1. Jobs’ House Robbed, Egyptian Discoveries and Additions to the Dictionary

    Nobody Messes With Jobs: The late Steve Jobs’ Palo Alto home was burglarized on Tuesday. Over $60,000 worth of computers and other personal items were stolen. Kariem McFarlin was arrested on suspicion of theft and is being charged with residential burglary and selling stolen property. McFarlin claimed to be unaware of who used to live in the home and it is still not clear whether or not Jobs’ family still lives there. 

    Pyramid Discovery?  A self-proclaimed satellite archaeology researcher has claimed that she found two possible pyramids in Egypt by using Google Earth. “Experts say her pyramids are nothing more than eroded hills infused with a heavy dose of wishful thinking.” Egyptologists began investigating whether or not they were really pyramids, but it turns out they are just your average “buttes”, large three-four sided hills that form when a “mound of sediment contains a difficult-to-erode layer.” 

    Iraq Rises to No.2: Iraq rises to the number two oil producer in the world, which isn’t actually a good thing. This only means that the country will be heavily relied upon to provide consistent excess supplies, which adds to the political problems already affecting the country. Many of the biggest gas companies have signed bilateral deals with a neighboring country, Kurdistan, as a back up plan. 

    A New And Maybe Not Improved Dictionary: Well, the teens have done it. “F-bomb” and “sexting” have officially made it into the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary along with other words like flexitarian, obesogenic and energy drink. Is this how our generation will be remembered? For the unintelligent words we committed to the dictionary? 

  2. Flud News Roundup, July 10

    Repeal and Replace: Republicans are holding a “repeal Obamacare” vote tomorrow, but the question remains whether or not this will be beneficial. Studies are showing that 26% of Americans became more likely to support Romney after the Affordable Care Act was passed, with a contrasting 14% increase for Obama. Although many Americans were upset over the passing of the law, a good number of them doubt that Republicans have a better solution. 

    It’s Getting Hot in Here: States across the country have been experiencing record high temperatures and extreme weather recently. Members from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Climatic Center are saying that based on collected data, this may be a result of climate changes from greenhouse gases and these trends may be more predictable and more frequent. Last year was one of the warmest since records began in the 1800s and even though the “double La Nina” brought the natural cooling trend in weather, the Pacific Ocean was still at a record high. Members of the NOAA are analyzing how climate change will effect the odds of extreme weather. 

    Read more at USA Today. 

    In other news: 

  3. Flud News Roundup, June 23-25

    Happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone’s weekend was enjoyable. Did anyone do anything exciting? Share some of your favorite news stories with us via Flud app on Twitter and Facebook and let us know what you used Flud for this weekend! For now, enjoy some of the top stories from the last few days! 

    Arizona Compromise: Since the the law was signed in April 2012, SB 1070 from Arizona has been one of the most-watched cases regarding immigration. The Supreme Court made their official ruling on the matter today and both sides seemed happy when they decided to only rule out 3 of the 5 measures. Civil rights groups still aren’t satisfied with the results and they will continue to fight until they feel justice has been met. View the official ruling here. 

    MoreInterest: Creators of Pintics (a Pinterest analytics service) have found another niche. ShopInterest (a mashup of Shopify and Pinterest) is their latest venture, a service that allows anyone to turn their Pinterest boards into an online store. So many sales are generated via pins and boards on Pinterest so they decided to help make this process easier. Set up is easy and the idea is to allow your followers to shop and make purchases on the spot from your pins! Visit the ShopInterest site here.

    Find Your Friends, JK: Facebook quietly launched a new feature, Find Friends Nearby, a location-based app to find friends. However, just as quickly and quietly as it was released, it was disabled.  A Facebook spokesperson said it wasn’t a formal release and it was just something engineers were testing. They may build on the feature at a later date, but engineers will need to perfect their technology for critics who label location-based apps “creepy”. In addition to the sudden removal of the feature, another mobile app, Friendthem, it planning on suing Facebook for stealing their idea.

    In other news: 

  4. Flud News Roundup, June 20

    An Egyptian Soap Opera: As if matters weren’t complicated enough in Egypt after the recent elections, Egypt’s former president, Hosni Mubarak, was declared clinically dead on Tuesday. No, he had a heart attack. No wait, he is in a coma. Officials can’t seem to get their story straight on what is happening, but as of today it is being reported that he isn’t dead, but his healthy is severely deterioirating. Crowds have continued to gather in Tahirir Square today, but their focus is now on the power struggle between the Egyptian military and the potential winner of the presidency, Mohammend Morsi. Results were scheduled to be announced tomorrow, but may be delayed because of the confusion and complications brought on by Muburak’s health condition. 

    Globally Going Green: The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio +20, opened today in Brazil. The head honchos from over 190 countries are gathering to discuss the “Future We Want”. Issues being addressed will include greener economies and sustainable development. Leaders are looking to create a brighter and greener future world-wide, but there is criticism that the conference only leads to promises and not concrete goals. Urban hubs all over the world are already implementing changes like more efficient lighting or electric-powered transport that were inspired by summits in previous years. 

    Some interesting and romantic news from the tech world:

    Two ex-Google employees have teamed up to create an app called Avocado. The app is designed to create closeness between couples. The app has features that allows couples to share pictures with one another, send private messages, and create to-do lists. Avocado was a carefully chosen name as the avocado comes from trees that only bears fruit when they grow near each other and they grow in pairs. Oh, and it’s the name of one of the founder’s computers. So sweet. Personally, I’d recommend bonding via a face-to-face relationship, but there is no denying the cleverness behind the app.

    What are the most interesting apps you’ve heard of recently? Tweet us your answers @Fludapp 

    image source: Guardian 

  5. Flud News Roundup, June 19

    G20 Talks: World leaders are gathering for the second and last day of the G20 summit. Many words are being exchanged over Europe’s debt crisis, urging for there to be action from European leaders. Economic growth and creating jobs is expected to be another topic of discussion today. There was a lot of speculation surrounding the seemingly tense body language between President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the two made a point to prove the media wrong by exchanging a few laughs and declaring they both desire to find a solution for peace in Syria. Leaders will be holding a series of “side meetings” today and a possible rescheduling of US-EU talks. 

    Back on the Streets: The Muslim Brotherhood has taken it back to the streets in Egypt after the Egyptian parliament and military tried to put restrictions on the powers of the presidency yesterday. Mohammed Morsi is the projected winner in the election and represents the Brotherhood. The rally is seeking to redeem the Brotherhood’s revolutionary credibility while many groups remain suspicious of them, fearful of being trapped between a larger political game. Skeptics claim the Brotherhood is too often concerned with religious agenda to embrace and encourage the principles that inspired the initial uprising. 

    In lighter news: 

    T-Rex Tiff: Paleontologists and Mongolian officials are tremendously upset after a claim that the skeleton of a tyrannosaur was taken illegally from their country. The United States is intervening and demanding that the skeleton (that was up for auction in May) be turned over to the government so it can be returned to Mongolia. The question is, how did someone get away with smuggling such a massive monument? 

    iPad Rival: Well, maybe. Microsoft has released their own tablet, Surface, a PC tablet that will run on the soon-to-be released version of Windows 8. The tablet features a high-definition touch screen, cameras, full keyboard option, built-in kickstand and more. There are no specifics on when the device will be available, but we are anxiously awaiting to see how it compares to the iPad. 

    image source: Huffington Post

  6. Flud News Roundup, June 16-18

    Egypt’s First Free Election: Mohammed Morsi, a representative of the Muslim Brotherhood, declared victory today in Egypt’s elections. The Supreme Council of Armed Forces tried to strip the president of most of his significant powers decreeing that they will control the drafting of a new constitution and won’t allow civilian oversight of its significant economic interests. Morsi’s victory won’t be confirmed until Thursday and if so, this will be the first Islamist victory in the recent wave of pro-democracy uprisings sweeping through the Middle East. The victory does have some concerned because of the anti-America ideals that could potentially come into play. 

    Greece Elections: More world election news coming from Europe after elections on Sunday. Antonis Samara declared victory and began pro-bailout talks immediately following. Even though this removes any fears of Greece’s exit from the single zone currency, attention was turned back to Italy and Spain and the crisis that still remains. Read more about the pros and cons of the election on the Wall Street Journal and Reuters. 

    Facebook gets a Face: Another big purchase for Facebook! Face.com is a mobile face recognition technology that was just purchase for about $100 million dollars. There is a possible integration in the works with Facebook, which could boost their mobile app offerings. 

    • Rodney King, the man whose beating inspired the LA Riots in the 90’s, was found dead in his pool on Sunday. 
    • Colorado firefighters will face harsh conditions today as they continue to fight a raging wild fire. Southern California is also in a red-flag warning as conditions get windy and dry. 
    • Government censorship is a lot higher than we realize, according to Google. 

    image source: Fox News