launches iPad apps with free access to full episodes

Fans of such shows as "Swamp People," "Storage Wars," and "Monster In-Laws" can now catch full episodes for free via their iPads.A+E Networks, the company behind these series and more, unveiled three iPad apps yesterday: one for A&E shows, another for History shows, and a third for Lifetime shows and movies.Viewers will be able to catch all episodes from the current seasons of various shows, as well as some episodes from previous seasons. Subscribers to Comcast's Xfinity TV will have access to all episodes from previous seasons.You can browse among all shows or search for specific ones. You can also maintain a watchlist, which lets you queue up episodes of your favorite series or resume watching a previous video from where you left off.A&E plans to release similar apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch in January and for Android devices sometime in the first quarter of 2013.

A fifth of U.S. adults have engaged in video chats

Nearly 20 percent of all American adults have participated in a video call either online or on their mobile phone, according to a study released today by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project.The study, which surveyed 3,001 people over the summer, found that 74 percent of American adults use the Internet. And out of that group, 23 percent of folks have tried video calls, chats, or teleconferences over the Web. Approximately 85 percent of adults use a mobile phone, Pew said, and out of that group, 7 percent of respondents said that they have chatted over video on their handsets. That comes out to about 19 percent of adults having placed at least one video call.Although Pew didn't provide specifics, it indicated that many of the people it surveyed said that they have used both mobile phones and the Web for video chats. In the study it was the first time that the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project asked about the use of video calling online and via cell phones. Pew's findings follow another study released recently by Juniper Research, which estimated that 29 million adults worldwide will be using a smartphone to video chat by 2015. The research firm said that widespread video-calling adoption in the mobile space could be "held back by a lack of interoperability between different devices."

A cheesy Steve Jobs tribute--in mozzarella

It's not often I come across something on the Web that makes me cringe, but it happened earlier Wednesday when I spotted a sculpture of Steve Jobs' head made out of mozzarella cheese.The sculpture (if we can call it that) was created by "Ken" over at The Cooks' Den. Dubbed Steve Jobs Cheese Head, the Apple CEO's dome is made from two blocks of mozzarella cheese, ground pepper (for the hair, people, c'mon!), and glasses to finish off the look.Ken calls himself a "Mac fanboy" and plans to be in line when the iPad hits store shelves on April 3. As a show of "appreciation for [his] much-loved Apple products," he decided to build the "tasty sculpture in the form of Apple's venerable leader."I've seen some rather, uh, interesting things in my day, but the Steve Jobs Cheese Head might just take the cake. It's creepy. Very, very creepy. And the worst part is, Ken included directions on how to create your very own Steve Jobs Cheese Head, so there may be more of these popping up when we really don't want them to.Oh, and in case you're hungry, the cheese head is also edible--Ken offers three recipes that you can try out if you plan to eat Steve Jobs. Thanks, Ken!Steve Jobs Nachos: They're melting!The Cooks' Den