and how you navigate, and its looks. While you have a Facebook-like profile page complete with a personal picture and cover photo, the rest of the site is quite stark.

And front and center, in big, bold, plain type, is a export tool for grabbing all of your App.net-posted data.

Actions

There’s a lot of work to be done, clearly, so plenty is going to fall onto the “what’s missing” list, but that’s to be expected. That said, let’s dive in.

Instead of 140 characters, you get 256. You can reply to other people’s posts (which a small handful are referring to as “appdates”), but there are no “retweet” or favorite options. You can select and view individual posts for backlinking purposes, which is incredibly helpful when using content for news breaking reference. 

It can probably go without saying that multimedia features like sharing photos and videos haven’t been added to App.net, but the developer community is so enthused about the platform that the building is coming fast and furious.

In development

Which brings us to a quick note on all the building that’s happening around App.net. Much of the reason for starting App.net in the first place revolved around how platforms exist and interact with their third-party developer ecosystems. Twitter’s continued distancing between itself and outside developers was a big part of the inspiration. So it’s only fitting that much of the discussion on the alpha site revolves around the third-party community.

Web and mobile apps are in the works, as are desktop and browser extensions. You can check out the in-progress catalogue over at Github. And there are a few fun tools already at your disposal, like this app that finds your Twitter friends already using App.net, and this one that shows an endless stream of posts as they’re published, in real time.

Users

There are a few problems that come with alternative social networks. The main one, of course, is building the userbase. As it can be assumed, Twitter’s numbers are far great than App.net’s… obviously. And the fact that there’s no native way to find people can make diving in a little intimidating. You’re just sort of thrown in the mess, although you can use the aforementioned tool that helps you find Twitter users you know using the application to help out.

The other intimidating thing about jumping into App.net is the community – or rather, it can be intimidating. Think about the type of people interested in paying at least $50 to start using a real-time communication application – so yes, it’s pretty tech-oriented. There’s a lot of developer-speak and a lot of App.net-speak. It’s pretty narrow.

To be fair, this means that the obnoxious drivel that Twitter often dissolves to hasn’t hit the site (at least not yet). It’s a relief not to be flooded with constant celebrity news and pictures of food, if we’re being honest.

The other element that hasn’t invaded App.net (again, yet) are spambots. The price gate is certainly helping, as is its just-launched status, although there’s no chance the platform will be able to remain spam free. Regardless, it definitely shouldn’t dissolve into the massive cesspool of fake users that has engulfed Twitter’s basement.

Conclusion

App.net is ambitious and exciting, but it’s not a solid bet quite yet. There are also already rumors that there will be a free tier of App.net, and I’d certainly suggest waiting until we hear more on that.

As it stands, it’s interesting to be part of the early crew. And if you ever wished you could have been a part of the early Twitter machine and all the user-sourced development that happened way back when, then ante up that $50 and come on in. Otherwise, wait until there’s more outside app integration and native built-in controls.

The larger question, of course, is, does App.net stand a chance? It’s hard to say yes — but given Twitter’s fickle heart these does, it actually seems possible. I don’t want to beat a dead horse here, but Twitter isn’t the company that it used to be; its priorities are shifting. We can criticize and yell about it, but it Twitter wants to go ahead and be a media company — and it’s in a really good position to do that. It’s frustrated for many of its core users, but it’s still Twitter’s perogitive.

That means the timing is right: We have this brief moment where real-time communication is important and popular and where the largest player to date appears to be creating some market space. Paying for apps is a hard hurdle to cross, but it could deliver us from many of the issues our social networks have trapped us into. 

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com