Mobile photo service Instagram is preparing to launch its long-awaited Google Android app and in preparation for that programs release the company on Saturday launched a sign-up page for the soon-to-be Android friendly program.

Instagram on the page doesn’t state whether the sign-up page is meant for registration to give users early access or just a simple notification e-mail entry. According to the website users who provide their email will simply be “first in line” when the program launches.

Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom recently hinted that the Android app could be weeks away although he also hinted that new features may be made available that will propel the Android ahead of the long standing iOS version for Apple products.

It will be interesting to see how Instagram manages to scale on the Android system where the company has had to deal with a less straightforward platform that is fragmented among device manufacturers. Instragram also receives excellent placement within the Apple App Store which has helped Apple customers find, download and ultimately use the photo sharing platform.  In the meantime Google Play customers have complained en masse that it can often be hard to find new apps on the system while Google hasn’t exactly had the best track record of showcasing hot new programs.

Android phones in the meantime have some of the best camera options on the market with various devices featuring cameras that offer dual-LED flashes, 8 megapixel photo capturing, auto-focus and other features Instagram users find worthy of regular use.

Will you be downloading the Instagram app for your Google Android smartphone when it’s made available?

Spanish Police investigating two Madrid prostitution rings discovered a  19-year-old prostitute who was branded with a barcode tattoo that shows the amount of money she owed to the ring.

According to CNN:

“The bar code served as a form of identity for the woman and as certificate of “ownership” by one prostitution ring, and beneath the bar code was also tattooed the amount of money she owed the ring.”

The female was also found to have various marks from being beaten and whipped while her head and eyebrows were shaved off after she tried to escape from the ring.

Police say the most horrifying part of the girls torture may be that it came at the hands of her own uncle and nephew. When she tried to escape her uncle told her nephew to chain the girl to a radiator and starve her to near death.

Police during their raids were able to capture three illegal firearms, various swords, jewelry, five automobiles and $185,696 Euros. Much of the money and other items were hidden in a double roof at one of the ring leaders homes.

According to authorities in Madrid many of the prostitutes were underage and were often referred to as “suitcases, bicycles and packages.”

Prostitution in Spain is a major problem with many girls underage and taken from their families while forced into a lifestyle that is often impossible to escape.

Do you think the ring leaders should be given extra time in jail specifically because of the barcode tattoo?

Europa, one of Jupiter’s roughly 66 moons, was considered to be one of the likeliest spots for finding life, even if only in microbial form, in the whole solar system. Now, it looks like Enceladus, one of Saturn’s 66 confirmed moons, has taken the top spot.

Data recently captured and analyzed from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft suggests that Enceladus has a pretty sizable ocean hidden beneath the moon’s icy exterior. While this isn’t a new theory, recent evidence uncovered by the spacecraft makes the possibility even more likely.

For many years, scientists believed that an ocean of some sort existed on Enceladus–the moon is almost entirely covered in ice, so scientists thought there must be a body of water somewhere beneath all that ice, where the conditions were just right to have liquid water.

Going by the latest data from Cassini, it looks like they were right. The spacecraft was able to observe icy fissures running along a large area of the moon, bolstering another theory that underneath Enceladus’ surface are active “ice” volcanoes, which could keep water beneath the surface cool enough to stay in liquid form.

The spacecraft was able to take samples from the debris ejected by geysers around the fissures, and what NASA discovered was water that is very similar in composition to our own, adding further evidence that liquid water likely exists on Enceladus–and the volcanic activity, and thus the liquid water, is all thanks to Saturn’s gravitational pull

“This new work gives scientists insight into the mechanics of these picturesque jets,” said Terry Hurford, a Cassini associate at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (via Time). “[It] shows that Saturn really stresses Enceladus.”

Source: Time

The Jersey Shore without Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino?  Say it isn’t so? Well it is so according to TMZ.  They are reporting that 495 productions will be phasing the two of them out over the course of the next season and looking to hire new housemates or the 7th season.

Although 495 had no official comment, the fear among show insiders is that with Snooki being pregnant and The Situation doing a stint in rehab to fight a prescription pain killer addiction the show will “lose its sex-crazed alcohol-fueled edge.”

Snooki has told Us Weekly magazine that she is no pregnant and engaged. She only said it last month but has known that she was pregnant since January.

The Situation found himself on 495′s hit list after checking himself into rehab to treat an ongoing substance abuse problem.

The Situation told SitchNews.com,

“I want to set the record straight. I have voluntarily taken steps to get control of a prescription medication problem I had due to exhaustion. I have spent the past several weeks getting treatment for this problem and recuperating from my work and appearance schedule. I appreciate my fans support and love you guys.”

The entire cast of Jersey Shore will involved in the filming of Season 6, including Snooki and the Situation, but from what TMZ is reporting the pair will receive dramatically less screen time and will be phased out by the end of the season.  Other cast members will see their screentime increase.  Season 6 begins filming this summer.

Do you think that Jersey Shore will be the same without Snooki or the Situation?

Watch a video of some shocking information about Snooki and the Situation.

In honor of one locally owned business in eastern China, the company for it’s 40th anniversary game 3,000 villagers a surprise this week. The China Money Report writes that all the villagers of Changjian and Jiangsu will each get a 100 gram bar of gold and a 100 gram bar of Silver.

The gold and silver giveaway was chosen by the Changjiang village residents who are the collective owners of Jiangsu Xinchangjiang Group, the electric, metals and chemicals company.

Before the Gold arrives in the village each resident received a secretive note and a safe, which hinted that the precious metals were on their way.  A few days later they were in the town square collecting their bars.

The China Daily is reporting that this is not even the first time this has happened. There has been another time where the gold bars were given away to the villagers.

The village picked a good time to invest in gold. The current market rate is now priced around 400 yuan per gram ($63.50), notes Asia One. Moreover, the price of the commodity has risen more than fivefold in the last 10 years, outperforming almost every other investment available.

The price of silver is equally high with silver prices for May delivery gaining 92.7 cents, or 3.0%, to $32.272 an ounce, ranging from $31.435 to $32.300. Silver has rallied $4.36, or 15.6%, in 2012.

Do you think it is a great way to pay a dividend to your owners to give out bars of precious metals?  Or do you think cols hard cash would have done better?

March is not traditionally known as “shorts and t-shirt weather” in many parts of the United States, especially the midwest and northern parts of the country where blistering cold temperatures can be felt well into April. In 2012 however 6,000 weather records have been broken, almost all of which pertain to record high heat.

March isn’t even over yet but daily and monthly temperature records have helped secure thousands of new highs from Michigan to Minnesota and everywhere in between.

According to the National Climatice Data Center (NCDC) while there have been 250 daily lows since the start of the month there has been 24 record highs for each low and many of those records have existed in the northern tier of the US.

In term of record highs 430 such records were broken or tied. One of the most surprising warm spells came out of International Falls, Minessota where instead of freezing temperatures they experienced a high of 79-degrees on March 18, the warmest day ever recorded in March for the city.

In Chicago, IL there were new record highs sent from March 14-22, a nine day streak in which eight of those days reached into the 80s.

In Michigan temperatures reached into the 80+ range earlier than ever recorded, hitting 81 degrees in Marquette, Michigan 22 days before the previous record. Detroit, Michigan continued the impressive round of heat in the state, reaching 86 degrees, an all-time March record.

When you take the average temperatures for March in many states even more records are broken as March has turned out to be 10 to 15 degrees warmer on average than previous months.

With some records dating back to 1870 many experts believe March’s warm days are a “once in a lifetime” event that everyone should get out and experience while they can.

Have you had unseasonably warm weather in your neck of the woods?

The founders of the Trinity Broadcasting Network are being sued after allegedly defrauding their not-for-profit network of more than $50 million.

The lawsuit was filed against Paul and Jan Crouch by their granddaughter Brittany Koper.

In the lawsuit Brittany claims that the couple used the network to purchase 13 mansions and luxury jets. In what might be the most troubling finding the couple allegedly purchased a $100,000 mobile home for their dogs to live in.

The lawsuit was filed after the couple fired Brittany and another employee in September, accusing them of stealing from the company. At that time Koper had just begun a three month stint as the groups chief financial director, a position that allowed her to uncover what she says is just one massive case of fraud.

The lawsuit against Brittany was quickly dismissed with no merit and her countersuit was just as quickly filed after she discover the Crouches’ “illegal financial schemes.”

This isn’t the first time the Trinity Broadcast Network has come under fire from outside groups. The church watchdog group Wall Watchers have repeatedly given TBN an “F” rating because the network has zero transparency in the way it operates.

When asked about how funds at TBN are used the head of Wall Watchers says:

“They’re basically taking money from old people and putting it in their pocket and living the high life.”

With tax free money at their disposal it will be interesting to see if the Crouches’ really have defrauded possibly hundreds of thousands of their groups followers.

Do you think if their fraud turns out to be true the Crouches’ should be sentenced to jail and forced to pay back every penny they took from unsuspecting followers of their TV based church?

When Staff Sgt. Robert Bales opened fire on innocent Afghanistan civilians in two villages an international crisis began and to help quell the anger being felt the United States government has handed over nearly $50,000 in compensation to each family that lost loved ones to the shootings.

When asked about the payments officials on the condition on anonymity said the amount was “significant” and “substantial.”

If the $50,000 price tag is correct it would be a significant amount of money in a region where the average family earns just $425 per year.

Sgt. Bales has been charged with the murder of 17 Afghanistan people after he attacked men, women and children with his 8mm pistol and M-4 rifle. Under the currently payment structure for his crimes an overall payment would have been made of approximate $850,000 by the United States government.

While Sgt. Bales is set to stand trial his defense attorney on Friday said the military lacks the physical evidence necessary to establish a strong case against Bales while others claim a crumbling military mental health infrastructure put Sgt. Bales back into the field after sustaining a devastating head injury.

Kandahar provincial council member Agha Lalai also recently revealed that U.S. officials paid each wounded person in the region $11,000. According to Lalai those people were told the money came from U.S. President Barack Obama.

In the meantime the alleged payments were spoke about by NATO spokesman Lieutenant Commander Brian Badura who told Reuters that the ISAF as a matter of policy doesn’t make restitution payments for “losses resulting from combat, combat-related activities or operational necessity.”

Badura goes on to note:

“Individual troop contributing nations may participate in some form of restitution consistent with the cultural norms of Afghanistan … Settlement can come in a number of forms which may (be) but is not always financial.”

In any case the terms of settlements with the United States government appear to remain confidential at this time.

Do you think the US government made the right decision in offering restitution to the family’s of murdered Afghanistan citizens? And do you think Sgt. Bales should be tried or provided with the mental health services he likely needed before the attack but never received?

US Airways and American Airlines are rumored to be in acquisition talks that would reduce the number of major airlines in the United States to just three.

According to various reports from industry analysts US Airways plans to acquire American as the company restructures and emerges from bankruptcy protection.

A Bloomberg report says the goal is to acquire the company before parent organization AMR exists bankruptcy for which it filed in November.  The company recently received permission to extend its bankruptcy until Sept. 28 while AMR has promised to ask that labor union contracts be voided.

US Airways will likely argue that a merger is needed to allow the company’s to stay competitive following the mergers of United Airlines and Continental Airlines in 2010 and Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines in 2008.

The announcement of a merger shouldn’t come as a surprise as US Airways CEO Doug Parker this week made his desire to merge with the company known, telling reporters that consultants have already been hired to work on a bid. American Airlines however can not file competing plans during its bankruptcy period.

While the deal is far from over US Airways has already started buying internet domain names that would reflect a potential merger including usairways-american.com and american-usairways.com.

If the merger occurs it could be good news for travels in the East and West. In the East American has had a lackluster foothold after being squeezed out by Delta and United while US Airways could create a better front on the West with the help of American Airlines.

In the meantime the airlines industry has been on an upswing in recent months which could provide more reason for the two company’s to join forces while travel numbers are increasing.

Do you think US Airways and American Airlines would be a match made in heaven or a colossal mistake?

Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Justin, Bieber, Adam Levine, not only are all of those singers internationally known music super stars, they also carry their own line of men’s and women’s fragrances. One person not planning to join that list anytime in the near future however is Carrie Underwood.

While she may be a mega superstar in the world of country music Carrie Underwood told AOL’s The Boot on Saturday:

“I really don’t know if I would do the whole fragrance thing. I don’t want to smell like anybody else.”

While we’re sure she smells like other people since we assume she baths and uses deodorant she reveals that it’s more or less that she doesn’t want people to have “her scent.”

Carrie added:

“If people walked up to me smelling like me, it might weird me out. So that one’s not quite for me.”

That isn’t to say that Carrie Underwood won’t put her name on a product or offer her face for sponsorship. After all Carrie is the current face of Olay. Underwood also says she wouldn’t be against putting out a line of clothing and perhaps a shoe line in the future.

Carrie says of her fashion ambitions:

“I would love to do that for other people and create things that people would like to wear.”

Who knows perhaps Carrie Underwood will become the next Jessica Simpson of the fashion world, creating a billion dollar line of products that share her design sensibility and name.

I wonder if anyone told her the perfume wouldn’t actually smell like her because that would be just plain weird.

Would you be willing to purchase from a Carrie Underwood line of clothing?