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[caption id="attachment_20069" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Act of Valor"][/caption]

Wired’s Danger Room:

SEALs are supposed to be secretive, stealthy killers. The public will probably never know the identities of the SEAL Team Six members who killed Osama bin Laden. But the Navy and the Pentagon had no problem letting the producers of a forthcoming action movie put active-duty SEALs on camera. Their faces are on screen and their names — first names, at least — are in the credits, along with their rank.“There were many precautions taken with the project to make sure our advantages on the battlefield would not be compromised to the enemy,” explains Amanda Greenberg, a Navy spokeswoman. Well, that and the fact that Act of Valor — in theaters next Friday! — is one giant, explicit recruiting pitch.

Not expecting great acting or dialog but am expecting things to blow up real good!

[caption id="attachment_20053" align="alignnone" width="470" caption="Creamy Pasta With Shrimp And Vegetables"][/caption] Huffington Post:

There’s nothing more romantic than a private dinner for two when you want to spend some time with your significant other this coming Valentine’s Day. And you don’t need to make reservations weeks in advance or pay a pretty sum for dinner out.The following slideshow features quick, simple and easy recipes that are designed to serve just two people. Look for the classic filet mignon with compound butter, roasted mustard salmon, roast duck breasts with pomegranate, and more. Any of these recipes will impress your loved one and show them how much you care. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Some of these recipes look so easy to make, even someone who burns water could create a lovely meal.

Rasmussen Reports:

With positive ratings for Congress at an all-time low, it may come as no surprise that a plurality of voters nationwide believes a group of people randomly selected from a telephone book would do a better job than the current legislators.The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters shows that 43% believe a group of people randomly selected from the phone book would do a better job than the current Congress. Thirty-eight percent (38%) disagree with that assessment, while another 19% are not sure.

Horace Dediu offers an interesting observation about Apple and RIM.

Tassimo is recalling its one-cup coffee makers after 140 reports of problems involving people getting doused with the contents of the “T-discs.”

Tesla’s newest electric car model is an SUV with “falcon wing” doors in back that open like a DeLorean.

Tommy Jordan decided to uphold his second amendment rights after his daughter mouthed off to him on Facebook.

Slate:

Canadians might love the Super Bowl, but we hate the commercials.Not the commercials you get to watch. I’m talking about the ones we get stuck with in Canada.What does that mean? When America got an overproduced Bud Light Platinum ad, British Columbia got a lightly droll spot for a domestic IPA, Alexander Keith’s. Around the time America was watching John Stamos peddle Greek yogurt, British Columbia was learning about job creation and infrastructure. Shortly after America watched a joyful promo for NBC shows such as Community, British Columbia watched a local advertisement for — I kid you not — an actual community college.

Americans have no idea how annoying this is. Canadians see and hear all the hype about the Super Bowl commercials and, come game time, we get ads for Speedy Muffler King.

Eastman Kodak Co., struggling to reinvent itself in the wake of bankruptcy, announced Thursday plans to “phase out dedicated capture devices” as part of a refocus of its consumer business.  That means that Kodak will no longer sell its own … Continued

[caption id="attachment_19954" align="alignnone" width="470" caption="Sniper nest"][/caption] Business Insider:

While the Lucas Oil Stadium was crammed with fans watching the biggest sporting event of the year on Sunday, there was also at least one well-equipped sniper in attendance.These pictures started circulating Tuesday night, and though speculation about their authenticity lingers, the original source has confirmed with me they are genuine.

Josh Davis:

If you post a pin to Pinterest, and it links to an ecommerce site that happens to have an affiliate program, Pinterest modifies the link to add their own affiliate tracking code. If someone clicks through the picture from Pinterest and makes a purchase, Pinterest gets paid. They don’t have any disclosure of this link modification on their site, and so far, while it has been written about, no major news outlet has picked up on the practice or its implications.

I use Pinterest and this is troubling. Yes, they need to make money but doing it behind the users back is a bit off putting.

Cool Material:

No guy looks forward to Valentine’s Day. Here’s what it would look like if guys wrote Valentine’s Day cards.

Om Malik:

First the news: Yes, the rumors are true. We are indeed buying the assets of ContentNext Media from Guardian News & Media Limited. And no, we are not disclosing the terms of the deal, except that we are buying the entire group of properties — paidContent.org, mocoNews.net, contentSutra and paidContent:UK and that a representative of Guardian News & Media will join our board of directors as an observer.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Om and what he’s done. Good luck with this.

Online pawn shop Pawngo really stuck its foot in it this week when it tried to make fun of the New England Patriots’ performance in the Super Bowl, and is paying for it – literally and figuratively.

Great stuff. […]

LA Weekly: Like many people, Petrick had come to rely on his cellphone. He wasn’t as good as he used to be about memorizing phone numbers. Excitedly, he recalled one person’s cell number and dialed it. His elation, however, quickly … Continued

No wonder they can copy Apple’s products so fast.

Matt Burns at TechCrunch examine’s Honeywell’s patents, which it says Nest Labs is infringing upon with its learning thermostat.

New York Times: But unlike other big-ticket corporations, it doesn’t have an inventory of widgets or gadgets, cars or phones. Facebook’s inventory consists of personal data — yours and mine. Facebook makes money by selling ad space to companies that … Continued

Ryan Cash interviewed me about The Loop and posted it today.

[caption id="attachment_19778" align="alignnone" width="470" caption="A Swarm of Nano Quadrotors"][/caption] Pennsylvania’s General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (Grasp) laboratory shows how a massive groups of quadrocopters can work together in large formations. In the video, 20 of the whirring drones fly in unison, transitioning between formations and avoiding collisions.

I, for one, welcome our new nano robotic overlords.

[caption id="attachment_19764" align="alignnone" width="470" caption="Queen Elizabeth II"][/caption] Huffington Post:

Queen Elizabeth II marked her Diamond Jubilee on Monday with a message thanking all those who had supported her over her 60-year reign and reaffirming her dedication to serving the British people.The 85-year-old monarch ascended the throne when her father, George VI, died on Feb. 6, 1952. She is the longest-serving monarch after Queen Victoria, who reigned for more than 63 years.

It’s remarkable to be in any job for that long let alone one with as much pressure as this one. Congratulations, Mum!

BGR:

42-inch 1080 LED display; Runs iOS; App Store functionality; iCloud for access to all your music, TV shows, movies, photos, and videos; iPhone and iPad as a remote control with AirPlay to push content from your devices to the TV; Built-in FaceTime camera and microphone (we’d imagine Siri, as well); Netflix, YouTube, Flickr support; and $1,499 price.

I have a hard time buying this, unless Apple is a lot further along than we thought it was.

TechCrunch: Conglomerate Honeywell, which develops thermostats, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Nest Labs, the developer of the innovative smart thermostat. The lawsuit, which was filed United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, alleges infringement of seven … Continued