readout variant: November 2013

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Canon Pixma MG7120 review: All this gorgeous printer needs is cheaper ink

We weren't expecting to like the Pixma MG7120 as much as we did, as we're predisposed against printers with high black ink costs. But the overall experience and print quality softened our stance. At $200 (as of 10/30/2013) it's about as good as you'll get in a photo-oriented MFP, but yes, we'd prefer pay a bit less per page for ink.

Design includes front-loading cartridges

The Pixma MG7120 has a beveled-edge design distinct to certain Canon printers of the last several years, and other design improvements that were introduced last year with its cousin, the Pixma MG6320. You control the printer using an upper front touch panel: A 3.5-inch touchscreen display contains most functions, with contextually lit buttons that show up as needed. It has a very short learning curve. You lift that panel to access the ink cartridges, instead of lifting up the entire scanner bed, as with most multifunctions. You can connect via Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or USB.

Paper capacity is limited: 125 sheets of plain paper in the bottom cassette, and 20 sheets of 4-by-6-inch or 5-by-7-inch photo paper in the photo tray found directly above that. Flip over the photo tray, and you'll find the optical media tray, which inserts into a slot just above the output tray. The output tray itself is immediately above the paper trays and opens automatically when printing or copying. There's no automatic document feeder (ADF) for scanning or copying multi-page documents, which isn't unusual for a home-oriented printer, but we like it when we see it. The HP Photosmart 7520 is a like-priced competitor that has an ADF (and—ahem—cheaper ink).

Next to the ouput tray, another front panel folds out to reveal three card slots: Secure Digital, Compact Flash, and Memory Stick. You may print via any of them as well as Wireless Pictbridge.

The Pixma MG7120 comes with the usual array of remote printing features (email, Wi-Fi, though no NFC), and Canon has apps for both Android and iOS. The top-mounted scanner bed is A4/letter-sized with a lid that telescopes an inch or so to accommodate thicker materials.

Canon's My Image Garden is the main software application used for scanning, editing, printing to optical discs, and keeping track of images, But the company also provides utilities for viewing images on the desktop and launching various features of the printer (scan, copy, edit, etc.) They're especially handy if you're dedicating an office PC for printer chores, limiting the amount of time you must spend hunting through the applications for the feature you need. For occasional use, they're probably overkill.

Six-ink system produces great photos

To get the best results from the Pixma MG7120, you'll need to use good photo paper, which will always set you back a few dimes. But Canon could do better with the ink costs.The Pixma MG7120 uses a six-color system: black, pigment black, cyan, gray, magenta, and yellow. All are available in both standard and high-yield ('XL') capacities. In standard capacity, black pages cost about 5 cents, and four-color pages 16.6 cents. This is not counting the extra photo-black and photo-gray, which contribute miniscule amounts to a non-photo page. The XL-capacity cartridges are only slightly cheaper: 4.6 cents per page for black, and 12.7 cents for all four colors. If you print occasionally—tickets, web pages, and the like—then the MG7120 has decent costs. If you print lots of monochrome business documents, not so much.

The quality of the Pixma MG7120's output is where it earns its keep. Photos are superb for a $200 photo printer, and the color palette is nicely balanced, neither overly warm or cold. Text is sharp, and there was nary a defect in large areas of black, which is where you'll usually spot any problems with a print system. No striations, no banding, no muddled edges. Good stuff here.

Performance is better than average for a photo printer. Subjectively, we never felt like we were waiting an overly long time for output to arrive—especially when using draft mode, whose quality is good enough for most everyday applications (and will stretch your ink a lot further). By the numbers, the Pixma MG7120 printed text and mixed monochrome pages at an aggregate 8.6 pages per minute on the PC and 7.9 on the Mac. 4-inch by 6-inch photos printed at 2.7 per minute to plain paper and 1.7 per minute to glossy stock. A full 8.5-inch by 11-inch photo printed on the Mac took just over two minutes.

Scans were decently fast, at just under a half-minute at 600 dpi and just under a minute at 1200 dpi. Copies arrived at a sprightly 5 pages per minute.

The good outweighs the ink

The Canon Pixma MG7120 color inkjet multifunction delivers extremely nice photos, and text quality that's just this side of laser. It also automatically duplexes and has some of the easiest controls the company has produced to date. It's a printer well worth considering, even with its somewhat pricey inks.

Jon L. Jacobi Jon Jacobi, PCWorld

Jon L. Jacobi has worked with computers since you flipped switches and punched cards to program them. He studied music at Juilliard, and now he power-mods his car for kicks.
More by Jon L. Jacobi

Melissa Riofrio Senior Editor, PCWorld

The daughter of a mechanical engineer, Melissa grew up playing with machine parts and still loves getting into the nuts and bolts of how things work. She is never happier than when she is on a factory tour.
More by Melissa Riofrio

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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2053275/canon-pixma-mg7120-review-all-this-gorgeous-printer-needs-is-cheaper-ink.html#tk.rss_reviews
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Google Chromecast continues to improve piece by piece; the streaming dongle added Pandora today to i

Google Chromecast continues to improve piece by piece; the streaming dongle added Pandora today to its small but scrappy stable of apps.

Congress governs self under 'Obamacare'

FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2013, file screenshot, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' main landing web page for HealthCare.gov. Members of Congress are governing themselves under President Barack Obama’s signature law, which means they have great leeway in how to apply it to their own staffs. For lawmakers, it is about a section of the law that may _ or may not _ require them to toss some staffers off of their federal health insurance and into the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges. (AP Photo/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Think you're confused by "Obamacare"? It's roiling Capitol Hill behind the scenes, too.

Members of Congress are governing themselves under President Barack Obama's signature law, which means they have great leeway in how to apply it to their own staffs.

For House members and senators, it's about a section of the law that may — or may not — require lawmakers to toss some staffers off their federal health insurance and into the Affordable Care Act's exchanges. The verdict from congressional officers is ultimately that lawmakers, as employers, have discretion over who among their staffs gets ejected, and who stays. And they don't have to say who, how many or why.

What they all say is this:

"I followed the law," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., echoing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and others.

But the law as written is open to broad interpretation, inspiring a bureaucratic web of memos, regulations and guidance that members of Congress say allows them to proceed on the question of staffers and coverage as they see fit. Lawmakers this week were required to finalize plans for who stays on federal insurance and who's forced onto an exchange.

The Affordable Care Act, signed into law in 2010, only requires members of Congress and their "official" staff members to get health insurance through one of the law's marketplaces, or exchanges. Guidance memos from the Senate's financial clerk and the House's chief administrative officer, obtained by The Associated Press, define "official" aides as those who work in the lawmakers' personal offices. Committee and leadership aides, then, would be exempt and could stay on the federal health insurance program.

Unless lawmakers decide otherwise.

"Individual members or their designees are in the best position to determine which staff work in the official office of each member," the memos quote from an Office of Personnel Management regulation. "OPM will leave those determinations to the members. ... Nothing in this regulation limits a member's authority" on the matter.

The decisions were layered with Washington political logic that inspired many congressional leaders, Republicans and Democrats, to put all of their aides on the exchanges.

House Speaker John Boehner and all four Senate Republican leaders are among them, putting their entire staffs into the exchanges created by a law they loathe. That allows them to slam Democrats, the new health care law's chief defenders, who are keeping leadership and committee aides on the federal health insurance program.

"If these staffers aren't 'official,' then the taxpayer shouldn't pay for their salaries or office support or anything else," said Sen. David Vitter, R-La., announcing legislation to force each congressional office to disclose the designation for each aide.

Many Democrats, led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, are nullifying the hypocrisy charge by requiring all of their aides to get health insurance on an exchange.

But there are others.

Keeping the federal program for all of their staffers are House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., their spokesmen said.

And in the Senate, Democrats are split — and some are coy — about who's "official" and who's not.

"Me and my official staff are going into the D.C. exchange," Mikulski said Thursday, the deadline for deciding. She's the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, so she's got lots of staffers who aren't necessarily "official."

"The overwhelming majority of employees will be going on the exchanges," said Matt House, spokesman for Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is in the Senate Democratic leadership. He declined to elaborate.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would only say that the Nevada Democrat is "following the law."

It all started with Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley and his amendment to Obama's health care law that would have required members of Congress and staffers to get the health coverage offered through the exchanges.

During the drawn-out debate, Democrats insisted that their goal was merely to provide uninsured Americans with the same kinds of coverage and choices that members of Congress have.

Grassley, in effect, dared his Democratic counterparts to back up their rhetoric: a "no" vote on his proposal would have undercut the argument that the law's supporters in Congress only wanted regular Americans to enjoy what they, themselves, had.

Grassley said his original intent was to put everyone who works for a member of Congress on the exchanges. But different language ultimately passed into law, and Grassley's idea isn't being applied as he intended.

In August, the Office of Personnel Management tossed the question back in Congress' lap by saying lawmakers' offices should individually decide which aides get insurance from where.

On Thursday, Grassley said he took the question and the "convoluted system" to the secretary of the Senate and came up with an answer. His personal staff will exit the federal insurance program and get health insurance from an exchange. But Grassley's aides on the Senate Finance Committee will remain on the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program.

"That's the law," he said.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-11-01-US-Congress-Health-Care-Confusion/id-959eb716b61c4fac9764ac396ce502f7
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Q Factor Raises $6.5M Series A To Fix Rich Media Delivery On Mobile By Eliminating The Wait

Q Factor, a U.S. startup that’s aiming to fix media-rich content delivery on wireless devices so there’s less — or even zero — waiting around to watch that video or access a large file, has closed a $6.5 million Series A funding round from Sigma Prime Ventures and Venrock.

The Waltham, MA-based startup was founded back in early 2012 but has been keeping things stealthy up to now. Its pulling back the curtain today to announce its Series A, and detail its technology.

Investors John Simon, from Sigma, and Venrock’s Mike Tyrrell have been added to Q Factor’s board, joining seed investor Zenas Hutcheson and Q Factor founder and CEO Subhash Roy.

So what has Q Factor built? A software-only system to do wireless packet recovery — it’s calling this tech DRP (aka: dynamic packet recovery) — and claims it “dramatically” improves the delivery and viewing experience of “media-rich content” on wireless devices.

The system does this by locating lost packets (since it knows what’s being sent) and replacing them to keep the content coming. The aim, says Roy, is to “eliminate” any waiting around when you stream a video, download a file, or access a large file on a mobile device.

Here’s how Q Factor details the software on its website:

DPR™ does three critical things:

Recovers lost packets

Maintains high transmission rates

Minimizes network congestion

DPR™ finds all those missing packets dynamically with no need for retransmission, making sure that all the data necessary for any user interaction is there when it is needed and helping improve network throughput. There is no more waiting around while watching that dreaded spinning wheel when your application has been “QFactored.”

The DRP is deployed via an SDK — so Q Factor will need to attract developers with media-heavy apps to sign up. Other applications that it reckons could benefit include media players, VPNs, cloud back-up and multiplayer gaming. Its software won’t be commercially available until 2014.

“Accessing Web content over wireless is increasingly becoming the standard, but the user experience today is terribly erratic. Q Factor’s technology offers a powerful solution that provides dramatic gains in performance,” said Sigma general partner Simon, commenting on the funding round in a statement.

“Subhash and his founding team have unparalleled experience and knowledge of this market,” added Venrock’s Tyrrell in another statement. “The combination of this talent and their disruptive technology will prove to be a game-changer in delivering content over wireless.”

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/0QtJ8hH5Kps/
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In Iraq, Sunni attacks spark Shiite calls to arms

BAGHDAD (AP) — The wave of attacks by al-Qaida-led Sunni extremists that has killed thousands of Iraqis this year, most of them Shiites, is provoking ominous calls from Shiite leaders to take up arms in self-defense.

They generally insist they'll do it legally, under the banner of the security forces. But Iraq's young democracy is still struggling, nearly two years after U.S. troops withdrew, and the specter of armed Shiite and Sunni camps revives memories of the sectarian fighting that took the country to the brink of civil war in the mid-2000s.

Since April, bombings and shootings have killed more than 5,500 people. Averaging at least two a week, they target outdoor markets, cafes, bus stations, mosques and pilgrimages in Shiite areas.

Iraq's Shiite prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who will meet with President Barack Obama on Friday, says he wants American help in quelling the violence.

Departing for Washington, he appealed for quicker delivery of offensive weapons such as helicopters that Baghdad says it needs.

Since late December, Iraq's minority Sunnis have been protesting what they perceive as discrimination and tough anti-terrorism measures against them by the Shiite-led government. The Sunni attacks followed a government crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in the northern town of Hawija in which 44 civilians and one member of the security forces dead, according to U.N. estimates.

Now high-profile calls are being made for Shiites to play a role in their own defense by creating armed "popular committees," attached in some form to the regular security forces. The idea raises the specter of some of Iraq's darkest years following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein's Sunni-led regime, paving the way for long-repressed majority Shiites to seize power.

Iranian-backed Shiite death squads roamed the city from 2006-2008, killing Sunnis by the dozens and dumping their often mutilated bodies on the streets or in the river in retaliation for the devastating bombings and suicide attacks blamed on Sunni insurgents.

It was a cease-fire by militia leader and anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, along with a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq and a series of U.S.-Iraqi offensives that helped quell the bloodshed. While Iraqis continued to face near-daily attacks, they hoped the days of rampant sectarian warfare were behind them. Now a politician, Al-Sadr has urged calm among his followers and made no public statements about the calls to take up arms to protect Shiites.

Zuhair al-Araji, a Sunni lawmaker, pointed out that the insurgents are targeting not only Shiites but moderate Sunnis, and that arming Shiite groups would backfire. "We are worried that some militias will infiltrate these proposed committees and we will see grave consequences," he said.

But Jassim Mohammed al-Fartousi, whose 24-year-old son was among some 80 people killed in a suicide attack Sept. 21, reflects growing public demand for a response.

"The government and the security forces are incompetent," he said. "The popular committees will make us feel safe."

The civil war in neighboring Syria is also stoking the tensions as it takes on increasingly sectarian undertones, with many Shiites traveling to the country to support President Bashar Assad's government against mainly Sunni rebels.

Qais al-Khazali heads a feared Shiite militia, Asaib Ahl al-Haq (Band of the Righteous), an Iranian-backed group that repeatedly attacked U.S. forces in Iraq and says it is sending fighters to Syria to support government forces against Sunni-led rebels. He spent years in U.S. detention but was released after he was handed over to the Iraqi government.

Last year, the group decided to lay down its weapons and join the Iraqi political process, a move welcomed by al-Maliki. But addressing a conference of tribal leaders and clerics on Oct. 9, al-Khazali said his group needed to react to the "killings and destruction."

He said his "committees" would not participate in raids, but would cooperate with security forces in "patrolling their areas and setting up roadblocks."

Still, the security forces are supposed to be nonsectarian, and the suggestion of a Shiite militia in league with a Shiite prime minister's security forces is sure to heighten Sunni distrust.

Ali al-Moussawi, al-Maliki's spokesman, sounded lukewarm to the idea, saying the security forces "do not need armed committees; they need help with intelligence."

The law bans the formation of armed groups outside the state security forces, but the government made an exception for the Sunni militia formed by U.S. forces to fight al-Qaida.

Also calling for Shiite self-defense measures are Shiite lawmakers, one of them affiliated with Al-Maliki's parliamentary bloc, and some clerics connected to parties with militant wings.

Earlier this year, Wathiq al-Batat, a Shiite cleric who was a senior official in the Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq, formed what he calls the Mukhtar Army to protect Shiites. He claims to have more than 1 million members, a number that has not independently verified.

In an interview with the Beirut-based Iraqi satellite channel al-Sumaria last week, he said his militia was "well-intentioned" and wouldn't attack Sunnis as such, only "takfiri" groups, a term applied to Sunni radicals.

Al-Batat demanded that in order to be within the law, some of his followers should be integrated into the Defense or Interior Ministries to work with the security forces.

Despite some attacks on Sunni mosques following Sunni actions, Shiite reprisals are far less intense than they were in the tit-for-tat bloodshed of 2006-2007, when Sunnis would be snatched off the streets and killed and many families were driven from their homes.

But that may change if the "popular committees" come into being, some warn.

Hadi Jalo, a political analyst in Baghdad, said the government "could implicitly give the green light to some armed groups to help the security forces struggling to put an end to violence and to ease the pressure from the public."

Shwan Mohammed Taha, a Kurd who serves on the parliament's defense and security committee, warned such a move could prove a turning point.

"The atmosphere is already tense and such move will lead to the militarization of society and then to all-out civil war," he said.

___

Follow Sinan Salaheddin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sinansm

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-sunni-attacks-spark-shiite-calls-arms-061454228.html
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Appeals court deals blow to contraceptive mandate

WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided appeals court panel sided Friday with Ohio business owners who challenged the birth control mandate under the new federal health care law.

The business owners are two brothers, Francis and Philip M. Gilardi, who own Freshway Foods and Freshway Logistics of Sidney, Ohio., and challenged the mandate on religious grounds. They say the mandate to provide contraceptive coverage would force them to violate their Roman Catholic beliefs and moral values by providing contraceptives such as the morning-after pill for their employees. The law already exempts houses of worship from the requirement.

The ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is one of several on the birth control issue, which likely will be resolved by the Supreme Court. There are at least three other rulings by federal appeals courts on the mandate: One sided with Oklahoma businesses; and two sided with the Obama administration in challenges brought by Pennsylvania and Michigan companies.

Writing for the majority, Judge Janice Rogers Brown wrote that the mandate "trammels the right of free exercise_a right that lies at the core of our constitutional liberties_as protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act."

Brown, an appointee of President George W. Bush, said that the mandate presented the Gilardis with a "Hobson's choice: They can either abide by the sacred tenets of their faith, pay a penalty of over $14 million, and cripple the companies they have spent a lifetime building, or they become complicit in a grave moral wrong."

Friday's ruling reversed a lower court ruling that had denied the Gilardis' request for a preliminary injunction to block the Department of Health and Human Services from enforcing the mandate against them as business owners. The appeals court ruled that the lower court erred when it concluded the Gilardis were unlikely to succeed on the merits, and sent the case back to the lower court to consider other factors for an injunction.

But Brown upheld the lower court's dismissal of an injunction for the brothers' companies, writing, "we have no basis for concluding a secular organization can exercise religion."

In an opinion dissenting from the court's main holding in the case, Judge Harry T. Edwards wrote that legislative restrictions may trump religious exercise. He asked what, if the Gilardis' companies were exempted from covering contraception, would stop another company from seeking an exemption from a requirement to cover vaccines?

"The mandate does not require the Gilardis to encourage Freshway's employees to use contraceptives any more directly than they do by authorizing Freshway to pay wages," wrote Edwards, who was appointed by President Jimmy Carter. He added that the Gilardis remain free to publicly express their disapproval of contraceptives.

Coming from the other direction, Judge A. Raymond Randolph joined Brown's main conclusion about the Gilardis but dissented from her conclusions about Freshway companies' exercise of religion.

"Why limit the free-exercise right to religious organizations when many business corporations adhere to religious dogma?" asked Randolph, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush. "If non-religious organizations do not have free-exercise rights, why do non-religious natural persons (atheists, for example) possess them?"

The Gilardis' lawyer, Francis Manion, senior counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, an anti-abortion legal group that focuses on constitutional law, said he was pleased that the court accepted the "bulk" of his arguments, but will appeal the part of the ruling on the free exercise religious rights of corporations.

"It's a big victory, but not total," he said in a telephone interview.

In a statement, the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, a church-state watchdog group, said the Friday's ruling turns "the concept of religious freedom on its head.

"Religious liberty means the right to make decisions for yourself, not other people," Lynn said. "Freedom of religion should never be a blank check to meddle in the personal medical decisions of others."

The Department of Health and Human Services said it was unable to comment on pending litigation.

____

Follow Fred Frommer on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ffrommer

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/appeals-court-deals-blow-contraceptive-mandate-155100917--politics.html
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Hundreds evacuated from fire at Moscow theater

Fire fighters work at the site of a fire at the building of the School of Modern Drama theater in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2013. The fire broke out in the attic of the building and more than 350 people were evacuated. (AP Photo/Mikhail Listopadov)

MOSCOW (AP) — Hundreds of people have been evacuated from a Moscow theater after a fire broke out 20 minutes before the start of a matinee performance.

The emergency services say no one was injured in the blaze at the School of Modern Drama in central Moscow.

No cause has yet been determined for the fire, which started between the second floor and the attic Sunday. The emergency services said in a statement that 350 people were evacuated. It took firefighters two and a half hours to extinguish the blaze.

The theater occupies a building that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries housed the Hermitage restaurant, which was frequented by Russia's cultural and intellectual elite.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-11-03-Russia-Theater%20Fire/id-b16ce48e8ab84cfd87ce27c878f7e1ec
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Kerry Washington Hosting Saturday Night Live: Actress Hides Baby Bump, Mocks Lack Of Black Women In Show's Cast

Kerry Washington kept mum about her pregnancy during Saturday Night Live, but one thing was immediately addressed -- the lack of African-American women in the SNL cast. During the Scandal star's cold opening, Washington played several famous black women alongside President Barack Obama (Jay Pharaoh).

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In the skit, the 36-year-old actress played Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey. When asked to exit the Oval Office to return as Beyonce by secret service (Taran Killam), a voiceover came on to make an announcement, along with text on the TV screen.

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"The producers at Saturday Night Live would like to apologize to Kerry Washington for the number of black women she will be asked to play," the statement read. "We make these requests because Ms. Washington is an actress of considerable range and talent – and also because SNL does not currently have a black woman on the cast. Mostly the latter."

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It continued: "We agree this is not an ideal situation and look forward to rectifying it in the near future, unless, of course, we fall in love with another white guy first." As the sketch ended Rev. Al Sharpton then appeared with a message: "What have we learned from this sketch? As usual, nothing."

Lorne Michaels and SNL's producers have been defending the series recently as critics have come forward criticizing the lack of diversity in the show, specifically not having a black woman in the cast. "It's not like it's not a priority for us," Michaels told the Associated Press earlier this week. "It will happen. I'm sure it will happen."

PHOTOS: Secret celebrity weddings

Kerry Washington performing her monologue on Saturday Night Live
Credit: Courtesy of SNL

During her monologue, Washington also poked fun of her alter ego, political "fixer" Olivia Pope and her ABC series Scandal by SNL regulars approaching her with their problems. During the bit, she also donned a loose-fitted black dress that strategically covered up her baby bump.

Us Weekly exclusively broke news late last month that the actress is expecting her first child with husband Nnamdi Asomugha. Since then, the stunning star has also concealed her pregnant belly during an Oct. 31 appearance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon by wearing a roomy blouse.

"She's about four months along," an insider told Us. Washington and the San Francisco 49ers cornerback began dating in the summer of 2012 and secretly tied the knot on June 24 in Hailey, Idaho.

Source: http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/kerry-washington-hosting-saturday-night-live-actress-hides-baby-bump-mocks-lack-of-black-women-in-shows-cast----2013311
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Obama heads to Virginia to campaign for McAuliffe

HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) — President Barack Obama is lending his political heft to Terry McAuliffe's campaign for Virginia governor while Republican Ken Cuccinelli is flying from airport to airport in search of votes.

McAuliffe and Cuccinelli planned the final Sunday of their bitter campaign trying to motivate their most ardent supporters for an election that is going to be decided by the few Virginians who choose to vote on Tuesday. The state Board of Elections chief says turnout could be as low as 30 percent of registered voters, and the campaigns see 40 percent turnout as the ceiling.

Obama's final-hours effort is slated to take place near Washington.

Cuccinelli, meanwhile, planned rallies at airports throughout the state, hopscotching from airfield to airfield to rally his supporters.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-heads-virginia-campaign-mcauliffe-104026197--election.html
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Smartwatches abound. But who really wants one?

NEW YORK (AP) — Computerized wristwatches that display message alerts and weather updates are abound this holiday season: Consumer electronics companies are trying to persuade you to add these smartwatches to your shopping lists.

Samsung and Sony have devices out, and Qualcomm has one coming before the holidays. Apple is believed to be making one, and a new report says Google is developing one, too.

Why the big push for smartwatches? It's not coming from consumers, says Jonathan Gaw, a research manager at IDC. Rather, it's a product in search of a market — and an expensive one at that.

"We've had smartwatches for a while, and while the capabilities and technology have gotten better, this is still not something that people are clamoring for," Gaw says. "The idea that it would ramp up for the holidays was always kind of a stretch."

That hasn't stopped gadget makers from trying. Companies are under pressure to create a new source of buzz now that consumers are no longer wowed by the latest smartphones and tablet computers. Many people already have those devices, and the new ones out this year are evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

Gaw says many gadget makers see an opportunity to jump in with a smartwatch, before a behemoth like Apple is able get its rumored iWatch ready.

Last month, Samsung Electronics Co. started selling the $300 Galaxy Gear in the U.S. It works with selected Samsung smartphones to display email and text alerts. There's a camera on the strap for low-resolution photos and a speakerphone on the watch to make calls while leaving your phone in the pocket. You can install apps for additional functionality, such as tracking fitness activities and playing games, though there are only a handful of apps available for now.

Sony Corp.'s SmartWatch 2 is cheaper, at $200. Unlike the Gear, it works with a variety of Android phones, not just Sony's. But it doesn't let you make phone calls directly through the wristwatch. You can answer calls using the watch, but you need a Bluetooth wireless headset linked to the phone if you don't want to hold it to your ear.

Qualcomm Inc., meanwhile, plans to start selling Toq before the holidays. It, too, will work with several Android devices.

Another smartwatch getting attention is the Pebble, which comes from a startup that raised more than $10 million through the fundraising site Kickstarter. It notifies you of incoming calls, texts and emails.

Apple isn't likely to release its iWatch before next year, given that no mention was made of it at the company's product showcase last week.

As for Google, The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed people familiar with the matter on Tuesday in reporting that the Internet search company is in late-stage development on a smartwatch which could be ready for mass production within months.

Samsung and Sony executives say they've designed their watches to give people ready access to information they would normally check on their phones, reducing the need to constantly pull out the phones.

Only Qualcomm seems to be acknowledging that there's no real consumer demand for smartwatches yet. The company says it's trying to showcase what's possible, so other manufacturers will take the concept and build better products — using Qualcomm's display technology and other components.

In a September briefing with The Associated Press, Samsung executives said the company has a history of taking risks. Samsung notes that people were skeptical about its Note phones with big screens, too, but now several other manufacturers are making Android phones with bigger screens.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-10-30-US-TEC-Smartwatch-Season/id-761cef6bb4e246738a48e48d2e690643
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Ashton Kutcher Joins Lenovo, Keeps Day Job

Hollywood star and serious technophile Ashton Kutcher is proudly flashing his Lenovo employee ID these days as the company' newest product engineer. Kutcher will work closely with Yoga Tablet developers on the geeky stuff, but he'll also do his thing in front of the camera. "I think Lenovo working with Ashton Kutcher could be a home run both on style and on substance," said analyst Jeff Kagan.

Lenovo's newest product engineer got a higher-profile introduction to the world than many of the company's other employees. Perhaps that's because he's also famed actor and investor Ashton Kutcher.

Lenovo announced its multiyear partnership with the Two and a Half Men star at the launch event for the company's latest tablet. Kutcher will work with engineers on the Yoga Tablet product line, Lenovo said, by offering input and making decisions on the design, specifications and software.

Lenovo's Yoga Tablet

Emotional Connection

"I think Lenovo working with Ashton Kutcher could be a home run both on style and on substance," telecommunications analyst Jeff Kagan told TechNewsWorld. "Lenovo may be the leading computer maker today, but they have really lost much in the way of their connection to the customer. Ashton Kutcher could help them reach the customer much more effectively and emotionally."

The potential for increased customer engagement is certainly part of Kutcher's appeal for Lenovo.

"He's got a huge following and a targeted audience of 18-to-24-year-olds that we're keen to go after," spokesperson Brion Tingler told TechNewsWorld. "It's a dual partnership, on the marketing side as well as on the product engineer side. He is a seasoned tech investor and has got a lot of interesting insights to bring to the process."

Serial Investor

Kutcher is well known in technology circles. The 35-year-old has invested in companies including Airbnb, Spotify, and Foursquare, among others, through his venture capital firm A-Grade Investments, as well as news summarization app Summly. He also starred as technology visionary and Apple cofounder Steve Jobs in the biopic Jobs, which was released earlier this year.

The star has a technical background, having studied biochemical engineering in college. However, it's not yet clear how those skills might transfer to the development process of a technology product.

Celebrity Tech Partnerships

Kutcher is far from the only celebrity to have a direct involvement with technology firms. Singer Alicia Keys was named creative director for BlackBerry earlier this year. Jennifer Lopez, meanwhile, is chief creative officer and majority shareholder of Viva Movil, a wireless retail firm targeting the Latino market. The company is a Verizon Wireless premium retailer. Lady Gaga, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am have all made technology investments.

That said, Kutcher's partnership with Lenovo appears to run deeper than other technology-celebrity pairings given his participation in the product development decision-making process.

Lenovo announced Kutcher's involvement with the company at the same time it unveiled the new Yoga Tablet. One of Kutcher's first public tasks as part of Lenovo was to promote the tablet -- and flash his company ID card -- in a commercial.

Yoga Tablet Specs

The tablet has two key features that seem to differentiate it from competitors' devices. First, there are three ways (or modes) to position the device: Users can hold it, use the stand to sit it upright, or tilt the tablet on a surface. Second, the Yoga has up to 18 hours of battery life, Lenovo claimed.

The handle holds dual batteries, using power options more commonly found in laptops than tablets, Lenovo said, and the Yoga can charge other devices through its USB on-the-go connectivity. It runs Android 4.2, using quad-core processors. There are both 8-inch (weighing 0.88 lbs.) and 10-inch (1.35 lbs.) models, with 3G options and 16-GB or 32-GB capacity, plus Micro SD expansion. The tablet includes 1,280 x 800 displays, a 5-MP rear camera and front camera, and an optional Bluetooth keyboard for the 10-inch model that doubles as a cover.

Lenovo priced the tablets at US$249 and $299 for the 8-inch and 10-inch models respectively, while the Bluetooth keyboard is $69. The tablets are available now.

Battery Life Is Key

It is the battery life that might help the tablet stand out from competitors like the iPad, which has a 10-hour battery life.

"Battery life is one of the key measurements in customer satisfaction. Lenovo continues to lead -- today, anyway," said Kagan.

"Anything that helps differentiate a product is very important for market share," Vinita Jakhanwal, director of mobile, emerging displays and technology at IHS Electronics and Media, told TechNewsWorld. "Extended battery life is definitely a plus for any mobile device."

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/79308.html
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The house where Steve Jobs built Apple is now a historic landmark

It doesn't seem like Patricia Jobs, sister of famed Apple co-founder Steve, is exactly onboard with her family home being designated a "historic resource" by the Los Altos Historical Commission. Not that it matters, anyway. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the decision to preserve the ...

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Hg3wgC-o88Y/
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Google Glass redesign gets pictured, plays nice with a mono earbud

Just yesterday, Google revealed that Glass Explorers will soon be able to to swap out their current hardware for a new version, which will work with future shades and prescription frames. Although Page and Co. didn't divulge just what the next iteration of its wearable will look like, it's only ...

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/3EvHFO6QWfA/
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MongoDB support firm says intruders may have accessed databases

MongoHQ, which provides hosting and support for the open-source Mongo database, said attackers may have accessed several of its customers’ databases earlier this week.

On Monday, someone accessed an internal support application using a password that had been used for a compromised personal account, wrote Jason McCay, MongoHQ’s founder.

The support application contains connection information for customer MongoDB instances, along with lists of databases, email addresses, and user credentials hashed with bcrypt, a file encryption tool, McCay wrote. An audit showed that several databases may have been accessed via that support application.

“We believe we have exhausted the scope of this compromise and are directly contacting all affected customers,” McCay wrote. “We are continuing to evaluate our audit logs and conducting further investigations with the help of third-party experts.”

The company invalidated credentials such as IAM (Identity and Access Management) keys it stored for customers using Amazon Web Services (AWS) for backups. MongoHQ has notified AWS of the accounts that may have been affected, and AWS is offering Premium Support for organizations that need new credentials, McCay wrote.

MongoHQ, which has offices in California and Alabama, provides services to let developers create and manage NoSQL Mongo databases for their applications.

Since the breach, MongoHQ said it has reset the login credentials for its employee accounts, including email, network devices and internal applications. Employee-facing support applications have been disabled until two-factor authentication is enabled, VPN connections to those applications are enforced, and employee access permissions are reviewed, McCay wrote.

In the meantime, McCay said MongoHQ is modifying its system to encrypt and decrypt data at the application level, which will mitigate possible damage from the same type of intrusion. It has also hired a security consulting firm to do a penetration test of its application stack, McCay wrote.

“Based on their recommendations, we will be hardening our applications to provide more layers of security,” he wrote.

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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2059280/mongodb-support-firm-says-intruders-may-have-accessed-databases.html#tk.rss_all
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Combustion: Mumbai Review

The Bottom Line

Rebels without any claws.

Venue

Mumbai Film Festival (Celebration of Spanish Cinema)

Cast

Alex Gonzalez, Adriana Ugarte, Alberto Ammann, Maria Castro, Christian Mulas

Director

Daniel Calparsoro

Screenwriters

Carlos Montero, Jaime Vaca, Daniel Calparsoro

Nostalgists will remember Daniel Calparsoro as the director of abrasive, tough little social commentary movies with loads of soul, but that’s all over now. An efficient, strikingly superficial thriller that does what it does and isn’t interested in doing anything more, Combustion is pure, unashamed product. Welding together automobiles, muscles, mini-skirts and music into a slick flick about people being nasty to each other, the film delivers its ingredients as a slightly low-rent Spanish derivation of Fast and Furious 6, which underplayed at home but has generated brisk sales offshore. Job done.

Brutish, sneering Navas (Alberto Ammann, best-known outside Spain for playing the innocent jailbird in Cell 211) drives a black car, which he races illegally. To raise more cash he also breaks into the houses of the wealthy by using Navas' girlfriend Ari (Adriana Ugarte) as bait for the male owners.

The plan for their big final hit is to rob the store of jewelry heiress Julia (Maria Castro), engaged to former racing driver Mikel (Alex Gonzalez, driving a white Porsche a la James Dean), forced into retirement and trying to settle down into a more conservative lifestyle. But things go awry when Ari starts to fall for Mikel. When he takes her out in his private plane, she starts to realize that she could have lots of money without having to rob any more, though this is not said: the question of whether it’s Mikel or his cash that she’s falling for is left interestingly ambiguous.

Sometimes the characters desire sex, sometimes money and sometimes car thrills, but their desires never escape this triangle, which leaves them all looking like cardboard, albeit quite nice-looking cardboard. Mikel’s troubled past makes him vulnerable and therefore attractive to Ari, but there is always the nagging doubt that it’s his plane rather than Mikel himself that’s really doing it for her.

Ari dominates the first half of the story but is quickly dropped when Mikel and Navas begin to bond over their vehicles, sitting side by side appreciating the Porsche’s purring engine and doing a testosterone-raising chickie run. Unable to compete with the cars for the boys’ attention, Ari meekly retires to the status of ornament. Meanwhile, the despicable way that the boys treat the hapless heiress Julia (oddly, the film both fetishizes and criticizes wealth) removes any lingering sympathy that the audience may have felt for her, so the film’s finale represents a victory not so much for good over evil as a victory of the bad over the very bad.

Dialogue is entirely predictable and borrowed. Daniel Aranyo’s busy photography dutifully goes to the ground whenever cars or Ari’s long legs are in his viewfinder, then swoops high over the races and chases, while endless cityscapes aim at redrawing Madrid as a place where such things might actually happen. Carlos Jean’s score is practically omnipresent, occasionally surging into uplifting pop songs with lyrics that fuse the banal and the incomprehensible into an entirely new language.

Production companies: Antena 3 Films, Canal+, La Sexta, Zeta Audiovisual
Cast: Alex Gonzalez, Adriana Ugarte, Alberto Ammann, Maria Castro, Christian Mulas
Director: Daniel Calparsoro
Screenwriters: Carlos Montero, Jaime Vaca, Calparsoro
Producers: Francisco Ramos, Mercedes Gamero
Director of photography: Daniel Aranyo
Production designer: Anton Laguna
Music: Carlos Jean
Costume designer: Loles Garcia
Editor: David Pinillos, Antonio Frutos
Sound: Sergio Burmann, James Munoz, Nicolas de Poulpiquet
Sales: Film Factory Entertainment

No rating, 104 minutes

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/reviews/film/~3/famz_9tKxmM/combustion-mumbai-review-651543
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Kentucky is No. 1 in preseason poll

Kentucky head coach John Calipari watches his team during their Blue-White NCAA college basketball scrimmage, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013, in Lexington, Ky. The Blue team won 99-71. (AP Photo/James Crisp)

Kentucky men's coach John Calipari speaks to the audience waiting for the start of the NCAA college basketball team's Big Blue Madness, Friday, Oct. 18, 2013, in Lexington, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Kentucky head coach John Calipari watches his team during their Blue-White NCAA college basketball scrimmage, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013, in Lexington, Ky. The Blue team won 99-71. (AP Photo/James Crisp)

Michigan State head basketball coach Tom Izzo responds to a question during the Big Ten Conference NCAA college basketball media day Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, in Rosemont, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo listens to a question during the Big Ten Conference NCAA college basketball media day Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, in Rosemont, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Every time Kentucky coach John Calipari starts to praise his latest crop of talented freshmen, he's just as quick to point out that it is a work in progress.

As the Wildcats take the first step toward coming together, Calipari will also have to remind his players to get through those growing pains quickly, because they are now the team to beat in college basketball.

Kentucky — with a collection of high school All-Americans — is ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press' preseason Top 25, a significant step considering the Wildcats finished 21-12 last season and were upset by Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT.

It's Kentucky's third preseason No. 1 and first since 1995-96 when the Wildcats won the national championship. The other preseason No. 1 was in 1980-81.

Kentucky was ranked for just one week in the final 16 polls of last season but Calipari enters this season with a roster featuring two returnees — Alex Poythress and Willie Cauley-Stein — and six freshmen who were selected McDonalds All-Americans last season.

To say that a ninth national championship is this year's goal is an understatement considering Kentucky has social media and blogs suggesting an unbeaten season is possible.

Calipari would just like to get to the Nov. 8 opener against North Carolina-Asheville first. The Wildcats begin the exhibition season Friday.

"It's a nice honor, but it's way too early to figure out who's the best team in the country," Calipari said. "We may be very talented, but I can't imagine us being the best team in the country at this point."

Kentucky beat out Michigan State in a close vote from the 65-member panel.

The Wildcats received 27 first-place votes and 1,546 points in the poll released Thursday. The Spartans, who return four starters from the team that lost to Duke in the NCAA tournament's round of 16, snared 22 first-place votes and 1,543 points.

It won't take long for the schools to settle the issue. Kentucky and Michigan State meet on Nov. 12 at the State Farm Champions Classic in Chicago.

If their rankings hold, it'll set up the earliest meeting between the top two teams. No. 1 Indiana beat No. 2 UCLA 84-64 on Nov. 29, 1975 in St. Louis, Mo.

The polling also enhances what already figured to be a strong showdown between two heavyweights.

"A 1-2 matchup is a win-win deal," Spartans coach Tom Izzo told the AP. "If you win, you understand where you are and what you have as a team. If you lose, you've got time to figure out what you need to do to get better. I'm not sure, though, how kids and fans will react to winning or losing that game."

Of his team's ranking, Izzo added, "it's exciting because it means a group of people think we're good, and we've got a chance to be great."

Defending national champion Louisville received 14 first-place votes and was third while Duke, which received the other two No. 1 votes, was fourth.

Kansas was fifth, followed by Arizona and Michigan. Oklahoma State and Syracuse tied for eighth and Florida rounded out the Top Ten.

Ohio State was 11th and was followed by North Carolina, Memphis, VCU, Gonzaga, Wichita State, Marquette, Connecticut, Oregon and Wisconsin.

The last five ranked teams were Notre Dame, UCLA, New Mexico, Virginia and Baylor.

The last preseason No. 1 not to be ranked in the final poll of the previous season was Indiana in 1979-80.

Indiana was the preseason No. 1 last season and the Hoosiers were fourth in the final poll.

Gonzaga was No. 1 in the final poll last season and 18 teams in that final poll were in the preseason Top 25.

The Atlantic Coast Conference had the most teams in the preseason Top 25 with five and the Big Ten had four. The new American Athletic Conference, the Big 12 and Pac 12 all had three ranked teams.

Though Kentucky's objective is winning its second NCAA title in three seasons, playing like it's the nation's best is also a priority for the Wildcats a year after falling from the poll weeks after starting No. 3.

"It's a blessing to be No. 1, but it means we have a (target) on our backs now and we really have to stay focused," Kentucky 7-footer Dakari Johnson said Thursday. "That's not the main thing we're focused on. We're just trying to be the best team that we can be."

Michigan State senior guard Keith Appling echoed that sentiment, especially since the Spartans came within three votes of being top-ranked.

"That has to be one of the things to drive us to work harder," he said.

The consensus is that Calipari landed his best in a series of No. 1 recruiting classes. The group features Julius Randle, James Young, Johnson, Marcus Lee and identical twin guards Aaron and Andrew Harrison, along with in-state standouts Dominique Hawkins and Derek Willis.

Along with Cauley-Stein, Poythress and senior reserves Jarrod Polson and Jon Hood, Kentucky has a mix of experience somewhat similar to the 2011-12 title team led by Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

The season will determine whether Kentucky is able to deliver, and Willis said the Wildcats are just focused on being on top at the end.

"There's a lot of talk about 40-0 and all that stuff," Willis said, "but we're just working on ourselves and not worrying about what the media is saying right now."

AP Basketball Writer Jim O'Connell In New York, and AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in East Lansing, Mich., contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-10-31-T25-College%20Bkb%20Poll/id-d20d17cf48604c358353053ea01dc86a
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Kerry in Egypt on first visit since Morsi ouster

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry prepares to board his aircraft at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, Nov. 2, 2013. Kerry is in Cairo pressing for reforms during the highest-level American visit to Egypt since the ouster of the country’s first democratically elected president. The Egyptian military’s removal of Mohammed Morsi in July led the U.S. to suspend hundreds of millions of dollars in aid. It seems the State Department expected a frosty reception for Kerry ahead of Monday’s scheduled start of Morsi’s trial on charges of inciting murder. (AP Photo/Jason Reed,Pool)

CAIRO (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry says that U.S.-Egypt relations should not be defined by assistance.

At a joint news conference following a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy, Kerry said that the suspension of aid to Egypt is not a punishment. He was referring to the legal requirements for withholding more than $1 billion in assistance after the Egyptian military in July toppled the democratically elected government.

Kerry said the topic was mentioned only briefly in his meeting with Fahmy and that he believed Egyptian authorities understood that rationale.

Kerry made an unannounced trip to Egypt Sunday on the first leg of a nine-day trip to the Mideast and Europe. This is Kerry's first trip to Egypt since the military's action.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-11-03-United%20States-Egypt-Kerry/id-b82776f9c7404fac89f69440ed262974
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NSA reportedly tapped into Google, Yahoo data centers worldwide without telling either company

It's a top secret plan with a fittingly supervillain-esque codename: MUSCULAR. That tool, part of a partnership between the NSA and the UK's GCHQ, has been used to infiltrate Google and Yahoo data centers across the world, according to documents revealed by Edward Snowden and confirmed by sources at ...

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/kiUi46ng1n8/
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Google: Samsung Galaxy Nexus won't get updated to Android 4.4 KitKat

From the horse's mouth, we're hearing some unfortunate news: Google has taken to its Spanish support pages to announce that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is not on the list of devices to receive Android 4.4 KitKat. This seems a bit odd, given the new update's focus on "the next billion" and offering solid performance to other budget devices, but at the moment things aren't looking up for owners of the phone -- or any older Nexus devices, for that matter. We've reached out to Google for clarification on this and will update you if and when we hear back.

Google Samsung Galaxy Nexus won't get updated to Android 44 KitKat

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/31/google-galaxy-nexus-kitkat/?ncid=rss_truncated
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Oprah Winfrey's Out-of-This World Yardsale

Selling hundreds of personal possessions she has accumulated over the past 30 years, the legendary Oprah Winfrey set up an epic yardsale, taking up three tents on the polo grounds in Santa Barbara, CA. She got rid of treasures and trinkets from her homes in Hawaii, Indiana and California at a giant sale Saturday (November 2).

"I've been accumulating things since 1985," the 59-year-old told Entertainment Tonight. "It's just too much stuff. I talk about it a lot in [O] the magazine. We talk about decluttering. And I realized, I need to declutter my own life. It is very freeing. I am downsizing."

There has also been a great deal of speculation about the former talk show host's doll collection. She commented on it, saying, "People come to stay with me, and they say they get scared with all the dolls. You wake up, and there's like 12 dolls staring at you."

It's never easy to be rid of items that you have always had, and this Oprah knows. "I'm trying not to be attached to things," she said. "I'm trying to live the life that I talk about, like not letting things define you. But it's hard."

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/oprah-winfrey/oprah-winfreys-out-world-yardsale-954262
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Tobacco Firm Burned for Running Ad in Kids' App

Today in international tech news: A UK-based tobacco company apologizes after one of its ads ends up in a children's iPad app. Also: Google's competitors don't seem all that impressed with its most recent round of European antitrust remedies; a Brit is arrested for hacking into U.S. government computers; Obama's Twitter account gets hacked; and Apple had a good (relatively speaking) quarter in China.

British American Tobacco issued an apology after an ad for its e-cigarette brand, Vype, popped up in an iPad app for children.

The Vype banner appeared inside the "My Dog My Style HD" game and was spotted by author and educator Graham Brown-Martin, who took to Twitter with a screenshot of the kiddy cig advertisement.

British American Tobacco, based in the UK, pulled its online advertising for Vype and issued an apology: "It's unacceptable and we're taking the issue seriously," it said.

The snafu was likely caused not by British American Tobacco targeting kids, but rather by a mixup (or downright negligence) with an advertising network tasked with placing the company's ads.

[Source: The Guardian]

Google Competitors Unswayed by Company's EU Concessions

A group of Google's competitors say that the company's most recent attempt to appease European Union antitrust complaints is insufficient.

The EU's antitrust investigation into Google has spanned three years. The saga has included:

Android being added to Europe's list of grievances;

Google's competitors pleading with the European Commission to hurry up;

Europe's competitors rejecting Google's first go-around at concessions earlier this year.

Google has reportedly offered to let competitors display their logos on Google result pages as part of its new strategy. However, FairSearch, a group of companies led by Microsoft, has said that such concessions are too similar to the ones that have already been rejected.

Google currently controls more than 90 percent of the search market in Europe -- it's about 70 percent in the U.S. -- which is probably part of the reason other companies are so prickly about this.

Joaquín Almunia, the European Union's Competition Commissioner, said he wants a final settlement reached by the spring. Then again, the EU gave Google a January 2013 deadline last year, and look what good that's done.

[Sources: The Associated Press; The New York Times]

Brit Arrested on US Hacking Suspicions

A British man was arrested for hacking into U.S. military and government computer systems, including NASA, the EPA and more.

U.S. authorities say the man, 28, placed so-called "back doors" in hacked networks, thereby enabling him to thieve data.

The FBI reportedly teamed with the UK's National Crime Agency to execute the arrest. Three more people are believed to be involved.

[Source: BBC]

Obama's Twitter Account Hacked

The pro-Assad Syrian Electronic Army hacker group claims to have wormed its way into President Obama's official Twitter and Facebook accounts.

That claim jells with what happened to Obama's Twitter account, which on Monday linked to a YouTube video from the Electronic Army. Obama's reelection site, donate.barackobama.com, was also infiltrated, as users were redirected to the Syrian Electronic Army site.

The Syrian Electronic Army has also taken credit for hacks carried out against CNN, Time and other media outlets.

[Source: The Hacker News via The Register]

Apple's China Numbers Rebound

After a slow summer, Apple sales in China have rebounded somewhat, spiking 24 percent over the past three months from the previous quarter (but just 6 percent from a year earlier).

Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Apple has generated almost US$27 billion in revenue from China in the 2013 fiscal year, a 14 percent increase from the year before.

Earlier this year, Apple had to contend with state-run media reports decrying the company's products and service in China, but an apology to Chinese consumers may have helped smooth things over.

[Source: Tech in Asia]

David Vranicar is a freelance journalist and author of The Lost Graduation: Stepping off campus and into a crisis. You can check out his ECT News archive here, and you can email him at david[dot]vranicar[at]newsroom[dot]ectnews[dot]com.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/79300.html
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