Dexter the dog.  Image: KXTV

Dexter, a spaniel long-haired chihuahua mix who was severely injured by explosives that were strapped to his body and detonated, was reunited with his owner, Shukriyyah Albaaqee, after she saw reports of the dog on the news.

Police in Stockton, Calif. responded to reports on Wednesday that an explosive device had detonated and discovered an injured dog at the scene. They then discovered that someone had strapped the device to the dog and set it off.

The dog was rushed to a local animal hospital, where he was given the nickname “Rocket.” According to ABC’s Sacramento affiliate, KXTV, the dog was injured but in stable condition. He had a large, deep wound, roughly 10 inches long.

“It’s quite a miracle that he’s still alive right now,” a veterinary worker told KXTV. “He’s a trouper. He’s a tough little guy.”

Employees at the animal hospital did not believe Dexter was a stray.

Reports of the incident on the news led Shukriyyah Albaaqee to the animal hospital where she provided pictures and home video as proof that Dexter indeed belonged to her.

Dexter will stay at the animal hospital until at least next Tuesday while he heals.

RedRover, a national  nonprofit animal protection organization based on Sacramento, is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever strapped the explosive to Dexter and detonated the device.

If you have any information regarding the situation, please contact the Stockton Police Dept at (209) 937-8377.

SpaceX Dragon spacecraft flying formation with International Space Station. Image: NASA

“Looks like we’ve got a Dragon by the tail,” said NASA astronaut Don Pettit.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule safely berthed to the International Space Station today, greeted by cheers in mission control and pronouncements about how a new era is beginning in orbit.

The Dragon did something that has happened dozens of times before — made a successful rendezvous with the space station to deliver supplies. But it’s the first privately-owned spacecraft to make the trip.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Mike Suffredini, NASA’s space station program manager, this afternoon. “I can’t tell you how proud we are to have been a part of this historic moment.”

“We’re incredibly excited,” said Elon Musk, the founder and head of SpaceX. “There’s so much that could have gone wrong and didn’t.”

NASA hopes private American companies will inexpensively deliver supplies, and eventually astronauts, to the station, something the U.S. has been unable to do without foreign help since the space shuttles were retired last year.

NASA TV

The berthing was done achingly slowly — standard procedure when two ships fly together in orbit at more than 17,000 miles per hour.  Rather than let the Dragon maneuver itself for a docking, astronaut Pettit reached out with the station’s robot arm to grab the approaching ship.

NASA TV

NASA said under current plans, Dragon will remain docked to the space station for unloading until May 31.  After undocking, SpaceX will order the ship to re-enter the atmosphere and splash down in the Pacific off the Southern California Coast.

NASA TV

“This is a fantastic thing,” said Musk, surrounded by cheering SpaceX employees in California, “but there are better things to come in the future.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Apple CEO Tim Cook is offering a $2.65 per share stock dividend to all company employees while forgoing his own shares — a move that will likely cost him $75 million, according to the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“At Mr. Cook’s request, none of his restricted stock units will participate in dividend equivalents,” says the company’s 8-K form filed with the SEC.

Cook was offered 1 million shares back in January for serving as interim CEO after his predecessor, the late Steve Jobs, was forced by illness to hand over control of the company.

Apple announced in March a plan to spend $45 billion on dividends and share repurchasing.  It was the first time that Apple offered a dividend; Jobs famously refused to offer them when he was CEO.

Cook assumed the role of Apple CEO in August 2011; Jobs died in October.

Apple’s stock passed $600 a share in April and many analysts expect the stock to go even higher despite a recent decline.  Today the price hovered above $560 per share.

The company will likely incur increased costs due to a plan increase spending at the Chinese manufacturing company Foxconn.  The Fair Labor Association reported, with Apple’s cooperation, that workers there, assembling iPhones, iPads and other consumer electronics, were often underpaid and made to work excessive overtime.

(Image credit: Doug Oakley/AP Photo)

A California police chief under fire for using 10 investigators to search for his son’s missing iPhone  defended his actions, saying it was “worth it.”

When Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan’s son said his iPhone was stolen from his locker at Berkeley High School in January, Meehan ordered his detectives to track it down. The phone was equipped with Find My iPhone tracking software.

Ten officers, including three detectives and one sergeant on overtime, tracked the phone’s signal to an Oakland neighborhood, where they went door-t0-door looking for the phone, according to ABC News’ San Francisco affiliate KGO-TV.

The phone was not found and taxpayers were charged for two hours of overtime for each of the investigators on overtime, according to KGO-TV.

Meehan did not respond to a request for comment from ABCNews.com today, but spoke to the Oakland Tribune to defend his actions.

“I think it was worth it,” he told the paper.

He responded indirectly when asked if he believed his job could be in jeopardy, saying, “That’s a great question for the city manager.”

Meehan told the paper that the response to the missing iPhone was based on the resources available at that time and that in two other cases of stolen iPhones, 11 officers responded.

“[The Berkeley Police Department] has long recommended that community members use tracking software on their devices or load such software in order to support an investigation and the possible recovery of stolen property,” Sgt. Mary Kusmis said in a statement.

“I don’t understand why it has been cast this way. The facts are very straightforward,” Meehan said. “It’s the chief’s son, so it’s different.”

Earlier this year, Meehan was in hot water for sending an officer to a reporter’s house at 1 a.m. in March to ask for a changes to a story, according to KGO-TV. The investigation into that incident is ongoing.

Pavegen tiles in action (Image credit: Pavegen)

What if you could help power a whole city by going for a walk, or generate real electricity by doing the electric slide? Now, thanks to one London-based start-up, you can. The company is called Pavegen Systems, and it’s generating sparks across Europe thanks to a green energy technology which harnesses the power of the pedestrian.

The technology consists of a rubber tile, 17.7-by-23.6-inches (45 x 60 centimeters) in size. When stepped on, the tile bends slightly, around 5 millimeters (only one fifth of an inch), harvesting the kinetic energy generated by the footstep and converting it into usable electricity at a rate of about 7 watts per footstep. At that rate, it takes only five tiles to power a small storefront, or light up the streetlamps on a relatively busy street, according to the Laurence Kemball-Cook, the company’s CEO.

Kemball-Cook first conceived of the tile when he was working towards as degree in industrial design and technology at Loughborough University. As part of his studies, he worked at a London power company, where he was tasked with developing solar and wind power solutions for urban areas. When neither proved viable, he started exploring alternative options. “I thought, what about a power source that is commercial and reliable, where and when you need it?” Kemball told ABC News, “what about footsteps?”

Well, what about footsteps? According to Kemball-Cook the tiles are “200 times more efficient than any other form of other energy harvesting technology.” In addition, they’re non-invasive, if desired, they can be made to blend in completely with the surrounding street.

“It provides a way that people can save energy without realizing it,” Kemball-Cook said, “all they have to do is walk down the road.”  Because it comes from people as opposed to fossil fuels, the energy is eco-friendly, leaving behind little to no negative effect on the planet. Even the tiles themselves are recycled, coming primarily from old truck tires which have been refitted for the purpose. “We’re taking tires off the road and putting them back on the road,” Kemball-Cook told ABC News.

Pavegen already has numerous temporary and permanent projects underway in Europe. The company is currently installing tiles in one of the largest malls in Europe, the Westfield Stratford City Mall. Already a hot spot for heavy foot traffic, the mall is expected to receive an influx of visitors this year given its close proximity to the Olympic Stadium. They’re also set to power the lighting for major London transportation hub.

But Pavegen’s plans go far beyond city streets, they have also set up temporary tiles at music festivals, such as England’s Bestival in 2011, which dancers can use to charge cell phones. On May 19, 2012 the Black Eye Pea’s Apl.de.ap and Will-i-am performed on a Pavegen energy generating stage, during a fund raising event for Apl’s ‘We Can Be Anything’ campaign, reducing the need for fossil fuel-powered generators, which are traditionally used to power large outdoor events.

Although Pavegen does most of its business in Europe, the company is in talks with buyers in Silicon Valley who are looking to provide clean energy for their offices using Pavegen tiles. As the business continues expands, the company is aiming to get its prices, which are currently in flux, down to $100 per tile, a goal which they expect to reach in the next 18 months. In the meantime, the company will keep its eyes on the prize, powering the world, one step at a time.

Image credit: Facebook

The world might be focused on the issues surrounding Facebook’s stock price and Mark Zuckerberg’s relationship with investors, but the social media giant is trying to move ahead with business as usual. And today’s business? The announcement of a brand new Facebook app: Facebook Camera.

Two months after announcing its $1 billion dollar purchase of the photo-sharing app Instagram, Facebook is rolling out an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that is entirely focused on the camera. It makes it easier for you to interact with your Facebook photos and upload your photos from your phone.

You can view your photos and your friends’ photos when you open the app and you can easily share photos you have taken on your phone. You can also “crop, rotate, and add filters to any picture in your camera roll,” Facebook’s Dirk Stoop said in a Facebook blog post.

Instagram, which is a standalone app for the iPhone and Android phones, has very similar features. While Facebook did announce its purchase of Instagram, the deal hasn’t actually closed yet.

“This product has been in the works before the acquisition,” Derick Mains, a Facebook spokesperson, told ABC News.

Mains added that Facebook isn’t trying to compete with Instagram, just give Facebook users a better mobile photo experience. When Facebook acquired Instagram, Mark Zuckerberg said he wanted to keep the app alive and “spread this app and brand to even more people.”

“We have done a lot to improve the photo experience on Facebook.com — we have added high-res images, full-screen viewing. And while the team was doing that they were also focused on mobile, and making the Facebook photo experience better on mobile,” Mains said.

The free app will be available in the Apple App Store later today.

(Getty Images)

Researchers at Oxford University in England are taking on a big challenge with their latest DNA investigation: Bigfoot.

Scientists at the university’s Wolfson College have begun a study that sets out to identify the types of animals and species that hikers and mountaineers around the world have identified as Bigfoot, Yeti, and Sasquatch, according to the Associated Press.

Geneticist Bryan Sykes, who is leading the study, is asking anyone with evidence of Bigfoot or a Yeti to send in their evidence and help scientists figure out what the mythical creature actually could be. The scientists will perform DNA analysis on hair or other samples to try and identify the species of animal, according to the report.

“I’m challenging and inviting the cryptozoologists to come up with the evidence instead of complaining that science is rejecting what they have to say,” Sykes told Discovery News. He could not be reached by ABC News.

Sykes said he really doesn’t expect to find solid evidence that Bigfoot exists, but he’s keeping an open mind. He said it would be wonderful to find a species scientists didn’t previously know about — perhaps, as the project puts it, a “collateral hominid.”

Reports of Yetis began with pictures of giant footprints in the snowy Himalayas in the 1950s, and there have been sightings rumored in mountainous regions around the world.

People with evidence of Bigfoot, including hair, skin, or teeth samples, are urged to send a description of their items and photos to the researchers. Sykes and his team will then ask to sample the most promising evidence, and compile a full DNA profile for each of the samples.

“As an academic I have certain reservations about entering this field, but I think using genetic analysis is entirely objective; it can’t be falsified,” Sykes told Discovery News. “So I don’t have to put myself into the position of either believing or disbelieving these creatures.”

Image credit: Bump

Bump, an app for Android phones and the iPhone, has made it very easy for people to transfer photos or money from one phone to another. It’s now set its sights on transfers from a phone to a computer.

Today the company is announcing an update to its app that will now let users transfer photos from their phones to their computers by just tapping the phone on the space bar.

“Sharing photos has been a big use case for Bump. Over 600 million photos have been shared using Bump in the last two years, and we now wanted to enable bumping with your computer,” Bump CEO and co-founder David Lieb told ABC News.

From today on, you will be able to select the photos you want to transfer in the Bump app, go to the Bump website on your computer, and then tap the phone on the spacebar key to transfer them. In order for it to work you have to enable location sharing on your computer’s web browser.

According to Lieb, the feature works with most modern web browsers, including Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. There are some sporadic issues with Internet Explorer, he says.

So how does it all work? The new app uses the same technology in Bump’s self-titled app and in Bump Pay. A combination of the sensors in the phone and Bump’s Cloud services allow the phone and computer to communicate and then transfer the photos.

We tried out the feature and it worked just as promised. Within four seconds, four photos from an Android 4.0 phone popped up in the Bump website and we had the option to download them to the computer’s hard drive. It certainly beat emailing them or having to dig out the transfer cable.

The Bump app is available now; if you already have the app, an update enabling the phone-to-computer transfer will be available for download today.

Image credit: Google

In case you missed it, Google’s homepage has been adorned with a digital insturment since last night. The sonic Google Doodle pays tribute to Robert Moog, the inventor of the electronic synthesizer, and lets you play the synth right on the screen with your mouse or keyboard.

While most of us probably played with the fun tool for a couple of minutes and annoyed our loved ones or office mates, others were hard at work creating some real songs. Below are some of the best songs performed today on Google. If you know of more, let us know in the comments!

Rick Astley’s  ”Never Gonna Give You Up”  by Surely_You’re_Choking on Reddit 

Harry Potter’s “Hedwig’s Theme” by Jason Perlow 

MGMT’s “Kids” by @oreobaus on Twitter

“Phantom of the Opera” by origamisculptures on Tumblr

Gary Numan’s “Cars” by Jon Durbin

Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

The Obama administration said once again today that technology is high on its priority list. It said it is launching a new initiative that aims to make government services more available to consumers through mobile apps.

The President has ordered each major Federal agency — the Department of Energy, Department of Commerce, etc. —  to make key government services, ones “the American people depend on,” available as mobile apps within the next year.

“Americans deserve a government that works for them anytime, anywhere, and on any device,” President Obama said in a statement. “By making important services accessible from your phone and sharing government data with entrepreneurs, we are giving hard-working families and business tools that will help them succeed.”

The administration is also working to make large amounts of government data more accessible to developers so they can “innovate new services and mobile applications,” the administration said in a press release.

You can view the full memo sent from the President to the heads of executive departments and agencies here.