Nielsen compares mobile consumers across the globe, details the differences in how we connect

Right in-time with MWC, Nielsen's latest report provides some insight into how folks in different regions are using their mobile devices. On the whole, many of the findings aren't exactly shockers. Among many highlights, owners of smartphones and feature phones don't use their respective devices for the same tasks, while developed areas are more likely to have upwards of 4G connectivity with higher smartphone adoption rates. As you'd might imagine, people in regions with under-developed infrastructure tend to gravitate toward the likes of simpler, less costly feature phones. Diving deeper with some specifics, Nielsen points out that US-based users of smartphones gravitate toward map and video apps, contrasting that those in China are hungrier for info about weather and news. If you'd like to confirm any more of your suspicions about how mobile devices are being used across the globe, you'll find all the details your noggin desires at the source link below.

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Source: Nielsen

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Out: Karzai bans US special forces from key province

A statement from Afghanistan's National Security Council said that Afghans working with US forces have allegedly been 'harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people.'

By Patrick Quinn,?Associated Press / February 24, 2013

Afghanistan presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi speaks during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday. Afghanistan's president says all US special forces must leave eastern Wardak province within two weeks because of allegations that Afghans working with them are torturing and abusing other Afghans.

Ahmad Nazar/AP

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Afghanistan's?president on Sunday ordered all US special forces to leave a strategically important eastern province within two weeks because of allegations that Afghans working with them are torturing and abusing other Afghans.

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The decision seems to have caught the coalition and US Forces?Afghanistan, a separate command, by surprise. Americans have frequently drawn anger from the Afghan public over issues ranging from Qurans burned at a US base to allegations of civilian killings.

"We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and go to great lengths to determine the facts surrounding them," the US forces said in a statement.

Also Sunday, a series of attacks in eastern?Afghanistan?showed insurgents remain on the offensive even as US and other international forces prepare to end their combat mission by the end of 2014.

Suicide bombers targeted?Afghanistan's?intelligence agency and other security forces in four coordinated attacks in the heart of Kabul and outlying areas in a bloody reminder of the insurgency's reach nearly 12 years into the war.

Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi said the decision to order the American special forces to leave Wardak province was taken during a meeting of the National Security Council because of the alleged actions of Afghans who are considered linked to the US special forces.

A key province

He said all special forces operations were to cease immediately in the restive province next to Kabul, which is viewed as a gateway to the capital and has been the focus of counterinsurgency efforts in recent years.

The Taliban have staged numerous attacks against US-led coalition forces in the province. In August 2011, insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter, killing 30 American troops, mostly elite Navy SEALs, in Wardak. The crash was the single deadliest loss for US forces in the war.

Afghan forces have taken the lead in many such special operations, especially so-called night raids.

"Those Afghans in these armed groups who are working with the US special forces, the defense minister asked for an explanation of who they are," Faizi said. "Those individuals should be handed over to the Afghan side so that we can further investigate."

A statement the security council issued in English said the armed individuals have allegedly been "harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people."

Ceasing all such operations could have a negative impact on the coalition's campaign to go after Taliban leaders and commanders, who are usually the target of such operations.

Coalition notified?

Faizi said the issue had already been brought up with the coalition.

The US statement said only that the announcement was "an important issue that we intend to fully discuss with our Afghan counterparts. But until we have had a chance to speak with senior Government of the Islamic Republic of?Afghanistan?officials about this issue, we are not in a position to comment further."

The brazen assaults, which occurred within a three-hour timespan, were the latest to strike Afghan forces, who have suffered higher casualties this year as US and other foreign troops gradually take a back seat and shift responsibility for security to the government.

The deadliest attack occurred just after sunrise ??a suicide car bombing at the gate of the National Directorate of Security compound in Jalalabad, 125 kilometers (78 miles) east of Kabul.

Guards shot and killed the driver but he managed to detonate the explosives-packed vehicle, killing two intelligence agents and wounding three others, according to a statement by the intelligence agency. Provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai confirmed the casualty toll and said the building was damaged in the attack.

A guard also shot and killed a man in an SUV filled with dynamite that was targeting an NDS building on a busy street in Kabul, not far from NATO headquarters. The explosives in the back of the vehicle were defused. Blood stained the driver's seat and the ground where security forces dragged out the would-be attacker.

Shortly before the Jalalabad attack, a suicide attacker detonated a minivan full of explosives at a police checkpoint in Pul-i-Alam on the main highway between Kabul and Logar province. One policeman was killed and two others were wounded, along with a bystander, according to the NDS.

Also in Logar province, which is due south of Kabul, a man wearing a suicide vest was stopped by police as he tried to force his way into the police headquarters for Baraki Barak district, said Din Mohammad Darwesh, the provincial government spokesman. The attacker detonated his vest while being searched, wounding one policeman, according to Darwesh and the NDS.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the Jalalabad attack and two others in the eastern province of Logar in an email to reporters. He did not address the attempted assault in Kabul.

*?Associated Press writers Heidi Vogt, Rahim Faiez and Kim Gamel contributed to this report from Kabul.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Weie7HL2Ofw/Out-Karzai-bans-US-special-forces-from-key-province

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Last Call: Disrupt NY Startup Battlefield Apps Are Due Tonight

This is it! Today, Monday, February 25, is the very last day to submit applications to Disrupt NY's Startup Battlefield. They have to be submitted and completed by 11:59 PST tonight. Stop procrastinating and get those apps in.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/wJT830RpeGE/

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Video: Tough week for GOP as infighting rises

>>> tea party wars. let's play "hardball."

>>> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with the strange business on the right. one thing you could say in the old days about this country's right of center politics is that it was tightly organized. there were no huge wars separating the north from the south. the center right from the hard right. well, tonight as we end this week, the chasm today is deep, dark, and alarming. look at karl rove out there barking orders like someone has elected him ring master. look at newt gingrich out there blasting away at rove. consider the mayhem now afoot. the center right wants to bring discipline to the party . they're tired of losing elections they figured they were going to win. the hard right wants none of this proctoring. they want to run free wherever they want for whatever office they want. you have the gop big shots running the little people around and the little people in the party fracking the big shots . it's quite a show. joy reid is managing editor of the grio and david corn is washington bureau chief for mother joans. both are msnbc political analysts. and glad for that. let's talk a like at michael, a pretty smart guy used to write speeches for "w." the self-diagnosis is going on. we'll see what's going on. he wrote today, quote, the republican nominee mitt romney lost by 5 million votes to a beatable incumbent presiding over an anemic economy. the explanation is not purely technical or personalality oriented at the national level. republicans have a winning message for a nation that no longer exists. you got to start with this, joy. it's a well-crafted sentence. they have a winning message for a nation that no longer exists. in all fairness, they didn't know it existed until the day after the election, sometime around 9:00 at night when we all saw virginia looking close. what he, goes og on? it looks like a new country is voting here. they're still playing to the old country.

>> it's like they didn't get the message in 2008 . a lot of people on the right thought 2008 was basically a fluke, but what they have missed is the mi nofert --

>> didn't you worry it was?

>> actually, no, i thought barack obama was going to win to be honest with you. i didn't. because the thing is if you look at the trajectory of the minority share of the electorate, it's been growing by a pretty consistent 2% every four years. so if you look at the electorate when bill clinton got elected versus when ronald reagan got elected, the electorate has been changing for a very long time but the right didn't notice because they have been able to use these tricks to gin up their base and maximize their vote and they have always used the far right to do it. they get them excited over cultural issues --

>> what went wrong this time? for every african-american vote or latino vote you were going to lose a more conservative white person from say the southwest, but that doesn't exactly happen. the white vote sort of been up a bit for obama and then the african-american and the other minority votes zoomed.

>> and part of the problem is number one they have lost the cities. they're losing including the urban white vote, losing more educated white voters among with minority vote% and losing young voters. part of the problem is them. the messaging they use to gin up their base turns off obviously younger people, it turns off women, turns off minorities and this time they really got minute norths excited about voting. there was already loyalty to barack obama among african-americans but when you started doing voter i.d. and things to prevent people from voting that made that vote determined to come out as if it was 2008 .

>> this is the problem they have. the leadership, the michael gersons of the world, god bless them as joe biden would say, are alienated from the people who support the party , the people who vote for the party . we talked about this earlier this week.

>> the angry guy out in arizona.

>> with john mccain , the town hall meetings . there's a reason why a lot of more centrist or less yahoo republicans did not run for president last time. there was all the crazies and mitt romney and if you saw the people turning out, as we keep playing those clips from the republican debates , the audience was one that they don't care what michael gerson says about republicans need new poverty programs or new ways to structure the government to make it --

>> environmental programs.

>> environmental. they don't care. a lot of this for them is cultural. they want to go back to whatever they think the good old days were. they don't like the influx and rising --

>> you give advice to a guy like john mccain and you say, yeah, you have to become a little more today a little more open to the hispanic population in your own state, but the minute he does this happens. here he is at this town meeting . this is what happens when the republican party follows the vice of the thoughtful people like michael gerson . he's a former maverick taking on the current mavericks. let's watch.

>> why didn't the army go down there and stop them? because the only thing that stops them, i'm afraid to say and it's too damn bad, but is a gun. that's all that will stop them.

>> i remember when you were in bed with kennedy --

>> in bed with kennedy? thank you.

>> most of the people that come across the border are illiterate, they don't speak english and they're dependent class. we have a large group of dependent people that are going -- you want to make citizens that are going to be on medicare, they're going to be on welfare, they're going to be on food stamps .

>> again --

>> and you know it. what's going to happen --

>> again, sir, you're not telling these people the truth.

>> you said build the dang fence. where is the fence?

>> in case you missed it, i showed you --

>> that's not a fence.

>> that's not a fence? it's a banana. we put up a banana with $600 million worth of appropriations we have. sir, you're entitled to your opinion, you're not entitled to your facts.

>> well, there he is, joy, and david using words like bananas, an old joke. i don't think irony work was this crowd. number two, quoting the great pat moynihan of new york, you can tout your own opinion, not your facts. it doesn't work. they have a gut attitude that we're being overrun by illegal immigrants that are changing the culture of the south, they don't like it and they don't want to hear this quibbling about we're going to let them say here and all this. they really seem to think -- i wish there was somebody out there to talk like i talk. we've got an illegal immigrant problem. you want to deal with it, put it on paper and make it official. you want to come in this country, you got to go through the reasonable channels. you want to work here, go through reasonable channels. we'll give you a document and you'll get social security . but you have to have a work permit . they know that offends business so they talk about building walls and electrifying fences 20 feet high and you shall be killed if you touch this wire. the crazy kind of fascist talk they get into because they can't deal in reality. you may not be as conservative as i but i think there's a middle of the road position, joy, on immigration which is what every other country, including mexico, does. you can't come in the country without permission. that's the way countries are. it's the world we live in but they don't seem to want to approach it that way.

>> i love the clip you played. if you listen to that crowd and the audience, that's savage nation . that's limbaugh, beck. this is 30-something years of these guys being fed by the entertainment complex on the rights.

>> you think so?

>> i get --

>> do you think they were educated to those opinions?

>> i think it plays into already a feeling of sort of victimhood that the country is somehow being stolen out from under them.

>> that's rush.

>> that's been stoked by rush, stoked by these guys on talk radio saying these people are taking your country whether it's black people or brown people . i get e-mails from these people.

>> when your driving around and you're listening to rush and you hear him talk about femmei nazis and minorities like they're all stomping on the white man's grave and that nonsense. what is your reaction? do you think they're crazy, showmen, manipulators or do they really believe it?

>> i think they're using these people because that's the way they make money. they stoke these people's sense of victimhood. they feel their economic situation is worse than their parents'. they need somebody to blame and you have rush and beck and saarage saying do you know whose fault it is, it's those people getting in your schools. i get e-mails from these people saying, well all of you people, all you minorities are on welfare and then the thing is you played this piece of it, chris, real quick, where the guy threw back in john mccain 's face the build the dang fence because he did it, too. when he needed to get re-elected, he was willing to play that game and now it's coming back to bite him.

>> you're a sweetheart but why do you read these e-mails?

>> i can't resist.

>> you're such a nice person and you actually think you owe these crazy people that attack you racially -- you don't respond to them, do you?

>> no, i don't respond to them but sometimes you have to though what these people are thinking. they authentically think they're making an argument to me about why i'm wrong about policy by saying all minorities are on welfare. they have been fed this for some 30 years. this is their excuse for everything wrong in their lives.

>> it goes back to nixon's southern strategy that are friend pat buchanan tried to put in place. for eight years, 12 years now, these are karl rove 's people.

>> but the difference between pat -- let me defend pat. he's not here. the difference between pat and limbaugh, he's not selling it. he believes it. he believes everything he says.

>> but the thing is --

>> whether you like it or not.

>> i don't care whether glenn beck or rush limbaugh believe what they say or not. it's an interesting academic --

>> i do.

>> it's an interesting academic discussion. the outcome is the same. and you get these people riled up and now karl rove wants to try to put this angry jeanne back into the bottle and they're saying no --

>> you don't focus on integrity? i do. i know you do. it wasn't just john mccain who was the target. newt gingrich went after the architect himself karl rove in his efforts to recruit and back electable republicans as he put it. gingrich wrote this this week. this is gingrich by the way of all people saying i am unalterably opposed to a bunch of billionaires financing a boss to pick candidates in 50 states . this is the opposite of the republican tradition of freedom and grassroots small town conservatism. no one person is smart enough nor do they have the moral right to buy nominations -- this is adelson's best friend here. -- the system of tammany hall and the chicago machine . it should be repugnant to every conservative and every republican. this man is a walking etch-a-sketch. newt can't remember who newt was yesterday. wasn't he the guy with the bank roller from macao pouring in the millions of dollars to him so he could win the nomination?

>> the only reason he stayed in the republican proo marry as long as he did was because of a billionaire trying to pull a tammany hall with him. it's absolutely absurd. without irony he changes positions on this stuff because that's why he's newt gingrich i guess.

>> let's talk about what we want to focus on tonight.

>> it's passover.

>> it's almost like the first time i have seen turmoil on the right where you have a lot of almost literally kind of finger pointing where karl rove is being attacked by newt gingrich and they're all attacking. sort of the establishment crowd, the people that like to win every year and the people that don't care if they win as long as they make a lot of noise. they're fighting with each other. john bain ser almost irrelevant to this.

>> in the '90s we had house republicans turn on newt gingrich . there was almost a coup there.

>> they kicked him out. he forgot that.

>> they're a party on the outs and they have this tremendous division within the party ideologically, culturally and they can't all get together and say, okay, let's get marco rubio out there on immigration and it will solve our problems because you got the guys in arizona. they can't get out there and say, okay, let's do something reasonable on sequester because you have ted cruz and the tea party people saying we want to shut government down. rand paul wants to cut government by 20%, 30%.

>> you know what i saw last year at the convention down in tampa? i think we saw like the rock on top of the bug life. it covered it up. it was a boring convention. the democratic convention was really thrilling actually. but the republican convention was deadbeat and soggy and hot --

>> it was about papering off all this stuff.

>> they papered over with romney who was some ringer they wanted to run. they didn't love him, they didn't know him, they didn't care. they just wanted to hold it together and beat the guy they could beat. had they not beaten the guy that's easy to beat, they just fight with each other.

>> people like karl rove have been telling the bug life in the party for decades, listen, vent we're going to implement your beliefs, vote for us one more time. we'll outlaw abortion, deport all these illegal aliens , do all these things and they never follow through. george w. bush was a tremendous disappointment in that regard. he didn't implement any of this stuff. and i think that the base is fed up. they want their policies implemented. they're sick of being in the background and they're not going to shove them back in a closet as much as they probably want to at this point.

>> it's great having you on joy. thank you, david corn . congratulations on hubris monday night.

>>> coming up look who is becoming the face for gun safety . he wants to teach jill how to use a shotgun. it's almost that funny. serious business here. to fight guns, you have to be for guns. he's laying the groundwork perhaps for 2016 . he's the regular guy with a shotgun.

>>> republican governors are quietly buying into the obama care plan to increase medicaid coverage. many have loudly opposed the plan in the past, especially florida's rick scott . well, he's on board tonight and tonight the man scott replaced and who might replace him, charlie crist is come on.

>>> what are you doing sunday night in probably watching the oscars. this year's movie are filled with political overtones and who better to tee up the big night than the iconic host of inside the actor's studio james lipton ? he's coming here.

>>> finally, it's a right wingers dream. u.s. congressman louis gohmert has figured out a way for americans to keep their guns and prevent the establishment of an islamic caliphate in the old u.s. of a. he's got it all figured. a unitaryian theory for all problems. this is "hardball," the place for politics. i'd like

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/hardball/50911922/

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Sexting and bugging revealed at the FBI: CNN

(Reuters) - One FBI employee was fired for sleeping with a drug dealer and lying about it under oath, while another got the boot for bugging the boss's office.

The FBI suspended for 10 days still another employee for emailing a nude photograph of herself to her ex-boyfriend's wife - the bureau showed compassion for the woman after she sought help for depression.

Those cases over the past year were among 29 revealed by CNN on Friday after the cable news network obtained an October 2012 quarterly report the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation sent to all its employees that was meant to educate FBI staff but not to be disseminated publicly.

The so-called quarterlies summarized cases investigated by the bureau's Office of Professional Responsibility.

"We have seen a rash of sexting cases and nude photograph cases, you know, people misusing their BlackBerrys for this reason, and we hope getting the message out in the quarterlies is going to teach people you can't do this stuff," FBI assistant director Candice Will told CNN.

An employee who used a government-issued BlackBerry to send sexually explicit messages to another employee received a five-day suspension. Another who used a personal cell phone to send nude photographs to several other employees received a 10-day suspension, in part because the conduct created office gossip.

"When you're given an FBI BlackBerry, it's for official use. It's not to text the woman in another office who you found attractive a picture of yourself in a state of undress," Will said.

Many of the cases involved sex, such as that of the employee who visited a massage parlor and paid for a sexual favor from the masseuse. That resulted in a 14-day suspension instead of a more severe penalty because the employee had an exemplary work record and expressed remorse, the FBI documents said.

Others were more serious, such as the case of the employee who admitted purchasing and viewing video of naked boys. That person was summarily dismissed.

Two employees who were busted for driving under the influence of alcohol were fired because in each case it was a second offense.

Another who was cited for public intoxication while walking the street drunk and armed with a bureau-issued weapon received a seven-day suspension.

Improper handling of evidence resulted in suspensions of three and eight days. Shoplifting got a summary dismissal.

CNN posted the documents on http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2013/images/02/21/office.of.professional.review.-.cnn01302013_0000.pdf.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sexting-bugging-revealed-fbi-cnn-010031864.html

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Practical Secrets For Gaming Computer ? An IntroTop Tips And ...

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Source: http://bereakirk.com/practical-secrets-for-gaming-computer-an-intro/

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Mayo Clinic's debt outlook dropped to negative by S&P

The debt outlook for Rochester's Mayo Clinic has been dropped to "negative" by
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.

In a statement, S&P credit analyst Martin Arrick said:

"We revised the outlook to negative to reflect our opinion of Mayo Clinic's weaker operating performance, especially in the second half of 2012, and additional debt with this issue, which we did not expect and did not include in our last rating analysis. In addition, Mayo Clinic had to absorb multiple impacts from a sharply lower pension discount rate for the second straight year that, in turn, drove large pension contributions limiting growth in unrestricted cash and investment and lowering unrestricted net assets while raising pro forma leverage to levels we consider high for the rating."

The Rochester Post-Bulletin says Mayo officials will respond to the S&P announcement next week.

The giant health care concern has asked the state to help with a multi-billion-dollar expansion over the next 20 years. Some legislators haven't embraced the proposal which calls for the state to fund $585 million in parking, transportation, utilities, bridges and other improvements, to be financed with bonds that would be repaid with the new taxes generated by the expansion.

The S&P report wasn't all bad, the paper said:

S&P reaffirmed Mayo's AA long-term rating on Mayo's $300 million series 2013 taxable bonds and reaffirmed ratings on other debt issued for, or guaranteed by, Mayo, according to the statement. The reaffirmed ratings were based on the clinic's "solid revenue growth," debt service coverage and growth in unrestricted reserves.

But the statement says Mayo's "overall leverage and unrestricted net assets were hurt by the very large pension charge for the second year in a row due to a lower discount rate. Nevertheless, net patient service revenues and revenues overall improved significantly, as did unrestricted reserves despite a large cash contribution to the pension plan."

Source: http://www.minnpost.com/political-agenda/2013/02/mayo-clinics-debt-outlook-dropped-negative-sp

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NJSLA Jobs: Online Business Content Consultant, Verizon - NJ

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Lead cross functional teams to generate content requirements and
implement solutions successful launch of new devices, features, plans
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Develop launch strategies for new content including aligning to
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experience, and driving waste out of the process.
Continually drive improvements to the customer experience inclusive
of device requirements and customer-facing collateral.
Special projects as assigned by Associate Director and Management.
3. Production Support
Analyze reporting data to identify improvements to increase
utilization of Business Internet platforms.
Serve as HQ Lead for B2B online content on iconic/strategic project
and participating on command centers.
Support VEC and MB Enterprise Releases to ensure all builds and
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Support UAT as needed to meet the needs of the enterprise customer;
develop UAT content.

Qualifications

Experience: 5+ years marketing and/or operations experience or equivalent 5+ years wireless and/or technology experience 2+ years Project Management experience, including experience directing cross-functional and/or cross-area projects 1+ years UAT or project testing experience; test case knowledge and creation a plus Demonstrated leadership skills and ability to handle multiple priorities under tight deadlines Working knowledge of VZ B2B systems - DPI, SED, EWI, CPI, My Business, MBA, and VEC Solid proficiency in PC based applications such as MS Excel, Word and PowerPoint Proven success in strategy, planning and execution preferred Other: Ability to work under pressure on multiple assignments with strong attention to detail Self-motivated with the ability to work independently and make strong, sound decisions with minimal supervision Strong communication skills, both written and verbal Solid analytical skills with the ability to present ideas and complex information effectively to individuals or groups with short timeframe for preparation Strong critical thinking skills and the ability to manage feedback from multiple stakeholders. Strong interpersonal and negotiating skills; ability to effectively negotiate solutions and deadlines with others Ability to effectively consult and communicate with internal teams at all levels of the organization Effective time management, organizational skills with the ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects in a fast-paced environment Results-oriented, strong sense of urgency, proactive and flexible Must be able to meet tight deadlines and have a strong customer focus Demonstrated ability to be flexible and work in a high-energy, dynamic, and sometimes unstructured environment Ability to work on a virtual team Travel required up to 25% of the time. Flexible schedule a must due to special events, which may include evenings and week-ends Education: Minimum Bachelors degree, accelerated degree a plus

Equal Employment Opportunity

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Job ID: 308008

see http://www22.verizon.com/jobs/basking-ridge/marketing/jobid308008-online-business-content-consultant-verizon-wireless-jobs/

Source: http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/njslajobs/2013/02/online-business-content-consultant-verizon-nj.html

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Iran will never shut down Fordow enrichment plant: MP

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran will never shut down its Fordow uranium enrichment plant, a senior legislator was quoted as saying on Sunday, brushing off a demand from world powers who fear Tehran is working to develop an atomic weapons capability.

The Islamic republic, which insists its nuclear program is purely peaceful, started building the plant inside a mountain in secret as early as 2006, to protect it from air strikes.

Last week, Reuters reported world powers were planning to offer to ease sanctions barring trade in gold and other precious metals with Iran in return for steps to shut down Fordow.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, referred to the reported offer on Sunday and dismissed any idea of a closure, the Iranian Students' News Agency reported.

"Fordow will never be shut down because ... our national duty is to be able to defend our nuclear and vital centers against an enemy threat," Boroujerdi was quoted as saying by the agency.

"This suggestion (shutting down Fordow) is meant to help the Zionist regime (Israel)," he added.

Israel has threatened to attack Iran if diplomacy and sanctions fail to curb its nuclear program, raising fears of a regional war.

The United States and its allies are particularly worried about Fordow because Iran is refining uranium there to a fissile concentration of 20 percent, which Iran says it needs for a medical reactor. Twenty percent purity is only a short technical step from weapons-grade uranium.

Western officials said last week the offer to ease sanctions barring gold and other precious metals trade with Iran would be presented at February 26 talks between Iran and world powers in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

They acknowledged it represented a relatively modest update to proposals that the six major powers put forward last year.

Iran's parliament has little control over the Islamic Republic's foreign policy, which is decided by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

(Reporting By Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-never-shut-down-fordow-enrichment-plant-mp-133249566.html

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"Frost" Attack Unlocks Android Phones' Data By Chilling Their Memory In A Freezer

A wrapped-up Samsung Galaxy Nexus in a freezer, as a researcher measures its temperature.

If you lose possession of an Android phone, your PIN or pattern unlock might not be enough to protect the sensitive data stored on it. Not, at least, after it?s spent an hour in a hacker?s freezer.

A pair of researchers at Erlangen University in Germany have shown that a trick known as a ?cold boot attack? can read data from a Samsung Galaxy Nexus running the latest version of Android, even when the phone is protected by a PIN and has its storage disk encrypted. They call their technique FROST, or Forensic Recovery of Scrambled Telephones. By simply cooling the phone to around five degrees Fahrenheit and quickly rebooting it, Tilo Mueller and Michael Spreitzenbarth found they could read data from its memory including images, emails and web browsing history, as well as the key that in some cases allows them to decrypt the phone?s encrypted storage disk.

The attack, which was first shown on PCs in 2008 but has never before been applied to mobile devices, takes advantage of an effect known as the ?remanence,? the lingering information that remains for a few moments in a device?s memory even when a power source has been removed. The colder the memory, the longer that information lingers. ?RAM doesn?t lose its content immediately,? says Mueller. ?If it?s 30 degrees celsisus, it?s lost in one or two seconds. But if you cool the phone, the contents are lost in five or six seconds. That gives us enough time to reboot the phone and access the memory.?

A screenshot of FROST in action.

The researchers found that in that cold state, they could quickly remove and replace the battery while holding the phone?s power and volume buttons, which causes the phone to quickly reboot in ?fastboot mode.? The entire process takes less than half a second, they say, and allows them to offload the phone?s RAM via USB while it still contains the cold, digital leftovers from before it was switched off.

Among the data stored in that RAM, the researchers found the key to the phone?s encrypted storage disk, which in some cases might give them full access to the device. But that final step would only work in phones with an unlocked bootloader?In its latest version, Samsung locks the bootloader and automatically wipes the user partition if it?s unlocked, preventing them from using the trick.

Even then, the researchers can access all data stored in RAM. Given that phones are rarely switched off, that often contains a significant cache of sensitive personal data, the researchers point out. They found they could recover fully intact address book contacts, thumbnail photos, and Wifi credentials, and partially recover calendar entries, emails, text messages, high-resolution photos, and Web history.

An example image of the Android logo in the device's memory over time at room temperature. The second image shows the state of the image at the earliest point where the researchers were able to extract it. The final image shows how it's deteriorated after six seconds.

Mueller says there are no easy defenses against the attack, other than turning a phone off before it?s out of the owner?s possession. Rebooting a phone more often may also leave less sensitive data in its memory. The researchers say they haven?t yet tested the attack on other phones, but believe that it would likely be much more difficult on iOS.

A graph from the researchers' paper, showing the deterioration of data in memory (in percent of memory lost) over time (in seconds) at different temperatures. Click to enlarge.

In their still-unpublished paper on FROST, the two researchers intend their technique to serve as a warning for Android users and as a useful tool for law enforcement forensic analysts trying to recover data from a seized phone. ?It reveals a significant security gap that users should be aware of,? reads the paper. ?Since smartphones are switched off only seldom, the severity of this gap is more concerning than on PCs. Second, we provide the recovery utility Frost which allows law enforcement to recover data from encrypted smartphones comfortably.?

See more photos of their technique here.

?
Follow me on?Twitter, and check out my new book,?This Machine Kills Secrets: How WikiLeakers, Cypherpunks and Hacktivists Aim To Free The World?s Information.

Also from Forbes:

Lookout Conquered The Consumer Mobile Security Industry?Now It Just Has To Prove One Exists

iOS 6.1 Bug Allows Snoopers Access To Your Photos And Contacts

Evasi0n Is The Most Popular Jailbreak Ever: Nearly Seven Million iOS Devices Hacked In Four Days

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/02/14/frost-attack-unlocks-android-phones-data-by-chilling-its-memory-in-a-freezer/

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Kangaroos Took Over A Golf Tournament, Proving The World Is Still Amazing

Fabulous! Don't forget to share with your friends on Twitter and Facebook.

This picture is delightful. Chicken soup for the soul. posted on February 14, 2013 at 10:31am EST

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Source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoore/kangaroos-took-over-a-golf-tournament

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Report: 46 Congressmen still in student debt

Many congressmen, the people we are trusting to pull our country out of debt, are still in debt themselves.

According to a new report by the Center for Responsive Politics, 46 Congressmen- five senators and 41 House members- are still paying off student loans. Altogether, Congress owes somewhere between $1.8 million and $4.3 million in student loans. CRP explained it couldn?t calculate the exact amount,?because members of Congress are allowed to report debts in ranges.?

The lawmaker in the most debt is Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA) who owes between $115,001 and $300,000 in student loans.
While at least 13 of the congressmen listed loans for their children?s education, many are still paying off loans for their own education.

This student debt problem is only getting worse. In 2008, only 30 congressmen were paying student loans between $970,000 and $2.4 million in total. Congressmen aren?t alone: the national student loan debt has almost?breached?$1 trillion, even beating out credit card debt.

This should terrify young people who are graduating from college in thousands of dollars in debt. If our leaders can?t even pay off their debt, how can we?

Our own commander-in-chief didn?t finish paying off his student loans until 2004.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who just recently paid off his student loans from law school, addressed the student debt problem in the GOP response to the State of the Union Tuesday night.

?When I finished school, I owed over $100,000 dollars in student loans, a debt I paid off just a few months ago,? Rubio said. ?Today, many graduates face massive student loans. We must give students more information on the costs and benefits of the student loans they?re taking out.?

Last year, Congress voted to extend keeping interest rates low for federal student loans for another year, and on June 30 they will have to decide whether to renew it again.

Republican Congressmen have demanded Obama find a long-term solution to this growing student debt problem rather than rely on this quick fix.

The GOP actually wants to put an end to the federal direct student loan program altogether and is promoting for-profit universities as a more attractive option.

Source: http://redalertpolitics.com/2013/02/14/report-46-congressmen-still-in-student-debt/

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These Valentine?s Day Android apps have heart

Valentine?s Day has a bad reputation for being overly commercialized. Our thoughts on the international day for lovefests were best summed up over at popular comedy site The Oatmeal. Whether you celebrate with the traditional box of chocolates and long-stemmed roses, or spend the night drinking vodka with your friends yelling ?YOLO!? out taxi windows, here are some marvelous mobile apps to spice up your Valentine?s Day. After all, you only love once. OK, that?s blatantly untrue.

Start the holiday for lovers with American Greetings? justWink, a one-stop shop for browsing and shipping ?realistic? ecards to friends and that special someone. Within the app you can preview both the front and inside of cards featured in various Valentine?s Day categories, including LGBT-specific offerings. After you pick out the perfect card, you can easily personalize it: Add a photo from your Camera Roll, type a message, sign with the swipe of a finger, then send it off. Of course, this app is serviceable year-round, and even has a Reminders feature that syncs with Facebook, so you?ll never forget to send birthday cards to friends and relatives.

If you?re going to date online, you might as well go with the best. You can create a profile, browse user profiles, exchange winks, and view Daily Matches, with the free account. Match.com?s app lets virtual casanovas sort search results in numerous ways, including by Newest, Distance, Age, and more. All this pertinent information is displayed, along with when they were last online -- this is handy in weeding out who takes the dating service seriously. In order to send and receive messages to that cutie you?ve been scoping out, you?ll need to buy a Match.com Subscription, starting at $15.99 per month (for the first three months).

If you?re looking for something a little bit more creative than dinner for your Valentine?s Day date, download the free Gravy Android app to discover nearby events to match your mood. Whether you are going on a date or just hanging out with friends this year, use the Gravy app to find activities that are classy, brainy, lively, or whatever. The app provides drive times based on real-time traffic patterns and showcases events that are free, discounted, or exclusive. You can also view events that are trending in your area. Make your date - or date-defying night out with friends! - more groovy with Gravy.

You will want something to do while waiting for your date to show up at that elegant restaurant you both decided was reasonably priced. Disney?s popular and well-hydrated puzzle game Where?s My Water? recently updated their seasonal offering, transforming it into the Where?s My Valentine? Android app. The promotional game stars fan favorites Swampy and Perry in 12 ?love-themed? levels, where ?love-themed? translates to ?each level has a heart-shaped obstacle.? How apropos!

We love Uber so much! You can impress your date with something new this Valentine?s Day with this classy Android app. Instead of picking him or her up in a yellow cab, try a snazzy black Uber car. Use the free Uber app to schedule your sophisticated black car and pay for the ride in-app. The map in the app gives the driver exactly where to pick you up and will even update you on Uber car arrival times. It?s fancy, yet convenient transportation that is sure to earn you bonus points with your date for being smart and sexy. The best part? You and your date can each polish off an extra cocktail or two, since neither will have to deal with getting behind the wheel. The backseat beckons!

Have a safe and happy Valentine?s Day!

Download the Appolicious Android app

Source: http://www.androidapps.com/shine/articles/13214-these-valentines-day-android-apps-have-heart

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Controller designer, hardware lead Jeri Ellsworth out at Valve

We're still eagerly awaiting Steambox-spec'd hardware in our living rooms but Valve's endeavor into hardware will move on minus one party member, noted inventor / hacker Jeri Ellsworth. She reported the firing in a tweet earlier today, however any reasons, future plans or possible link to the project itself were not mentioned. When we spoke to Ellsworth last fall, she was working on controller prototypes to address mouse/keyboard use from the couch. At the time she also happily noted the Valve corporate culture's acceptance of risk-taking and failure on the way to new product development. We've attempted to contact both parties and will report back if we hear any other details -- especially if they include any more fashion / Commodore 64 mashups.

Filed under: Gaming

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Source: Jeri Ellsworth (Twitter)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/328gB5zDioM/

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Commentary: Thoughts on Rubio's Speech: Don't Change Medicare

Yahoo News asked readers to react to Sen. Marco Rubio's Republican response on Tuesday night. Here's one perspective.

COMMENTARY | Sen. Marco Rubio's speech to the nation on Tuesday in response to President Obama's State of the Union address was good.

As a Democrat from the rural community of Walsenburg, Colo., I was surprised with how much of the speech I agreed with. I enjoyed how he discussed the diversity in America, and how everyone in the country has an opportunity to be successful with hard work.

When Sen. Rubio said, "But our strength has never come from the White House or the Capitol. It's always come from our people. A people united by the American idea that, if you have a dream and you are willing to work hard, nothing should be impossible," I thought he was making an attempt to give the nation some hope. Rubio made me feel like times could get better.

But I disagreed with Rubio, though, just as much as I agreed with him. I really disliked when he talked about changing Medicare. I guess I don't understand how cutting benefits we work for and have money taken out of paychecks our whole life for is going help solve the debt crisis.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/commentary-thoughts-rubios-speech-dont-change-medicare-060700409.html

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New Nexus 4 Ad Shows the Power of Google Now

Moments ago, Google released their newest ad, which features the increasingly-popular Nexus 4, though the device itself isn?t really the star. No, the big highlight here is the power of Google Now, our favorite Android feature of the last couple of years.

Google has made it clear that they want you to realize that Google Now can show you the weather for today, tell you about your next meeting, update flight statuses, show places of interest, help you translate languages, and make sure you hit the nearest transit station on time.

Love me some Google Now.

Source: http://www.droid-life.com/2013/02/10/new-nexus-4-ad-shows-the-power-of-google-now/

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Match-fixing probe keeps Italian prosecutor busy

ROME (AP) ? Two years ago, a curious case landed on the desk of Italian prosecutor Roberto Di Martino in the town of Cremona.

Five players on the local third-division club Cremonese fell ill after a match against Paganese. One of the sick players crashed his car and club management reported the mysterious circumstances to police.

It turned out that Cremonese's goalkeeper had been bribed by match-fixers to make sure his team lost. Unable to recruit teammates to join in on the fix, he decided the next best option was to drug them. So he put tranquilizers in the team water bottles, according to police. Italian soccer officials banned him for five years.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is part of a six-month, multiformat AP examination of how organized crime is corrupting soccer through match-fixing, running over four days this week.

___

"It sounds like a fairy tale or a novel. It's absolute craziness, something unbelievable ? but it's all true," Di Martino said in an interview with The Associated Press.

"At the start it seemed like it was just for a few matches, then we figured out that it was pretty much a global system."

The investigation has thrust the 62-year-old Di Martino into the heart of one of the biggest match-fixing cases ever revealed: more than 210,000 tapped phone calls, more than 150 suspects under investigation, hundreds of matches analyzed in all four of Italy's professional divisions, dozens of people arrested and scores more wanted all over the world.

Among those arrested in "Operation Last Bet" were former Lazio captain and Italy national team forward Giuseppe Signori and former Atalanta captain Cristiano Doni.

Prosecutors in Naples and Bari have opened related investigations. Di Martino feels like he's hardly made a dent and is overwhelmed, especially since he has to also handle the routine daily work in his small office that has nothing to do with rigged soccer matches.

"If I were working full time on this I could find out more, but I'm the leader of an office that also handles administrative matters. I lose more time for administrative matters than for trials," he said.

Di Martino isn't alone. Prosecutors in Germany have uncovered about 340 games that they believe were fixed, but they can investigate only half of them because they don't have enough staff, a German investigator told AP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss investigations with the news media.

Even if prosecutors can catch players involved in fixing matches, hunting down the international money trail has proved far more elusive.

"These guys operate at a very global level. The police have no idea how to operate at a global level like crime does. They can do what they like, travel as they like," said Chris Eaton, the former head of security at soccer's governing body FIFA and now director of integrity at the International Centre for Sport Security, a Qatar-backed group funding research into match-fixing and ways to fight it.

When Eaton was at FIFA, the former detective and his handful of investigators opted to interview suspects and pursue cases across the world. Because he had few evidence-gathering powers and little support from national law enforcement agencies, FIFA had limited success.

Ralf Mutschke, a former Interpol manager who succeeded Eaton last year, has switched tactics, focusing more on education and prevention. National agencies investigate match-fixing, with liaison support from FIFA's 209 members associations.???

"Everyone has a role to play," Interpol Secretary-General Ronald Noble told the AP. "There has to be prosecution. There has to be prevention. ... There's got to be internal work from FIFA. There's got to be work from the legal betting agencies. It's a huge problem, a huge problem."

___

In Italy, match-fixing by itself is not considered a serious crime.

"It's considered a minor type of fraud ? sports fraud ? which is penalized with sentences of a maximum of two years," Di Martino said.

Furthermore, most sentences up to two years in Italy are routinely suspended. And many accused match-fixers face investigation and disciplinary action by sports federations before criminal prosecutions proceed.

While those involved in Operation Last Bet have not yet gone to a criminal trial, Italian football federation prosecutor Stefano Palazzi has already handed out numerous bans from soccer and punished teams by dropping them in the league standings.

Doni was banned from football for 5 1/2 years for allegedly betting on fixed games and Atalanta has been docked points ? both last season and this season. Signori, allegedly a key link between money runners in eastern Europe and players who fixed matches, was banned for five years, even though he's retired.

In all, 13 clubs in Italy's top two divisions have been punished in the standings this season with point deductions.

Antonio Conte, the coach of defending Serie A champion Juventus, completed in December a four-month ban for failing to report fixing when he guided Siena two seasons ago.

___

In other countries as well, match-fixers go free because there aren't laws on the books or it is not considered a serious crime.

In November, three players in Switzerland were acquitted in a match-fixing case, and the country's Football Association said the criminal code needs to be updated. The judge ruled that an online betting scam did not yield a victim.

Di Martino was drawn into the case when it was still believed to be the more serious crime of a drugging incident, thus enabling him to use investigative practices that might not have been employed for match-fixing.

"Criminal association allows phone taps, but it's not like you automatically have proof of criminal association, so it's nearly impossible to do phone taps unless you have much, much bigger reasons to," he said.

Di Martino previously worked on terrorism and organized crime cases when he was based in Brescia until 2008.

"It was a fortunate combination that led to all this, and it's unlikely to happen again," he said. "Once this trial is held, if they don't change the rules of the game, it's unlikely you'll see trials like this again."

___

For prosecutors, there are several ways to prove match-fixing ? the best being confessions by players and fixers alike in the same case. That happened in Croatia in 2010, when local police, tipped off by prosecutors in Bochum, Germany, put a wiretap on fixer Vinko Saka's phone and started reeling in the co-conspirators. Fifteen players, coaches and officials went on trial for match-fixing there, and the police wiretaps were so extensive that several of them pleaded guilty. Saka himself got a plea deal from prosecutors that also required him to testify about match-fixing in Italy.

The Bochum case, which led to investigations in other European countries, was built on wiretaps requested on convicted match-fixer Ante Sapina when he was released from prison following a German refereeing scandal that broke in 2005.

Turkish police also used extensive wiretaps in their case in 2012 charging 93 people, including senior soccer officials, with match-fixing.

Prosecutors can also build evidence from money transfers.

Sometimes players report to police that they have been approached by fixers, and the subsequent investigation uncovers match-fixing.

In 2011, Serie B player Simone Farina was offered 200,000 euros ($260,000) to influence the outcome of an Italian Cup match between Cesena and his club, Gubbio. Farina refused and reported the incident to the police. He was widely applauded, and FIFA made him an ambassador in its fight against fixing, but the whistleblower had trouble finding a club and retired before moving to England's Aston Villa in a coaching role.

"My vision is that one day, the decision I made will not be treated as the exception, but rather the rule," Farina said in a recent speech.

The confessions of convicted Singaporean fixer Wilson Perumal also provided valuable source material after his arrest in Finland.

On-field behavior ? blatant referee or player mistakes ? can really only be used as corroborating evidence, because there can be legitimate reasons for poor performance.

However, there might be grounds to investigate if all the scoring in one game is due to questionable calls by a referee, or if online betting monitors notice unusual in-game spikes in wagering, or if the game's unexpected result keeps a team from being demoted to a lower league.

The most successful match-fixing is opaque ? a win by a team that is expected to win, a loss by a team expected to lose, an unusual outcome in an exhibition or "friendly" match that doesn't count in the standings.

Sophisticated match-fixers now use scores of smaller bets on a fixed game instead of one large wager, and they often wait until the last minute to lock in the odds before betting companies can notice shifts.

___

Widespread soccer scandals are not new in Italy. Court cases are still going on from a 2006 match-fixing inquiry dubbed "Calciopoli," which involved clubs putting pressure on referees and led to 28-time Italian champion Juventus' relegation to the less-prestigious Serie B, as well as penalties for a handful of other clubs.

The last major betting scandal in Italy was in 1980, when there were also numerous arrests and bans for club officials and top players, including Paolo Rossi, who returned to lead Italy to the 1982 World Cup title.

Di Martino is convinced that match-fixing continues in Italy, despite his investigation.

"I'm sure it still goes on," he said. "I strongly doubt it has stopped. ... I hope this inquiry makes an impact, and just for that I'm trying to keep it going."

___

AP Sports Writer John Leicester in Paris and Assistant Europe Editor Sheila Norman-Culp in London contributed to this report. Dunbar reported from Geneva.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is part of a six-month, multiformat AP examination of how organized crime is corrupting soccer through match-fixing, running over four days this week.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/match-fixing-probe-keeps-italian-prosecutor-busy-105929044--sow.html

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