WLNEWS

Europe receives complaint about Google's Android

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 9 Apr 2013 07:53:00 +0100

European antitrust regulators have received a formal complaint about Google's Android operating system for mobile devices, even as they move to the final stages of their inquiry into the company's search practices.

The complaint was filed by Fairsearch Europe, a group of Google's competitors, including the mobile phone maker Nokia and the software titan Microsoft, and by other companies, like Oracle. It accuses Google of using the Android software "as a deceptive way to build advantages for key Google apps in 70 percent of the smartphones shipped today," said Thomas Vinje, the lead lawyer for Fairsearch Europe, referring to Android's share of the smartphone market.

For example, phone makers that agree to use Android and that also want Google applications like YouTube face contractual requirements to place those applications and other Google-branded applications in prominent positions on the mobile device's desktop, Vinje said.

In an interview Monday, the European Union's antitrust chief, Joaquin Almunia, declined to comment on the new complaint but said officials had been examining the Android operating system independently of the two-year inquiry into whether Google had abused its dominance of Internet search.

When a formal complaint like this is made, the commission must at some point decide whether to take up the case or drop it.

Almunia also said that he was receiving proposals this week from Google to clear up concerns about its search practices, and that he hoped they would make it easier for Internet users to identify when Google was promoting its own services rather than those of competitors who might offer better results.

"This is a new step in the investigation," he said.

A Google spokesman, Al Verney, would not specifically discuss either the new complaint or the comments by Almunia about the search case, saying only that the company continued "to work cooperatively" with the commission.

The European Commission opened its antitrust inquiry into Google's search practices in November 2010. The investigation has since focused on whether Google might have unfairly taken advantage of its market dominance by giving preference to links to its own services, like Google Maps, when answering queries; whether Google disadvantaged competitors by including material in search results that came from other websites; and whether Google conducts its advertising business in accord with European antitrust law.

Last May the commission suggested that Google propose changes in how search results are presented as a way to settle the case. Since then, regulators and Google have been negotiating over those changes and other terms.

In Monday's interview, Almunia said Google needed to offer the commission a solution where choices between Google-branded search results and those of its competitors were clearly visible within the search engine both on desktop computers and on mobile devices.

"I don't know if you should call it labeling, or whatever, but they need to distinguish," Almunia said.

"In some cases this can be achieved through the information you will receive through the natural search results," he said. "In other cases, maybe we will ask Google to signal what are the relevant options, alternative options, in the way they present the results."

The choice "should be a real one," he said.

Almunia said regulators were not requiring Google to make changes to its algorithm, the secret formula that the company uses to determine the best responses to search queries.

In terms of the way Google uses and displays snippets of information from other websites in its search results, he said he expected Google to accept that other companies can choose "to allow or not to allow Google to use the content, but this decision cannot have as a consequence the punishment of those who will not allow the use of the content in terms of search results."

Websites and some publications have complained in recent years of virtually disappearing from Google's search engine if they posed a competitive threat or did not comply with Google's terms.

Almunia said he would test any changes that Google proposes to make by sending questionnaires to competitors, including to the complainants, and to other companies.

Almunia said in Europe, where Google is especially strong, with more than 90 percent of the search market, compared with about 70 percent in the United States, it is particularly difficult for search engines to establish themselves if they focus on narrow but deep services like online shopping, travel or mapping.

But Almunia also said his approach in the case was not aimed at "protecting competitors," as critics of European regulation have long complained.

Almunia said that he had concerns that Google had abused its dominance to promote its own products but that he would not need to "find a final answer to this question" if Google reached a settlement. "We are concerned by the possibility of an abuse," he said.

"What is clear in our view is the market dominance of Google," Almunia said. "This is obvious."

He also noted that "it would not be surprising" if Google faced formal charges in a case concerning Motorola Mobility, a mobile phone maker owned by Google. That case follows complaints by Microsoft and Apple that they were victims of unfair licensing conditions and abusive litigation by Motorola Mobility.

The commission has taken a tougher line with Google than has the Federal Trade Commission on the issue of how Google runs its search rankings. The FTC decided in January that Google had not broken antitrust laws after a 19-month inquiry into how the company operated its search engine.

HTC Profit Slumps on Product Delay

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 9 Apr 2013 07:47:00 +0100

TAIPEI—HTC Corp.'s 2498.TW +1.45% first-quarter net profit slumped 98% from a year earlier after sales suffered from the delayed launch of the company's new flagship smartphone.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Advertising for HTC

The Taiwanese manufacturer has been struggling against the dominance of Samsung Electronics Co.005930.SE +0.53% and Apple Inc.AAPL +0.71% in the smartphone market, as well as the emergence of Chinese low-end market rivals. In 2010, HTC was the largest vendor in the U.S. of devices running Google Inc.'sGOOG -1.05% Android operating system.

HTC's net profit fell to 85 million New Taiwan dollars (US$2.8 million) for the three months ended March 31 from NT$4.47 billion a year earlier. The most recent result is HTC's lowest quarterly net profit since the company started selling products under its own brand in 2006.

Revenue fell 37% to NT$42.8 billion from NT$67.79 billion, coming in below the company's February guidance of between NT$50 billion and NT$60 billion.

HTC's global smartphone market share fell to 4.6% in 2012 from 8.8% in 2011, according to market-research firm IDC.

The company planned to introduce the new HTC One smartphone at the beginning of March, but a shortage of camera components delayed its initial release to the end of March and its U.S. release to April 19.

"HTC's whole schedule was thrown into disarray because of the HTC One, which meant it didn't have the revenue coming in but still had a lot of fixed costs," Mr. Lu said. "There will be some improvement this quarter in terms of the bottom line, but they still face a lot of competition."Profit is likely to recover in the second quarter as HTC One sales increase, said Daiwa Securities analyst Birdy Lu. The company has been touting the camera's performance in low light, and plans to more than double advertising spending under a new marketing chief.

HTC last week announced a collaboration with Facebook Inc. FB -1.98% on the HTC First smartphone, which places the social-networking company's content front and center on the device.

The Facebook software, called "Home," which will also be rolled out to other handset partners, fills up the screen with images from Facebook updates as soon as the smartphone is turned on and includes easy shortcuts for interacting with the user's friends.

HTC Chief Marketing Officer Benjamin Ho said the Facebook partnership is part of the company's efforts to attract more consumers, and the Facebook software will be rolled out to other HTC models in the future.

"There is value for HTC in getting its phones in as many consumer hands as possible," he said in an email. "In addition to our own highly anticipated devices, like the new HTC One, this is a way to do that."

However, analysts say the phone running Facebook Home will be more of a symbolic product than a sales driver, and that the company's turnaround will depend largely on the sales performance of the HTC One.

Google Fiber coming to Austin? City government & Google holding a meeting next week to announce… something

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 6 Apr 2013 15:18:00 +0100

Google and the City of Austin just sent out a slew of invitations to an event next week, but declined to provide details on what will be announced.

While city officials are staying quiet, multiple sources tell VentureBeat that the announcement could involve expanding Google’s gigabit broadband Internet service Google Fiber to Austin. Alternately, the city could announce plans for a new Austin-based Google campus, or even some partnership to involve the city with a new Google service. Obviously, we don’t know what the announcement will entail, but its safe to say that it’ll be of interest to a broad section of the local community.

Here’s the invitation itself:

On Tuesday, April 9, at 11 a.m., the City of Austin and Google will make a very important announcement that will have a positive impact on Austinites and the future of the city. We anticipate more than 100 community leaders and elected officials to be in attendance to celebrate this announcement. The event invitation is attached for your convenience. Although we cannot share the details of the announcement with you in advance, we know readers will want to learn more, so we encourage you to join us on Tuesday.

Google Fiber offers download and upload speeds that are 100 times faster than the average consumer broadband Internet connection, and at a much cheaper price. The service launched in the Kansas City area back in July, which instantly prompted competing services from Time Warner Cable to boost their own offerings. Currently, Kansas City is the only Google Fiber location, but Google chairman Eric Schmidt has previously stated that this is not a side project for the company — implying that Google Fiber could launch elsewhere in the future.

The presence of Google Fiber within Kansas City has sparked an increase in new tech startups to the area, as VentureBeat’s Sean Ludwig previously pointed out. Austin already has a robust startup culture and is home to several large tech company campuses, including Dell, National Instruments, Intel, Apple (call center), Samsung, and others. That said, Austin is very much a tech-focused city, so the availability of Google Fiber would only add to that.

NASA mulls asteroid capture mission, eventual manned visits

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 6 Apr 2013 15:06:00 +0100

NASA is working on plans to robotically capture and tow a small asteroid back to Earth's vicinity by the end of the decade, setting the stage for manned visits to learn more about the threat asteroids pose, the resources they represent and to help perfect the technology needed for eventual flights to Mars.

"This is part of what will be a much broader program," Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fl, said in a statement late Friday. "The plan combines the science of mining an asteroid, along with developing ways to deflect one, along with providing a place to develop ways we can go to Mars."

According to a mission overview obtained by CBS News, the rationale for the proposed asteroid retrieval project is based on NASA's long-range goals of advancing technology development; providing opportunities for international cooperation; developing new industrial capabilities; and helping scientists better understand how to protect Earth if a large asteroid is ever found on a collision course.

The program also would help NASA develop the navigation, rendezvous and deep space operations experience needed for eventual manned flights to the red planet.

"I hope it goes forward," said Rusty Schweickart, a former Apollo astronaut who helped found the B612 Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to building and launching a privately funded space telescope to search for threatening asteroids.

"Asteroids are a very, very interesting area," he told CBS News in a telephone interview. "They're a hell of a resource, and I think the potential for long-term resource development for use in space is going to be a very big thing. And this is sort of step one. It's a baby step in a way, but it should be very interesting."

As for the threat asteroids pose to Earth, Schweickart said "I don't want people to spend their nights worrying about getting hit by asteroids. But I do want them to encourage their political leaders to invest in the insurance, which will allow us to prevent it from happening."

Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine first reported the proposed asteroid retrieval mission, saying NASA's fiscal 2014 budget request would include $100 million to get the project underway.

"Suggested last year by the Keck Institute for Space Studies at the California Institute of Technology, the idea has attracted favor at NASA and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy," Aviation Week reported. "President Obama's goal of sending astronauts to a near-Earth asteroid by 2025 can't be done with foreseeable civil-space spending, the thinking goes.

"But by moving an asteroid to cislunar space -- a high lunar orbit or the second Earth-Moon Lagrangian Point (EML2), above the Moon's far side -- it is conceivable that technically the deadline could be met."

Louis Friedman, former director of the Planetary Society and a co-author of the original Keck study, said the proposed mission "is quite an exciting idea" that supports President Obama's 2010 call for sending astronauts to an asteroid.

"It turns out, a first mission to an asteroid is still a big step, too big a step, because you'd need a much larger launch vehicle than we're building, you'd need a crew support system that could last for at least nine months in space because of the round-trip time," Friedman said in a telephone interview. "If we have to wait for that, it would be a couple of decades.

"But the nice idea here is we can robotically move the asteroid closer to Earth and do the mission as soon as ... the 2020s, the goal is 2025. By moving the asteroid here, we have a much safer, earlier first step for humans going beyond the moon."

The mission has "both technical advantages and scientific advantages because we're actually exploring an object instead of going to empty space," he said. "It also has an excitement about it because we get the robotic mission, which is a very interesting idea, moving an asteroid close to Earth ... and then sending astronauts up to visit it."

The Keck study estimated a cost of about $2.65 billion to capture and return a carbonaceous asteroid roughly 20 feet across. NASA officials had no official comment Friday and the mission outline obtained by CBS News did not include cost estimates.

But the proposed NASA project closely follows the Keck scenario. The outline indicates a three-pronged approach, starting with enhanced efforts to identify suitable targets. The idea is to find a number of near-Earth asteroids roughly 20 to 30 feet in diameter in favorable orbits that would permit capture and transport to Earth's vicinity.

"The only real question when you come right down to it is the size, because obviously as you get smaller and smaller and smaller, it becomes more and more feasible to do it," Schweickart said. "As you get smaller, the biggest problem you have is knowing where the heck to find one. We don't have a lot of seven-meter objects in our database."

But multiple candidates are needed "because any kind of a schedule slip and that asteroid that you were going to go to may not be back for 15 or 20 years," Schweickart said. "So you need to have a whole set of these things."

Along with improving asteroid detection, NASA hopes to start work on developing a robotic spacecraft based on a 30-kilowatt to 50-kilowatt solar-electric propulsion system that could rendezvous with the asteroid, capture it in a bowl-like receptacle and maneuver it back to Earth's vicinity.

A "notional" timeline in the mission overview shows a test flight in the 2017 timeframe followed by a rendezvous and capture mission in 2019. The asteroid then would be hauled back to cislunar space by around 2021.

Asteroids roughly the size of the desired candidate hit Earth's atmosphere on a regular basis and typically break up harmlessly in the atmosphere. For comparison, the meteor that exploded over Russia in February -- the largest known body to strike the Earth in a century -- was roughly 50 feet across.

In any case, the proposed mission outline indicated any effort to move even a small asteroid back to Earth's vicinity would be built around a fail-safe trajectory that would result in a lunar impact, at worse, if anything went wrong.

The third element of the proposed program would utilize NASA's Orion crew capsule and a new heavy-lift booster to ferry astronauts to the asteroid for an up-close examination and sample return.

Two NASA teams currently are studying the proposed mission. One is focusing on identifying suitable asteroids and developing the unmanned systems needed to capture and return a candidate to Earth's vicinity. The other is studying manned rendezvous and sample-return scenarios.

"There is much forward work to do to better characterize the cost, schedule and mission requirements, and focus an observation campaign to find candidate asteroids," according to the mission outline. "The study work will be done in FY 2013. Many key out-year elements are already in the budget."

Friedman said the proposed mission would be reminiscent of the Apollo moon program, "of having humans go to a celestial object and make measurements that are of interest to various scientific communities."

In the wake of the Russian meteor and a larger asteroid that passed close to Earth the same day, Friedman joked, "if you're not interested in asteroids, what are you interested in?"

Google Puts Android and Chrome Under One Boss

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 06:47:00 +0100

Google announced on Wednesday a change in its executive ranks that could have broad implications for the mobile business.

Andy Rubin, who had been senior vice president in charge of Android, Google’s mobile operating system, has been replaced by Sundar Pichai. Mr. Pichai is the senior vice president of Chrome, and will now oversee Android as well.

Google has been in a confusing position because it has two unrelated operating systems: Chrome and Android.

At first, Google said they were separate: Chrome was for computers and the Web, and Android was for touch-screen mobile devices and apps.

But the lines among devices have blurred. Now, some computers (like the Chromebook Pixel that Google introduced last month) have touch screens, and people use mobile devices the way they used to use computers.

The personnel change is a sign that Google now sees the need to somehow coordinate or merge the two operating systems.

Though Android has been wildly successful, with 750 million devices activated worldwide, computers running Chrome’s operating system have not.

At a press event to introduce the new Chromebook, Mr. Pichai drew less of a distinction between the two operating systems than Google executives had in the past.

“So far, we have been in a world which has been pretty straightforward: Android phones and tablets and Chrome laptops,” Mr. Pichai said. “But lines do blur.”

“The way we think about it internally,” he said, “is as a user, you sign in to both these devices, you use search, Maps, Gmail” and other Google products. “All your Google services work seamlessly across devices.”

The company did not provide any details about how Chrome or Android might change under the new leadership.

“Today we’re living in a new computing environment,” Larry Page, Google’s chief executive, wrote in a company blog post announcing the change. “People are really excited about technology and spending a lot of money on devices.”

Mr. Pichai has had a fast rise at Google and has experience developing hardware, a new area of focus for the company. In addition to Chrome and Android, he also oversees Google Apps, like Gmail and Drive, for consumers and businesses.

Mr. Rubin is a big name in the mobile world. He is a co-founder of Android, which Google bought in 2005 and turned into Apple’s biggest mobile competitor and the most-used mobile operating system.

Google did not say why Mr. Rubin was replaced. Despite Android’s success, it is at a crossroads as device-making partners like Samsung and Amazon increasingly become competitors.

Mr. Page praised Mr. Rubin and said he would stay at the company in a new position, though he did not say what it would be. But there were hints that Mr. Rubin could join Google X, the company’s lab for creating new technologies like driverless cars, Google glasses and other wearable technologies. The glasses run Android.

Mr. Page wrote, “Andy, more moonshots please!” Google refers to Google X as a lab for “moonshots,” or world-changing ideas.

Motorola, the Android cellphone maker that Google spent $12.5 billion to buy, could also benefit from Mr. Rubin’s perspective as it tries to make phones that compete with those from Apple and Samsung. While Mr. Rubin was overseeing Android, Google tried to keep a strict wall between the two companies to appease Motorola’s competitors.

In a letter to Android developers on Wednesday, Mr. Rubin praised the Android team and wrote, “Today, the success of Android combined with the strength of our management team, gives me the confidence to step away from Android and hand over the reins.”

Verizon Said To Be Getting A Flagship Nokia Windows Phone (Codenamed “Laser”) Of Its Own

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 06:01:00 +0100

Don’t get me wrong, HTC’s Windows Phone 8X is great and all, but the rest of Verizon Wireless’ Windows Phone lineup (think the Nokia Lumia 822 and Samsung’s ATIV Odyssey) is a bit lacking in the oomph department.

If a new report from The Verge’s Tom Warren holds true though, that may not be the case for too much longer. According to sources within Verizon, the carrier is gearing up to release a flagship Nokia Windows Phone with a spec sheet similar to the Lumia 920.

There’s precious little other information about this device aside from the fact that it’s apparently codenamed “Laser,” and that Verizon reportedly plans to throw its considerable weight behind the device (unlike the case with the ATIV Odyssey, the poor thing). What exactly that means for Verizon is still unclear, but I can hazard a guess or two.

I chatted with a high-level Nokia representative at Microsoft’s San Francisco Windows Phone 8 event who told me that strong retail partnerships with the country’s carriers was a priority for the Finnish company. That said, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Verizon retail workers getting some extended hands-on time with a forthcoming Windows Phone; after all, an informed retail sales force is key to Nokia moving units to those who don’t spend their days feverishly scouring tech blogs. AT&T also spends a considerable chunk of change on advertising the Lumia 900 when that was the hot new Windows Phone, and Verizon may well be doing the same (the fact that Microsoft is said to be chipping in some funds for advertising certainly doesn’t hurt).

Oh, and just in case you were hoping against hope that the Laser name actually sticks, you can probably stop now. The moniker was used for a Pantech dumbphone not too long ago, which means the chances of strolling into your local Verizon store and picking up a hot new Laser are pretty slim.

Kim Dotcom starts new file-sharing site

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 05:33:00 +0100

Megaupload boss Kim Dotcom has set up a new cloud storage and file-sharing site.

Mega, a web-based service that lets people upload and store files of any kind, is a sequel to the Megaupload system that was shut down last January.

Police raids on the offices and home of Kim Dotcom led to the closure of Megaupload.

The Mega site went online at dawn on Sunday, with Mr Dotcom due to hold a gala at his New Zealand mansion later.

Mr Dotcom has said the new site complies with the law and warned that attempts to take it down would be futile.

"This is not some kind of finger to the US government or to Hollywood," he told Reuters on Saturday.

"Legally, there's just nothing there that could be used to shut us down. This site is just as legitimate and has the right to exist as Dropbox, Boxnet and other competitors."

Extradition hearing

Hours after the site was launched, Mr Dotcom tweeted that it had received 250,000 user registrations, although limited server capacity meant Mega was unreachable to many.

In a series of earlier tweets Mr Dotcom said every customer would have 50 gigabytes of free storage - far more than is offered by rival services such as Dropbox or Microsoft's SkyDrive.

Mega will be encrypted so only those who upload data have access to it.

Data is also being held in the cloud to make it easy for users to get and share files.

The 2012 raids on Megaupload were carried out because, said US law enforcement, many users of Megaupload were engaged in pirating content and illegally sharing it.

They accused Mr Dotcom and other managers at Megaupload had profited from the piracy.

Mr Dotcom has rebuffed the accusations and is fighting a legal battle to stay in New Zealand from where he ran Megaupload.

A hearing on whether he is can be extradited to the US is due to be held in March.

The case has generated controversy in New Zealand over the way the police and intelligence services gathered evidence before the raid and won an apology to Mr Dotcom from the country's prime minister.

Mr Dotcom has also won support from prominent technologists such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

The raid on Megaupload put 25 petabytes of data uploaded to it by its 50 million members into a legal limbo.

In one message, Mr Dotcom said he was working with lawyers and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which campaigns on digital rights issues,to get access to that seized data and return it to users.

Nokia releases 3D print kit for Lumia 820 cases - and hints at printable future

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 05:31:00 +0100

In a first for the smartphone world, Nokia has taken the interesting step of releasing a 3D printing Development Kit for its Lumia 820.

The 3D kit, available on Nokia's site from Friday, includes mechanical drawings of the back shell of the Lumia 820, which will allow anyone lucky enough to have a 3D printer to print their own smartphone covers.

Nokia's 3D kit means you can print a new case for your phone yourself. Image: Nokia

"We are going to release 3D templates, case specs, recommended materials and best practices — everything someone versed in 3D printing needs to print their own custom Lumia 820 case," Nokia community and developer marketing manager John Kneeland said on Nokia's blog, where links to the 3D kit can be found.

Interest in 3D printing has grown rapidly with the growing availability and falling prices of 3D printers like the Maker Bot, which costs around $2,000.

On the one hand, Nokia is giving customers the tools to build what they would otherwise purchase from Nokia or a third-party maker, but the move certainly can't hurt the company's comeback efforts — and image — by opening up to the growing and tech savvy 3D print community.

Nokia chief Stephen Elop had two words to say about the move on Twitter: "very cool".

Kneeland said 3D printing helps Nokia with "rapid prototyping", but it also opens up the possibility of Nokia passing the torch of making phones to others by simply selling "some kind of template".

"In the future, I envision wildly more modular and customizable phones," said Kneeland.

"Perhaps in addition to our own beautifully designed phones, we could sell some kind of phone template, and entrepreneurs the world over could build a local business on building phones precisely tailored to the needs of his or her local community. You want a waterproof, glow-in-the-dark phone with a bottle-opener and a solar charger? Someone can build it for you — or you can print it yourself!"

Algerian crisis over after assault ends with death of seven remaining hostages

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 05:28:00 +0100

A final assault by Algerian special forces on the group of jihadist hostage-takers who seized the In Amenas gas facility ended on Saturday with the deaths of the seven remaining foreign hostages. Also killed was the Niger terrorist believed to lead the al-Qaida splinter group's leader, Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri. Five Britons and one UK resident were believed to be among the 23 hostages killed during the standoff

Sixteen foreign nationals – including two Americans, two Germans and a Portuguese – were freed during Saturday's operation.

After a day of desperate uncertainty over the fate of the remaining British captives, David Cameron said the deaths would unite world leaders in the cause of defeating global terrorism. The prime minister added: "Our determination is stronger than ever to work with allies right around the world to root out and defeat this terrorist scourge and those who encourage it."

The White House released a statement from Barack Obama, in which the US president said: "The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the families of all those who were killed and injured in the terrorist attack in Algeria. The blame for this tragedy rests with the terrorists who carried it out, and the United States condemns their actions in the strongest possible terms. We have been in constant contact with Algerian officials and stand ready to provide whatever assistance they need in the aftermath of this attack.

Announcing the latest casualties, foreign secretary William Hague said: "We believe that there are five British nationals and one British resident who are either deceased or unaccounted for, in addition to the one fatality that we had already confirmed."

He added: "We are working hard to get definitive information about each individual. We are in touch with all of the families concerned."

First reports suggested the hostages were killed by their captors as the attempt to rescue them was launched. Official sources quoted by the Algerian newspaper El Watan said the militants executed them after having given up hope of escape. The Niger terrorist believed to have led the al-Qaida splinter group behind the hostage-taking, Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri, was also killed during the final assault. Algeria's interior ministry said that 23 captives and 32 kidnappers had died during the four-day hostage crisis.

The 11 surviving Islamist fighters from the group of 40 who attacked the desert plant last Wednesday were also killed in the raid on a workshop where they had taken their captives.

The state oil and gas company, Sonatrach, said the hostage-takers, who identified themselves as Those Who Sign in Blood – a splinter group of al-Qaida in the Islamic Mahgreb – had boobytrapped the complex with explosives. Earlier on Saturday, Algerian special forces found 15 burned bodies at the plant. Details of the operation's bloody end emerged as it was revealed that the UK had offered assistance to the Algerian government, reportedly including British special forces. The offer was apparently rejected by Algeria.

The hostage crisis began when two groups of Islamists attacked two buses carrying foreign workers then took hundreds of Algerians and expatriates hostage at the complex. The group had been demanding the cessation of a French military operation against Islamists in northern Mali as well as the release of two men jailed in the US.

Last Thursday, Algerian special forces mounted an operation to take back the plant – to the initial dismay of the British and other governments, which were not notified in advance.

According to early accounts to emerge from In Amenas, Saturday's raid was launched after Nigeri and his group threatened to blow up the plant and kill the remaining hostages. The decision to go in was made after attempts by the terrorists to sabotage and mine the plant were detected overnight on Friday. According to El Watan, the hostage- takers had tried to sabotage the gas installation by starting a fire, but it was quickly extinguished.

"The terrorists were prepared to commit a collective suicide; the army's intervention led to their neutralisation. Unfortunately, the hostages were executed," the newspaper said.

The crisis, Hague said, was a reminder of "the scale and ruthlessness of the terrorist threat that we and other nations face". One senior government source said that London had been hampered by a continuing lack of information from the Algerian government.

Cameron, who had to postpone a major speech on Europe on Friday to handle the crisis, spoke to the Algerian prime minister Abdelmalek Sellal , who confirmed the military operation was "effectively ended".

Boeing Balked at FAA Review of 787

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 02:39:00 +0100

U.S. regulators Friday began a comprehensive review of the design and assembly ofBoeing Co.'s BA -2.50% new 787 jet, a move initially resisted by the company, according to people familiar with the matter.

Regulators reiterated that the aircraft remains safe to fly despite recent electrical and other technical problems.

In an unusual move, Friday's news conference announcing the review was attended by Ray Conner, president of Boeing's commercial-airplane unit, who defended the Dreamliner plane's safety and said Boeing will work with the Federal Aviation Administration on the review. But people familiar with the discussions said Boeing fought unsuccessfully for days to head off or deflect the FAA announcement, arguing it was unwarranted and threatened to undermine investor, customer and passenger confidence in the plane.

Boeing spokesman John Dern said it was inaccurate that Boeing opposed the review. He said Boeing's discussions with officials were about "the scope and structure of the review" and to "ensure that an accurate picture of the 787's performance" would be reflected in Friday's news conference. "Our engagement with the FAA was cooperative and constructive from the outset," he said.

The FAA review doesn't ground any of the Dreamliner planes or require immediate inspections or repairs, and airlines around the globe continued to operate the 50 twin-engine Dreamliners that Boeing has already delivered. But the move poses a significant new challenge for the Chicago-based plane maker at a time when it is trying to increase production and cut costs on the plane after years of expensive delays.

Some safety experts are predicting the review opens the possibility of design or manufacturing changes that could hinder Boeing's production and increase manufacturing costs.

The traveling public, meanwhile, typically maintains confidence in air travel even after major aviation accidents, and the industry has had a strong safety record of late. Still, the issues affecting the 787 have left some seasoned travelers spooked.

Joe Nevin, who runs a ski school in Aspen, Colo., has a ticket for an April 9 Dreamliner flight from Denver to Tokyo on United Airlines, a unit of United Continental Holdings Inc. UAL+2.36% He is concerned about flying the 787 over water for long periods since the cause of some problems haven't been identified yet. "It's got my attention,'' said Mr. Nevin. "You can't solve a problem until you know what it is, and it's not clear to me that they know what it is."

So far, he is still planning on taking his trip. "If United is confident enough, I'd probably go with them," he said. "I don't think they'd be stupid enough to take the plane up if they thought there were problems with it."

The FAA said it plans a "comprehensive review of Boeing 787 critical systems," focusing especially on the "design, manufacture and assembly" of electrical components. The review is something the agency hasn't done in at least three decades: a high-priority regulatory re-examination of a jet that has been approved and fully certified to carry passengers.

Although Boeing fought to forestall the FAA announcement, in the end, newly confirmed FAA Administrator Michael Huerta decided the escalating publicity surrounding a series of electrical and other defects found recently on 787s left him little choice, the knowledgeable people said.

"We are committed to doing this as expeditiously as possible," Mr. Huerta said. The FAA, along with the National Transportation Safety Board, is already investigating the most serious of the recent 787 glitches, a battery fire that occurred on a parked Japan Airlines Co. 9201.TO +0.69% plane in Boston Monday.

"I believe this plane is safe," Mr. Huerta's boss, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, said at the news conference, adding he would be confident about flying on a 787. Mr. LaHood said the review "will look for the root causes of these events," and regulators will take action if required.

Boeing's shares fell 2.5% to $75.16 in 4 p.m. trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, leaving them off 3.3% since before Monday's fire.

Like other carriers that fly the Dreamliner, United Airlines said Friday that it will continue to operate its six 787s as scheduled. A spokeswoman for the airline said it isn't increasing its own regular inspections of the planes, but she said "we will fully cooperate" with the review by the FAA and Boeing. United doesn't plan to provide additional information to passengers about the review. The spokeswoman declined to comment about what United has heard recently from passengers about the planes. "We have full confidence in the aircraft," she said.

Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, who hadn't commented publicly since Monday's fire, issued a statement welcoming the FAA's review, saying the company believes it will "underscore our confidence, and the confidence of our customers and the traveling public" in the Dreamliner's safety and reliability.

In addition to checking the safety and reliability of certain systems on the twin-engine 787, which is built primarily from lightweight carbon composite materials, the FAA effectively will reassess Boeing's quality-control safeguards in melding parts delivered by subcontractors around the globe.

The FAA said the review is expected to last several months. It didn't indicate how many of its own experts will participate.

Boeing's Mr. Conner said Friday the Dreamliner successfully went through the "most robust and rigorous certification process in the history of commercial aviation" and passed a follow-up FAA audit in December.

For the FAA, which spent years approving the 787's design as well as details of its production, the latest twist poses some tricky policy and public-relations questions. One of the review's primary goals will be for FAA managers to determine whether agency officials—many from the same part of the FAA— set up appropriate safeguards and assembly-line checks to assure the planes meet all federal safety and reliability standards. Such validation efforts could take months, according to experts, and are bound to find at least some discrepancies and problems.

Separately on Friday, Boeing continued negotiations with its engineers' union, announcing an increase in its salary offer to 23,000 engineers and technical workers, who may end up being central to the FAA's review. Boeing and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, or Speea, returned to the negotiating table Jan. 9 after a month-long cooling off period, recommended by a federal mediator.

Speea president and Boeing electrical engineer Tom McCarty says the new salary offer "is an improvement" and the company is "moving in the right direction.".Mr. McCarty emphasized the latest proposal would likely prompt a counter proposal to the company, which hasn't yet presented its best and final offer.

Mr. McCarty said in its current form, Boeing's offer—because of its proposed cuts to retirement and medical benefits—would likely see the union seeking a strike authorization vote of its members if Boeing's best and final proposal mirrors its current plan.

Mike Delaney, Boeing's vice president for engineering, declined to comment on whether possible industrial action could affect the FAA review. Union officials have said such action could start as early as Feb. 1.

Mr. Delaney said the company had contingency plans in the event of a work stoppage and indicated it could use managers to perform some of the engineers' functions but gave no further details. Talks with the union are set to resume next week.

Aurora victim's dad in court: "Rot in hell Holmes"

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 02:29:00 +0100

A judge on Friday delayed the arraignment of the man charged with the Colorado theater shooting until March despite objections from prosecutors and most of the victims and their families.

District Judge William Sylvester ruled Thursday night that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence at a preliminary hearing to proceed toward trial on charges that James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 others at a suburban Denver movie theater on July 20.

Holmes, who is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder, won't have to enter a plea until March 12 after the judge granted a defense motion to delay that proceeding.

A murmur of disbelief rippled through the courtroom when the defense said it wouldn't be ready until March. Then, at the end of the hearing, the father of Rebecca Wingo, who was killed in the shooting, shouted "Rot in hell Holmes."

The judge reconvened the proceeding to talk to Steve Hernandez, who apologized and promised there would be no more outbursts. The judge was sympathetic.

"I am terribly sorry for your loss and I can onCENTENNIAL, COLO.

A judge on Friday delayed the arraignment of the man charged with the Colorado theater shooting until March despite objections from prosecutors and most of the victims and their families.

James Holmes trial will proceed, according to Colo. judge

Holmes, who is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder, won't have to enter a plea until March 12 after the judge granted a defense motion to delay that proceeding.

The judge reconvened the proceeding to talk to Steve Hernandez, who apologized and promised there would be no more outbursts. The judge was sympathetic.

"I am terribly sorry for your loss and I can only begin to imagine the emotions that are raging," Sylvester told him.

Sylvester had asked Holmes if he objected to the delay and defense attorney Tamara Brady answered for him, saying he did not. Defense lawyers didn't say why they wanted to delay entering a plea.

One possible reason could be to seek a mental health evaluation by a doctor of their choosing. Lawyers for Holmes have said he is mentally ill, raising the possibility of an insanity defense.

The Colorado massacre suspect

If Holmes had entered an insanity plea on Friday, an evaluation would be done by state doctors.

Prosecutors objected to the delay and said they were ready to move ahead.

Sylvester said he understood their position but wanted to make sure he did not do anything that could lay the grounds for an appeal.

"We want to avoid at all costs doing anything improper," the judge said.

Following the hearing, District Attorney George Brauchler, who took office this week, didn't specifically address the delay but said he wanted to "protect the interests of all involved in this case."

If Holmes, 25, is convicted of first-degree murder, he could face the death penalty. Prosecutors have not said whether they would pursue that sentence.

The hearing capped an emotional week in which the public, including victims and their families, got the first look at evidence gathered against Holmes and heard police officers describe attempts to save the wounded.

The Aurora shooting victims

During the preliminary hearing, witnesses testified that Holmes spent weeks amassing an arsenal and planning the attack at a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises," and that he took photos of himself hours before the shooting, including one that showed him grinning with a handgun.

They also detailed an elaborate booby trap set up at Holmes' apartment designed to explode at the same time the theater attack occurred several miles away.

Prosecution witnesses testified that Holmes began acquiring weapons in early May, and by July 6 he had two semi-automatic pistols, a shotgun, a semi-automatic rifle, 6,200 rounds of ammunition and high-capacity magazines that allow a shooter to fire more rounds without stopping to reload.

Holmes' lawyers called no witnesses during the hearing.

Another possibility in the case is that either side could argue that Holmes is not mentally capable of assisting in his own defense. If that happens, the judge would order a mental competency evaluation. Sylvester also can order an evaluation if he has his own questions about Holmes' competence.

In the case of the Tucson, Ariz., shooting that killed six people and wounded 13, including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Jared Loughner was initially ruled incompetent to stand trial. However, after a year of treatment, Loughner was ruled competent, the case proceeded, and he entered guilty pleas.

If Holmes ends up pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, Sylvester would also order a psychiatric evaluation by doctors at the state hospital. A jury would consider that evaluation, along with testimony by expert witnesses, any other court-ordered evaluations and other evidence, in deciding at a trial whether Holmes is or is not guilty by reason of insanity.

If found not guilty by reason of insanity, Holmes would be committed to the state mental hospital for treatment. His case would be reviewed every six months. He conceivably could be released if he ever is deemed no longer insane.

"Insanity is what this case is going to turn on," said Denver criminal defense attorney Dan Recht. "This is not a whodunit case."ly begin to imagine the emotions that are raging," Sylvester told him.

Top four U.S. mobile phone carriers to sell BlackBerry 10 devices

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 02:25:00 +0100

In a major victory for struggling Research in Motion, the top four U.S. mobile phone networks said they would carry BlackBerry 10 devices.

Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile told The Times they would sell devices running Research In Motion's latest mobile operating system, which will roll out later this month. AT&T, meanwhile, said it would "support" the platform.

T-Mobile said it planned to "range" the latest version across North America. Verizon said it would carry a BB10 device but did not divulge pricing or the release date. And Sprint said it would bring BB10 to its customers later this year, with more information coming soon.

With all four top U.S. networks on board, the early signs are good for RIM, which is hoping BB10 will return the company to relevancy in the U.S. market.

RIM will hold a launch event later this month to mark the launch of the BlackBerry 10. There, RIM is expected to announce the first two BlackBerry 10 devices.

One of the devices is expected to have a full QWERTY keyboard while the other will be touch screen only. A Times reporter was able to check out a touch screen version at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.

Experts urge PC users to disable Java, cite security flaw

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 02:18:00 +0100

Computer users are being advised by security experts to disable Oracle's widely used Java software after a security flaw was discovered in the past day that they say hackers are exploiting to attack computers.

"Java is a mess. It's not secure," said Jaime Blasco, Labs Manager with AlienVault Labs. "You have to disable it."

Java, which is installed on hundreds of millions of PCs around the globe, is a computer language that enables programmers to write software using just one set of code that will run on virtually any type of computer.

It is used so that web developers can make sites accessible from browsers running on Microsoft Windows PCs or Apple Macs.

Computer users access those programs through modules, or plug-ins, that run Java software on top of browsers such as Internet Explorer and Firefox.

The US Department of Homeland Security also said people should stop using Java software.

"This vulnerability is being attacked in the wild, and is reported to be incorporated into exploit kits," the department's Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) said in a notice on its website. "We are currently unaware of a practical solution to this problem."

The recommended solution was to disable Java. Three computer security experts also said computer users should disable those Java modules to protect themselves from attack.

A spokeswoman for Oracle said she could not immediately comment on the matter.

"This is like open hunting season on consumers," said HD Moore, chief security officer with Rapid7, a company that helps businesses identify critical security vulnerabilities in their networks.

Moore said machines running on Mac OS X, Linux or Windows all appear to be vulnerable to attack.

Marc Maiffret, chief technology officer with BeyondTrust, said businesses may need to keep using Java to access some websites and internet-based programs that run on the technology.

"The challenge is mainly for businesses, however, which have to use it for some applications," he said. "Oracle simply needs to do a lot more to secure Java and get their act together."

Security experts said the risk of attack is currently high because developers of several popular tools known as exploit kits that criminals use to attack PCs have added software that allows hackers to exploit the newly discovered bug in Java to attack computers.

Facebook tests $100 charge to message Zuckerberg

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Facebook is reportedly charging $100 to send Mark Zuckerberg a message on Facebook.

Mashable discovered on Thursday if you attempt to send Zuckerberg a message, the social network may offer to keep the message out of his “other” inbox for $100.

Mashable conducted tests from multiple accounts and found that only users that are not one of Zuckerberg’s 16 million followers were seeing the message. However, Mashable said that could still be coincidental.

This comes on the heels of the announcement last year that Facebook would charge $1 to send a message to a non-Facebook friend.

Mashable said some users reporting seeing the $100 charge back in December when attempting to send messages to non-friends, but this is the first time the charge has been associated with Zuckerberg.

Using the new “pay to message” service, users will be able to pay $1 to route their messages to non-friends.

“For example, if you want to send a message to someone you heard speak at an event but are not friends with, or if you want to message someone about a job opportunity, you can use this feature to reach their Inbox,” Facebook said in an online post back in December. “For the receiver, this test allows them to hear from people who have an important message to send them.”

The company says charging for messages could help discourage spammers.

Georgian soldier found dead in Afghanistan

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 20:43:00 +0100

TBILISI - A Georgian soldier, who went missing in southern Afghanistan last week, was found dead on Saturday, Georgia’s defence minister said. Minister Irakli Alasania gave no details about the soldier’s death which brings to 19 the number of Georgian troops in the US-led Nato forces killed in Afghanistan over the past three years. “Sergeant Giorgi Kikadze has been found dead today in Afghanistan,” Alasania said in a televised statement. Kikadze, who went missing on December 19 is believed to be the first soldier from the Nato-led ISAF mission to have gone missing since Bowe Bergdahl was taken on June 30, 2009 in the southeastern province of Paktika.

Georgia has 1,570 troops serving in Afghanistan, making the small Caucasus country of 4.5 million the largest non-Nato contributor to the Isaf, according to the defence ministry. After President Mikheil Saakashvili’s government was ousted at parliamentary elections last month, new Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said he would maintain Georgia’s bid to join Nato. Tbilisi’s Nato aspirations have infuriated Russia which fought a brief war with Georgia in 2008. On Monday Saakashvili is due to visit Georgian troops serving in Afghanistan’s Helmand province for New Year celebrations. There are presently around 100,000 US-led Nato troops fighting a decade-long Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan. Despite the stubborn insurgency, war-weary international forces are seeking to hand control of security to Afghan forces by withdrawing their combat troops by the end of 2014.

'The Hobbit' stays atop box office for third week

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 20:40:00 +0100

LOS ANGELES -- "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" continues to rule them all at the box office, staying on top for a third-straight week with nearly $33 million.

The Warner Bros. fantasy epic from director Peter Jackson, based on the J.R.R. Tolkien novel, has made $222.7 million domestically alone.

Two big holiday movies - and potential awards contenders - also had strong openings. Quentin Tarantino's spaghetti Western-blaxploitation mash-up "Django Unchained" came in second place for the weekend with $30.7 million. The Weinstein Co. revenge epic, starring Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz, has earned $64 million since its Christmas Day opening.

And in third place with $28 million was the sweeping, all-singing "Les Miserables." The Universal Pictures musical starring Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway has made $67.5 million since debuting on Christmas.

Kanye West rails against the media and Grammys

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 20:33:00 +0100

During a concert last night in Atlantic City, Kanye West went on a five-minute diatribe about the media, his critics, and the Grammys.

Kanye railed against the “press and media” for trying to “come up with all the dumbest shit in the world… to try to distract you from what you’re seeing and experiencing.”

He continued: “They’ll try to tell you Kanye’s so crazy, so deranged. I’m not crazy, I’m just not satisfied. I’m just not satisfied with the shit they’re feeding you on TV, the shit they’re feeding you in the movies, the shit they’re giving you in the stores. I want you to have more. I’m just not satisfied.”

In regards to the Grammys, Kanye expressed bitterness for losing Best New Artist to Maroon 5, and questioned why G.O.O.D. Music’s 18 Grammy Nominations were only in “Black Categories.” He said, “Don’t expect to see me at the Grammys this year.”

Kanye concluded by saying, “Anything I’ve ever told you was from my heart. Even the times people turned their back on me it was from my heart. Even when people used to say ‘Die Nigga Die’ on Twitter it was still from my heart. Even when they dropped my fucking tour with Gaga that shit was still from my heart. And I’ll die for what’s in my heart.”

Curiosity’s ‘driver team’ will face challenging trip to Martian mountain

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 20:30:00 +0100

Speaking to an audience in Taipei Sunday, Yen Jeng, the only Taiwanese on the “driver team,” talked about what it is like to drive NASA’s $2.5 billion rover.

Referring to himself as a “taxi driver,” Yen told the audience that he and his colleagues spend approximately 10 hours each day preparing for Curiosity’s next move before transmitting their instructions to the rover.

During an interview with The Central News Agency, Yen said that the rover moves an average of 50-60 meters per day. “Its furthest record was 140 meters a day,” Yen told CNA.

Yens also told CNA that the best moment of the Curiosity mission so far was seeing the first photo of the rover’s landing. Yen admitted that taking a photo of the rover was exceedingly difficult.

Given that the rover was traveling at a high speed, Yen said it was “not easy” for the snapshot to be taken.

“It meant that our landing model was accurate, to know its trajectory,” he said. This is just one example of a maneuver that he and his team spent countless hours practicing and perfecting before passing the instructions on to the rover.

Yen’s description of what it is like to drive the rover comes as Curiosity prepares for a rather-busy New Year. According to The Associated Press, Curiosity will set off toward a Martian mountain in 2013. Curiosity’s current schedule shows the rover taking off for Mount Sharp in mid-February.

“We’ll probably be ready to hit the pedal to the metal and give the keys back to the rover drivers,” mission chief scientist John Grotzinger told The AP in a recent interview.

Curiosity’s trip to Mount Sharp will be an important one, as much is expected of the rover. The AP notes that the mountain, which towers three miles above the center of Gale Crater, has some interesting layers of rock that scientists are excited to explore. The rover’s trip to Mount Sharp is all part of NASA’s quest to determine whether Curiosity’s landing site ever had the right environmental conditions to support life.

Yen and his “driver team” will have to be on top of their game when they maneuver Curiosity toward the mountain.

“We’ll need to be pretty careful,” project manager Richard Cook told The AP. “We may find terrain that we’re not comfortable driving in, and we’ll have to spend time driving around stuff.”

Yen told CNA that reaching and exploring Mount Sharp will give scientists a better understanding of Mars’ geological history.

Being a part of the rover’s “driver team” has been an honor, according to Yen.

According to a NASA press release, Curiosity recently took a self-portrait using its Mars Hand Lens Imager camera. The rover held the MAHLI camera in more than 50 positions in 24 hours to create a single scene combining all the images, putting together a full-color portrait of the rover itself.

Obama Accuses Republicans of Blocking Tax Compromise

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 20:28:00 +0100

WASHINGTON — President Obama on Sunday implored Congress to act in the next 48 hours to avert the sharp tax increases and benefit cuts scheduled to take effect beginning on Tuesday, but there were no indications that negotiations on Capitol Hill were making progress.

In an appearance on the NBC News program “Meet the Press,” Mr. Obama accused Republicans of blocking action on measures to prevent taxes from rising for most Americans, threatening the still-fragile economic recovery.

“We have been talking to the Republicans ever since the election was over,” Mr. Obama said in the interview, which was taped on Saturday. “They have had trouble saying yes to a number of repeated offers. Yesterday I had another meeting with the leadership, and I suggested to them if they can’t do a comprehensive package of smart deficit reductions, let’s at minimum make sure that people’s taxes don’t go up and that two million people don’t lose their unemployment insurance.”

“And I was modestly optimistic yesterday, but we don’t yet see an agreement,” Mr. Obama said. “And now the pressure’s on Congress to produce.”

Unless Congress acts by midnight Monday, a broad set of tax increases and federal spending cuts will be automatically imposed on Jan. 1, affecting virtually every taxpayer and government program. The spending cuts were put in place earlier this year as draconian incentives that would force the president and lawmakers to confront the nation’s growing debt. Now, lawmakers are trying to keep them from happening, though it seemed likely that the cuts, known as sequestration, would be left for the next Congress, to be sworn in this week.

Talks were not going well, according to two officials with knowledge of the negotiations. Republicans were pushing for the largest deficit reduction deal they could get in the time remaining, the two officials said. They have told Democrats that they are willing to put off scheduled cuts to health care providers treating Medicare patients but that they want to pay for it with spending cuts elsewhere.

They also want to include Mr. Obama’s offer to change the way inflation is calculated to slow the growth of benefit programs like Social Security and to raise more revenue.

Democrats have balked at both, the officials said, fearing that any such concessions would only increase demands for addition concessions in the coming weeks when talks resume on a “grand bargain” to reduce the deficit.

Both sides worry that the confrontational tone that the president took on “Meet the Press” was not helpful.

Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senator minority leader, issued a statement criticizing Mr. Obama’s remarks. “While the president was taping those discordant remarks yesterday,” Mr. Stewart said, “Senator McConnell was in the office working to bring Republicans and Democrats together on a solution. Discussions continue today.”

House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, in his comments, pointed to the president as the problem. Republicans have tried to reach an agreement, Mr. Boehner said, but “the president has continued to insist on a package skewed dramatically in favor of higher taxes that would destroy jobs.”

Republicans have blamed Mr. Obama for seeking to punish the wealthy with large tax increases and have accused him of not negotiating in good faith. They say his approach would worsen the deficit by protecting Democratic constituency groups from tax increases and benefit reductions while imposing sharp penalties on farmers and small business owners.

Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, a member of the Republican leadership, said Sunday on the CNN program “State of the Union” that Mr. Obama was not dealing with the real issue imperiling the economy — the Democrats’ “addiction to spending.”

The president and party leaders in the House and Senate have been seeking a compromise measure that would protect middle-income families from the worst of the tax increases, but there has been no agreement on where to draw the line. With the Bush-era tax cuts expiring, Mr. Obama and Democrats have said they want tax rates to rise on incomes over $250,000 a year; Republicans want a higher threshold, at perhaps $400,000.

As part of the last-minute negotiations, the lawmakers have haggled over unemployment benefits, cuts in Medicare payments to doctors, taxes on large inheritances and limits on the impact of the alternative minimum tax, a parallel income tax system that is intended to ensure that the rich pay a fair share but that is increasingly encroaching on the middle class.

Mr. Obama has said that if talks between the Senate leaders break down, he wants the Senate to schedule an up-or-down vote on a narrower measure that would extend only the middle-class tax breaks and unemployment benefits. The Senate majority leader,Harry Reid of Nevada, said he would schedule such a vote on Monday absent a deal.

In his comments, Mr. Obama singled out the top Republican leaders — Senator McConnell and Speaker Boehner — for threatening to derail any deal in order to protect the wealthiest Americans.

Under questioning from David Gregory, the host of “Meet the Press,” Mr. Obama would not accept any responsibility for the impasse. He blamed Republican intransigence and political “dysfunction” in Washington, and said he had offered multiple reasonable compromises.

“What is it about you, Mr. President,” Mr. Gregory asked, “that you think is so hard to say yes to?”

“That’s something you’re probably going to have to ask them,” the president responded, “because, David, you follow this stuff pretty carefully. The offers that I’ve made to them have been so fair that a lot of Democrats get mad at me.”

Mr. Obama said the priority for Republicans seemed to be “making sure that tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans are protected.”

At some point, he said, “I think what’s going to be important is that they listen to the American people.”

Another issue dividing Democrats and Republicans is the tax on inherited estates, which currently hits inheritances over $5 million at 35 percent. On Jan. 1, it is scheduled to rise to 55 percent, beginning with inheritances exceeding $1 million.

The political drama in Washington over the weekend was given greater urgency by the fear that the economic gains of the past two years could be lost if no deal was reached.

Some of the consequences of Congressional inaction would be felt almost at once on Tuesday, in employee paychecks, at doctors’ offices and in the financial markets. Analysts said the effect would be cumulative, building over time.

An early barometer would probably be the effect on financial markets, where skittish investors, as they have during previous Congressional cliffhangers, could send the stock market lower on fears of another prolonged period of economic distress.

Failure to reach a broader deal on taxes and spending would increase taxes further, returning rates to Clinton-era levels. January paychecks would shrink as employers start withholding more for taxes.

Many families would also suffer if Congress failed to extend emergency jobless benefits, meaning that 2.1 million Americans would abruptly stop receiving expected payments.

And come mid-January, some Medicare patients might struggle to find doctors to treat them. Without Congressional action, doctors would face two cuts to reimbursement rates: a 26.5 percent reduction in Medicare payment rates from a 1997 law, and a further 2 percent cut adopted to reduce the deficit last year.

By late February or early March, lawmakers would face another economic showdown over raising the nation’s borrowing limit again to avoid a cash-management crisis and a government shutdown. Republicans have already said they intend to use Congressional authority to increase the so-called debt ceiling to extract cuts from entitlement programs — a threat that Mr. Obama has said he will resist.

Around the same time, the government and its workers would begin feeling the cuts to defense and domestic spending.

Without a compromise, the Pentagon and its civilian contractors would face steep reductions in virtually every program. Military officials said those spending reductions — $500 billion over 10 years — would eventually force projects to shrink or be canceled and lead to large-scale layoffs of military and civilian personnel.

Hundreds of other federal programs would see cuts beginning in late January. These include reductions of about 8 percent in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children; the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program; and rental housing assistance.”

Obama hosts fiscal cliff talks at White House

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 22:32:00 +0100

US President Barack Obama is meeting congressional leaders in talks at the White House to try to stop the US falling over the "fiscal cliff".

Reports say Mr Obama will offer a new deal in a bid to stave off tax rises.

Republicans and Democrats have only four days to reach an agreement before hundreds of billions of dollars of tax rises and spending cuts take effect.

Analysts say sliding over the "cliff" could tip the US into recession and set back the global economic recovery.

President Obama cut short his holiday in Hawaii to resume the negotiations.

New optimism?

Reports ahead of the meeting suggested the president would propose a limited package including the renewal of most expiring tax cuts, and a delay or replacement of some spending cuts.

There was no word on whether Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell would agree to a bipartisan deal.

Democratic Senate majority leader Harry Reid and senior House figure Nancy Pelosi were also at the White House.

Earlier, unconfirmed details of Mr Obama's plan were accompanied by newly upbeat rhetoric from some senators.

"I'm getting a little more optimistic today. Sometimes it's darkest before the dawn and there are two good signs for optimism today," senior Democrat Chuck Schumer told NBC's Today show.

Republican Jon Kyl told Bloomberg News: "Everybody recognises we're either going to get something in the next few hours or not. There's no more posturing time left."

Mr Obama's plans to increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans have remained a point of division between the two parties since he won re-election in November.

What is the fiscal cliff?

On 1 January 2013, tax increases and huge spending cuts are due to come into force - the so-called fiscal cliff
Deadline was put in place in 2011 to force president and Congress to agree ways to save money over the next 10 years
Fear is that raising taxes while massively cutting spending will have huge impact on households and businesses
Experts believe it could push the US into recession, and have a global impact on growth

The president wants tax cuts renewed for those earning under $400,000 (£250,000), with tax rises on the richest 2% in order to rein in deficit spending. But many Republicans oppose new taxes as a matter of principle, and are demanding cuts to what they see as deficit-inflating public spending, putting at risk healthcare and welfare benefit schemes popular with Democrats. An alternative plan proposed by House Speaker John Mr Boehner - which would have seen taxes rise only on those earning over $1m - failed in the House of Representatives late last week.

Speaking on Thursday, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, said he thought a deal was unlikely. Later, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said his colleagues were unwilling to sign a "blank cheque".

"Hopefully there is still time for an agreement of some kind that saves the taxpayers from a wholly preventable economic crisis."

In the Senate chamber on Thursday, Mr Reid said the requirement to get at least 60 of 100 votes to move to a vote on any legislation almost certainly doomed any new plan unless Republicans gave it strong backing.

"It looks like that [the fiscal cliff] is where we're headed," Mr Reid said.

Cuts and benefits

The term fiscal cliff refers to the combination of almost $600bn (£370bn) of tax rises and spending cuts due to come into force on 1 January if Congress does not pass new legislation.

Sweeping tax cuts passed during the presidency of George W Bush will expire, eventually affecting people of all income levels, and many businesses.

Other tax cuts and benefits to expire include:

A 2010 payroll tax cut, the expiration of which would prompt immediate wage-packet cuts
Benefits for the long-term unemployed
Compensation for doctors treating patients on federal healthcare programmes
Inheritance taxes are also likely to be affected if no deal is reached.

In addition, spending cuts mandated by a law passed to break a previous fiscal impasse in Congress will come into force, affecting both military and domestic budgets.

The cuts are expected to affect federal government departments and the defence sector, as well as hitting unemployment insurance and veterans' support.

How the Bush tax cuts were brought in
Tax year	1993-2000	2001	2002	2003-2008	2009-2012	2012 tax brackets	2013 scenarios
Tax year	1993-2000	2001	2002	2003-2008	2009-2012	2012 tax brackets	Tax cuts expire	Tax cuts expire for top incomes
SOURCE: TAX FOUNDATION, IRS. TAX BRACKETS SHOWN FOR UNMARRIED INDIVIDUALS

President	Bill Clinton	George W Bush			Barack Obama
Bottom rate	15%	10%	10%	10%	10%	Up to $8,700	15%	10%
	15%	15%	15%	15%	15%	$8,700-$35,350	15%	15%
	28%	27.5%	27%	25%	25%	$35,350- $85,650	28%	25%
	31%	30.5%	30%	28%	28%	$85,650- $178,650	31%	28%
	36%	35.5%	35%	33%	33%	$178,650-$388,350	36%	33% or 36%*
Top rate	39.6%	39.1%	38.6%	35%	35%	Over $388,350	39.6%	39.6%
*President Obama has previously called for the tax cut to expire for those earning over $250,000

Wikipedia's most searched articles of the year revealed

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 15:39:00 +0100

A study of 2012's most read Wikipedia articles reveals striking differences in what proved popular across the different language versions of the online encyclopaedia.

Facebook topped the English edition while an entry for adult video actresses did best in Japan.

Hua Shan - a Chinese mountain featuring "the world's deadliest hiking trail" - topped the Dutch list.

By contrast, cul-de-sacs were the German site's most clicked entry.

The data was published by a Swedish software engineer Johan Gunnarsson as part of the Wikitrends project. His home land's most viewed article was a page dedicated to Sweden itself.

Sex and vampires

Lower entries on the lists also proved revealing.

While articles about Iran, its capital city Tehran and the country's New Year celebrations topped the Persian list, entries about sex, female circumcision and homosexuality also made its top 10.

An overview of Egypt topped the Arabic language version and was followed by a history of Muhammad Ali Pasha - the Ottoman army commander who became the country's ruler in 1905. He is viewed by many as the founder of the "modern" nation.

English language most viewed

1. Facebook

2. Wiki

3. Deaths in 2012

4. One Direction

5. The Avengers

6. Fifty Shades of Grey

7. 2012 phenomenon

8. The Dark Knight Rises

9. Google

10. The Hunger Games

Sport featured prominently in the Indonesian edition with football, volleyball and basketball all coming within the top seven articles.

Italy appeared more obsessed with US television. Grey's Anatomy came out on top, and Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries followed shortly after.

The Russian version was led by an article about the country followed by one about YouTube. But entries for "porn site" and "unemployment" may provide greater insight into local users' lives.

Unusual results included the @ symbol making it into second place in the Spanish language edition, a type of Japanese holly topping the French list, and The European Regional Development Fund coming in third in Poland.

US pop star Justin Bieber managed to make both the Danish and Norwegian top 10s, but was trumped by British boy band One Direction who appeared in the English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Swedish and Danish lists.

Thailand snaps

Elsewhere, Facebook's photo sharing service Instagram - which did not make any of Wikipedia's top 10s - has published its own round-up of 2012.

The firm has focused on locations rather than themes.

Thailand only recently held an auction to award 3G mobile network licences, and has instead focused on providing free wi-fi connectivity. It already has more than 200,000 hotspots and the government has announced a target of covering 80% of the country by May.Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport came out on top with more than 100,000 photos taken there, followed by the city's Siam Paragon shopping mall.

The Next Web tech blog suggests local habits had also aided Instagram's local popularity.

"Many mobile internet users in the region didn't spend much-time (or any time at all) using PCs, so their mobile or tablet is their single portal to the web and always-on web access is something new to them," wrote Jon Russell.

The US took the next seven of the top 10 spots thanks to snaps taken at California's Disneyland, New York's Times Square; San Francisco's AT&T Park; and Los Angeles' International Airport, Dodge stadium, Staples Center and Santa Monica Pier.

Paris's Eiffel Tower was the only European location to make the list.

5-year-old’s Nintendo 3DS Christmas gift filled with porn

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 03:54:00 +0100

Five-year-old Braydon Giles received a refurbished Nintendo 3DS for Christmas, which his father, Mark, purchased from GameStop. Unfortunately for all involved, the device wasn’t properly wiped of its previous owner’s content, which included porn. As such, Braydon discovered the images while playing with the device and asked his brother for help in getting rid of them.

His brother Bryton quickly recognized the images for what they were and took the device to their father, telling him that it contained porn. Mark, upon learning this, immediately called GameStop, and, we’re guessing, gave them an earful. He said in a 9 News interview, “You can’t UN see this. He’s five years old. Maybe when he’s 18 or 20 maybe he won’t know anything about it but he’s not going to forget about it tomorrow.”

As a result, GameStop sent the family a new Nintendo 3DS, as well as a handful of games. It then issued a statement that is is looking into the situation. “We have a rigorous quality control process in place to ensure that existing content is removed from all devices before they are re-sold. Out of millions of transactions each year, ones like this happen very rarely.”

Of course, this isn't the first time devices have been sold with porn on-board. Back in October, for example, a girl discovered porn on her refurbished cell phone, an issue for which Radio Shack which sold it, was sued. The moral of the story? When giving your child a refurbished gadget, it might be a good idea to scan through the device first to make sure everything is kosher.

Zuckerberg’s Sister Unhappy When Facebook Photo Goes Public

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 22:21:00 +0100

Randi Zuckerberg, the former marketing director of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg‘s sister, was not happy at the end of her Christmas day.

A photo she posted to her Facebook account of her family, including the Facebook CEO, playing around with Facebook’s new Poke app, ended up on Twitter.

The photo was tweeted by Callie Schweitzer, a marketing executive at Vox Media, when she thought that it was a public photo on Facebook. Schweitzer followed or subscribed to Zuckerberg’s public Facebook feed and thought the update was public.

But it wasn’t. According to Buzzfeed and Zuckerberg’s tweets, Schweitzer was friends with another one of the Zuckerberg sisters and because she was tagged she was able to see it. “.@randizuckerberg demonstrates her family’s response to Poke #GAH,” Schweitzer tweeted along with the photo.

It didn’t take long for Randi Zuckerberg to respond. “Not sure where you got this photo. I posted it to friends only on FB. You reposting it to Twitter is way uncool,” she said on Twitter. Schweitzer clarified that she thought it was public, apologized and removed the photo promptly. Of course, this is the Internet — the photo wasn’t removed entirely. Many web sites, including Buzzfeed, Business Insider, Mashable and Gizmodo all ran the photo.VentureBeat even said even Zuckerbergs are tripped up by Facebook’s privacy settings.

However, Zuckerberg tweeted that “it’s not about privacy settings, it’s about human decency.”

The snafu does illustrate something Facebook has started highlighting in itsrecent privacy controls overhaul — that your Timeline is separate than other places on Facebook and that tagged photos can still be viewed by others. Starting last Friday, Facebook rolled out its redesigned and cleaner privacytools. One of the additions included educational messages, which pop up when you untag a photo. The message tells users that the photo still might be visible by others.

AllThingD’s Mike Issac argues though that this has nothing to do with Facebook privacy settings, but rather bad judgement. “No matter how many privacy settings you tweak, no matter what you consider proper ‘digital etiquette,’ there is no accounting for the taste and discretion of your friends,” Issac wrote.

In Zuckerberg’s case, it’s hard to say where the blame should be put, but unfortunately for her, the photo is now visible to many, many others.

Google Aims to Snag 90% of Microsoft Office Users

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 21:52:00 +0100

"Google will still need to develop the software further, to the point that people actually believe they can do almost everything they need to with Google Apps vs. Office," said analyst Greg Sterling. "The functionally isn't quite there yet." Google Vice President Amit Singh said his company is targeting 90 percent of Microsoft Office users.

The war among Google and Amazon and Apple and Microsoft - and others - heated up in 2012. But in a recent interview, Google Vice President Amit Singh, head of the tech giant's Enterprise unit, suggested the fight between his company and Microsoft is about to get even hotter.

The interview in The Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD blog started off with talk about how Google has been making inroads into the enterprise with products like Google Drive and its cloud computing platform, as well as Google Apps, Google's suite of Web-based productivity applications.

Singh was asked pointed questions about the competitive landscape, what Google has that Microsoft doesn't, and how Google Apps and Microsoft Office are co-existing. The answers to those questions are stirring plenty of debate in the tech world.

90 Percent Grab

"In the last year, if you look at the depth of where we've gone with Docs, both in the core features and in the desktop fidelity, we've made tremendous progress. Our goal is to get to the 90 percent of users who don't need to have the most advanced features of Office," Singh said.

"Sheets does tables graphing, etc., out of the box. In Q3, if you import from Excel into Sheets, you won't be able to tell the difference in Sheets. We know the gaps between our features and theirs. We're improving them week by week. We're going to get to the 90 percent. If you need the last 10 percent, you'll want to use the desktop. The next thing is the import from PowerPoint to Slides. That's where [the recent acquisition of] QuickOffice is going to help us a lot."

Untangling the Comments

Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, said Singh's comments are likely based on internal Google analysis, and shows the company believes its Apps and cloud products have a large, addressable market in the enterprise. However, he said, 90 percent may be an exaggeration.

"Google will still need to develop the software further, to the point that people actually believe they can do almost everything they need to with Google Apps vs. Office. The functionally isn't quite there yet," Sterling said. "In addition, Office still has a much stronger brand among users. Accordingly, Google will need to develop and market the Apps -- or whatever -- product brand to the point that buyers have more confidence in it."

Still, Sterling told us, with the proliferation of mobile devices, Microsoft's overall position has been steadily weakening. He noted that Google Apps also carries a price advantage, which is a big driver of adoption.

"Google doesn't have to rely on enterprise software sales as Microsoft does. In a way it's like found money for Google. Google can continue to use pricing as a way to lure more enterprise customers," Sterling said. "As the software continues to improve its should see increasing numbers of defections from Office."

New York firefighter shooting: killer leaves sinister note

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 21:36:00 +0100

The ex-convict who lured two firefighters to their deaths in a blaze of gunfire left a typewritten note saying he wanted to burn down his New York state neighbourhood and "do what I like doing best, killing people," police said on Tuesday.

Police chief Gerald Pickering said William Spengler, 62, who served 17 years in prison for the 1980 hammer killing of his grandmother, armed himself with a revolver, a shotgun and a semiautomatic rifle before he set his house in Webster on fire before dawn on Christmas Eve.

Two firefighters were shot dead and two were hospitalised. Spengler killed himself as seven houses burned around him on a narrow spit of land along Lake Ontario.

Pickering said one of the weapons recovered was a .233-caliber semiautomatic Bushmaster rifle, the same make and calibre gun used in this month's school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.

The note left by Spengler did not give a motive for the shootings, said Pickering, who declined to divulge the note's full contents. He read one line: "I still have to get ready to see how much of the neighborhood I can burn down and do what I like doing best, killing people."

Pickering said authorities were still looking for Spengler's sister, Cheryl Spengler, 67, who lived with him. Their mother, Arline, lived with the pair until she died in October.

Neighbour Roger Vercruysse said Spengler hated his sister and doted on his mother.

"He loved his mama to death," said Vercruysse, but "couldn't stand his sister" and "stayed on one side of the house and she stayed on the other".

Spengler fired at the four firefighters when they arrived to put out the fire, Pickering said. The first police officer who arrived chased the gunman and exchanged shots.

Authorities said Spengler had done nothing to bring cause concern since his parole. As a convicted felon, he was not allowed to possess weapons.

Pickering said the police officer who exchanged gunfire with Spengler "in all likelihood saved many lives".

A police vehicle was used to recover the two bodies and it also removed 33 people from nearby homes. The gunfire initially kept firefighters from battling the blazes.

The dead men were identified as Lt Michael Chiapperini, 43, the Webster police department's public information officer, and Tomasz Kaczowka, 19, an emergency dispatcher.

Pickering described Chiapperini as a "lifetime firefighter" with nearly 20 years in the department, and he called Kaczowka a "tremendous young man".

The two wounded firefighters, Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino, were in stable condition on Tuesday, Pickering said.