A new game called HealthSeeker(TM) launched today to more than 400 million active users of Facebook®(1), with the goal of helping adults with specific lifestyle and nutritional challenges. While the benefits of the game are available to anyone, HealthSeeker specifically helps people with diabetes make more informed lifestyle decisions in an innovative way that complements their daily use of social media.

HealthSeeker is a unique online experience that combines a supportive social networking environment with important information on managing diabetes. The game utilizes the player’s own Facebook friends as sources of inspiration and support along the road to better health. There are MISSIONS and ACTION STEPS to help players achieve several LIFESTYLE GOALS. The MISSIONS and ACTION STEPS that players select must be completed in order to advance in the game. The LIFESTYLE GOALS include eating healthier, achieving an optimal weight, lowering blood sugar levels and lowering cardiovascular risk factors. As ACTION STEPS are completed and players return to report their progress, they receive experience points and other awards for their achievements.

HealthSeeker is a unique collaboration between experts, advocates and industry partners who are on the front lines of diabetes care. It was developed by Diabetes Hands Foundation in collaboration with Joslin Diabetes Center, with support provided by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

“With HealthSeeker, we wanted to harness the Facebook phenomenon to help people with diabetes make necessary changes in their daily lives,” said Manny Hernandez, president, Diabetes Hands Foundation, who has been living with diabetes since 2002. “I cannot overstate how important a source of support, information and inspiration social networking tools like this one can be for someone living with a chronic condition like diabetes.”

Many people with diabetes struggle with the lifestyle changes that are needed to help manage their condition, such as adding more fiber, fruit and vegetables to their diets, or increasing their daily activity. HealthSeeker can help people with diabetes stay motivated by presenting simple, everyday steps to help them achieve their lifestyle goals.

“As a clinician who has been treating people with diabetes for more than 30 years, I can tell you that food is often the most frustrating area of concern for people with the condition,” said Richard Jackson, MD, an endocrinologist and director of medical affairs, healthcare services, Joslin Diabetes Center and assistant professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School. “We hope this novel and engaging game will break down some of the barriers that prevent people with diabetes from building a successful lifestyle approach to their condition.”

HealthSeeker can be accessed free of charge at www.healthseekergame.org. The game was designed by Ayogo Games, Inc.

Support from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for HealthSeeker is part of a global initiative that includes a collection of creative online diabetes games reflecting the company’s commitment to transforming one way that people learn, through innovative education.

All Images Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

What does Earth look like when viewed from Mars? At 13:00 GMT on 8 May 2003, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) had an opportunity to find out. In addition, a fortuitous alignment of Earth and Jupiter—the first planetary conjunction viewed from another planet—permitted the MOC to acquire an image of both of these bodies and their larger satellites.

At the time, Mars and the orbiting camera were 139 million kilometers (86 million miles) from Earth and almost 1 billion kilometers (nearly 600 million miles) from Jupiter. The orbit diagram, below, shows the geometry at the time the images were obtained.

Because Jupiter is over 5 times farther from the Sun than Earth, two different exposures were needed to image the two planets. Mosaiced together, the images are shown above (top picture). The composite has been highly contrast-enhanced and “colorized” to show both planets and their satellites. The MGS MOC high resolution camera only takes grayscale (black-and-white) images; the color was derived from Mariner 10 and Cassini pictures of Earth/Moon and Jupiter, respectively.

Below are the images: The main image of Jupiter and Earth in the same shot; closeup detail of the Earth to show the features that can be discerned; schematic of the orbots of Mars, Jupiter and Earth to show the positioning of the planets when the image was made.

From www.onlineeducation.net/

Here’s Stéphane’s Flikr page with more and his shop, you can buy these as posters if you want.

“A “5th-grader-friendly” collection of clips and making-of footage from notable visual effects films of the past century.”
Originally intended for educational use as an introduction to a classroom lecture.
The music track is “Rods and Cones” from the album “Audio” by Blue Man Group.

1900 – The Enchanted Drawing
1903 – The Great Train Robbery
1923 – The Ten Commandments (Silent)
1927 – Sunrise
1933 – King Kong
1939 – The Wizard of Oz
1940 – The Thief of Bagdad
1954 – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1956 – Forbidden Planet
1963 – Jason and the Argonauts
1964 – Mary Poppins
1977 – Star Wars
1982 – Tron
1985 – Back to the Future
1988 – Who Framed Roger Rabbit
1989 – The Abyss
1991 – Terminator 2: Judgement Day
1992 – The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
1993 – Jurassic Park
2004 – Spider-Man 2
2005 – King Kong
2006 – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
2007 – Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
2007 – The Golden Compass
2008 – The Spiderwick Chronicles
2008 – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The three videos cover:

Homescreens – how to customise and personalise your homescreen on your latest Nokia phone (ideally N97 or 5800)

Icons – how designers go about making sure that icons used on their phones are as easily recognisable in London as in Lahore, Durban or Delhi. Generally so straightforward that there is never any confusion.

Gestures – how using a phone is changing from just pushing buttons and holding it to your ear to being able to wave it around to work out where you are or being able to activate certain functions just by hand movements.

The videos can be seen over on the Nokia Conversations website but I’ve added them here from the YouTube link so that you can admire them without leaving this site.

Homescreens

Gestures

Icons

Echoing the sleek design and feel of the world renowned Nokia E71, the Nokia E71x offers the ultimate QWERTY experience to messaging enthusiasts who want a device to complement their busy lifestyles – all in a thin, stylish package. Visit Nokia at CTIA Wireless 2009 in the Central Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center, booth #7553, where Nokia will show off the new Nokia E71x, and demonstrate mobile innovations that are redefining the way consumers communicate, access information, network socially with friends and search the Web.

“The E71x is a lean, mean multimedia machine for busy people who want Internet-on-the-go capabilities in the palm of their hands,” said Mark Louison, President, Nokia Inc. “Together with our carrier and industry partners in North America, Nokia continues to enhance the consumer mobile experience through a growing range of QWERTY music, messaging and feature rich devices.”

Sleek, stylish and smart – the Nokia E71x with AT&T

The black steel colored Nokia E71x, exclusive to AT&T, houses all the multimedia and messaging capabilities people have come to crave in a world-class smartphone, made even more enjoyable with a large, high-resolution screen and full QWERTY keyboard. The Nokia E71x makes it easier to stay in touch with friends, family and business contacts via social networking sites and corporate or personal emails, using Mail for Exchange or any of thousands of Internet service providers such as Gmail, Yahoo! mail and Hotmail.

With its sleek form factor and well designed user interface, the Nokia E71x provides a compelling portfolio addition for both Nokia and AT&T,” said Will Stofega, Program Manager for IDC’S Mobile Device Technology and Trends Research. “U.S. consumers will now have access to one of the most stylish QWERTY smartphones in the industry that allows users to easily message and connect with their friends and access email.”

The thinnest QWERTY smartphone on the market, the Nokia E71x, has high-speed 3G connectivity, WiFi, and features a built-in music player and a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera to connect people to their passions – be it messaging, social networking, listening to music or taking and sharing images.

“We are excited to introduce the sleek Nokia E71x into the hands of messaging, social networking and email fans across the United States,” said David Petts, Vice President and GM, AT&T Account for Nokia. “The Nokia E71x is building on the success of an award-winning smartphone design, which we are thrilled to bring to an even broader audience across the United States with AT&T.”

The device’s S60 platform enables users to truly personalize their mobile experience, providing access to third-party application downloads, themes and profile settings, in addition to popular AT&T services, like AT&T Navigator. Keep tabs on your workload and view your documents with support for Quickoffice.

Nokia 1661 with T-Mobile USA

The Nokia 1661 with T-Mobile USA is an economically priced utility device that makes it easy to stay connected when consumers are away from home – with a built in speakerphone, FM radio and flashlight. The speakerphone allows consumers the ability to multitask and ensure they get the most out of their day. With the built-in flashlight, consumers won’t be left in the dark again as the Nokia 1661 easily lights the way. This prepaid device also comes preloaded with games like Sudoku or Mobile Soccer, ready to play out of the box.

Nokia Accessories

Nokia is also debuting the Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-216 and Nokia Speakerphone HF-510 at the show. The Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-216 is a comfortable headset with a curved form factor that enables handsfree calls in even the noisiest of environments. Talk on the go with the Nokia Speakerphone HF-510, an in-vehicle suction cup speaker phone, featuring high quality handsfree with echo and noise reduction (integrated DSP).

Mobile Content Reigns

At CTIA Wireless 2009, some of the most recognized mobile developers in the industry will be demonstrating their new S60 on Symbian OS(TM) applications. The following applications from Kinoma, TuneWiki and midomi mobile are among those who will also be available on the Ovi Store at launch in May 2009:

- Kinoma Player from Kinoma is a mobile media browser that enables consumers to discover, search and play media on their phone

- TuneWiki is an application that has the ability to synchronize lyrics to the music consumers play on their mobile phones

- midomi mobile enables the ultimate music search experience, which features search by singing or humming, playing original music sources (like radio), or saying artist or song names

At CTIA Wireless the company will also showcase the industry’s broadest and most exciting global mobile device portfolio in the industry. Devices on-hand will include the newly announced Nokia E71x with AT&T, the recently announced Nokia 7205 Intrigue with Verizon, the wildly popular Nokia N97 and a host of other device offerings. Attendees will also have an opportunity to learn about our environmentally friendly initiatives, and experience mobile innovations that will change the way people communicate, play, share, search and consume content.

For more information about all of Nokia’s announcements at CTIA Wireless 2009, please visit http://www.nokiausa.com/ctia.

Product Availability:

The Nokia E71x is expected to be available in the coming weeks in AT&T stores and online at http://www.wireless.att.com at a retail price of 99.99 USD with an AT&T contract*. Additional information can be found at http://www.att.com/nokiaE71x.

The Nokia 1661 will be available later this month in select T-Mobile retail stores and online at

http://www.t-mobile.com. For more information, please visit http://www.nokiausa.com or http://www.t-mobile.com.

The Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-216 will be available in the third quarter of 2009 for 39.99 USD, and the Nokia Speakerphone HF-510 will be available in the coming months for 99.95 USD at http://www.nokia.com.

* For the Nokia E71x, pay 149.99 USD and after mail-in rebate, receive 50.00 USD AT&T promotion card. A two-year service agreement is also required. AT&T promotion card valid wherever major credit cards are accepted and for 120 days after issue date. May be used to pay wireless bill. Not redeemable for cash and cannot be used for cash withdrawal at ATMs or at automated gas pumps.

About Nokia

Nokia is the world’s number one manufacturer of mobile devices by market share and a leader in the converging Internet and communications industries. We make a wide range of devices for all major consumer segments and offer Internet services that enable people to experience music, maps, media, messaging and games. We also provide comprehensive digital map information through NAVTEQ and equipment, solutions and services for communications networks through Nokia Siemens Networks.

http://www.nokia.com

No distributor is attached at this time. See below for premiere screening details.

The compelling feature-length documentary film–a first for Director Barry Ptolemy–chronicles the life and controversial ideas of luminary Ray Kurzweil. For more than three decades, inventor, futurist, and NY Times best-selling author Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future.

In TRANSCENDENT MAN, Ptolemy follows Kurzweil around the globe as he presents the daring arguments from his best-selling book, The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. Kurzweil predicts that with the ever-accelerating rate of technological change, humanity is fast approaching an era in which our intelligence will become increasingly non-biological and trillions of times more powerful than today. This will be the dawning of a new civilization that will enable us to transcend our biological limitations. In Kurzweil’s post-biological world, there will be no clear distinction between human and machine, real reality and virtual reality. Human aging and illness will be reversed, world hunger and poverty will be solved, and we will ultimately cure death.

“Kurzweil is the best person I know at predicting the future,” according to Bill Gates. “Kurzweil envisions a future in which information technologies have advanced so far and fast that they enable humanity to transcend its biological limitations—transforming our lives in ways we can’t yet imagine.”

Ptolemy expertly explores the social and philosophical implications of these profound changes and the potential threats they pose to human civilization in dialogues with world leaders such as Colin Powell; technologists Hugo de Garis, Peter Diamandis, Kevin Warwick, and Dean Kamen; journalists Kevin Kelly and Tom Abate; and luminary Stevie Wonder. Kurzweil himself maintains a radically optimistic view of the future course of human development, while acknowledging new dangers. As such, TRANSCENDENT MAN offers a view of the coming age that is both a dramatic culmination of centuries of technological ingenuity and a genuinely inspiring vision of our ultimate destiny.

“My ideas challenge people’s most basic assumptions about life, death, and what it means to be human,” says Kurzweil. “Through many conversations, it became clear to me that Barry Ptolemy had a deep understanding of these ideas and their impact on every aspect of human life. I thought he could make a great movie and it would appear that he has.”

TRANSCENDENT MAN is an evocative film that not only brings to light Kurzweil’s amazing vision of the future but also exposes the heart and soul of the man behind the exponential curves. Given unprecedented access to every aspect of Ray Kurzweil’s life for more than 24 months, the Ptolemys delve deep inside the mind of this complex man and deliver a personal, uncompromising account of the man behind the science and his surprisingly private motivations for this transformative vision.

“I believe our film offers something many Hollywood films and documentaries lack today: hope about our future,” says producer Felicia Ptolemy. “Ray is describing the technologies that we, the human race, have created as a tool we can use for good, rather than the continual narrative that we are on a path to destroying ourselves. We intend for this film to combat cynicism with the idea that we can and will change the world for the better.”

“When Barry first introduced us to Ray, we were blown away by the boldness of his claims,” says Executive Producer Joseph Disanto. “His concepts on our evolution and the ability to live as long as we want evoke huge questions and implications about how we understand ourselves. We are really excited about helping further awareness of these topics.”

TRANSCENDENT MAN is produced by Ptolemaic Productions in partnership with Therapy Studios. The production team began principal photography in March 2007 and continued through February 2009. The Ptolemys traveled to more than 25 cities in five countries on an exhaustive two-year, nonstop production schedule, filming in such cities as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Hartford, Manchester, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., London, Milan, Sao Paulo and Hong Kong.

Award winning American composer Philip Glass contributes original theme music that mirrors the depth and intensity of the film. Nominated for three Academy Awards and three Golden Globes, Glass has created original scores for such acclaimed movies as Notes on a Scandal, The Hours, and The Truman Show.

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL WORLD PREMIERE SCREENING

TRANSCENDENT MAN will premiere Saturday, April 25, 8:00 p.m. at the School of Visual Arts, 333 West 23rd Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues), New York, NY 10011.

For more information, visit: www.tribecafilm.com/festival.

About Ray Kurzweil

Ray Kurzweil is one of the world’s leading inventors, and futurists, with a twenty-year track record of accurate predictions. Called the “restless genius” by The Wall Street Journal and “the ultimate thinking machine” by Forbes magazine, Kurzweil was selected as one of the top entrepreneurs by Inc. magazine, which described him as the “rightful heir to Thomas Edison.” Inventor of the first CCD flat bed scanner and many other firsts, Kurzweil is an inductee in the National Inventors Hall of Fame and recipient of the National Medal of Technology, the Lemelson-MIT Prize (the world’s largest for innovation), and 16 honorary doctorates and awards from three U.S. presidents. For more information: www.KurzweilAI.net.

About Ptolemaic Productions: Ptolemaic Productions was founded by Barry and Felicia Ptolemy in Los Angeles, CA in 2006. This is the company’s first film. For more information:

www.TranscendentMan.com.

About Therapy Studios: Therapy Studios is an award-winning post-production company whose work spans commercial, feature and online media. The Santa Monica, CA based company was founded in 2005 by Joe Disanto, John Ramsey, Wren Waters and Doobie White, who are also the film’s Executive Producers. Therapy also provided editorial, design, and post-production services for TRANSCENDENT MAN. For more information:

www.youneedtherapy.tv.

Nokia  announced today that the highly anticipated Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is now available in the United States. The latest in Nokia’s XpressMusic range, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic delivers an affordable music device with a touch screen interface to the mass market.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic offers all the music essentials including a graphic equalizer, 8GB memory for up to 6000 tracks and support for all main digital music formats, and a 3.5mm jack. Built-in surround sound stereo speakers offer a powerful sound.

“When it comes to music phones, people all over the world want a device that is a great music experience and still works really well as a mobile phone, without sacrificing features,” said Ian Laing, Vice President, North America Sales, Nokia. “The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic delivers on this and has clearly proven to be a device that consumers are clamoring for – selling more than one million worldwide since its introduction a few months ago.”

Making the most of touch screen technology, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic delivers easy and fast access to all music, video and photos through a one-touch ‘Media Bar’ drop down menu. The Media Bar also offers a direct link to the Web and to online sharing. Because the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic supports Flash content, individuals can surf even more of the web.

The innovative ‘Contacts Bar’ lets people highlight four favorite contacts on their home-screen and, through a single touch, track a digital history of recent text messages, emails, phone logs, photos and blog updates.

Among the highest screen resolution available on a mobile phone, the 3.2″ widescreen display brings photos, video clips and web content to life in vibrant color and true clarity. With a 16 by 9 aspect ratio and 30 frames-per-second playback and recording, the device is ideal for VGA quality video recording and playback. The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic also features a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens. With a single touch, images or videos can be shared via a favorite online community, such as Ovi Share, Flickr, or Facebook.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic offers a variety of input methods including a virtual alphanumeric keypad, a virtual computer-style QWERTY keyboard, a pen stylus — and for true music enthusiasts, you can even use a guitar pick.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will be available for approximately 399 USD before taxes and subsidies in the U.S. through Nokia Flagship stores in New York and Chicago, nokiausa.com and independent retailers and e-tailers. For a limited time, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will also come with a 50 USD voucher for Amazon Video on Demand which allows you to download thousands of movies or TV titles as well as one month of free turn-by-turn voice guided navigation through Ovi Maps.

* Capacity based on 3 minutes, 45 seconds per song with 48 Kbps eAAC+ (M4A) encoding on the Nokia Music Manager.

At the GSMA Mobile World Congress, Adobe Systems Incorporated  and Nokia Corporation today(16 February) announced a USD 10 million Open Screen Project fund designed to help developers create applications and services for mobile, desktop and consumer electronics devices using the Adobe Flash(R) Platform. The new fund is a result of the Open Screen Project, an industry-wide initiative of more than 20 industry leaders set to enable a consistent experience for web browsing and standalone applications. Additional Open Screen Project partners are expected to join the fund in the future.

“We are excited about the Open Screen Project fund and the possibilities it offers to designers and developers worldwide,” said David Wadhwani, General Manager and Vice President, Platform Business Unit at Adobe. “With close to 40 percent of all new mobile devices shipped worldwide with Flash Lite in 2008, the fund will enable more developers to bring their rich content and services to a large number of mobile users.”

“The Open Screen Project fund encourages the use of Adobe tools and existing developer skills to create exciting and unique Flash applications for millions of Nokia devices,” said Tero Ojanpera, Executive Vice President, Nokia Services. “With more than 300 million Flash enabled Nokia devices in market, we will support these developers through the Forum Nokia developer community while providing a more targeted distribution channel to consumers with Nokia’s Ovi Store.”

Developers are invited to submit concepts for applications that are based on the Adobe Flash Platform, will run on Nokia devices and will work on multiple screens, including mobile, desktop and consumer electronics devices. Applications will be reviewed for how innovative and compelling the user experience is, how robust the application or planned implementation is, and how well it exploits the capabilities and features of Nokia devices, Adobe Flash and Adobe AIR(TM), which enables developers to use proven web technologies to build applications that extend outside the browser.

Projects submitted for development will be reviewed by a group of multi-screen application and services experts from Open Screen Project partners including Adobe and Nokia. Focus areas include: entertainment; social networking; productivity; gaming; news and information. Developers retain all rights to their applications while Adobe and Nokia have the right to evaluate, test and promote the content. For more information and details on how to apply, visit http://www.openscreenproject.org.

Announced in May 2008, the Open Screen Project is designed to enable a consistent runtime environment across screens. The initiative is dedicated to enable web content, standalone applications and full web browsing across televisions, set-top boxes, mobile devices and other consumer electronics that take advantage of Adobe AIR(TM) and Adobe Flash capabilities.

The Adobe Flash Platform is the de facto standard for delivering breakthrough applications, content and video on the web. Flash Player content reaches over 98 percent of Internet-enabled desktops, and over 80 percent of online videos worldwide are viewed using Adobe Flash technology, making Flash the number one platform for video on the web. Adobe Flash Lite delivers rich experiences across mobile devices and other consumer electronics. Adobe Flash Player is a key component of the Adobe Flash Platform, a complete system of integrated tools, frameworks, clients and servers.

For more information, visit http://www.adobe.com/flashplatform.