Yaklichjdom55's blog

Hacking Trial: Prosecution Paints Picture of 'Dog-Eat-Dog' Tabloid World

Getty Images

Andy Coulson, Rebekah Brooks

LONDON – The phone hacking trial against former News Corp U.K. top executives Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson and six others continued Thursday with the prosecution playing an audio tape and showing emails and other material that it said would prove a hacking conspiracy at the former News of the World tabloid.

Prosecutor Andrew Edis continued his opening statement, telling the 12 jurors about three emails disclosed by the U.K. newspaper arm of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in 2011 that he said caused police here to launch the probe that led to the trial.

They were from private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who – as was revealed Wednesday – has previously pleaded guilty to hacking, to ex-News of the World news editor Ian Edmondson, one of the eight defendants. The latter once again sat in the courtroom's dock Thursday on the far left from the judge's vantage point. Edmondson during wide parts of the morning session used pen and notepad to write notes.

STORY: U.K. Press Regulation Royal Charter Is Approved By the Queen 

Much of Thursday's morning session focused on Edmondson and what Edis highlighted were regular exchanges between him and Mulcaire, some of which, he argued, showed Mulcaire providing summaries on his own hacking work or info, such a phone number and pin code, for the hacking of certain people's phones. The prosecutor once again argued though that former editors Coulson and Brooks also had to be aware of Mulcaire's work given their responsibility for ensuring that stories in the News of the World were true.

Edis spoke of the competitive "dog-eat-dog" world of Fleet Street, London's former newspaper district, arguing it may have led the defendants to accept the use of phone hacking to get or confirm stories and spy on competitors, such as two reporters from the Mail on Sunday. He also spoke of the industry "frenzy to get the story."

"We know what Mr Mulcaire was doing, he was phone hacking," Edis said about exchanges between the private investigator and Edmondson in the mid-2000s. "Look how much contact there is at this time between Mr. Edmondson and Mr. Mulcaire. Do you think it is likely or even possible that Mr. Edmondson did not know what was being done by Mr Mulcaire?"

He argued that given the importance of the stories - "this was big stuff," as he said - the NOTW editor also had to have asked the question: "How do I know this information is true?"

And he said Mulcaire at one point was paid around $160,000 (160,000 pounds) a year, which all top editors must have been aware of. Stuart Kuttner, a former NOTW managing editor, authorized most payments to Mulcaire, Edis said, citing 221 payments that amounted to $664,140 (413,527 pounds). But "a big contract involves the senior management," he argued. "It was not hidden from anybody that he was being paid all that money."

He said that must have been particularly true given emails from Brooks that showed her pushing for budget cuts, meaning that she was "actively involved" in financial matters at the paper. Despite this pressure of looking for cost savings around the organization, nobody seemed to have questioned Mulcaire's pay, the prosecutor continued. "The question is didn't anybody ever ask 'what are we paying this chap for'," Edis concluded.

He also emphasized that "it wasn't a secret" among NOTW staff that Mulcaire worked for the paper. He cited a profile of the former soccer player in the NOTW itself that mentioned Mulcaire worked for the paper's special investigations team. While Brooks in the past said she had never heard of Mulcaire until he got arrested, "it clearly wasn't a secret" that he did work for the tabloid, Edis said.

Edis summarized that while not all requests from a defendant that Mulcaire help them resulted in a successful hack. But he said various documents of interactions between Mulcaire and News of the World top editors and invoices typically labeled as "assists" were "evidence against all the defendants."

After playing an audio tape of Mulcaire calling a cell phone provider to find out someone's voicemail passcode, Edis focused on the three emails that led to the hacking investigation. One of the three emails from April 2006 referred to member of parliament Tessa Jowell and her husband David Mills, who at the time was accused of being involved in a bribery case linked to Italian media mogul and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The second email referred to Lord Frederick Windsor and mentioned that Edmondson could "press * and pin." Edis said jurors would have to decide whether Mulcaire could have emailed that note to Edmondson for any reason other than to tell him how to hack a phone.

The third email referred to an adviser to a former deputy prime minister who back then was accused of having an affair.

Brooks wore a grey suit and white blouse Thursday. Coulson wore a grey suit and white shirt with a dark red tie. After a 20-minute break during the morning session, Brooks returned to the dock with a mug of water and cups, filling up cups for some of her co-defendants.

Just as on Wednesday, Kuttner, who has health issues, wasn't in the dock Thursday.

One email exchange that Edis cited Thursday also provided a deeper look behind the scenes of the NOTW's hunt for scoops. He said Edmondson emailed Coulson that he had a mobile number for a woman who was at the time reported to have had an affair with a top politician.

"I want to shock her with a [big number]. How are your pockets?" Edmondson wrote to Coulson amid plans to get her to write her story for the paper, the jury heard. Edis said Coulson replied that same minute: "Start at £100,000."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/news/~3/Sc9kLit_pGc/hacking-trial-prosecution-paints-picture-652342
Category: tony romo   gucci mane   Wrecking Ball   djokovic   FOX Sports 1  

China seeks info on Uighurs after deadly crash

Cleaners walk past an area shielded by green nets in front of Tiananmen Gate following a car fire in Beijing, China, Monday, Oct. 28, 2013. A sport-utility vehicle veered into a crowd in front of Beijing’s Forbidden City and then crashed and caught fire Monday, killing three people and injuring several, police said. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

Cleaners walk past an area shielded by green nets in front of Tiananmen Gate following a car fire in Beijing, China, Monday, Oct. 28, 2013. A sport-utility vehicle veered into a crowd in front of Beijing’s Forbidden City and then crashed and caught fire Monday, killing three people and injuring several, police said. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

An area in front of Tiananmen Gate is shielded following a car fire in Beijing, China, Monday, Oct. 28, 2013. A sport-utility vehicle veered into a crowd in front of Beijing’s Forbidden City and then crashed and caught fire Monday, killing three people and injuring several, police said. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

Plainclothes policemen place green net shields in front of Tiananmen Gate following a car fire in Beijing Monday, Oct. 28, 2013. A sport-utility vehicle veered into a crowd in front of Beijing’s Forbidden City and then crashed and caught fire Monday, killing three people and injuring several, police said. The portrait is of the late communist leader Mao Zedong. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Paramilitary police officers, police officers, and cleaners work in front of Tiananmen Gate following a car fire in Beijing, China, Monday, Oct. 28, 2013. A sport-utility vehicle veered into a crowd in front of Beijing’s Forbidden City and then crashed and caught fire Monday, killing three people and injuring several, police said. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

Paramilitary policemen guard and patrol on Tiananmen Square, near Tiananmen Gate, back, where state media says a sports-utility vehicle veered into a crowd, in Beijing, China, Monday, Oct. 28, 2013. The vehicle crashed and caught fire Monday, killing three occupants and injuring tourists and security officers, police said. Several people in the crowd were injured in the crash in front of the iconic Tiananmen Gate around noon, a statement posted on the Beijing police's microblog said. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

BEIJING (AP) — Police investigating the apparent car attack at Beijing's Forbidden City searched Tuesday for information on two ethnic Uighur minority suspects, a hotel employee said, a day after the vehicle plowed through a crowd and crashed, killing five people and injuring 38.

Police released no public information about a possible motive for the incident at one of China's most politically sensitive and heavily guarded public spaces, and it was not immediately clear if the two suspects were among the three people killed inside the vehicle.

Two bystanders, including a Filipino woman, also were killed when the sport utility vehicle veered inside of a barrier separating a crowded sidewalk from a busy avenue and then drove toward Tiananmen Gate, which stands opposite the sprawling Tiananmen Square.

Any incident in the area is sensitive because the square was the focus of a 1989 pro-democracy movement that was violently suppressed by the military.

The 38 injured were among the crowds in front of the gate, where a large portrait of Mao Zedong hangs near the southern entrance to the former imperial palace. Three other Filipinos and a Japanese man were among the injured, police said, but there were no immediate details on their conditions.

Zhao Fuzhou, a security official at Beijing's Xinjiang Dasha hotel, said police had circulated a notice searching for information about two suspects with Uighur names in the aftermath of Monday's deaths. Unconfirmed copies of the notice also were widely circulated on the Chinese Internet.

One of the men, identified in the notice as Yusupu Wumaierniyazi, was listed as living at the address of a town in Xinjiang in which 24 police and civilians and 13 militants were killed in an attack on June 26.

Radicals among the Muslim Turkic Uighurs have been fighting a low-intensity insurgency against Chinese rule for years. This summer saw an unusually large number of violent incidents and Chinese security forces say they have been guarding against attacks outside of Xinjiang.

Uighurs are culturally, religiously and linguistically distinct from China's ethnic Han majority and many have chafed under heavy-handed Communist Party rule.

Beijing police said on their microblog that they were taking "effective measures to ensure the capital's safety and stability."

A police statement said the vehicle had burst into flames after crashing at about noon Monday into a guardrail for one of the ancient stone bridges leading to the gate. The adjacent Chang'an Avenue was closed as police and rescue services converged, but police said traffic was restored just over an hour later.

The incident had every appearance of being deliberate, since the driver apparently jumped a curb and traveled about 400 meters (yards) to the spot where the car was said to have caught fire. Along the way, it avoided trees, street lights and at least one security checkpoint.

Photos of the scene that briefly circulated on the Internet showed a vehicle emitting thick smoke at the gate. Injured people, including a young girl, lay on the ground, many of them bleeding heavily.

Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said their information indicated that the woman who died and the injured Filipinos — two women and a man — were tourists. "Our embassy is working to gather more details about this incident and to extend the necessary and appropriate assistance to the victims," he said in a statement.

Police said the other tourist killed was a Chinese man from the southern province of Guangdong.

Attendants and nearby concession stand vendors who were asked about the incident all said they were not clear on what happened. Such employees are generally understood to be part-time police informants.

Just west of the square lies the Great Hall of the People, the seat of China's parliament, while many of China's top leaders live and work just a few hundred meters (yards) away in the tightly guarded Zhongnanhai compound.

___

Associated Press writer Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-29-China-Tiananmen-Car%20Fire/id-246a2fc195954cb9823be9bcf42210b5
Category: randall cobb   Witches of East End   cnn news   aldon smith   Chelsea Manning  

NJ second-home owners in limbo a year after Sandy

STAFFORD TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) -- The Jersey shore's small vacation bungalows and cottages have for decades staked out little plots of paradise where families who scrimped and saved could while away summer evenings, parents having drinks on the deck and kids working the ice cream stand or stealing a first kiss under the boardwalk.

Now, nearly a year after Superstorm Sandy blasted through, countless middle-class families whose tiny vacation homes were once the place to make precious memories are finding them to be a financial albatross.

While billions of dollars in federal relief have helped primary homeowners rebuild after the storm, second homeowners find themselves stuck in limbo: not eligible for enough money to rebuild or even demolish their homes while they remain on the hook for mortgage payments and fatter flood insurance fees for houses they can't even use.

"We thought we were good for the community, and to suddenly be labeled this second homeowner like it was a derogatory statement, it was like a smack in the face," said Benita Kiernan, a retired nurse who with her retired New York City firefighter husband sank every spare cent into a small cottage on an inlet in Stafford Township.

"We became the scarlet-S second homeowners."

For decades, the Jersey shore has been a place where police officers, plumbers, teachers and other working-class families can save up and put a down payment on a small beach bungalow to spend their summers "down the shore," as it is called. In many cases the properties are passed down through families.

Even before Sandy tore the Kiernans' home down to a wooden shell, it was not the palatial estate conjured by the phrase "vacation home." But even then the modest 1,000-square-foot house had been a financial stretch — the family skipped dinners out and vacations to be able to afford it.

The sacrifice has been worth it, Kiernan said. The shore is where their grandchildren played, their four daughters packed in with their friends and the couple was considering moving full time because they viewed the community as a second hometown.

"It was low-key fun," Kiernan said.

But the little house offers mostly heartache now. The Kiernans received about $100,000 from their insurance company, but that's less than half of the amount of their policy and nowhere near enough to pay the mortgage and shoulder the cost of demolishing and rebuilding.

"This was our investment," John Kiernan said as his wife wiped away tears.

Even tearing down the house and selling the lot is no easy way out — while homes have been selling on the Jersey shore, values are not what they were before the storm.

"Do I build it, do I leave it? I can't even sell the property because properties have been downgraded that much," he said.

Second homeowners are not eligible for a suite of relief options available to primary homeowners. Federal Emergency Management Agency rebuilding assistance, $1.8 billion in rebuilding funds the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development gave to New Jersey or low-interest loans from the Small Business Administration. Second homeowners will also see their flood insurance rates go up because they are not grandfathered in like primary homeowners.

In Lavallette, the skeleton of Cora Hoch's sea glass-colored vacation bungalow remains, its foundation tipped, wiring exposed, doors missing and "do not enter" spray-painted on the side.

"We put our life savings into that little house," said Hoch, a school nurse from Kearny, N.J. "We can't afford to fix it, and FEMA will not give us anything."

FEMA said the assistance money is meant to be a one-time stopgap measure to help people get back into their primary homes as soon as possible. Congress, FEMA said, set the rules.

"It was designed for those who don't have a roof over their head or a place to live," said Tom McDermott, a FEMA mitigation specialist. "I guess they said if they can afford a second home or a camp, and don't take this the wrong way, it isn't necessary that they get back up so they can enjoy a weekend or a week away."

Second homeowners said the problem is that insurance doesn't fully cover the price of the options for these homes. Rehabbing and, in many cases, lifting them or demolishing them and rebuilding from scratch.

"Everybody is in limbo because you can't proceed to the next step," said Benita Kiernan, whose neighborhood is now a patchwork of vacant damaged homes, freshly leveled lots and small ranch homes boosted up on stilts in an effort to keep them out of the water the next time a massive storm strikes.

Many are waiting to see if they can qualify for any other assistance, but aside from private charities there is little help. Some are dipping into their retirement funds.

Michelle and John Novella are rebuilding their Stafford Township home on their own, putting everything on credit cards.

"First homeowners should be the priority," Michelle Novella said, but she feels second homeowners who patronize the seasonal businesses and make up the lifeblood of the Jersey shore should get something.

"Otherwise," she said, "it's going to make the Jersey shore very different."

___

Follow Katie Zezima at www.twitter.com/katiezez

• Insurance
• Real Estate
• Superstorm Sandy

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nj-second-home-owners-limbo-180128145.html
Related Topics: parenthood   Tami Erin   auburn football   lamar odom   Lee Thompson Young  

Stars to hold tribute concert for Gregg Allman

FILE - In this April 13, 2013 file photo, Gregg Allman performs at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013 at Madison Square Garden, in New York. On Friday, January 10, 2014, music stars and friends will join together for “All My Friends: Celebrating the Songs & Voice of Gregg Allman,” a special concert in honor of the legendary singer, songwriter and musician. The star-studded concert will take place at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, file)

FILE - In this April 13, 2013 file photo, Gregg Allman performs at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013 at Madison Square Garden, in New York. On Friday, January 10, 2014, music stars and friends will join together for “All My Friends: Celebrating the Songs & Voice of Gregg Allman,” a special concert in honor of the legendary singer, songwriter and musician. The star-studded concert will take place at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, file)

ATLANTA (AP) — The Allman Brothers, Sam Moore, Taj Mahal, Warren Haynes, Eric Church and several others have signed on to pay tribute in concert to Gregg Allman early next year.

"All My Friends: Celebrating the Songs & Voice of Gregg Allman" will be held Jan. 10 at Atlanta's Fox Theatre. The concert will be filmed and released later.

Others on the eclectic list of performers include Natalie Cole, Jackson Browne, John Hiatt, Pat Monahan of Train, Martina McBride, Trace Adkins and John Hiatt. Special guests and more performers will be announced soon. Tickets go on sale Nov. 1 at the Fox Theatre box office.

Don Was will lead an all-star band lined up to help celebrate Allman, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

___

Online:

http://celebrategreggallman.com

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-10-23-People-Gregg%20Allman/id-ec55f250f757425588d799b8ffdec3eb
Related Topics: Solheim Cup 2013   elvis presley   elvis presley   Gia Allemand Dead   Reza Aslan  

Kids Should Hack Their School-Provided iPads

School-provided iPads are configured to have limited use. That often doesn't last too long once in students' hands.

Photo by Thinkstock

This article originally appeared in Zócalo Public Square and the New America Foundation’s Weekly Wonk. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, the New America Foundation, and Arizona State University; Zócalo Public Square is a partnership of NAF and Arizona State.

Last year, 40 tablet computers were delivered to the children of two remote Ethiopian villages. The villagers were 100 percent illiterate—the kids had never seen road signs, product labels, or printed material of any kind.

Technicians from the One Laptop Per Child program dropped off a stack of boxes, showed a couple of adults how to use the solar chargers, and then walked away. Within minutes, the kids had cracked the packaging open and figured out how to turn the tablets on. Within weeks, they were singing their ABCs, picked up from the English-language learning software installed on the tablets. Within five months, some kid figured out that the tablets had built-in cameras—they had been disabled for ethical reasons—and hacked the Android operating system to activate them.

So, frankly, it shouldn’t have come as much of a shock when a few hundred of the tech-drenched children of Los Angeles figured out how to “hack” the $678 iPads they were given by their school district, just one month into the new school year.

In recent weeks, Los Angeles distributed iPads to 50,000 students in the public school system as part of a pilot for a $1 billion citywide initiative. Kids at Westchester High, one of the few schools that allowed students to take their tablets home, quickly noted that they could bypass the district-installed security filter with two clicks, allowing them to access banned sites like YouTube and Facebook.

One of the student hackers—if two clicks can be called “hacking”—was Westchester High valedictorian candidate Brian Young, who was hauled into the principal’s office for a dressing-down. “He wasn’t threatening me, but he told me millions of dollars of technology had been compromised because of me,” Young told the Los Angeles Times. Young said he fiddled with the security settings innocently, after having trouble getting online at home. Apparently, the iPads are configured to work well only on the limited in-school network. Young said he’d hoped to download some apps that the school’s network couldn’t handle or didn’t permit. We don’t know whether young Young was looking to download something to help with his math homework or whether he was pursuing … other extracurricular activities. But that didn’t stop school administrators and local media from panicking.

L.A. Unified School District Police Chief Steven Zipperman fretted in a confidential memo obtained by the Los Angeles Times that students would share their “hacks” via social media. “I’m guessing this is just a sample of what will likely occur on other campuses once this hits Twitter, YouTube, or other social media sites explaining to our students how to breach or compromise the security of these devices,” Zipperman wrote. “I want to prevent a ‘runaway train’ scenario when we may have the ability to put a hold on the roll-out.”

But why would students gaining mastery over their digital devices be considered a “runaway train” at all? The iPads were loaded with software from the textbook giant Pearson, so perhaps the fantasy was that high school students would be content paging through glowing versions of their textbooks.

But the whole point of introducing current technology into the classroom is to help education catch up with the rest of the world, which has been utterly transformed by fast computers with fast Internet access.

Unfortunately, when it comes to technology in education, traditional schools tend to use fuzzy math. Give ’em iPads, the thinking goes, and the test scores will soar. The intended mechanism isn’t always clear, and the vision becomes even more muddled when the inevitable committees, unions, and concerned parents get involved. The result too often is restricted access to semi-useless tech crippled by proprietary software deals and censored Internet.

Implementing bold ideas like “flipping the classroom”—having students watch lectures at home and spending their classroom hours doing problem sets, engaging in group discussions, or getting one-on-one tutorials—means letting kids use the relevant tech on their own time and in their own way. It means trusting them with access to devices like the ones they might someday use at work.

Schools are supposed to be places of free inquiry, where kids seek knowledge and debate ideas in a safe space. Limiting access to such basic sites like YouTube signals that kids can’t be trusted to make their own decisions—about information sources or time management.

One of the most famous innovations in online learning to date is Khan Academy, which offers thousands of tutorials on subjects from A to Z. What site does Khan use to host those lessons? YouTube. Sorry, L.A. school kids!

One Laptop Per Child considered the Ethiopian kids’ hack a success. “The kids had completely customized the desktop—so every kids’ [sic] tablet looked different. We had installed software to prevent them from doing that,” a contrite Ed McNierney, OLPC’s chief technology officer, told the MIT Technology Review. “And the fact that they worked around it was clearly the kind of creativity, the kind of inquiry, the kind of discovery that we think is essential to learning.”

On Oct. 1, LAUSD pronounced its ed tech experiment temporarily out of control and admitted that several schools were in the process of attempting to pry the new tablets from their students’ clammy hands.

Los Angeles should take a page from OLPC’s lesson book. School officials say the project has not been halted and that schools are still on track to distribute another 300,000 tablets next fall. But unless administrators are willing to radically rethink their goals for the billion-dollar tech initiative in the coming months, a few hundred kids figuring out how to customize their iPads may just be the most beneficial result.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/10/l_a_school_ipad_program_students_should_hack_their_tablets.html
Tags: Eid mubarak   Mike Wayans   harvest moon   Spain train crash   Tim Hudson  

UFC's Marc Ratner defends use of ten-point must system in mixed martial arts

From a regulatory standpoint, there a number of hot topics in the sport of mixed martial arts today. One that stands above the rest because it seemingly never goes away is the controversy surrounding the use of the 'ten-point must system'. Borrowed from boxing, it awards ten points to the winner of a round and nine points or less to the loser.

Yet, in the hands of incompetent judges, impulsive referees who take away points and fewer rounds per fight, more are beginning to wonder if borrowing boxing's scoring system was really the best idea.

In recent days and weeks, UFC analyst and former UFC fighter Kenny Florian as well as UFC commentator Joe Rogan have both attacked the system for perceived inadequecies.

On Monday's 'The MMA Hour' with Ariel Helwani, UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner believed the concerns of the system were valid, but generally speaking, felt it was perfectly suitable for use in the sport.

"I think it does work," Ratner said. "The problem with that system, whether it be boxing or MMA, is that not all 10-9 rounds are equal. Certainly in a three-round fight, that can skew who wins, but for the most part, most of the decisions are good."

"Every once in a while, you're going to get one that certainly goes against public opinion," Ratner continued. "But MMA is harder to judge than boxing, in my opinion, because you have to know what's going on on the ground.

"When I first started over [at UFC], I thought the guy underneath could never win a round and I've certainly changed my opinion on that because there's a lot of guys who can do a lot from the bottom."

Ratner, the former Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, was quick to note the ten-point must system wasn't without it's drawbacks, but believes in three central ideas.

First, officials are getting better at understanding how to interpret offense, defense and what a winning round looks like, although that's still a work in progress. Two, when judges do their jobs correctly, the existing system works just fine. And three, not only is changing the existing system going to be difficult, but in his mind, there's no clear alternative that would work better.

"It's an evolving discipline and I think we just have to keep on educating and that's part of my goals," Ratner remarked. "No, I don't think [the ten-point must system] would be that easy to change. I'm not for the half-point system. I can understand it, but I think if the judges really concentrate and do their job, the ten-point must system can work."

That wasn't all Ratner discussed during his nearly thirty-minute interview on Monday. Here are some highlights of the myriad topics he discussed as it relates to the regulation and safety of the sport:

On whether Rousimar Palhares should've been cut:

"Absolutely because of his history. If this was his first offense, I would say, 'Well, he didn't deserve the bonus.' But since he's done this before and I've heard other stories, I think you have to do what's right and Dana was completely correct in releasing him."

On the developing Brazilian athletic commission (Comissao Atletica Brasileira de MMA):

"They thought they had to do something [with Palhares]. That means he is free to sign with someone else. That would be up to him, but he still cannot fight anywhere in the world for the next four months.

"I think they're getting better and better. They're developing more Brazilian officials. I think they're doing fine. They understand the importance of it. I'm happy to say they're progressing very well."

On the comments made about the NSAC by 'Big' John McCarthy:

"I do believe he's one of the top referees in the world and I think you are seeing him more and more. If I were him, I'd never knock another state commission because the states do band together and they hear that an official is saying something bad about one of their brothers. And I've discussed that with him. I don't think that's the right way to handle it...I think that if he wants to have a complaint, he should do it more internally than externally and not put it out there for the world.

"I would say that, yes, he's one of the top officials and I expect him to be [in Nevada] one day. I don't know when that'll be, but I certainly never talk about his officiating. He's very, very good."

On the judging in Pacquiao vs. Bradley, Mayweather vs. Canelo bouts in Nevada:

"What I would want [the NSAC] to do is deepen the pool of officials they use and use a few more out of state officials. I was at both the [Manny] Pacquiao fight and the last one with Floyd [Mayweather]. I certainly thought Floyd won the last fight, I thought pretty simply. I had it 10 to 2, so I disagree with a 6-6 score. The Pacquiao fight I thought was 9 to 3, but I was sitting in the stands, ten rows up right in the middle of the ring and watching pretty intently, but it's not like being right on the ring."

On the process of and dangers of weight cutting:

We bring everybody in on Monday and Tuesday for a Saturday night fight....But if you sign a fight 75-days out, there's no reason to come on fight week - and we weigh everyone on Tuesday - to have 20 pounds above. Now, they know how to cut, but i think it's really wrong.

I think we have to change the culture. That's a big part of it. And what happened in Brazil, the guy was taking weight cutting, some kind of a drug that was good for weight cutting and had to lose too much weight in too short a time and his body shut down. It's very, very wrong and it's sad. I think it can be fixed.

On the punishment handed out to Ben Rothwell after UFC 164:

"Because he had gotten the exemption, but hadn't followed instruction. The day of the fight when they tested him, his levels were elevated and that's wrong. We feel very strongly about that. And I tried to make it like, if this was the state of the Nevada, this is what we would've done, what they would've done.

"For Ben, he got lucky in that it wasn't in a regulated environment like Nevada and got to keep the win. Here he would've been fine, lost the win and still been fined nine months."

On the status of new UFC gloves being developed:

"Century is making a glove that's a little more rounded, so it'd be a little harder to stick your finger out and poke somebody in the eye, but it's not a perfect solution yet. I think it'll be a little bit better, but the fighters really need to keep their hands closed. If they're grappling, that's one thing. I don't think you'll ever eliminate eye pokes."

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2013/10/15/4842116/ufcs-marc-ratner-defends-use-of-ten-point-must-system-in-mixed
Category: Michelle Rodriguez   Aaron Alexis   Theresa Vail   big brother spoilers  

Continuous delivery revs up software updates

Continuous delivery, which involves rapid updates to software to keep up with changing business demands, presents opportunities in agility and automation, proponents say, but implementing continuous delivery and its critical process changes can be tricky.

The concept can offer flexibility and improve customer service, advocates stressed. "To me, [continuous delivery] has to do with the different expectations from software customers today," said Luis Eduardo Colon, director of research and development at business process solutions provider CDS Global.

Eduardo recalled when it was permissible to release code once a year. But those days are gone. "It's a matter of the game's changed, and we as technologists need to adapt to that," he said. Now, changes have to be instantaneous without sacrificing quality.

Continuous delivery covers processes spanning from development to production, including code testing, release automation, automating infrastructure, and managing code once it is in production, said Andi Gutmans, CEO of PHP tools vendor Zend Technologies. "That whole process has to be automated, consistent, and drive high quality."

He sees the movement to mobile and cloud services driving continuous delivery. "It's a huge issue for companies." Continuous delivery involves tools, people, and mindset, with an element of dev ops thrown in, said Gutman. "Continuous delivery is a more complete view of what it really means to get code into [the] cloud quickly at high quality."

At the recent ZendCon PHP conference in Silicon Valley, Colon detailed CDS's own continuous delivery pipeline, which has involved processes ranging from writing and committing code to code metrics and unit testing. The process also covers autoconfigure environments and deployment from packages and features a version control system, with CDS looking to switch from Mercurial to Git.

Continuous delivery: Brute-force automation
"For me, continuous delivery is standardization, process, and brute-force automation," said Rajesh Khazanchi, VMware group product manager. He described continuous delivery as a process in which developers check in code, builds occur, software packages are released, and deployment kicks in.

But implementing a continuous delivery system has to be done carefully, Colon stressed. "I would argue that it would be very hard to do it in a couple of weeks, just because there's a lot of pieces and details, and it means you have to take people with different ownerships and different roles and get them to work together."

The right tooling is critical to reinforce the cultural shift of continuous delivery, said Adam Jacob, chief developer officer at IT infrastructure automation vendor Opscode. "It's a big cultural shift, from releasing once a month, once a year, whatever, to doing it all the time," said Jacob, who is the author of the Chef automation platform. Colon, meanwhile, emphasized people and patience as important, pointing out that continuous delivery, continuous integration, and agile are all intertwined.

Get everyone on board
Everyone involved in a continuous delivery effort has to understand the complete process, said Maurice Kherlakian, lead solutions architect at Zend. "Everybody has to understand everything in order to be as streamlined as possible." Also, education is critical, Khazanchi said. "Just don't rush into starting this process," he said. "It's more about making sure every single person on your team understands what you're trying to do. " He suggested a phased approach to implementation.

Proponents acknowledge pushback issues in implementing continuous delivery. "The biggest pushback is that the code base usually is not ready for the process," Kherlakian said. Getting it ready can be challenging; writing tests takes time, but management just wants more features. "It's a hard sell, sometimes."

Another issue is documentation, he added. Write too much, and it will not get read, Kherlakian said. Khazanchi concurred, recalling an experience in which implementers wrote too much documentation. "Nobody's going to read those. So it's extremely important to write quality documentation."

This story, "Continuous delivery revs up software updates," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Get the first word on what the important tech news really means with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/agile-development/continuous-delivery-revs-software-updates-228746?source=rss_infoworld_top_stories_
Related Topics: chicago bears   Sons Of Anarchy Season 6   eminem   British Open leaderboard   project runway  

Box Office: 'Gravity' a Monster With $44.3 Mil; 'Captain Phillips' No. 2 With $26 Mil

Adults fueled another strong weekend at the North American box office as Warner Bros.' Gravity stayed at No. 1 with a record $44.3 million and Sony's Captain Phillips opened to a solid $26 million.

From director Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity raced past the $100 million domestically to end the weekend with total earnings of $123.4 million. Worldwide, the space epic -- starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney -- has earned well north of $150 million.

GUEST REVIEW: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on 'Gravity' 

Gravity slipped only 21 percent in its second weekend domestically -- the lowest decline in history for a film that opened over $55 million (The Incredibles was the previous record-holder at 29 percent). This doesn't count holiday weekends. It's also the lowest decline of the year to date for a movie playing in more than 2,000 theaters.

"This indicates the ability to open a tentpole in October," said Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman, who also noted that the film is now playing to younger moviegoers, as well as to consumers who rarely take a trip to the multiplex.

Gravity continues to be a big draw in 3D (82 percent), with Imax theaters alone taking in a record $9 million over the weekend for total sales of $26.5 million. It's the largest second weekend gross in Imax history.

The other big headline of the weekend was Paul Greengrass' Somali pirate pic Captain Phillips, which reverses a dry spell for Tom Hanks at the box office. The critically acclaimed film did better than expected after earning an A CinemaScore, eclipsing the $19.5 million earned a year ago by fellow adult drama Argo.

THR COVER: Inside the Intense 'Captain Phillips' Shoot 

Captain Phillips, based on real events and costing $55 million to produce, skewed slightly male (52 percent), while more than 60 percent of the audience was over the age of 35. The film's awards prospects should be boosted by its promising box office performance.

Hanks' last several films have underperformed, particularly Cloud Atlas (2012) and Larry Crowne (2011).

"We couldn't be happier to be a part of this film. To open to $26 million with Gravity being in the marketplace is an extraordinary feat," said Sony president of worldwide distribution Rory Bruer. "It says volumes for the film and its life. It's one of those performances by Tom Hanks that everyone will want to see."

After Captain Phillips, the weekend's only other new wide player was exploitation action film Machete Kills, from writer-director Robert Rodriguez. Machete Kills quickly fizzled, debuting to roughly $3.8 million -- the worst wide opening of the filmmaker's career.

With a cast led by Danny Trejo, Mel Gibson and Michelle Rodriguez, Machete Kills, receiving a B- CinemaScore, is the third film based on the fake trailers accompanying Grindhouse.

Machete Kills placed No. 4 after Gravity, Captain Phillips and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2.

Cloudy 2, from Sony, grossed $14.2 million in its third weekend to place No. 3 and pushing the family film's total to $78 million.

New Regency's ill-fated gambling thriller Runner Runner and Warner Bros.' Prisoners tied for No. 5 with $3.7 million each.

Runner Runner, starring Justin Timberlake opposite Ben Affleck, continued to struggle in its second weekend, falling 52 percent to $3.7 million for a tepid domestic total of $14.1 million.

Prisoners has now grossed $53.6 million for Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros.

 

 

 

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/film/~3/MOhfu6t092k/story01.htm
Tags: Panda Express   Nick Pasquale   Steve Ballmer   princess diana   lollapalooza  

Live: 2013 Japanese Grand Prix first practice | F1 Fanatic Live

F1 Fanatic Live

Follow the 2013 Japanese Grand Prix first practice session on F1 Fanatic Live.

F1 Fanatic Live combines updates from the teams and drivers in real-time via Twitter with comments from F1 Fanatic readers and more.

Launch F1 Fanatic Live: 2013 Japanese Grand Prix first practice^[1]

2013 Japanese Grand Prix

Browse all 2013 Japanese Grand Prix articles^[2]

Image © Marussia

Share this with your friends:

Read more: 2013 F1 season | 2013 Japanese Grand Prix | F1 Fanatic Live^[3][4][5]

Advert | Go Ad-free^[6]

References

1. ^{^} Launch F1 Fanatic Live: 2013 Japanese Grand Prix first practice (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Browse all 2013 Japanese Grand Prix articles (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
3. ^{^} View all posts in 2013 F1 season (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
4. ^{^} View all posts in 2013 Japanese Grand Prix (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
5. ^{^} View all posts in F1 Fanatic Live (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
6. ^{^} Become an F1 Fanatic Supporter and go Ad-free (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/yp2flp33j-Q/
Similar Articles: Eiza González   Into the Wild   Hannah Davis  

ACS Careers: Laboratory jobs, San Luis Obispo jobs, CA Central ...

IST II, Instructional Support Technician II

To apply, visit WWW.CALPOLYJOBS.ORG to complete the required online staff application and apply to requisition #102582. Applicants will have the option of attaching a Cover Letter, Resume and three Letters of Recommendation via the online employment system. Applicants needing computer/internet access may contact Cal Poly Human Resources at: (805) 756-2236, for information on available resources. Cal Poly is strongly committed to achieving excellence through cultural diversity & actively encourages applications of all qualified individuals. EEO

***THIS POSITION IS OPEN UNTIL FILLED***

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry is a major academic unit within the College of Science and Mathematics. The Department provides B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Biochemistry and concentrations in Molecular Biology and Polymers and Coatings. A focused M.S. program in Polymers and Coatings is also offered. Sizeable portions of these degree programs are laboratory-based science. Faculty, staff and students work cooperatively on a number of research projects. Currently, there are over 270 majors in the Department. Additionally, the Department provides chemistry courses to many client departments, serving approximately 3000 students annually. The Department is composed of approximately 25 full-time, tenure track faculty members, 4-6 full-time lecturers, 8-10 part-time faculty members, two clerical staff members, and five technical support staff members.

The primary functions of this Instructional Support Technician II (IST II) are to provide technical, preparatory and advisory support for the analytical and survey of organic chemistry laboratory courses as well as provide additional support for several other chemistry courses during evening hours. Under general supervision, the IST II prepares laboratories for instruction, including reagent preparation and equipment installation, maintenance, minor repair, and modification. In all cases, the IST II is expected to employ a comprehensive knowledge of both scientific and technical principles. Three years experience providing instructional support services in a related discipline, acting as a student assistant, or in producing materials or supplies related to the discipline (two years of college with 16 semester units in courses in the related specialty area discipline may be substituted for one year of required experience OR four years of college with 16 semester units in courses in the related specialty area discipline may be substituted for two years of required experience.) ? Successful completion of college level general, analytical, and organic chemistry courses ? Experience with specialized analytical equipment. ? Knowledge, training and experience in the proper procedures for the handling and storage of hazardous materials, hazardous waste, compressed gases, and cryogenic liquids ? Knowledge of federal, state, and local regulations concerning a safe workplace, hazardous materials handling and storage, and hazardous waste disposal. ? Ability to perform risk assessments based on MSDS information as well as other hazardous properties reference sources. ? Knowledge to make recommendations for the purchase of supplies and chemical necessary to serve the needs of the organic laboratories within the scope of the department's teaching mission. ? Ability to learn and adapt to ever-changing technology and procedures. ? Ability to perform timely and accurate data entry, to maintain equipment inventories, repair logs, work/orders and other records. ? Demonstrated customer service experience requiring a very high level of diplomacy and professionalism ? Ability to use tact and diplomacy to effectively handle a broad range of high level and sensitive interpersonal situations with diverse personalities, and to respond appropriately to conflicts and problems ? Ability to initiate, establish, and foster communication and teamwork by maintaining a positive, cooperative, productive work atmosphere in and outside the University with the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships within a diverse population and with those from various cultural backgrounds ? Excellent communication skills; ability to effectively communicate information in a clear and understandable manner, both verbally and in writing ? Thorough knowledge of English grammar, spelling and punctuation ? Ability to interpret, communicate, and apply policies and procedures ? Demonstrated ability to maintain a high degree of confidentiality ? Excellent organizational and time management skills with the ability to set own priorities to coordinate multiple assignments with fluctuating and time-sensitive deadlines ? Excellent computer skills and proficiency with a variety of computer applications including word-processing, spreadsheets, databases, on-line systems, Internet as well as online calendaring and email ? Working knowledge of or ability to quickly learn University infrastructure, policies and procedures Demonstrated skills in an institutional environment utilizing a customer-oriented and service-centered attitude. ***THIS POSITION IS OPEN UNTIL FILLED***

Retired CalPERS members selected for this vacancy must request and be approved for reinstatement from retirement prior to the start date. Employment of retired CalPERS members will typically be for 90 days or less and must be for work requiring specialized skills or for a bona fide emergency to prevent stoppage of business.

Must will willing to travel and attend training programs off-site for occasional professional development.

Must be able to work overtime, occasional holidays, and adjust working hours to meet special jobs. May be called back periodically to perform work as needed on an emergency basis.

Must be able to successfully pass a pre-employment background/fingerprint check.

Possession of a valid driver's license or the ability to obtain by date of hire.

dropkick murphys guernsey nit colcannon dystonia tourettes gonzaga