Ariana Grande Grandpa is Not Well:

Ariana Grande Grandpa is Not Well:

Ariana Grande‘s beloved grandfather has not been doing well these days and it looks like she needs us to send over our prayers to help him push through this tough time.

“love u grandps i need u please pull thru,” the 21-year-old singer tweeted while spending the July 4th holiday alongside her family in Florida.

“thank u for the prayers. my loves u are so powerful… u are in my heart. i wish Frankie were here. grandpa said ‘no he gotta win the game!’”Ariana added. Her older brother is currently playing on Big Brother‘s new season, which started this past week.

“gonna try my best to put my selfishness aside thru this… as much as i want grandps here with me.. i should just want him to be comfortable,” Ariana continued. “wish u knew how incredible he is…. humble, respectful, hardworking, polite, thoughtful, humorous, generous. an example for all gentlemen. he is all things wonderful.”

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Apple poaches another luxury executive as iWatch nears

(Reuters) - Apple has poached a senior executive from Swiss luxury watch brand Tag Heuer, which could be to help it with the launch of its iWatch expected this autumn.

Tag Heuer, part of luxury goods group LVMH, said on Friday its vice president for sales, Patrick Pruniaux, who had been with the brand for seven years, was leaving on Monday to join Apple. It did not say what his new job would be.

Apple declined to comment.

The iWatch will be the closest the U.S. company has come to selling a fashion accessory and marks its first foray into the personal luxury goods market.

It is in a race against Samsung Electronics and Google to turn computers into wearablefashion and must-have items as smartphones, increasingly becoming commoditized items, start loosing their appeal.

Apple has plucked several executives from the luxury sector in recent months. Burberry ex-Chief Executive Angela Ahrendts started as its new head of retail and online sales in May, and former head of French fashion brand Yves Saint Laurent Paul Deneve was hired last year to work on special projects.

"I think he was probably head-hunted," a Tag Heuer spokeswoman said of Pruniaux, adding a replacement had already been found.

Analysts and industry executives say the jury is still out on whether smart watches will disrupt the luxury Swiss watch industry.

"I don’t believe that an iWatch will be a threat to luxury Swiss watches," said Jon Cox, analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux in Zurich.

"But where I do see some potential impact is at lower, for example below $1,000, price points where there could be a temporary dislocation if there is super high demand for iWatches."

Jean-Claude Biver, head of watch brands at LVMH and chairman of watch brand Hublot, said he believed the threat of smart watches had to be taken seriously by the Swiss watch industry.

"The iWatch will have the same status symbol power as many other Apple products, especially at the beginning," he said. "I personally believe it has the potential to be a threat for the industry, and it should not stay with its arms crossed."

Apple applied for a trademark for the "iWatch" in Japan, a patent official said earlier this week, signaling the iPhone maker could be moving ahead with plans to launch a watch-like device soon.

Speculation has been mounting that Apple was preparing to launch an iWatch which would include multiple health and fitness sensors and access to features such as messages and notifications through integration with the iPhone and iPad.

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This robot valet will park your car

By Jessica Plautz,

(CNN) -- In Germany, high tech has come to airport parking.
Last week, Düsseldorf airport (DUS) introduced robot valets to take the hassle out of parking for travelers.

Travelers can leave their cars at the arrival level of theParking PLUS structure. As they leave, they confirm on a touch-screen that no one is in the car. The robot valet, nicknamed "Ray," takes it from there.
The robot measures the vehicle, picks it up with a forklift-like system, and takes it to the back area, where it will position it in one of the 249 parking spots reserved for automated valets. The machine is capable of carrying standard cars weighing up to 3.31 tons.

The robot valet is even connected to the airport's flight data system, and by checking customer trip data with the database, Ray knows when the customer will return for the vehicle. A traveler can note any itinerary changes in a parking app, which is available for iOS and Android.

Düsseldorf's airport is relatively small, and officials touted the convenience of heading to the terminal from the parking structure entrance. Ray "makes the distances between planes and passengers' vehicles even shorter," according to a statement from the airport.

"Our product is especially appealing to business travelers, who arrive at the airport shortly before the flight, seek efficient parking, and return within a few days," said Thomas Schnalke, the airport's managing director.
The introductory rate for robot valet parking at Düsseldorf is 29 euros ($39.59) per day or 4 euros ($5.46) per hour. Although the airport is targeting business travelers in a hurry, the service is open to anyone.

If airport customers use the robot valet, airport officials said they would consider expanding the system.
Ray was produced by Serva Transport in the Bavarian town of Grabenstätt. Serva previewed the robot valet in 2013; Düsseldorf is the first installation of the system.

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'Smart' luggage will text you when it gets lost

By James O'Toole

cnn money

"Help, I'm in Vladivostok!"

When an airline loses your luggage, it can take hours or even days to get someone to tell you where it ended up -- if it ever turns up at all. Wouldn't it be easier to hear from the luggage itself?

That's the promise of "smart luggage," in which GPS tracking chips are embedded in bags capable of transmitting their locations to travelers and even contacting airlines directly when they get lost.

The jumbo jet maker Airbus introduced a concept design for smart luggage at the Paris Air Show last year. The product, known as Bag2Go, can be tracked via a smartphone app. It also allows for self-service check-ins and can weigh itself to ensure that it meets airline requirements.

AT&T (T, Tech30) unveiled a similar concept at a demonstration of its "next-generation technologies" in May. The company envisions integrating the product with standard suitcases and bags -- perhaps through an attachable tag -- though it could also be built into suitcases directly.

The ultimate plan is to for the luggage to work with airlines' IT systems, contacting the carriers directly and arranging for delivery to your home or hotel.

These products are still in the developmental stage and will need approval from federal regulators, but they're sure to find some grateful customers: U.S. airlines mishandled over 141,000 bags in April, according to government statistics, or about three bags for every 1,000 passengers

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BMW 3D prints new thumbs for factory workers

BMW 3D prints new thumbs for factory workers

Samuel Gibbs

Guardian News 

German car manufacturer BMW has turned to 3D printing to physically augment its car-plant workers, giving them stronger, augmented thumbs.

The 3D-printed apparel acts like support brackets for the workers’ thumbs, reducing strain and helping them to fit certain parts into the cars more easily.
Each "thumb" is created as a custom orthotic device using a portable 3D camera, which captures the unique size and shape of each line-worker’s thumb.

Lasers, plastic, scanners and thumbs

The scan is then used to build up a thumb guard made of a semi-flexible thermoplastic polyurethane plastic – a hybrid material mixture of hard plastic and soft silicone – which is create by a 3D-printing technique called selective laser sintering.
A laser is used to fuse plastic powder into layers, building up the structure one thin slice at a time until the full 3D structure is created.
The finished thumb guard flexes in a closed position. But because the structure is perfectly fitted to the wearer’s thumb the pieces lock into place when the digit is raised into a thumbs-up position.

Iron Man for the thumb

The locked splint resists strain and spreads the load of pushing something like a stiff rubber plug into holes in the car’s chassis – something that was causing pain and strain for production-line workers.
After small trials in the company’s Munich vehicle assembly plant yielded “very positive” feedback from workers, BMW is now looking to roll this and other schemes using custom built 3D-printed apparel to help production and prevent pain and injury.

3D printing for the last 25 years

BMW has been using 3D printing techniques as part of its prototyping of parts and cars since 1989 with around 100,000 pieces created a year using a variety of different techniques at the Rapid Technology Centre in Munich.
This is not the first ergonomic aid BMW has created used 3D printing. The German automotive company created customised wheelchair seats for the British paralympic basketball team in 2012 using similar methods.
The creation of the new thumb cots is part of a project at the Department of Ergonomics at the Technical University of Munich.

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Happy Fourth Of July

Happy  Fourth Of July :

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of theDeclaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain (now officially known as the United Kingdom). Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games,family reunions, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the National Day of the United States.

Best Flag Cake Recipe:

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour an 18 by 13 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mixing just until smooth.

Spread three-fourths of the icing on the top of the cooled sheet cake. Outline the flag on the top of the cake with a toothpick. Fill the upper left corner with blueberries. Place 2 rows of raspberries across the top of the cake like a red stripe. Put the remaining icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe two rows of white stripes below the raspberries. Alternate rows of raspberries and icing until the flag is completed. Pipe stars on top of the blueberries.


What To Wear On Fourth July :


Independence Day style

An abstract, printed blue-and-white maxidress.When you mix prints and colors, make sure to contrast a rounded pattern with sharp-edged designs

Cool T-shirt and jeans

Trusty white-striped Breton shirt, try a navy-and-red combo in a slimmer cap-sleeve or tank-top cut. Bring in the white with a crisp pair of skinny jeans, and finish with a brown belt and tan ankle booties

Cute 4rth Of July Nail Art :

1. Paint all nails, except for your ring finger in 2 coats of opaque white nail polish. Paint the ring finger in dark blue.
2. Using striping brush, paint thin red stripes on middle, little and thumb nails. To make it easier, instead of painting the red stripes, simply attach pieces of red striping tape.
3. Paint your pointer finger nail with 2 coats of thick silver glitter polish.
4. Using blue polish and same nail polish brush, paint French manicure like tips (in one stroke) on middle, little and thumb nails.
5. Using a needle, pick up silver glitter stars and place them on the blue accent nail and ring finger. Then put them on the French tips, little and thumb finger nails.
6. Clean up around cuticles using angled brush dipped in acetone. Allow some time for your design to set, you don’t want to smudge the red polish. Then apply 3 or 4 generous layers of a quick drying top coat to cover up the stars and smooth your nail art. Done!

Be patriotic and love your country have a happy independence day.

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Samsung, too Abandons the Plasma TV Market

Following suite of multiple other vendors, Samsung has announced that by the end of 2014 (30th of November in fact), it will cease the production of its plasma TVs.

The announcement comes as a no surprise, as big names such as Sony, Hitachi and Panasonic had already called it quits earlier.

The company will instead focus on curved LED TVs and UHD (ultra high-definition, 4K) TVs. It blames plunging demand for the outcome.

Plasma TVs are often applauded by connoisseurs for their superior image quality and higher frame rates, though, they seem to have fallen back in recent times with the arrival of more-efficient LEDs/LCDs, which not only use lesser electricity, but are also notably thinner. 

Lastly (and most importantly), they’re also more expensive. In the battle between image quality and price, consumers have for long voted for their money. But thanks to advancements in recent times, the difference may not sound as radical as you might expect, further deteriorating the case for plasmas. The transition of 4K in plasma TVs was probably not as smooth as companies would’ve liked.

Samsung’s last notable specimen came in 2013 in its PNF8500, a 64″ 1080p TV which cost $4,400. That leaves LG as the only manufacturer still using this tech. It has been hinting at an exit lately but we don’t know for sure when that will happen. Being the last major player in the market, it can probably go on for years now.

But truth be told, the entire industry has been working hard to phase out plasma TVs for long. In the future, if you’ll ever want to get your hands on one, finding one new might get tricky.

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TourPlanner.pk: Your Online Vacation Planner in Pakistan

Summer is on the roll and your desire of a much needed vacation needs to be fulfilled. But the question is, what is the best approach of planning a vacation?

Be it with your family or your homies. We all feel the need of brainstorming necessary as to decide where to go, what route to take, what is the cheapest way to get there holding on to your budget. And due to the security turmoil in our country and the lack of proper guidance, people of Pakistan usually opt going abroad which indirectly effects the tourism industry of our own country.

Well, here is the catch, a local Pakistani website called TourPlanner.pk promises to be a nut cracker for your tour planning, from hotel room booking to flight information and other tour-related queries that needs to be answered including the best prices in town, you will find a solution to all that and more.

TourPlanner.PK is linked with tripadvisor for the purpose of providing you with the service and information of international flights for out of country holidays but the intra-country holidays are exclusively planned and offered by tourplanner.pk.

TourPlanner is on a mission “To help travellers of all backgrounds easily discover, book, and enjoy the best travel products at economical prices on their finger tips.”

This portal may come in handy for both holiday travellers and business or work related travels. TourPlanner.pk offers sufficient variety of booking services and planning.

International hotels booking

This category directs the users to the international website, TripAdvisor that is. This booking resource encompasses over 3.7 million restaurants, business and tourist spots and destinations from which you can choose by taking your budget in consideration.

Flight information

This will provide you the the flight information including the international and domestic departures and arrivals for the big three cities; Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad via directing you to the associated portals for the Jinnah International, Allama Iqbal International and Benazir Bhutto International airports respectively.

Though it has some complications regarding that, the server sometimes doesn’t work, nevertheless it saves you the trouble of surfing lot more websites just to get information.

Tour Packages and Hotel Bookings

Tourplanner covers all the aspects related with the tour, be it a family tour, honeymoon or last minute entries. The portal currently offers tour packages and online booking service for thirteen cities including Naran Kaghan, Muzzaffarabad, Mirpur, Nathiagali, Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Neelum valley, Peshawar, Sialkot, Multan, Murree, Rawalpindi and Abbottabad.

They are associated with 100+ 2 to 4 star hotels all over the country for which they offer online details with pictures and charges. You can select the room of your choice from their detailed overview of hotels which covers amenities that specific hotel provides, types of rooms, booking rates and terms & conditions.

The website also gives you the ease of filtered search to get better and more precise results.

TourPlanner doesn’t ask for the payment at the time of booking but its necessary to confirm your booking 48 hours prior to the time of check-in.

Payment modes include EasyPaisa, UBL Omni and UBL Internet Banking by using their mobile account (0345- 5380783-4) mentioning the transaction ID and amount paid to TP.

The detailed procedure is mentioned on TourPlanner’s website so you need not to worry.

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Android Wear Apps Finally Hit Play Store and Get their Dedicated Portion

Android Wear Apps Finally Hit Play Store and Get their Dedicated Portion:

While the initial batches of Android Wear devices have finally started to get shipped, Google is making sure users don’t miss out on the fun.

To keep users busy, it has created a dedicated section at the Play Store for Android Wear apps specifically.

The number of apps currently tops out at around 30, and includes Google Maps, Hangouts, Pinterest, The Guardian, Path and Rustastic PRO. It comprises mainly free apps but there are exceptions. Expect that number to increase in the near future as big, announced names like Twitter and Gmail are curiously missing.

As you probably know, the apps work in the same way as in most other smartwatches. You download the app on your smartphone, which then connects with your watch and syncing ensues. You’ll need to install the Android Wear app first of all. The webpage currently seems to only open via the URL given above; there isn’t a section shown individually.

Android Wear can currently be experienced on only three devices, which includes smartwatches from Motorola, LG and Samsung. Only the latter two’s smartwatches are on sale currently and cost $199 and $229 respectively.

Google’s Play Store version 5.0 is also live now, which mainly includes Google services and enhancements to Google’s new products. Notable additions include cross-device synchronizing in Play Games and new time-based “Quest” challenges.

If you’re thinking of maybe buying an Android Wear smartwatch in the near future, you may be happy to hear that its essentials, even though embryonic still, have finally been given birth.

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Scientists create most efficient artificial photosynthesis yet

Scientists create most efficient artificial photosynthesis yet

Many scientists now think that slowing down global warming isn't enough anymore and that we now need to clear some of the CO2 already in the air. Existing solutions like carbon sequestration aren't ideal, and strategies like vacuuming the sky are still a UN pipe dream. However, scientists at Princeton have come up with an artificial photosynthesis system that could one day turn CO2 into useful things. The idea was to create an electrolysis cell that transforms water and waste CO2 into formic acid, used in airplane de-icing salts and experimental fuel cells. To do that, they used commercial solar panels for energy, carefully matched the current to the cell and stacked the cells -- resulting in a system with two percent efficiency. That may not sound like much, but it easily trumps the previous artificial photosynthesis champ, Panasonic, and is twice as efficient as actual plants. A practical application is still a ways off, though, so in the meantime maybe just go plant a tree.

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Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez Friendship Ended

Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez Friendship Ended

Demi Lovato, who was at one times best friends with the Come and Get It singer, has unfollowed Selena on Twitter. This may not seem like a big deal to too many people, but these days, unfollowing someone on a social networking site is the equivalent of ending a friendship in person.

The two girls have been friends since their Disney days and they even starred in a Disney Channel original movie together! Earlier this year, Selena even revealed that Demi Lovato is the one person that she trusts more than anything in the world, so what is going on with these two?

According to Wetpaint, after the seemingly innocuous unfollow, Demi tweeted some not so nice things which were reportedly aimed at Selena. The tweets have since been deleted, but plenty of screencaps were captured before Demi Lovato was able to delete them. 

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fourth of july special : How To Take Fireworks Photos With Your Phone

How To Take Fireworks Photos With Your Phone

Mario Aguilar

Gizmodo

It just wouldn't be the Fourth of July without the climactic boom of fireworks. If you want to keep that memory all year—or at least share it with all of your friends on Instagram—these tips will help you get lovely photos with your phone, even if you're not a pro.

Some people roll up to the fireworks with a tripod and a fancy DSLR. (If you're one of those people, this handy guide from PCMag should help.) But if you're like us, you'll show up full of American beer, BBQ, and patriotism. The only tool at your disposal? Your smartphone. Here's how to take photos of fireworks that don't suck—no fancy apps or art school degree required.

• Pick a good spot in advance: Before the fireworks even start, you should try to get yourself in a good position: staying upwind of the fireworks will keep the smokey aftermath of previous blasts from gumming up your shot.

• Get steady: Remember, you're taking photos at night so a little bit of shakiness from slower shutter speeds can turn your photo into a blurry mess. Brace yourself against a picnic table or even sit down on the ground if possible. If you're in a crowd, get cozy with your neighbor for support.

• Frame before you shoot: Figure out where in the sky fireworks are blowing up and position your phone in advance. You don't want to chase the shot, you want your phone to be in the right place already.

• Use the AE/AF lock: Once your phone's in position, don't take your shot right away. On the iPhone and many Android phones tapping the screen locks in the exposure and focus for your shot. Use one firework for metering, and then take the photo of the next.

• Don't be afraid of portrait mode: Usually we loathe portrait mode, but here's one instance where it might capture a better photo. This is not an ordinary snapshot. Depending on the scenery and your perspective, both landscape and portrait photos might work well — heck, even experiment with crooked angles to see what gets the best results.

• Don't zoom: We realize that the fireworks are SO FAR AWAY but the digital zoom on camera phones is only an illusion. Don't use it. You can always crop the photo later.

• Keep it native: Speaking of later, third-party apps introduce additional lag to your phone's camera. Keep your timing sharp by using your built-in camera app, and upload it to Instagram later.

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