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Google Doodle is sweet on Valentine's Day

Google's Valentine's Day Doodle.(Photo: Google)SAN FRANCISCO — Prepare to be completely charmed by Google's Valentine's Day confection: an illustrated audio Doodle with clickable love story snippets from public radio's This American Life.Head to Google's U.S. home page[1], and you'll see six candy hearts. Clicking on them will reveal a simple animation and take you into one of the stories: "Crush;" "Mr. Right;" "First Kiss;" "4Ever Yours;" "Puppy Luv;" or "Blind Date."Here's a taste:• "Crush" tells the story of a teenage girl who says she has "had a crush on this one guy for four years." She says: "This one time I sneezed … and he goes, 'You know, you have a really cute sneeze.' ... I was all day on that sneeze comment. I must have told every one of my friends."• In "Mr. Right," a woman speaks of waking up the morning after her wedding day with a heavy heart and doubts about her decision to marry. She walked "all day long" to clear her head, worrying her brand new husband. "That was 42 years ago, and since then, I have never questioned."• "Puppy Luv" takes us to a middle school dance, where much cuteness ensues. "Is there anyone you like at the dance?" the narrator asks. "There is," a young man says. "It just started, like, 20 minutes into this."Google's Jennifer Hom on the Doodle team says the project began a couple of months ago when This American Life host Ira Glass visited Google. Glass and his team contributed some archival audio clips and came up with some new ones for the Doodle project.The idea: To portray love in a host of different "incarnations."Give it a listen for a sweet start to your Valentine's Day.References^ http://www.google.com/ (www.google.com)...
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Xbox One will receive multiplayer update in March

2 Share This Story!Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about Xbox One will receive multiplayer update in MarchWith one update slated to release this week, Microsoft has released details on how it will upgrade the multiplayer and party features for its Xbox One video game console. The March update will include an Post to FacebookPosted!A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Sent!A link has been sent to your friend's email address.Add Videos or PhotosBe first to contributeSign in now to share your story.Sign in with FacebookSign in with Google+Be first to contribute Verifying your credentials... Please wait. Uh oh! We're experiencing a few technical issues. Try again The Xbox One on display at a Best Buy store in Evanston, Ill.(Photo: Nam Y. Huh, AP)With one update slated to release this week, Microsoft has released details on how it will upgrade the multiplayer and party features for its Xbox One video game console.The March update[1] will include an easier way for Xbox One owners to view their friends' list and an expansion of Party Chat so players can chat with friends while enjoying different games.Other features include the option to view a list of Recent Players and the addition of an "Invite Friends to Game" option.The first update for Microsoft's latest console[2] -- launched in November -- is expected to arrive this week. It will add a battery power indicator for controllers and the ability to manage storage space, among other features.Microsoft is also beefing up support for audio headsets. The company will release an adapter that allows users to plug their stereo headset into the controller. Microsoft will release its own stereo headset for $80 in March.Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @bam923[3]. USA NOW Child stars who made it | USA NOWFeb 11,…
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TECH NOW: A drone for every home?

Contributor Jennifer Jolly takes a look at how personal drones are taking off. Jennifer Jolly, Special for USA TODAY 1:36 a.m. EST February 9, 2014 Personal drones soon will become a bigger part of our lives.(Photo: Roddy Blelloch for USA TODAY)Story Highlights6 states are testing drone flightsFAA is working on a way to account for drones in U.S. airspaceHobbyists are already crafting drones for personal useDid you hear about the beer-delivery drones[1] getting 86ed in Minnesota this past week? Sounds like the punch line of a joke, but ever since Amazon's Jeff Bezos dropped Dronapalooza[2] in December, the topic of these flying robots has become daily water cooler discussion. So what gives? Is this the dawn of the drone age? Yep, it sure is.So what exactly is a drone?For many people, the word drones conjures either dreams of ultra-convenient deliveries and Jetson-like flying robots … or fears of a dystopian future where Terminator-types are patrolling the skies and highflying Peeping Toms are poking around in all kinds of personal stuff.The definition of a drone[3] has changed over the years, and now refers mainly to aircraft that have the capability of autonomous flight. That means it can be programmed to fly from one point to another, dodging obstacles like power lines and people, through sophisticated sensors. To be considered a drone — or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) — vs. a remote-controlled aircraft (the kind that hobbyists have used for years), it has to fly itself, from takeoff to landing.Drones are already delivering goods[4] in some areas of the world. They're also helping with disaster relief, search and rescue, weather monitoring, scientific observation, farming and even sheep herding. And have you seen the aerial photography coming out of some of these backyard beauties? Amazing.But are we ready for burrito-bombers[5] toting tortillas through…
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Apple job listing hints at health tracking

Share This Story!Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about Apple job listing hints at health trackingApple seeks a physiologist to design and run user studies on "cardiovascular fitness & energy expenditure" Post to FacebookPosted!A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Sent!A link has been sent to your friend's email address.Add Videos or PhotosBe first to contributeSign in now to share your story.Sign in with FacebookSign in with Google+Be first to contribute Verifying your credentials... Please wait. Uh oh! We're experiencing a few technical issues. Try again Job posting is latest sign that Apple is working on gadgets and software that track users' physical activities and health data Apple Battery(Photo: Newsy)SAN FRANCISCO – Signs that Apple is working on a wearable gadget and software to track users' health data keep showing up.The latest is a job listing posted by the Silicon Valley technology giant that seeks a physiologist to design and run user studies on "cardiovascular fitness & energy expenditure."The posting, reported earlier on Thursday by the technology website 9to5mac[1], said the candidate must have a good understanding of physiological monitoring equipment, measurement techniques and how to interpret results.The type of data that will be tracked and measured in the tests includes calories burned, metabolic rate and aerobic fitness levels, according to Apple's job listing.Apple is under pressure from Wall Street to come out with new products in big new categories this year as growth from its main product, the iPhone, wanes. CEO Tim Cook has said that Apple is interested in wearable technology and analysts expect a smart watch from the company soon.Speculation about an iWatch that monitors users' activities, health and fitness increased last week after it emerged that Apple executives met recently[2] with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to discuss…
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HP's Meg Whitman gets big salary boost

Gary Strauss @gbstrauss, USA TODAY 7:15 p.m. EST February 3, 2014 Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman got a raise.(Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)Story Highlights$1 annual salary bumped to $1.5 millionWhitman's total compensation is valued at $17.6 millionOther CEOs have taken nominal salariesMeg Whitman may have been earning just a $1 salary at Hewlett-Packard, but she'll be getting a fat raise this year.Hewlett-Packard has been paying its CEO just $1 a year since she joined the troubled tech company in 2011. Now, thanks to the company's turnaround, HP directors say she deserves $1.5 million, the company said in its annual proxy, filed Monday.Overall, Whitman received compensation valued at $17.6 million last year, up 15% from $15.3 million in 2012.Whitman's 2013 compensation included $260,000 in incentive pay, stock valued at $4.3 million, stock options valued at $12.7 million and $275,300 in perks, including personal use of corporate aircraft valued at more than $250,000.The former eBay CEO also gained $802,000 on previously awarded shares that became vested, Hewlett-Packard said.Whitman, 57, was hired in September 2011 to head a five-year turnaround plan. In bumping up her salary, HP's board cited her for "significantly advancing" the company's turnaround as the overall market for personal computers continues to slump.Much of the fix has involved cost-cutting. By the end of the current fiscal year, HP will have reduced its workforce by about 34,000 from nearly 350,000 in 2012.Several CEOs have received $1 a year in the past, including the late Steve Jobs, who earned the nominal amount when he returned to Apple in 1997, but the billionaire had hefty equity stakes or received other forms of compensation.Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison also earns just $1 in annual salary, but he received stock options and incentive pay valued at $78.4 million in 2013, plus perks valued at $1.5 million. He…
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Talking Tech: Facebook at 10: Will it be liked in '24?

Consumers sound off on Facebook as it turns 10 years old -- how often they use it, does it have staying power, with Jefferson Graham on Talking Tech. Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY 8:06 a.m. EST February 1, 2014 Allie Marion, an Orange County photographer, discusses Facebook.(Photo: Sean Fujiwara)Story HighlightsFacebook turns 10 TuesdayThe social network has 1.2 billion membersConsumers have a love/hate relationship with FacebookANAHEIM, Calif. — Facebook turns 10 on Tuesday, but what will the next 10 years be like for the social network? Will it still be as big a factor in our lives? Will it still be around?We talked to folks at the recent National Association of Music Merchants convention here to get their take.• "I was just on Facebook 10 seconds ago," said Allie Marion, a photographer from Orange County, Calif. "It's very addictive. I call it FOMO. 'Fear of Missing Out.'"• "I remember when we didn't have it," said Daniel Crawford of San Diego. "It's all people use now. It's taken over everything. It's kind of annoying."• Not for Leanne Binder, a singer from Canfield, Ohio. "I use it every day. You have to, if you're a musician. It's the biggest way we get our stuff out there. We post every week what we're doing." What would life be like without Facebook? "It would be be 1976 all over again. We'd be stapling fliers to telephone poles. That's what we did. Now we just put it on Facebook. It's much easier."What doesn't Binder like about Facebook? "The lack of privacy."Will Facebook still be around and thriving in 2024?"Probably not," says Deborah Moore from Los Angeles. "It will go into cyberspace the way all the other social media apps have gone." She mentions once-popular services like Friendster and MySpace.Marion thinks there's a good chance Facebook will survive,…
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