Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Google now accepting 'Google Play for Education' app submissions

Google Play for Education

Third-party group of educators to review each educational app submitted

Google announced on its Android Developers Blog that it is now accepting submissions for its Google Play for Education platform, which will bring education- and age-appropriate apps to schools. The system, which was announced last month, is a subset of the main Play Store that allows bulk purchasing and content curation of apps, books and movies for K-12 schools. Developers who have an age-appropriate app can now mark it for inclusion, where it will then be reviewed by a third-party group of educators.

This third-party will go through each app and determine its subject, grade level and whether or not it meets a set of development guidelines that have been set for the education system. The guidelines (found at the second source link below) indicate that apps, among other things, must not collect personally identifiable information or use student data for any noneducational purposes. Google also has strict guidelines for in-app purchases and advertisements, and encourages developers to submit apps that are either paid or free without ads.

The approval process is expected to take 3-4 weeks for any given app, and Google says that it is currently piloting the Google Play for Education program in schools across the country.

Source: Android Developers Blog; Developer Guidelines

    


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/U3xw5ul-TUY/story01.htm

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Rise in high-end treatment for low-risk prostate cancer

By Genevra Pittman

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The proportion of U.S. men with early, slow-growing prostate cancer who received robotic surgery and other expensive treatments increased between 2004 and 2009, according to a new study.

Researchers found that use of those therapies also rose among men who were unlikely to die from prostate cancer because they were sick with other chronic diseases when their cancer was diagnosed.

"You can't get at what the right rate (of treatment use) is from our study, but what we did find was treatment with these advanced technologies increased over the past decade, and was fairly common," said Dr. Brent Hollenbeck, who worked on the study at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Evidence has been building that a wait-and-see approach might be most effective for men with low-risk prostate cancer that may or may not progress, rather than scheduling surgery or radiation right away (see Reuters Health story of June 17, 2013 here: http://reut.rs/12EX8fl).

But both doctors and patients have been hesitant to adopt that strategy, also known as watchful waiting or active surveillance, researchers said.

"There's no incentive for (doctors) to do it, because there's no real payment, and it's very complicated. It's not easy to do active surveillance," said Grace Lu-Yao, who studies prostate cancer treatment at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

What's more, she told Reuters Health, "Some patients may just feel they'll go with the most advanced technology and get rid of the cancer, so they'll feel more secure in a way."

Hollenbeck and his colleagues analyzed data on about 56,000 older men diagnosed with prostate cancer and covered by Medicare, the government's health insurance program for the elderly and disabled.

They found that among men with low-risk cancers, use of high-end treatment - including robotic surgery and high-precision radiation, known as intensity-modulated radiation therapy - increased from 32 percent in 2004 to 44 percent in 2009.

Likewise, the technologies' use among men with other serious health problems increased from 36 percent to 57 percent, Hollenbeck and his colleagues reported on Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Those high-end treatments largely replaced the use of older therapies, which became less common, the researchers found. Close to half of men diagnosed with low-risk cancer across the study period took a wait-and-see approach.

According to Healthcare Blue Book, prostate removal costs about $13,000 - and robotic surgery usually adds to the price tag.

Treatment also comes with a risk of side effects including impotence and incontinence.

"In someone who stands to benefit less, when there's no clear advantage to treatment in terms of preventing death from prostate cancer, the cumulative side effects of the procedure may outweigh the aggregate benefit," Hollenbeck told Reuters Health.

However, one of the challenges of taking a more conservative approach, according to Lu-Yao, is that there are no standards for how often to check men to make sure their cancer hasn't grown, or on when to intervene.

And it's not always clear which patients are the best candidates for watchful waiting or active surveillance, she said.

"We understand we are doing a lot of overtreatment, but we don't really know which patients are being overtreated," said Lu-Yao, who wasn't involved in the new research.

It can also be hard to tell which men have a limited life expectancy because of other diseases, and which ones can expect to live long enough to possibly benefit from treatment, Hollenbeck added.

"Patients that are older and have low-risk disease or have a lot of other health problems should really have a frank discussion with their physician about the perceived benefits of treating their cancer," he said.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/JjFzqx Journal of the American Medical Association, online June 25, 2013.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rise-high-end-treatment-low-risk-prostate-cancer-200702495.html

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Sony Xperia Z Ultra: hands-on with a 6.4-inch Android phone (update: video)

Sony Xperia Z Ultra handson with a 64inch Android phone update video

Sony's been explaining the design story behind its new Xperia range at a UK briefing, how it's trying to balance both the dematerialization of tech (touchscreens, gesture interfaces) and a design that's both desirable and beautiful -- and Sony's certainly got the latter down on its new smartphone. The Xperia Z Ultra follows the lines of the rest of the Z-series. It has the same "OmniBalance" plane, uniform screen surface, but this time it measures in at 6.4 inches across, but still running at 1080p resolution. Yep, it does feel substantially bigger than the original Xperia Z -- check out our comparison gallery, the new Ultra model dwarfs it. You're looking at a screen width almost identical to a passport and that 6.5mm profile helped fit it into pockets. We managed to cram it into our trouser pockets without an issue. It's certainly a bigger device than the likes of LG's Optimus G Pro or Samsung's Galaxy Note II and you're going to have to test it out for yourself to see if you'd be willing to talk into this Xperia like phone -- it's going to catch the eye.

There's also Qualcomm's notable Snapdragon 800 powering the device on a relatively large 3,000mAh battery, while Sony's simplified the design dropping a few of those much-maligned protective flaps, at least on the headphone socket. There's more impressions and a hands-on video after the break!

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/4dQE8wJ3zdY/

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Monday, June 24, 2013

Britain's Osborne reaches deal on spending cuts

By Peter Griffiths

LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor George Osborne completed talks on Sunday with government departments aimed at securing spending cuts worth 11.5 billion pounds in 2015-16 to help reduce the country's budget deficit, the Treasury said.

The finance ministry said it had reached agreement with all departments, three days before Osborne is due to publish details of their spending limits on June 26.

The talks to find spending cuts starting in 2015 - when voters go to the polls - posed a political headache for Osborne, particularly over the sensitive defence budget and a business department under pressure to do more to revive the economy.

Osborne, who announced the end of the talks on Twitter, will now seek to persuade voters that he has a credible plan to build on recent signs that the economy is gaining strength after two years of stagnation.

He is expected to give more details on Wednesday of billions of pounds of infrastructure spending designed to bolster the recovery.

"We have completed the spending round savings early and without all the arguments you normally get," a Treasury spokesman said. "This shows our determination to take the tough decisions needed to deliver our economic plan and to turn Britain around."

Osborne said earlier that the budget deficit was still too high and he was committed to trying to reduce borrowing and cutting the deficit.

"We are out of intensive care and our job now is to secure the recovery," Osborne told BBC television. "There certainly is a chance of a relapse if we abandon our economic plan."

Britain's Conservative-led coalition government is sticking with its central economic policy of reducing a deficit that peaked at more than 11 percent of gross domestic product before it came to power in May 2010.

Despite tax rises and spending cuts, public borrowing has remained stubbornly high over the past year, and data on Friday showed public net debt climbed to record levels in May.

DEFENCE DEAL

A deal was reached with the defence department on Saturday, Osborne said, ending what analysts saw as one of the most difficult sets of negotiations.

General Peter Wall, the head of the army, said last week that more cuts would seriously damage the country's chances of success in future wars.

Osborne said the defence deal would see cuts to civilian staff numbers, while protecting Britain's military capability.

Agreement was only reached on Sunday with the business department, run by Vince Cable, a senior member of the Lib Dems, the government's junior coalition partner.

Labour, which leads the Conservatives by around 10 points in the polls with the next election due to be held in 2015, accuses the coalition of choking the recovery with its austerity drive.

Labour finance spokesman Ed Balls said he would adopt Osborne's day-to-day spending limits for 2015-16 if his party wins the election. However, he wanted the coalition to spend 10 billion pounds more on capital projects.

Balls said he would be prepared to borrow more to finance extra capital expenditure, an admission junior Conservative finance minister Sajid Javid held up as evidence that Labour couldn't be trusted to balance the books.

"If George Osborne had done that last year or the year before, we wouldn't have had such a flatlining economy," Balls said.

(Additional reporting by William Schomberg; Editing by Greg Mahlich and Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-austerity-still-needed-avoid-economic-relapse-osborne-123048318.html

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At least 13 dead in bus crash in Montenegro

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) ? At least 13 people were killed and 32 were injured when a bus carrying Romanian tourists swayed off a bridge and plunged into a deep ravine in central Montenegro on Sunday, police said.

Montenegro Interior Minister Rasko Konjevic said the bus with 46 people on board crashed some 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of the capital, Podgorica. He said the bus was traveling from Romania to Montenegro's Adriatic coast.

Police said the bus plunged from a bridge over the Moraca river during a rain storm and crashed some 40 meters (130 feet) into the ravine. A helicopter was used in the rescue operation mounted by Montenegro police.

Konjevic said "sadly, this death toll could climb further" because seven of the passengers were seriously injured.

The winding road that leads from Serbia in the north through the Moraca canyon and then to the seacoast is notorious for traffic accidents because it is narrow and slippery in wet weather conditions.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/least-13-dead-bus-crash-montenegro-185624354.html

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 series hits the U.S. on July 7

Galaxy Tab 3

7, 8 and 10.1-inch Tab 3 variants heading stateside, pre-orders begin tomorrow

Already announced internationally, Samsung's Galaxy Tab 3 series will be heading to the United States in a couple of weeks. The 10.1, 8 and 7-inch tablets go up for pre-order tomorrow, and begin shipping on July 7. In its latest line-up of Android-powered tablets, the Korean manufacturer has scaled things back a bit, focusing on affordable, thin, light devices for the mass market.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/_njFtyQgBtE/story01.htm

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Jim Carrey On 'Kick-Ass 2': 'In All Good Conscience I Cannot Support That Level Of Violence'

Jim Carrey has distanced himself from the upcoming Universal release "Kick-Ass 2" because of its violent content. Carrey used his Twitter account to pass along the message to his over 10,863,000 followers.

Jim Carrey plays Colonel Stars and Stripes in "Kick-Ass 2," a character who allows his attack dog to bite on the genitals of an enemy. The film and its predecessor are based on the Mark Millar comic book series about a teen superhero named Kick-Ass (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Both films received an "R" rating from the Motion Picture Association of America for violence, among other indiscretions. (The first film also featured co-star Chloe Moretz, then 11, using the c-word.)

For his part, Millar responded to Carrey's comments on his own website. "As you may know, Jim is a passionate advocate of gun-control and I respect both his politics and his opinion, but I'm baffled by this sudden announcement as nothing seen in this picture wasn't in the screenplay eighteen months ago," Millar wrote on Millar World. "Yes, the body-count is very high, but a movie called Kick-Ass 2 really has to do what it says on the tin." Millar, a self-professed Carrey fan, noted that his work in "Kick-Ass 2" is a career highlight.

This isn't the first time Carrey has spoken out about violence. In March of this year, while promoting a sketch for Funny or Die, Carrey called those against gun control in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. "heartless motherf--kers."

Last July, Carrey was just as outraged after the shooting deaths of 12 people during a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colo.

"Kick-Ass 2" is due out in theaters on Aug. 16. No word yet on whether Carrey will participate in the "Kick-Ass 2" press junket.

  • Increase Access To Background Check Data

    Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

  • Remove Legal Barriers On Background Checks

    Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.

  • Incentivize Sharing Of Background Check Data

    Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

  • Review Criteria For Gun Ownership

    Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.

  • Background Checks For Returning Seized Guns?

    Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

  • More Guidance On Background Checks

    Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

  • Safe & Responsible Gun Ownership

    Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

  • Gun Lock & Safes

    Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

  • Improve Gun Tracking In Criminal Investigations

    Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

  • Report On Lost & Stolen Guns

    Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.

  • ATF Director

    Nominate a director for Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.

  • Training For Law Enforcement

    Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.

  • Maximize Enforcement Efforts On Gun Crime

    Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

  • Increase Research On Gun Violence

    Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

  • Prioritize New Gun Technology

    Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies

  • Clarify Obamacare On Doctors & Guns

    Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.

  • Inform Doctors On Reporting Threats

    Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.

  • School Resource Officers

    Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.

  • Develop Emergency Response Plans

    Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.

  • Clarify Scope Of Medicaid's Mental Health Coverage

    Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

  • Finalize ACA Regulations

    Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.

  • Address Mental Health Parity

    Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.

  • Start Dialogue On Mental Health

    Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/23/jim-carrey-kick-ass-2_n_3487880.html

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Sunday, June 23, 2013

PFT: Police search strip club in Hernandez probe

chad owens gettyGetty Images

Reggie Williams, the Jaguars? first-round pick in 2004, was among the final cuts of the CFL?s Toronto Argonauts on Saturday.

Williams, 30, signed with the Argonauts on May 29. According to the Canadian QMI Agency wire service, Williams had a one-handed TD catch in the Argonauts? final preseason game Thursday vs. Montreal.

While Reggie Williams? stint in Toronto has ended, another former Jaguars receiver is very much a key part of the Argonauts? 2013 plans.

In fact, this ex-Jaguar is the CFL?s top best player in the estimation of TSN and sportswriters across Canada.

Chad Owens, a sixth-round pick of Jacksonville in 2005, was voted the CFL?s best player?on Friday.

Owens, 31, was the CFL?s Most Outstanding Player in 2012 after catching 94 passes for 1,328 yards and six TDs for the Grey Cup-champion Argos. Moreover, he set a league record for all-purpose yards.

Owens could never quite stick with the Jaguars, who released him in January 2008. But he stuck with professional football. He played Arena ball for a year, then landed on the Montreal Alouettes? practice roster for much of 2009. The next year, the Als traded him to Toronto, and he has been a key contributor since.

For former NFL players, making a?CFL roster is easier said than done. There are just eight CFL teams, and the Canadian game is different than the NFL game, with the wider field one example.

Given that Reggie Williams hasn?t been on an NFL roster since 2010, lasting until Toronto?s final cuts may signal he?s retained some professional-caliber skill. That?s one silver lining. Another may well be the success of his former Jaguars teammate, who?s authored quite the impressive career revival in Canada.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/22/police-search-providence-strip-club-as-part-of-odin-lloyd-murder-investigation/related/

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Wallenda to cross gorge near Grand Canyon on wire

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) ? Nik Wallenda, the Florida-based daredevil, acrobat and heir to the famed Flying Wallendas circus family, is afraid of only one thing.

"I would say the only thing I fear is God," said the 34-year-old Wallenda.

He certainly had no fear of walking across Niagara Falls on a tightrope, riding a bike on a high wire 260 feet above the ground or hanging from a hovering helicopter by his teeth.

On Sunday, Wallenda will attempt an even more ambitious feat, even for a man who was born into a family of risk-takers.

He will bid to walk on a tightrope stretched across the Little Colorado River Gorge near the Grand Canyon. The event, which will be broadcast on live television at 8 p.m. EDT on Sunday with a 10 second delay, will take place on the Navajo reservation near Cameron, outside the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park.

Wallenda will walk a third of a mile across a wire suspended 1,500 feet above the river. (In comparison, the Empire State Building in New York City is 1,454 feet high).

"I respect deeply what I do and realize there's a lot of danger in it," he acknowledged on a recent day in his Florida hometown of Sarasota.

Wallenda, who is married and has three children, always says a prayer with his family prior to stepping onto the wire.

The 34-year-old is a seventh-generation high-wire artist and is part of the famous "Flying Wallendas" circus family ? a clan that is no stranger to death-defying feats and great tragedy.

His great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, fell during a performance in Puerto Rico and died at the age of 73. Several other family members, including a cousin and an uncle, have perished while performing wire walking stunts.

Nik Wallenda, who was born a year after his great-grandfather died, began wire walking at the age of 2, on a 2-foot high stretched rope. He grew up performing with his family and as a teen, had an epiphany.

"It's an honor to be carrying on a tradition that my family started over 200 years ago," Wallenda said during a news conference on a recent day in Florida. "When I turned 19, I told my family I was going to set out to make sure everyone in the world knew who the Wallendas were again."

Over the years, Wallenda has performed some dangerous stunts, but his walk across Niagara Falls in June of 2012 placed him firmly in celebrity territory.

Wallenda became the first person to walk on a tightrope 1,800 feet across the mist-fogged brink of the roaring falls separating the U.S. and Canada.

Other daredevils had wire-walked over the Niagara River but farther downstream and not since 1896.

Niagara Falls, Wallenda said, was a dream of his. So is the Grand Canyon.

But here's the difference between the two stunts: ABC televised the walk and insisted Wallenda use a tether to keep him from falling in the river. Wallenda said he agreed because he wasn't willing to lose the chance to perform the walk.

On Sunday, the Discovery Channel will televise the walk, but Wallenda won't wear a tether. There won't be a safety net, either.

He anticipates it will take him about 30 minutes to cross the chasm.

Milton Tso, president of the Cameron community, has mixed feelings about the event. While he's praying for Wallenda to succeed, he questions why the tribe is promoting a man who is gambling with his life for the benefit of tourism. He said he'll join a group of people over the weekend that is protesting the event and raising awareness on other issues facing Navajos.

"We don't need to put anybody's life in danger to promote tourism," he said. "There are other ways to do it. I would probably be a little more comfortable if the Navajo Nation implemented this safety harness for him."

For the last two weeks, Wallenda ? who has a boyish face, strawberry blonde hair and a muscular build ? has been practicing in front of crowds in his hometown of Sarasota.

Each morning and evening, he glides across a two-inch cable strung on the banks of a river. Hundreds of his local fans show up every day to watch, and talk ? Wallenda usually will stop and sit on the wire and take questions from his fans from high above.

"I'm just fascinated by the movement, the way he walks," said Loy Barker, a Sarasota resident who watched one of Wallenda's practice sessions. "He's just an amazing athlete."

Wallenda has tried to simulate different conditions he might face while crossing the gorge.

"It's very important that I train on a cable that simulates the weight, the feeling, the movement of the cable, the way it will move under my feet," he said. "We have also brought wind machines out. I've walked in 52 mile an hour gusts during Tropical Storm Andrea, with a torrential downpour. And we also brought out wind machines where we simulated 45-55 mile per hour gusts. Then I also walked in 91-mile an hour winds that day."

Only one thing could halt the planned wire walk, he says: lightning detected within a 15-mile radius of the wire.

In the meantime, he's training physically and mentally. Wallenda said the adrenaline has "kicked in" and that he's anxious to be suspended with only a 2-inch-cable below his feet.

"I absolutely will look down," he said. "And I'll enjoy the view."

__

On the Web: http://skywire.discovery.com/

__

Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wallenda-cross-gorge-near-grand-canyon-wire-074701429.html

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Saturday, June 22, 2013

Federal prosecutors charge Edward Snowden over NSA leaks

The US government has filed a sealed criminal complaint Friday against Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who leaked secrets about American telephone and internet surveillance programs.

By Will Dunham,?Reuters / June 21, 2013

A bus drives past a banner supporting Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping US surveillance programs, at Central, Hong Kong's business district, June 17.

Kin Cheung/AP

Enlarge

U.S. prosecutors have filed a sealed criminal complaint charging Edward Snowden, who disclosed American telephone and internet surveillance programs, with espionage, theft and conversion of government property, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

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The United States also has asked Hong Kong to detain the former National Security Agency contractor on a provisional arrest warrant, the Post reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials. Snowden is reported to be in hiding in Hong Kong.

The criminal complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, where Snowden's former employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, is located, the Post reported.

Documents leaked by Snowden revealed that U.S. security services had monitored data about phone calls from Verizon and Internet data from large companies such as Google and Facebook as part of counterterrorism efforts.

U.S. federal prosecutors, by filing a criminal complaint, lay claim to a legal basis to make the request of the authorities in Hong Kong, the Post reported. The prosecutors now have 60 days to file an indictment and can then take steps to secure Snowden's extradition from Hong Kong for a criminal trial in the United States, the newspaper reported.

Snowden would be able to challenge the U.S. request for his extradition in court in Hong Kong, the Post reported.

The newspaper noted the U.S. extradition treaty with Hong Kong has an exception for political offenses, and that espionage has been viewed as a political offense.

An Icelandic businessman linked to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said on Thursday he had readied a private plane in China to fly Snowden to Iceland if Iceland's government would grant asylum.

Iceland refused on Friday to say whether it would grant asylum to Snowden.

(Editing by Jim Loney)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/oyrmRD2fRZ8/Federal-prosecutors-charge-Edward-Snowden-over-NSA-leaks

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Facebook Adds Like Button To Mobile Messages, A One-Touch ?OK?

Like Replies Short"Alright", "Yes", and the much-hated "k" just got a visual redesign. Facebook's iOS and Android apps have rolled out the option in messages to reply with a one-tap thumbs-up Like button sticker. It's a highly-functional flourish that replaces the greyed-out Send button when you haven't typed anything. And while it seems simple, I'm finding it quite satisfying.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/VmxdyhTrWrQ/

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How the Xbox One Got Worse, What's Wrong With iOS 7 Icons, and More

How the Xbox One Got Worse, What's Wrong With iOS 7 Icons, and More

Microsoft pulled a huge U-turn this week by pulling all it's DRM, and we're just itching to tell you why that's horrible. While we're at it, we've got a first look at OSX Mavericks, a lesson on what's wrong with the iOS 7 icons, billion-year-old drinking water, a new subatomic particle, and a smartphone tripod that will blow you away. Dig in!

Read more...

    


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Friday, June 21, 2013

Last UFO Files from UK Gov't Released

Why did the British government shut down its official UFO Desk in 2009?

The truth can now be revealed, as the final cache of documents and UFO reports compiled by the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been released to the public.

Apparently, the MoD concluded that operating the UFO Desk was a massive waste of time and money, according to SkyNews. [Ten Alien Encounters Debunked]

An official memo from 2009 to then-MoD Secretary Bob Ainsworth found "no defence benefit" in documenting the alleged UFO sightings: "The level of resources diverted to this task is ? diverting staff from more valuable defence-related activities."

After manning the UFO Desk for more than 50 years, the officials found that "no UFO sighting reported to [the MoD] has ever revealed anything to suggest an extraterrestrial presence or military threat to the U.K.," the memo stated.

For sheer comic relief, however, the UFO files may have unprecedented value. In 2007, a man in West Glamorgan contacted the UFO Desk to complain that he "saw spaceships and then saw that one of them abducted his dog, car and tent when he and some friends were out camping," according to the files. MoD officials coolly advised him to contact the local police.

Then, in July 2008, a woman in Coventry saw "two orange balls" hovering over her backyard. She asked the MoD if she and her dog "could be contaminated" by the UFOs.

And in 2009, a schoolgirl from Manchester wrote a letter describing strange lights she saw in the sky, and included her drawing of an alien spacecraft. In response, the UFO Desk sent her a small bag of trinkets and "goodies."

Many of the reported UFO sightings were attributed to the growing popularity of Chinese lanterns (lightweight lanterns that rise through the air, buoyed by burning candlewicks). The lanterns have been blamed for a number of alleged UFO sightings worldwide.

The release of the UFO files is guaranteed to generate some controversy, as has occurred in the past. When British officials released an earlier cache of files in 2011, there was no information related to the "Rendlesham Forest Incident," a UFO sighting sometimes referred to as "Britain's Roswell." Some UFO enthusiasts reportedly thought the omission was a government cover-up.

And an Australian Freedom of Information request in 2011 revealed that virtually all of the government's UFO reports had been lost or destroyed.

A former MoD employee recalled his time on the UFO Desk with some whimsy. "Whatever you think about UFOs, the release of these files shines a light on one of the most intriguing subjects ever studied by the British government," Nick Pope told SkyNews.

"I hope people have as much fun reading these real-life X-Files as I had working on them," Pope said.

Follow Marc Lallanilla on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/last-ufo-files-uk-govt-released-165521483.html

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Facebook security bug exposed 6 million users' personal information (update)

Facebook security bug exposed 6 million users' personal information

Today, Facebook announced a security bug that compromised the personal account information of six million users. In a post on the Facebook Security page, the site's White Hat team explained that some of the information the site uses to deliver friend recommendations was "inadvertently stored with people's contact information as part of their account on Facebook." When users downloaded an archive of their account via the DYI (download your information) tool, some were apparently given access to additional contact info for friends and even friends of friends. The post continues:

We've concluded that approximately 6 million Facebook users had email addresses or telephone numbers shared. There were other email addresses or telephone numbers included in the downloads, but they were not connected to any Facebook users or even names of individuals. For almost all of the email addresses or telephone numbers impacted, each individual email address or telephone number was only included in a download once or twice. This means, in almost all cases, an email address or telephone number was only exposed to one person. Additionally, no other types of personal or financial information were included and only people on Facebook - not developers or advertisers - have access to the DYI tool.

Facebook says it's temporarily disabled the DYI tool to fix the breach. We've reached out to the site for further comment; for now, read the official statement via the source link below.

Update: Facebook has responded to our inquiries and stated that while the bug was discovered earlier this month, "it had been live since last year." They immediately disabled the tool, fixed the bug and reenabled it within 24 hours of the bug's discovery. The bug was reported to them through a White Hat program for external security researchers.

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Source: Facebook

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/21/facebook-security-bug-exposed-6-million-users/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Greek Democratic Left lawmaker says party should stay in government, shows split

A family had a close encounter with a bear while celebrating Father's Day during a camping trip in Wyoming, NBC-2 reports. The Kelly family had a relaxing Sunday morning breakfast, but apparently they didn't clean up as well as they initially thought. According to NBC-2, a bit of bacon grease was still on the campground [...]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/greek-democratic-left-lawmaker-says-party-stay-government-062356741.html

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Thursday, June 20, 2013

Two new Chinese ambassadors signed by Nike Golf

18 June 2013 | Posted in Personal Endorsement, Golf, Asia | By Rachel Warnes

Nike Golf has announced that China's Hao-Tong Li and Xin-Jun Zhang have been added to its already extensive portfolio of players.

As ambassadors, Li and Zhang will represent Nike and use clubs, balls, footwear, gloves, apparel, headwear and accessories throughout their multiyear deals.

26-year old Zhang turned professional in 2010, and quickly had a remarkable 13th place finish in the 2011 Shanghai HSBC Championship. Most recently he won two gold medals and one silver in Chinese professional tournaments in 2011 and 2012. Prior to this, in 2007, Zhang was selected to represent China for international tournaments as a Chinese national team member.

Li turned professional in 2011 at the age of 16, and his most recent achievements include competing in this year's Australian PGA Championship and the New Zealand PGA Championship where he finished 39th and 5th respectively. Before turning professional, Li took home nine gold medals and six silver medals in the Asian games, and was named best amateur player in 2011. He also represented the Chinese national team in 2010 and 2011.

"We are excited to welcome these two young and talented athletes to the Nike Golf family," said Mark Thaxton, global director of sports marketing operations at Nike Golf. "Hao-Tong and Xin-Jun are our first head-to-toe atheletes in China and they will make great additions to our stable of athletes at a global level."

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Thursday, May 9, 2013

McDonald's sales hit by weakness in Asia, Europe

NEW YORK (AP) ? McDonald's says a key sales figure slipped again in April, with the world's biggest hamburger chain citing fears over a new strain of avian flu for weakness in China.

The Oak Brook, Ill.-based chain, which had warned of a decline last month, says the figure fell 0.6 percent globally. That reflected an increase of 0.7 percent in the U.S., where it recently introduced its chicken McWraps to attract more customers in their 20s and 30s.

But it fell 2.4 percent in Europe, its biggest market by sales. The company said it's working to improve results in the region by emphasizing "everyday affordability" and keeping stores open longer.

In the region encompassing Asia, the Middle East and Africa, it was down 2.9 percent. The chain blamed the impact of the avian flu in China for the decline, as well as softness in Japan and Australia.

Yum Brands Inc., which owns KFC and is China's biggest Western fast-food company, has been slammed by the new strain of avian flu as well. It warned late last month that sales at established restaurants in China were down about 30 percent in April. Yum is also trying to recover from a controversy over its chicken suppliers that surfaced late last year.

After years of outperforming rivals, McDonald's has been struggling to boost sales as it faces intensifying competition, changing eating habits and weak growth in the broader restaurant industry. Late last year, the company reported a decline in its monthly sales figure for the first time in nearly a decade. Soon after, the company ousted the head of its U.S. division.

CEO Don Thompson, who took over the top spot this summer, has said repeatedly that the company will focus on emphasizing value to capture market share in the tough environment. Analysts have raised concerns that the strategy could eat into profit margins. But McDonald's executives say that short-term sacrifice is necessary to build customer loyalty and ensure the long-term health of the company.

The chain is also working to make its food more relevant to shifting tastes. Its chicken McWraps, for example, are intended to cater to people who are seeking out fresher, healthier items. The company also recently introduced a lower-calorie version of its Egg McMuffin made with egg whites and a whole grain muffin.

Sales at restaurants open at least 13 months is a key metric because it strips out the impact of newly opened and closed locations.

McDonald's, which was more than 34,000 locations around the world, noted that it had one less Sunday and one more Tuesday in April of this year compared with April of last year. Sales are generally stronger on weekends.

Shares of Mcdonald's fell 84 cents to $101.45.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mcdonalds-sales-hit-weakness-asia-europe-124652638.html

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Saturday, April 27, 2013

Wunderlist Pro goes live for iOS, Mac and web, priced at $50 per year (video)

Wunderlist Pro goes live for iOS, Mac and web, priced at $50 per year (video)

6Wunderkinder let us know last week that it was entering the big leagues of task management with Wunderlist Pro, and today it's possible for us to follow along. The company's first premium service is now available for those running the iOS, Mac and web apps, albeit with a slightly higher than anticipated $50 yearly subscription price alongside the $5 monthly option. As a reminder, Pro users get the ability to assign tasks to others, add an unlimited number of subtasks and choose from eight more backgrounds. Both file attachments and sharing are coming soon, 6Wunderkinder adds, while Android and Windows iterations of the Pro version are also on the company's very own to-do list.

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