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Saturday, December 31, 2011
We've Bought $41 Billion in Unused Gift Cards Since 2005 [Factoid]
Friday, December 30, 2011
Photos: No-man's land attests to Japan's nuclear nightmare
IWAKI, Japan (AP) - Fukushima was just emerging from the snows of winter when the disaster hit - a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, the strongest in Japan's recorded history, followed by a tsunami.
The wall of water destroyed much of the northeastern coast on March 11. In the northeast region of Fukushima, a different disaster was brewing: Three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant were melting down, irreparably damaged by the super tremor.
Now, as the snows are beginning to fall again, the government has announced the plant has attained a level of stability it is calling a "cold shutdown." As many as 3,000 workers - plumbers, engineers, technicians - stream into the facility each day.
The tsunami's destruction is still visible. Mangled trucks, flipped over by the wave, sit alongside the roads inside the complex, piles of rubble stand where the walls of the reactor structures crumbled and large pools of water still cover parts of the campus.
In the ghost towns around Fukushima Dai-ichi, vines have overtaken streets, feral cows and owner-less dogs roam the fields. Dead chickens rot in their coops.
The tens of thousands of people who once lived around the plant have fled. They are now huddling in gymnasiums, elementary school classrooms, bunking with friends, sometimes just sleeping in their cars, moving from place to place as they search for alternatives.
For those who lived on the perimeter of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, fliers used to come in the mail every so often explaining that someday this might happen. Most recipients saw them as junk mail, and threw them away without a second glance. For those who did read them, the fliers were always worded to be reassuring - suggesting that although a catastrophic nuclear accident was extremely unlikely, it could require evacuating the area.
Never was it even hinted that the evacuation could last years, or decades.
At most of the shelters, food is doled out military-style, at set times. Personal space is extremely limited, often just big enough to fit a futon and the collective snoring at night makes sleep fitful, at best. Baths are public, cramped, dark.
The total amount of radiation released from the plant is still unknown, and the impact of chronic low-dose radiation exposures in and around Fukushima is a matter of scientific debate.
Recent studies also suggest Japan continues to significantly underestimate the scale of the disaster - which could have health and safety implications far into the future.
According to a study led by Andreas Stohl the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, twice as much radioactive cesium-137 - a cancer-causing agent - was pumped into the atmosphere than Japan had announced, reaching 40 percent of the total from Chernobyl. The French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety found 30 times more cesium-137 was released into the Pacific than the plant's owner has acknowledged.
Under a detailed roadmap, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. will remove the melted nuclear fuel, most of which is believed to have fallen to the bottom of the core or even down to the bottom of the larger, beaker-shaped containment vessel, a process that is expected to begin in 10 years.
All told, decommissioning the plant will likely take 40 years.
Source: http://www.kval.com/news/national/No-mans-land-attests-to-Japans-nuclear-nightmare--136265553.html
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Abortion, immigration changes among new 2012 laws (AP)
Girls seeking abortions in New Hampshire must first tell their parents or a judge, some employers in Alabama must verify new workers' U.S. residency, and California students will be the first in the country to receive mandatory lessons about the contributions of gays and lesbians under state laws set to take effect at the start of 2012.
Many laws reflect the nation's concerns over immigration, the cost of government and the best way to protect and benefit young people, including regulations on sports concussions.
Alabama, with the country's toughest immigration law, is enacting a key provision requiring all employers who do business with any government entity to use a federal system known as E-Verify to check that all new employees are in the country legally.
Georgia is putting a similar law into effect requiring any business with 500 or more employees to use E-Verify to check the employment eligibility of new hires. The requirement is being phased in, with all employers with more than 10 employees to be included by July 2013.
Supporters said they wanted to deter illegal immigrants from coming to Georgia by making it tougher for them to work. Critics said that changes to immigration law should come at the federal level and that portions of the law already in effect are already hurting Georgia.
"It is destroying Georgia's economy and it is destroying the fabric of our social network in South Georgia," Paul Bridges, mayor of the onion-farming town of Uvalda, said in November. He is part of a lawsuit challenging the new law.
Tennessee will also require businesses to ensure employees are legally authorized to work in the U.S. but exempts employers with five or fewer workers and allows them to keep a copy of the new hire's driver's license instead of using E-Verify.
A South Carolina law would allow officials to yank the operating licenses of businesses that don't check new hires' legal status through E-verify. A federal judge last week blocked parts of the law that would have required police to check the immigration status of criminal suspects or people stopped for traffic violations they think might be in the country illegally, and that would have made it a crime for illegal immigrants to transport or house themselves.
California is also addressing illegal immigration, but with a bill that allows students who entered the country illegally to receive private financial aid at public colleges.
Many laws aim to protect young people. In Colorado, coaches will be required to bench players as young as 11 when they're believed to have suffered a head injury. The young athletes will also need medical clearance to return to play.
The law also requires coaches in public and private schools and even volunteer Little League and Pop Warner football coaches to take free annual online training to recognize the symptoms of a concussion. At least a dozen other states have enacted similar laws with the support of the National Football League.
People 18 and under in Illinois will have to wear seat belts while riding in taxis for school-related purposes, and Illinois school boards can now suspend or expel students who make explicit threats on websites against other students or school employees.
Florida will take control of lunch and other school food programs from the federal government, allowing the state to put more Florida-grown fresh fruit and vegetables on school menus. Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam says the change will help children eat healthier.
A California law will add gays and lesbians and people with disabilities to the list of social and ethnic groups whose contributions must be taught in history lessons in public schools. The law also bans teaching materials that reflect poorly on gays or particular religions.
Opponents have filed five potential initiatives to repeal the requirement outright or let parents remove their children while gays' contributions are being taught.
In New Hampshire, a law requiring girls seeking abortions to tell their parents or a judge first was reinstated by conservative Republicans over a gubernatorial veto. The state enacted a similar law eight years ago, but it was never enforced following a series of lawsuits.
In Arkansas, facilities that perform 10 or more nonsurgical abortions a month must be licensed by the state Health Department and be subject to inspections by the department, the same requirements faced by facilities that offer surgical abortions in the state.
It affects two Planned Parenthood facilities that offer the abortion pill, though they're not singled out in the statute.
Among federal laws, a measure Congress passed last week to extend Social Security tax cuts and federal unemployment benefit programs raises insurance fees on new mortgages and refinancings backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration by 0.1 percent beginning Jan. 1.
That covers about 90 percent of them and effectively makes a borrower's monthly payment on a new $200,000 mortgage or refinancing about $17 a month more than it would have been if obtained before the first of the year.
Nevada's 3-month old ban on texting while driving will get tougher, with tickets replacing the warnings that police have issued since the ban took effect Oct. 1. In Pennsylvania, police are preparing to enforce that state's recently enacted ban on texting, scheduled to take effect by spring.
Election law changes in Rhode Island and Tennessee will require voters to present photo ID, a measure that supporters say prevents fraud and that opponents say will make it harder for minorities and the elderly to cast ballots.
In Ohio, a measure that creates one primary in March, instead of two that would have cost the state an extra $15 million, goes into effect later in January.
Ohio is also one of eight states with automatic increases in the minimum wage taking effect Jan. 1. The others, with increases between 28 and 37 cents, are Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Montana, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
A few laws try to address budget woes. In Delaware, new state employees will have to contribute more to their pensions, while state workers hired after Jan. 1 in Nevada will have to pony up for their own health care costs in retirement.
Jan. 1 is the effective date in many states for laws passed during this year's legislative sessions. In others, laws take effect July 1, or 90 days after passage.
___
Welsh-Huggins reported from Columbus, Ohio, and can be reached at http://twitter.com/awhcolumbus.
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Thursday, December 29, 2011
Gabrielle Union Playing Step Mommy On The Beach With Dwyane Wade?s Sons [Pics] (Forbez DVD Blog)
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University of Notre Dame Researchers Develop Solar Cell Paint
[Photo: University of Notre Dame]Someday, adding solar power to your home could be as easy as applying a coat of paint, instead of having to install bulky and expensive solar panels to your roof. University of Notre Dame researchers figured out a way to create an inexpensive, energy generating ?solar paint? they call ?Sun-Believable.? (No really; that's what it's called!)
This latest feat in solar energy came when the scientists found a way to incorporate power-producing nanoparticles called quantum dots into a spreadable paste. The paste is mixture of titanium dioxide nanoparticles, followed by a coating of either cadmium sulfide or cadmium, along with a water-alcohol suspension.
In order to create an energy-producing cell, the paint is spread onto a transparent conductive material, and then annealed with a heat gun. The painted electrode surface is then jointed to a graphene composite electrode with an electrolyte solution.
The resulting material generates energy when exposed to a beam of artificial sunlight. So far, the solar paint has only yielded, at best, a one-percent light-to-energy conversion efficiency, so it?s not quite ready to take over for commercial solar cells that usually run at 10- to 15-percent efficiency.
The scientists say, however, that the paint can be cheaply made into large quantities. If the researchers manage to improve its efficiency, every home in the future might be coated with solar power.
[University of Notre Dame via PhysOrg and Engadget]
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Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Turkey big friend of Georgia ? President
Turkey big friend of Georgia – President ??
?????Monday 26th December, 2011??Source: News.Az ??
| Turkey is a great friend of Georgia both politically and economically. The statement came from Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Saturday meeting with Turkish delegation in Tbilisi. According to the Georgian president, ‘existing relations between the two countries have vital importance for Georgia', Georgia Online repotrs.. ... | Breaking News |
|
Source: http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?rid=202146164&cat=53023059fadd9a63
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buySAFE Sues Google Over ?Trusted Stores? Service, Fears Annihilation
Google was hit with yet another patent lawsuit last week, but this one at least makes for some very, very interesting reading. A company called buySAFE, which offers a safe-shopping service to online retailers and their customers, argues that the search and advertising juggernaut not only infringes a patent it owns by preparing the launch of a similar service called Google Trusted Stores, but that it has also gone to great lengths to obtain proprietary business information and is pushing buySAFE customers hard to switch.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/i-edGkMEZRc/
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Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Visualized: IBM's 1956 HDD packs 5MB of storage, requires forklift for installation
Check out IBM's 305 RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control) hard disk and those gripes about dragging around that USB thumb drive soon evaporate. This 1956 HDD was composed of 50 24-inch discs, stacked together and taking up 16 sq ft of real estate. The once-cutting-edge monstrosity was capable of commanding an annual fee of $35,000 and stored up to 5MB of data. Sure, by modern standards it's a pretty modest capacity, but the RAMAC still weighed in at just shy of a ton. Our technological forefathers could have done with that exoskeleton prototype.
Visualized: IBM's 1956 HDD packs 5MB of storage, requires forklift for installation originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 10:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Monday, December 26, 2011
A's ship Gio Gonzalez to Washington
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Source: www.bettingexpress.com --- Monday, December 26, 2011
The Oakland Athletics have traded left-handed starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez to the Washington Nationals for four of their top prospects. The 26-year-old Gonzalez went 16-12 last season with a 3.12 earned-run average and 197 strikeouts in 202 innings pitched. Gonzalez, a four-year veteran, has spent his entire big-league career with Oakland and has compiled a 38-32 record with a 3.93 earned-run average ...
Source: http://www.bettingexpress.com/news/sports_betting/948281.html
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Cleburne family killed in Mexico robbery spree
WFAA
Posted on December 24, 2011 at 9:55 PM
Updated yesterday at 10:21 PM
CLEBURNE ? A Cleburne mother and two daughters have been killed in a series of attacks on buses in northern Mexico. Maria Hartsell, 39, and her daughters Karla Hartsell, 19, and Cristina Hartsell, 13, were among the seven people who lost their lives.
?I can?t sleep at night,? said Hartsell?s mother-in-law Margaret Schneider of Cleburne. ?I shut my eyes and I see them.?
Schneider says Hartsell ? who is a U.S. citizen ? was traveling with her four children to visit family members for the holidays in the region known as Huasteca. A group of five gunmen attacked three buses in Mexico?s Gulf Coast state of Veracruz on Thursday in what authorities described as a violent robbery spree.
Soldiers apparently killed the gunmen later.
Schneider said Hartsell?s other daughter Angie was also shot, but her condition is unknown. She said another grandchild, Mike Hartsell, 10, survived, but told her he watched the gunmen murder his mother and sister after killing the bus driver.
?Little Mike told me? they turned around and came back and shot her (his mother) in the head with the gun and they shot Karla,? Schneider said. ?He said he knew that his mom and Karla were dead.?
Schneider said Hartsell worked in the cafeteria at Cleburne?s Santa Fe Elementary School.
The U.S. Consulate has urged Americans to ?exercise caution? when traveling to Veracruz, and to ?avoid intercity road travel at night.?
While the specific area where the Thursday attacks occurred is not frequented by foreign travelers, other parts of the Huasteca? ? a hilly, verdant area on the Gulf coast? ? are popular among Mexican tourists and some foreigners.
The attack occurred near the border with the state of Tamaulipas, an area that has been the scene of bloody battles between the Zetas and Gulf drug cartels. According to some estimates, more than 40,000 people have been killed over the past five years in Mexico?s ongoing drug war.
Schneider said she begged her daughter-in-law not to take the trip.
?I told her not to go to Mexico. I just kept repeating it,? Schneider said. ?Why did they have to lose their life? It?s just senseless.?
E-mail jbetz@wfaa.com
Source: http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/Cleburne-family-killed-in-Mexico-136193938.html
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Sunday, December 25, 2011
Nun famous for kissing Elvis prays for miracle
Mother Dolores Hart is interviewed inside the Abbey of Regina Laudis monastery in Bethlehem, Conn., Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Mother Dolores Hart is interviewed inside the Abbey of Regina Laudis monastery in Bethlehem, Conn., Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Mother Dolores Hart pets a cat at the Abbey of Regina Laudis monastery in Bethlehem, Conn., Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Nuns in the Abbey of Regina Laudis participate in two of their seven daily prayers in their monastery in Bethlehem, Conn., Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Mother Dolores Hart, far right through middle window and others in the Abbey of Regina Laudis participate in two of their seven daily prayers in their monastery in Bethlehem, Conn., Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Mother Dolores Hart, right, participates in two of seven daily prayers in the Abbey of Regina Laudis monastery in Bethlehem, Conn., Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
BETHLEHEM, Conn. (AP) ? In the little town of Bethlehem, a cloistered nun whose luminous blue eyes entranced Elvis Presley in his first on-screen movie kiss is praying for a Christmas miracle.
Dolores Hart, who walked away from Hollywood stardom in 1963 to become a nun in rural Bethlehem, Conn., now finds herself back in the spotlight. But this time it's all about serving the King of Kings, not smooching the King of Rock and Roll.
The former brass factory that houses Mother Dolores and about 40 other nuns cloistered at the Abbey of Regina Laudis needs millions of dollars in renovations to meet fire and safety codes, add an elevator and make handicap accessibility upgrades.
Like 73-year-old Mother Dolores, the order's nuns have taken a vow of stability with the intent to live, work and die at the complex. The order was established in 1947 in Bethlehem, a small burg in Connecticut's rolling western hills.
Now, the historically self-supporting nuns have launched a fundraiser for the $4 million renovation project dubbed "New Horizons." They don't have much money, but they have Mother Dolores: a starlet-turned-supplicant whose unique story might lure the attention and donations of generations of movie fans, particularly those who adore all things Elvis.
"This work may not be in my lifetime that it's finished, but we're sure trying," Mother Dolores said of the upgrades, which are budgeted to run about $2 million for the fire code and accessibility compliance work and another $2 million for improvements to the housing and other facilities.
They hope to break ground in January.
They're not in imminent danger of needing to move out, but many of the older nuns can no longer navigate the narrow steps to the main building's third floor and must live in another building. And without adequate fire escapes, the monastery has caught the eye of local inspectors, though they've worked closely with the nuns on the improvement plans and haven't ordered them to close the building.
For Mother Dolores, the monastery has been home since she was a 23-year-old actress in 1963 and walked away from Hollywood for a life of contemplation and prayer as a postulant.
The abbey's chapel, workshops, livestock pastures and other features are part of her soul now, and its wood-paneled monastery is the only home she's known for 50 years. Its theater holds a special place in her heart, harkening to the former career that landed her on talk shows, in magazines and twice as Elvis Presley's co-star.
Dolores Hart was a vivacious, quick-witted blond starlet when she charmed Hollywood in the 1950s and early 1960s. She shared a kiss with Presley in the 1957 Paramount film, "Loving You" ? a modest liplock over which Mother Dolores still fields frequent questions about whether the King was a good kisser.
"I don't know why they ask me. It's right there on the screen to see; it's right there for the looking," she said Thursday.
Hart acted in 10 movies alongside stars including Montgomery Clift, Myrna Loy, Connie Francis and Anthony Quinn.
She said she was engaged to be married before joining God's service and leaving the acting world behind. She broke off her engagement, though her fiance remained a close friend and was a frequent visitor and supporter of the abbey until his recent death.
The nuns also received support and help over the years from Mother Dolores' longtime friend and fellow actress Patricia Neal, who was buried at the abbey after her death in August 2010.
Mother Dolores is still a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, receiving copies of movies to watch in her small room ? or cell, as they're known in the order ? to help select yearly Oscar winners.
Her own movies, including the highly popular "Where the Boys Are," were made before stars routinely could negotiate to collect later royalties, she said, so that's not a potential source of income for the upgrades to the abbey.
The abbey is financially independent from the Archdiocese of Hartford and supports itself through the sale of everything from artisan cheeses and hand-crafted pottery to recordings of its choir. Mother Dolores even recently signed autographs at a New Jersey convention, a rare foray out of cloistered life as a favor for a friend, and one that helped boost the fundraising efforts.
Sister Angele Arbib, a coordinator of the New Horizons renovation and fundraising efforts, said the order is applying for grants and the nuns are trying to spread the word among the abbey's supporters, but are not disclosing publicly how much they've raised so far.
Unlike some orders, the Abbey of Regina Laudis has retained a steady number of nuns and new postulants, including two starting in the next few weeks ? but that can't continue if the housing and other facilities keep eroding with age.
"We have focused on building our community, which has been wonderful, but now it's time that we really have to address our space," said Sister Angele, 63, who left a thriving career of managing opera singers when she was 50 to join the order.
"None of this, not one single thing we're doing, is an extravagance," she said of the upgrades. "It's to make it possible for us to grow, for the elderly among us to live with as much independence as possible and to allow us to live together in surroundings that let us continue our service."
Sister Angele said the nuns are not in any imminent danger of needing to move out, though she acknowledges they'd be in dire straits if they had not anticipated the problems early enough to prepare the upgrade plans and launch the fundraising efforts.
As word has spread of their needs, supporters of the nuns and those who've visited the abbey, prayed in its chapel and picked up items in its gift shop have tried to help in ways of their own.
Liz Carpenter, a Watertown resident who owns the Children's Dance Workshop, said its children have raised $600 to help through a raffle. She's been a grateful supporter since the nuns helped her through a cancer battle about 10 years ago and now volunteers to clean the church once a week.
"I wanted to teach the kids that it's important to give back," she said of their fundraiser, "especially for a place that does as many wonderful things as this one does."
__
Tax-deductible donations to New Horizons may be sent to the Abbey of Regina Laudis, 73 Flanders Road, Bethlehem, Conn., 06751. The order also plans to soon offer online donation services through its website, www.http://www.abbeyofreginalaudis.com.
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Automotive Training ? What Are My Options? | DREAMHOSTERS
Breaking into ANY field is a hard thing to do! Breaking into the Automotive industry is no different. It used to be that getting ?in to? cars and automotive used to be easier and was more common because children often took classes in shop when they were in middle school. A lot of schools have stopped doing this unfortunately.
So, when a student actually dips into automotive experiences such as fixing his or her car on his or her own, or something so simple as changing a tire, they may get a feel that this is something fun which they might want to do with their lives as an adult. You might be thinking where you would be able to get automotive training if you are this type of person.
You actually have a whole slew of alternatives available to you so as to get the experience you require and be successful in this field. Firstly, you can consider an automotive school. These schools teach you about different aspects in automotive training like Service Advisor Training, Service Manager Training, Diagnostics Technology, Auto Repair Technology, etc.
Of course the Automotive Training and degree option does cost cash, so if you?re short on cash and you want to actually learn the trade before heading over to automotive training school, you might want to think about the next few options! You could work as an Intern. A lot of the schools actually provide intern programs.
You possibly won?t get paid for this, but you?ll receive lots of information about valuable on the job experience which you could use later on. You could work in a local auto shop, garage or even in a dealership. If you do plan on going for a degree later on, these Internships will oftentimes give you credit towards your degree! You could even try working as an apprentice.
These are seen less and less in the US, but they still do exist. An Apprentice is a person that has no formal education and is usually an individual who can?t afford schooling right now, but that will like to be paid for the job at hand. It?s not a ton of cash, but it is better than something like an Internship where you wouldn?t get paid at all.As an Apprentice you?ll also get a truck load of automotive training by a ?master? in the field. Last, but not least, you could also consider working smaller jobs in hopes to learn something. These smaller jobs could include changing oil in a lube shop, working behind a parts counter, busting tires part time, etc.
You can gain a ton of automotive consulting just by doing these few jobs or options. If you are not really sure if this is something you certainly want to do, I will suggest reading up on a few books and magazines for automotive consulting to see if this IS something you definitely want to do. Nothing worse than going to automotive training only to realize after you get your degree that this wasn?t actually a passion and more of a whim.
Source: http://www.dreamhosters.info/2011/12/automotive-training-what-are-my-options/
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Saturday, December 24, 2011
Analysis: Republicans risk backlash in 2012 (Reuters)
(Reuters) ? They began this year vowing to slash spending and reduce government.
Republicans in Congress can boast that they have done just that: As 2011 ends, they have wrung $2 trillion in spending cuts from Democrats without conceding a penny in tax increases.
But the bare-knuckle tactics and brinkmanship that congressional Republicans have used to achieve several victories could come at a big cost for the party in next year's elections.
This week's tense standoff over how to extend payroll tax cuts for 160 million Americans offered an unflattering look at how conservative House Republicans occasionally have overreached in avoiding compromise, lawmakers, strategists and analysts say.
One of the biggest potential perils for Republicans in 2012 is the continuing influence of the party's Tea Party-affiliated lawmakers, who once again showed their ability to stymie efforts by Republican Speaker John Boehner to cut deals on legislation.
Despite overwhelming Republican support in the U.S. Senate for a compromise that would allow the payroll tax cut to be extended for two months, Tea Party Republicans in the House - as they often have done in 2011 - rebelled and refused to give ground, demanding instead a year-long extension.
Until recently, many Republicans did not push hard for the payroll tax cut, questioning claims that it would stimulate the economy. They were more focused on blocking President Barack Obama's call for a surtax on millionaires.
Their objections to extending the tax cut softened as Obama and other Democrats began to publicly question them for not being more enthusiastic about a tax cut that particularly benefits the middle class.
For Republicans, the tax cut bill became a vehicle for other legislative "sweeteners" they supported. Those included tacking on a measure that would force Obama to speed up a decision over whether to approve construction of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline from Alberta, Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast.
Republicans and unions say the pipeline would be a job-producing aid to oil production; environmental advocates object to it.
Analysts say Republicans' stance in the debate over the payroll tax cut has put them in a curious position.
"Republicans seem to be opposed to a payroll tax cut even though they have positioned themselves as the party of lower taxes. It's nuts," said Stu Rothenberg, a non-partisan political analyst.
"The bad news for Republicans in 2012 is that the louder the Tea Party squawks, the harder it is for Boehner to get things through the House. This gives Democrats and President Obama ammunition," Rothenberg said.
"Independent and swing voters just want stuff to get done. And if it looks as though - and to some extent it does - that the Tea Party are being disruptive and unwilling to compromise, they look like a problem that will hurt the Republican brand."
CONGRESS APPROVAL AT RECORD LOWS
Approval ratings for the U.S. Congress have been at historic lows. One recent poll put public support for Congress at just 9 percent.
The low numbers follow a year of bitter dysfunction in Congress.
The U.S. government narrowly avoided default, suffered the first-ever downgrade of its credit rating and barely averted three government shutdowns. And, a congressional "super committee" failed to reach a deal on reducing the country's massive $15 trillion national debt.
Yet throughout the year Republicans repeatedly outmaneuvered Democrats, whose demands for revenue increases and tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans were rebuffed.
The deal that ended the debate over increasing the nation's debt limit included nearly $1 trillion in spending cuts - and no tax increases.
The super committee's failure also triggered $1.2 trillion in scheduled across-the-board spending cuts, beginning in 2013. To the dismay of many Republicans, roughly half of those cuts would fall on the defense budget. Already some congressional Republicans say they will try next year to get those defense cuts reversed.
Republicans "got much more of their agenda passed than the Democrats," said David Gergen, a political analyst and former adviser to two Republican and two Democratic presidents.
"The Republicans promised to cut down government and 2 trillion dollars later - and with no tax increases - that is progress."
But, Gergen cautioned, "in these victories Republicans are paying a significant political price. Reputationally, Congress is falling into the doldrums, and Republicans are more blamed. The reputation of Republicans is lower."
Recent polls suggest that such victories have been costly.
A Pew Research Center survey released last week found that by nearly a 2-to-1 ratio, 40 percent to 23 percent, voters said Republican leaders are more to blame that Democratic leaders for what the pollsters called the "do-nothing Congress."
A Reuters-Ipsos poll this month found voters favor a generic Democratic candidate for Congress over a Republican one, 48 percent to 42 percent.
Chris Jackson, Ipsos' research director, said that much could change next year, but that "at this point, despite all the work Republicans have done this year, they haven't convinced voters that they should stay in power."
Many Republicans argue that Democrats are more to blame for Congress' struggles to deal with the U.S. government's deficits. They say Democrats refused to make significant concessions on the cost of the government-run health insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid, which are on course to be the biggest drivers of the long-term debt.
President Barack Obama, faced with a fragile economy, voter discontent and a national unemployment rate of 8.6 percent, has settled on a populist re-election message.
He has blasted Republicans for not supporting tax increases on the wealthiest Americans, and for House Republicans' rejection of the Senate's bipartisan plan to extend the payroll tax cut.
If the tax cut is not extended, payroll taxes for 160 million Americans would jump from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent on January 1, costing a typical worker about $1,000 a year.
"The rebellion of the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party in the House has again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory," Steve Bell, a veteran Republican budget analyst, said of the payroll tax cut revolt. "The damage to the Republican brand is profound."
Ford O'Connell, a Republican strategist, also expressed frustration that despite his party's spending victories this year, they enter 2012 risking a voter backlash.
"The White House is winning the spin wars," O'Connell said. "The White House message that Republicans are the party of Wall Street and the rich is gaining more ground than any message the Republicans have.
"I think it is going to be more difficult for the Republican Party than the Democratic Party next year because the spin coming out of the White House is that the Republicans are unwilling to compromise. If the Republicans don't sharpen their message, they could suffer at the ballot box."
Besides the contest for president, the November 2012 elections include congressional elections in which the entire 435-member House and one-third of the 100-member Senate are up for re-election.
Control of the Senate (now led by Democrats), and possibly the House (now led by Republicans), is at stake.
Allen West, a first-term House Republican from Florida, said the president had "an incredible megaphone" in blaming Republicans for lack of progress in Congress.
"We need to do a better job of messaging," West told Reuters.
Mike Simpson, another House Republican, alluding to the Tea Party faction in his chamber, said: "The speaker (Boehner) and our leadership are between a rock and a hard place. They have a significant number of colleagues on the Republican side who don't want to compromise. They think that is a bad thing.
"It's the same thing on the Democratic side. Unfortunately, the extremes are getting further and further apart."
(Editing by David Lindsey and Eric Walsh)
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'Snow' top word London tweeting about
Looks like Londoners prefer using Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays when it comes to giving season?s greetings ? or at least that?s their greeting of choice online.
A London-based social marketing and web design firm, tbk Creative, analyzed more than 10,000 tweets to find out what Londoners have been talking about on Twitter over the past month.
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging site that allows users to send and read text-based posts up to 140 characters long.
Andrew Schiestel, one of the firm?s senior partners, said the company uses software to process and analyze tweets with the London hashtag: #LDNOnt.
A hashtag is typically added to the end of a tweet, and allows Twitter users to categorize their tweets based on interests.
So what have Londoners been busy tweeting about this past month?
Despite the likelihood of a green Christmas, ?snow? was the top weather word. ?Merry Christmas? was used nearly twice as much as ?Happy Holidays.?
The HIV/AIDS vaccine developed at the University of Western Ontario accounted for most of the top words used, and was the top re-tweet of the month. And the most common hashtags used were: #UWO and #JIANINLONDON.
Out of Canada?s 15 largest cities, London is the fifth most active on Twitter per capita, Schiestel said.
Each month tbk Creative shares London?s top Twitter trends with The Free Press. An infographic will appear in the paper each month.
alex.weber@sunmedia.com
Source: http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2011/12/22/19159791.html
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Friday, December 23, 2011
OnLive Now Playing Friendly With The Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY
Greg Kumparak is the Mobile Editor at Techcrunch. Greg has been writing for the TechCrunch network since May of 2008. Greg was born just outside of San Jose, and now lives in the East Bay of California. ? Learn More
Does anyone out there actually own Sony Ericsson?s handset-formerly-known-as-Playstation-phone, the Xperia Play? I?ve never seen one in the wild. Not once.
If any Play owners are out there reading: A) raise your hand, and B) know that your device learned a cool new trick today. That fancy slide-out gamepad built into your device? It?s now compatible with OnLive?s crazy gaming-in-the-cloud service.
For the unfamiliar, OnLive allows you to use your smartphone to play a rather wide selection of games (around 200, currently) that would otherwise only be playable on big ol? beefy computers. The games are actually being rendered/played on OnLive?s servers, then streamed back-and-forth to your handset with surprisingly little (but still perceptible) delay.
With today?s update, Xperia PLAY owners can use their device?s built-in gamepad to play any of OnLive?s titles. For everyone who didn?t buy Sony Ericsson?s wonky (but kind of neat ((but mostly wonky))) gaming portable, there?s always the standalone Bluetooth controller.
Onlive develops server-based video game processing, allowing games to run without game consoles or high-end computers, moving away from a system in which games are purchased and downloaded.
Learn moreSource: http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/22/onlive-now-playing-friendly-with-the-sony-ericsson-xperia-play/
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Canada's real estate outperforms globally: Report
Canada?s real estate market is strong compared to its global counterparts, but the boom has lasted longer than in most other countries and shows signs of waning, a Scotiabank report said.
?The Canadian housing market remains an outperformer among advanced nations, with real home prices up 4.8 per cent year over year in [the third quarter],? Scotiabank?s Global Real Estate Trends report said. ?While the sector?s continued buoyancy is impressive, monthly data through November suggest prices have levelled off since the spring, with conditions in the majority of local markets in ?balanced? territory.????????????????.Full Article: Source
Source: http://www.opalesque.com/Realestate_Briefing/?p=42460
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Thursday, December 22, 2011
First Person: High Health, Grocery Costs Bolster Creativity, Skimping (ContributorNetwork)
COMMENTARY | Deloitte Center for Health Solutions recently reported that consumers are paying an extra $1,355 in out-of-pocket health care costs. These costs, Deloitte reports include, "ambulance services, alternative medicines, nutritional products and vitamins, weight-loss centers and supervisory care of elderly family members." Read more here.
As someone who works part-time as a communications specialist, I do not have health insurance at my job; however, my husband's full-time job in the insurance field allows us to buy health insurance for me. Unfortunately, his paychecks are cut dramatically every two weeks because so much is taken out to cover my health care costs. These costs are more than $400 a month, and It has gotten worse in the last few years. I can't help but wonder if the new health care reforms will really make a difference for people like us. Will they?
The health care reforms slowly implemented every year are actually causing out-of-pocket health care costs for consumers to increase. For some, like me, these costs are rising faster than the average person's income. I can attest to this. The Deloitte study compared hours taken off from work per month to look after a family member or friend and the wages lost in the process. The results in the report point out the value of unpaid care is $199 billion a year, or $12.60 per hour.
Although we've never had to take time out of work for one another or a family member, we feel the difference when we go to a chiropractor or a naturopath. Going to the chiropractor means spending an extra $40 or more that's not covered by insurance.
Also, we have to meet our health insurance deductibles, and ours is around $1,000. I recently went to my naturopath medical doctor and spent $700 out of pocket (between two visits and blood tests). Also, we spend a lot on preventative care, in terms of vitamins. Although the health insurance covers some costs, for the most part, we end up paying the difference. Unfortunately, I use my credit card more than I should for these things.
There are other costs besides health care, too
Besides the national health care crisis we're in, the price of groceries, gas and the price of living index have gone up tremendously, making it extremely difficult to have any extra money at the end of the month. We easily spend $150 to $200 a week these days on food and gas. Our employers have had their own economic bad news, too, and as a result, raises have been put on hold.
Eating out, for many, is a thing of the past -- for us, too. If we do go out, we're careful to go somewhere that has two for one specials or places that offer liberal portions so we can stretch the left over's to serve for another meal or two. Some of these deals have come from Applebees, Bob Evans and other advertised deals from newspaper inserts or mailings. As for fast food, Taco Bell seems to have the best prices for the quantity. I've started cooking more meals at home and carefully shop for good deals. I often fix lots of fresh vegetables as sides and one entree like a lasagna or a soup that lasts us for several days. I look for good ideas at Recipes.com and even WeightWatchers.com. The key is to get good nutrition for less.
The 2011 National Grocers Association Consumer Survey Report finds that over half of consumers are cooking more at home these days. A solid majority (69 percent) feels comfortable in the kitchen. Many like to experiment with cooking and 75 percent say they want to become better home cooks." Read more here.
Other ways we've saved money is by figuring out exactly what we need per month, and sticking to it as closely as possible. This means no impulsive spending.
I've also been clipping more coupons and shopping at the grocery store on days of sales. To extend my savings, I've also started shopping more at Aldees, Dollar Stores and Costco's. As a result, I've watched my dollar stretch considerably.
Finally, we've really learned to plan our trips carefully. With gas prices up again, planning trips is important. We make a list of places we have to go and try not to make more trips than necessary. The hardest thing for me is driving the speed limit or below, but when I do, it works and I save money by using less gas. Also, getting tune-ups and oil changes regularly has helped maintain good gas mileage.
I'm sure we will implement additional changes in spending habits as necessary. In the home, we've already gotten an energy audit and implemented the recommendations given. As a result our heat and electricity bills have decreased. There are so many things all of us can do to save money. We just need to be ready to make the changes.
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Monday, December 19, 2011
Chelsea slips, Dempsey scores
updated 3:16 p.m. ET Dec. 17, 2011
LONDON - Chelsea missed a chance to put pressure on the two Manchester clubs at the top of the Premier League on Saturday, yielding a goal with two minutes left in a 1-1 draw at relegation-threatened Wigan.
Chelsea looked on course for a fourth straight Premier League victory when Daniel Sturridge scored his eighth goal of the season in the 59th minute. But Wigan dominated the second half and Jordi Gomez tapped in from close range after a mistake by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech.
The result left Chelsea with 32 points from 16 matches, four behind second-place Manchester United and six behind longtime leader City.
Defending champion United could take first place for the first time since mid-October if it wins at Queens Park Rangers on Sunday and Manchester City loses to visiting Arsenal. Sunderland is at fourth-place Tottenham and Liverpool is at Aston Villa in Sunday's other matches.
The draw left Wigan in the relegation zone with Blackburn and Bolton, which remained anchored to the bottom of the league after a 2-0 loss at Fulham
Two weeks after becoming the most prolific American scorer in England's top division, Clint Dempsey scored his 38th Premier League goal to get Fulham rolling. He scored his fifth league goal this season and eighth overall with a 32nd-minute header from Bryan Ruiz's cross. Costa Rica forward Ruiz chipped over goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen to make it 2-0 two minutes later.
Last-place Bolton has only nine points from 16 games. That's one fewer than Blackburn, which lost 2-1 to visiting West Bromwich Albion. Peter Odemwingie scored West Brom's winning goal with a minute left.
Wolverhampton is one place and one point above the relegation zone after giving up two second-half goals in a 2-1 loss against Stoke. Stoke is three points behind Newcastle, which spent three months in the top four but is now without a win in five matches after drawing 0-0 with visiting Swansea.
In the League Championship, American defender Daniel Potts made his debut for West Ham in a 1-0 home draw against Barnsley. A member of the U.S. Under-20 team, Potts is captain of the Hammers' Under-18 team and signed a 2 1-2-year professional contract on Friday. He overcame leukemia two years ago.
___
BERLIN (AP) ? Defending champion Borussia Dortmund will go into the Bundesliga's four-week winter break three points behind leader Bayern Munich after beating last-place Freiburg 4-1.
Robert Lewandowski scored the first of his two goals in the seventh minute. Jan Rosenthal tied it in the 34th but Ilkay Guendogan restored the visitors' lead in the 44th, before Kevin Grosskreutz added another goal in the 59th and then crossed for Lewandowski to complete the scoring in the 70th.
On Friday, Bayern clinched the unofficial title of "winter champion" with a 3-0 win over Cologne on Friday.
Raul Gonzalez scored a hat-trick to help Schalke rout Werder Bremen 5-0, with Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Klaas Jan Huntelaar also scoring to complete a miserable evening for Werder goalkeeper Tim Wiese on his 30th birthday. Schalke and Dortmund have 34 points.
Relegation-threatened Nuremberg ended Bayer Leverkusen's six-game unbeaten run in the league with a 3-0 win, Wolfsburg beat Stuttgart 1-0, Hamburger SV drew 1-1 with Augsburg and Roman Hubnik scored in injury time to rescue a 1-1 draw for Hertha Berlin at Hoffenheim.
___
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? Getafe rallied past Mallorca 2-1 on two goals by Abdel Barrada for its first road victory of the Spanish league season.
Barrada offset Ivan Ramis' opening goal when his shot deflected off a defender before landing in the back of the net in the 28th minute. In the 44th, he tapped Nicolas "Miku" Fedor's cross into an empty net.
Sergio Garcia's 84th-minute winner gave Espanyol a 2-1 victory at Sporting Gijon.
___
MILAN (AP) ? Chievo got back to winning ways in the Italian league with goals from Cyril Thereau and Gennaro Sardo in a 2-0 victory over Cagliari.
Thereau gave Chievo the lead in the 35th minute and Sardo struck shortly before the 60th, giving Chievo its first win in four matches.
Chievo moves into the top half of the standings ahead of the rest of the weekend games and is seven points off the relegation zone. Cagliari is one point behind.
___
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) ? Carlos Bocanegra scored to help first-place Rangers defeat visiting Inverness 2-1 in the Scottish Premier League.
Bocanegra, one of three Americans starting for the defending champions, put Rangers ahead in the 55th minute with a close-range shot. Andrew Shinnie evened the scores 12 minutes later. Shinnie had a goal ruled out for offside before substitute Kyle Lafferty scored in the 87th minute.
Americans Maurice Edu and Alejandro Bedoya also started for Rangers.
Rangers have 48 points to 41 for Celtic, which plays at St. Johnstone on Sunday.
___
ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Sebastian Leto scored once in each half and set up a goal by Jean-Alain Boumsong to lead Panathinaikos to a 3-1 victory over visiting Asteras in the Greek league.
Fernando Usero scored a late goal for Asteras.
Panathinaikos overtook AEK for second place and is a point behind defending champion Olympiakos, which has played one more game. Olympiakos hosts Giannena and AEK plays at Atromitos on Sunday.
Ergotelis won 1-0 at Levadiakos and Xanthi beat visiting Panionios by the same score.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsChelsea slips, Dempsey scores
Euro Roundup: Chelsea missed a chance to put pressure on the two Manchester clubs at the top of the Premier League on Saturday, yielding a goal with two minutes left in a 1-1 draw at relegation-threatened Wigan.
Getty ImagesSource: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45708628/ns/sports-soccer/
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Sunday, December 18, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Son of Unification Church founder visits NKorea (AP)
SEOUL, South Korea ? The youngest son of Unification Church founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon has met with North Korea's ceremonial head of state.
Footage Thursday from Associated Press Television News in Pyongyang showed Moon Hyung-jin speaking with North Korea's parliamentary head Kim Yong Nam.
Moon's 91-year-old father maintains links with Pyongyang and the church owns Pyeonghwa Motors in the North.
The 32-year-old son is an ordained minister who is expected to take over the multibillion-dollar religious and business empire. His father calls himself a messiah sent to complete Jesus Christ's works.
Moon's trip coincides with the 20th anniversary of a visit by his father to North Korea and a meeting with founder Kim Il Sung.
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Kobe Bryant's wife files for divorce (AP)
ORANGE, Calif. ? Kobe Bryant's wife, who stood by her husband when he was charged with sexual assault in 2003, filed for divorce on Friday from the Los Angeles Lakers star, citing irreconcilable differences after a decade of marriage.
Vanessa Bryant signed the papers on Dec. 1. Kobe Bryant signed his response on Dec. 7 and it was filed Friday, according to the documents.
"The Bryants have resolved all issues incident to their divorce privately with the assistance of counsel and a judgment dissolving their marital status will be entered in 2012," according to a statement from a representative for the couple.
In the filing, Vanessa Bryant asked for joint legal and physical custody of the couple's two daughters, Natalia, 8, and Gianna, 5. Kobe Bryant asked for the same in his response. Vanessa Bryant also requested spousal support.
The Bryants "ask that in the interest of our young children and in light of the upcoming holiday season the public respect our privacy during this difficult time," according to the statement.
Bryant met his future wife in 1999 on a music video shoot when Vanessa Laine was 18 years old. Six months later, she and the then-21-year-old Bryant became engaged. They married on April 18, 2001.
The Bryants have been through trying times together.
Vanessa Bryant appeared at a news conference with her husband when he was charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman who worked at the exclusive Lodge & Spa at Cordillera near Vail, Colo., in 2003. She held his hand and stroked it tenderly as the NBA star admitted he was guilty of adultery ? but nothing else. Earlier she had issued her own statement to the media, vowing to stand by her husband.
"I know that my husband has made a mistake ? the mistake of adultery," she said in the statement at the time. "He and I will have to deal with that within our marriage, and we will do so. He is not a criminal."
A year later, prosecutors dropped the criminal charge against Kobe Bryant because the woman did not want to go ahead with a trial.
Last year, Kobe and Vanessa Bryant settled litigation with a former maid who accused the NBA star's wife of harassment. The Bryants countersued Maria Jimenez for violating a confidentiality agreement by talking to reporters about the family.
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Friday, December 16, 2011
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FBI using Carrier IQ?
Carrier IQ
By Athima Chansanchai
Carrier IQ can't seem to stay out of the spotlight: A recent post from a government watchdog site implicated the FBI as a user of the software, which can monitor network performance?? and, to the alarm of many, log sensitive information. Meanwhile, the company head gave an interview in order to explain the allegations of carrier phone snooping.
There's no smoking gun that shows the Feds are using Carrier IQ. Instead, the site MuckRock, which facilitates and reports on Freedom of Information Act requests, posted a "telling denial" of such a request. The idea is that the denial shows?that the FBI was using the controversial diagnostic tool.
Shown by security researcher Trevor Eckhart?to be capable of covert keylogging, Carrier IQ has since come under heavy scrutiny by lawmakers, other security firms, individuals concerned for their privacy and now, perhaps, federal law enforcement.
MuckRock's Michael Morisy filed the FOI request for "manuals, documents or other written guidance used to access or analyze data gathered by programs developed or deployed by Carrier IQ," which the Department of Justice responded to by citing an exemption to disclosure. Using the rationale that the records requested by Morisy fall under "law enforcement records" that are currently being used in legal proceedings and that release of such documents could interfere with such proceedings, the DOJ's records management division would not allow the request to go through.
Morisy, who plans to appeal the denial, inferred this from the DOJ letter:?
What is still unclear is whether the FBI used Carrier IQ's software in its own investigations, whether it is currently investigating Carrier IQ, or whether it is some combination of both ? not unlikely given the recent uproar over the practice coupled with the?U.S. intelligence communities reliance on third-party vendors. The response would seem to indicate at least the former, since the request was specifically for documents related directly to accessing and analyzing Carrier IQ data.
The Next Web takes a much more cautionary perspective on this interaction, from its own legal expert, Jeff Cormier:
What can be inferred, and should have been pointed out, is that?Al Franken and others?are asking for the FTC to look into the matter. That is the likely reason why information is being withheld. It's completely inaccurate to state there is an "ongoing investigation."
A national class action lawsuit has been filed in connection with software on at least 140 million smart phones. Many experts claim the software, manufactured by Carrier IQ, tracks and stores the data of a user's activity. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
Cormier is referring to?U.S. Representative Edward Markey, who on Dec. 2 asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Carrier IQ for violation of privacy rights amongst million of mobile phone users. The company's hot water also includes two lawsuits that also pin HTC and Samsung for violating the federal Wiretap Act.
To try to get itself out of the immense hole it's dug, Carrier IQ CEO Larry Lenhart, and Andrew Coward, the company?s VP of marketing tried to exert some damage control, through an interview with?AllThingsD.
Coward came up with this explanation for Eckhart's findings:
What he was looking at there was an Android log file. And to be blunt, there was information there that shouldn?t have been. In order for Carrier IQ to get information off a device, we work with the manufacturers to deliver that information through an API. That information shouldn?t show up in an Android log file. We don?t read from Android log files; we don?t see Android log files. That info just shouldn?t be there. And, ultimately, what goes in that log file is up to the manufacturer.
And then, Carrier IQ released this document yesterday, which reaffirms the company's position that its software is used for the purposes of better network management and customer care (in analyzing a problem and giving the user an explanation for it).
The document also emphasizes how little data it's gathering: "In typical deployments, the IQ Agent uploads diagnostic data once per day, at a time when the device is?not being used. This upload, which averages about 200 kilobytes, contains a summary of network and?device performance since the last upload, typically 24 hours."
Carrier IQ seems to shift any responsibility for what information is gathered to individual carriers and whatever agreements they have with their customers.
And because they can't let go of Eckhart's damning video:
Our investigation of?Trevor Eckhart?s video indicates that location, key presses, SMS and other information appears in log?files as a result of debug messages from pre-production handset manufacturer software. Specifically?it appears that the handset manufacturer software?s debug capabilities remained ?switched on? in?devices sold to consumers.?
It also attributes inadvertent keylogging to a bug:
Carrier IQ has discovered that, due to this bug, in some unique circumstances, such as a?when a user receives an SMS during a call, or during a simultaneous data session, SMS messages may?have unintentionally been included in the layer 3 signaling traffic that is collected by the IQ Agent. These messages were encoded and embedded in layer 3 signaling traffic and are not human readable.
In summary, Carrier IQ wants you, the mobile phone user, to be assured that forward content, that it may have accidentally logged some text messages and that it does admit a vulnerability in debug settings.
Read the rest of the 19-page document (linked above) if you want to dive into it more.
Related stories:
Check out Technolog on?Facebook, and on Twitter, follow?Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the?Google+?stream.
Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/13/9417929-fbi-using-carrier-iq
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Wednesday, December 7, 2011
E! News host Rancic announces double mastectomy
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Six weeks after revealing she has breast cancer, E! News host Giuliana Rancic (RAN'sik) says she will have a double mastectomy.
The 37-year-old made the announcement Monday on NBC's "Today" show.
Rancic says it was not an easy decision but was the best one for her.
She plans to have the surgery next week and says she hopes to be recovered by New Year's Eve, when she and husband Bill Rancic are planning to be in Times Square.
Rancic says she received an overwhelming outpouring of love, prayers and support from her fans after revealing her diagnosis in October and wanted to thank everyone and give them an update.
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