Saturday 12 October 2013

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Wednesday 25 September 2013

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Friday 17 May 2013

Apple’s 50 Billionth Download: Say the Same Thing

Apple wrapped up its latest iOS App Store promotion on Wednesday when the 50 billionth app was downloaded, and Thursday morning the company announced the app thathit the major milestone was the free word guessing game Say the Same Thing. According to the company, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users are downloading apps at more than 800 per second, or over 2 billion a month.

Apple's 50 billionth download: Say the Same Thing

The 50 billionth download was made by Brandon Ashmore of Mentor, Ohio. Mr. Ashmore was given a US$10,000 App Store gift card for making the 50 billionth download. Making that 50 billion number sound even more significant, Apple said re-downloads and app updates weren't included in thier count.

Apple launched the App Store in 2008 with only 500 apps available, and that number has climbed to over 850,000, and over 350,000 of those are iPad-native. The App Store is available in 115 countries.

"The App Store completely transformed how people use their mobile devices and created a thriving app ecosystem that has paid out over nine billion dollars to developers," said Apple senior vice president of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue. "We're absolutely floored to cross this milestone in less than five years."

Mozilla drags its feet on blocking cookies from unvisited websites

Cookie
Mozilla has been courting controversy with its move toward blocking some third-party cookies by default in Firefox. While preventing unvisited websites from setting cookies is undoubtedly good for consumers, advertisers are none too happy about it. Sadly, Mozilla is now delaying this feature thanks to the complaints it has received from “concerned site owners.”

For many years now, Apple’s Safari has declined to set third-party cookies from unvisited sites by default. Recently, Mozilla moved to mimic this behavior with a patch submitted by Stanford grad student Jonathan Mayer. In the Firefox Aurora (pre-beta) release channel, this behavior is on by default. Earlier this week, the feature made its way to the Firefox Beta release channel, but it is now off by default. Considering how progressive Mozilla has been with enabling pro-consumer features, this caused something of a small panic in its privacy-focused community.

In a post on his personal blog, Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich explains the reasons behind wanting to block cookies from unvisited websites, and why this feature is taking longer than most to be fully implemented. Essentially, Mozilla is worried about false positives and negatives making the default browsing experience slightly more annoying for casual users. While it is certainly possible to accidentally block cookies from legitimate content delivery networks (CDNs), it doesn’t seem to be much of a problem. Millions of Safari users, including me, don’t set cookies from unvisited sites, and there hasn’t been any significant widespread problems there. Even if the Mozilla team has good intentions, it seems like they’re being overly cautious in an attempt to keep the advertising industry from revolting.

That said, Mozilla isn’t backing away from default unvisited third-party cookie-blocking completely. Eich goes on to say that “We are always committed to user privacy, and remain committed to shipping a version of the patch that is ‘on’ by default.” He then promises that Mozilla will update the public within six weeks about its intentions on modifying Mayer’s implementation. Mozilla’s bread and butter has always been user empowerment, so don’t think for a second that it will let this go. More or less, this seems like a song and dance to appear receptive to the ad industry’s concerns.

While complete blocking of third-party cookies might be right for some users, this compromise of only blocking third-party cookies from unvisited sites is a good middle ground. The vast majority of sites will continue to function perfectly, and it makes it harder for uncouth advertisers to track consumers. Let’s just hope that Mozilla has the guts to move forward with this feature for its next release instead of dragging its feet for six more weeks.

NewsPaper Site is Hacked

The Web site and several Twitter accounts belonging to The Financial Times were hacked on Friday by the Syrian Electronic Army in a continuing campaign that has aimed at an array of media outlets ranging from The Associated Press to the parody site The Onion, according to a claim by the so-called army.

The Syrian Electronic Army said it seized control of several F.T. Twitter accounts and amended a number of the site’s blog posts with the headline “Hacked by Syrian Electronic Army.” Hackers used their access to the F.T.'s Twitter feed to post messages, including one that said, “Syrian Electronic Army Was Here,” and another that linked to a YouTube video of an execution. Both messages were quickly removed.

A Financial Times spokesman, Ryann Gastwirth, confirmed by e-mail that several of its Twitter accounts and one FT blog were compromised by hackers Friday morning and that it had secured the accounts.

Hacking has been an increasingly pernicious problem over the last year. The New York Times said its Web site “was subjected to denial of service attacks,” earlier this week, “which made it temporarily unavailable to a small number of users.”

In a so-called distributed denial-of-service attack, hackers try to overhelm a site’s servers with traffic, an assault that can disrupt or block service altogether. The New York Times did not say where the attacks had originated.

The attack against the F.T. follows dozens of other Syrian Electronic Army attacks on the social media accounts of news outlets including The Guardian, the BBC, NPR, Reuters and The Associated Press. In The A.P. attack, the group used its access to the agency’s Twitter feed to plant a false story about explosions at the White House that sent the stock market into temporary free fall.

Researchers who have been conducting digital forensics on these attacks say they are done through so-called spearphishing, in which attackers send e-mails that contain a link to a fake news article to employees at their target organization.

Once clicked, the link redirects employees to a fake Google or Microsoft mail site that asks the employee for their user name and password. The hackers then use that information to get inside employees’ inboxes, where they can send more e-mails to employees who have access to the organization’s social media accounts, then use that access to reset the organization’s password to their Twitter account.

In the attack on The A.P., a hacker who identifies himself as “Th3 Pr0” and a member of the Syrian Electronic Army said in an e-mail that the group convinced 50 A.P. employees to hand over their login credentials, including several of the organization’s social media editors. The hacker sent screenshots taken during the attack to prove the Syrian group was behind it, an assertion researchers confirm.

Security researchers who have been tracking the group since its inception in early 2011 have traced several of the attacks to a Web server in Russia that they believe redirects attack traffic from within Syria. Last weekend, one researcher traced an attack back to an Internet address in Syria that is registered to Syriatel, the Syrian telecommunications company owned by Rami Makhlouf, a first cousin of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.

Activists point to that connection as proof that the Syrian Electronic Army is backed by the Assad regime, an assertion that members deny.

In an e-mail, Th3 Pr0 said the Syrian Electronic Army has two seemingly contradictory missions. The first is to “attack the media and spread truth on it” and the second is to “make damage to a specific country or to the terrorist groups in Syria by using the famous media’s social media accounts or Web sites to publish false news.”

Meanwhile, the Syrian Electronic Army itself became a hacking target this week. Anonymous, the loose hacking collective, took the group’s Web site offline in a type of digital attack called a distributed denial of service, or DDoS, in which they flood the site with traffic until it collapses under the load.

Defense Department OKs Apple Devices, Blow to BlackBerry

In a Blow to BlackBerry, the Defense Department OKs Apple Devices
Uncle Sam is finally an Apple (AAPL) fan. The Pentagontoday approved the use of iPads, iPhones, and other Apple products by its soldiers, sailors, and pilots.

The announcement, though expected, is less a win for Apple than a defeat for BlackBerry (BBRY). Almost 80 percent of the U.S. military’s 600,000 mobile devices are BlackBerry smartphones or tablets. That’s not actually so many: BlackBerry sold 28.1 million devices last year.

Sure, a few hundred thousand here, a few hundred thousand there, and eventually you’re talking real money. But the bigger damage to BlackBerry may be to its reputation for a unique level of network security. Historically, it has wooed corporate and government buyers and slowed defections with the promise of the most hack-proof network on the market. That fight has already been largely lost at the corporate level; when the the Department of Defense is cool with the competition, it’s hard for an IT guy to argue. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics (005930) devices running Google’s (GOOG)Android operating system got the green light from the Defense Department early this month.

Specifically, the Apple approval lets government workers access military networks via iOS 6, though Apple has been making inroads at the Pentagon for a while. Some defense agencies already use Apple devices—about 41,000 devices in all—but to date, they’ve been required to crunch data through a third-party to comply with federal safety requirements. About a year ago, the Air Force awarded a $9.4 million contract to buy as many as 18,000 iPads, one of the military’s largest tablet purchases to date. Air Force pilots used the devices to replace bags full of manuals and navigation charts.

5 Big Changes Coming for Android Developers

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
SAN FRANCISCO–Android app developers this week saw a lot of new features and got advice directly from Google about how to run their businesses better. Services added to the Google developer console and Google Analytics range from connecting them to translation companies for help localizing their apps for different markets to being able to manage staged rollouts for beta releases of their apps.

Here are the top five changes that Android developers will welcome with open arms.

1. Staged Rollouts
One of the hottest new features for Android developers is staged rollouts, or the ability to push unreleased apps to alpha and beta testers. Android developers will also be able to give members of the press early access to their apps through the Google Play store. All early testers will opt in to the early releases and can delete the test apps at any time. Developers will be getting new controls that let them manage their groups of alpha and beta testers using Google Groups and Google Play communities. Developers can manage limited and staged rollouts, stop a rollout, push fixes to beta testers who already have the app installed, and more.

2. Localization Services
Unveiled at the Google I/O 2013 keynote speech, Android developers will now have integrated services into their Google Play development platform that connects them to professional translation service providers. So, if an app is selling well in, say, Poland, but the app has never been translated into Polish, doing so could open up a new revenue stream.

Also related to translation and localization are real-time previews of an app in development as text is added and changed. For example, if a developer codes an app with text in English but is also porting it to Spanish, French, German, and Japanese, she can see how the text will display on all five ports at once. As she edits the text, she can see how it will reflow in each of the different languages, again all on one screen.

3.Revenue Charts With Better Insight
As of this week, Android developers have new visibility into their revenue. New charts display information such as how much money an app has made historically over time, but also how much it has made on any particular day (which was possible before only by completing a multi-step process that involved exporting data and importing it elsewhere). Being able to see how much money an app made on a certain day can better tip off developers to events that may have caused an increase or decrease.

A few new changes to referral tracking and usage data will be available in the coming weeks, according to Riccardo Govoni, tech lead for the Google Play developer console. Soon, developers will be able to link Google Analytics and the Google developer console, which "gives a better view of the conversion funnel," he said. "And this integration goes both ways."

4. Detailed Information About Tablet App Usage
New information for developers from the Google developer console and Analytics include a neat pie graph chart that shows app usage by screen size and screen density for Android tablets.

From the consumer's end, a new section of the Play Store now shows apps that are optimized for tablets, which was sorely lacking and a huge pain point for developers who built apps specifically for tablets, such as stylus input note-taking apps.

5. Tips for Optimizing Apps
An Optimization Tips section will now give Android developers more visibility into what might be holding back their app from greatness. If there are any requirements that your app does not meet, the tips section will call out and explain what to do to fix them, according to Miles Barr, engineering manager for Android Apps on Google Play.

Several more significant changes, including the ability for any developer to reply directly to a user review or comment (announced at the 2012 Google I/O, but not universally available until sometime soon this year), are all aimed at keeping Android developers happy and churning out valuable software for Google's mobile OS.

Members of Congress Ask Google to Respond to a List of Glass Privacy Concerns

PHOTO: A Tumblr employee demos Tumblr's Glass app at Google's I/O 2013 conference.

While some members of Congress might have been excited to try on Google's Glass this week, others are concerned about their privacy implications.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and seven other members of the Congressional Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus have sent a letter to Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page requesting answers to a series of privacy questions and concerns raised by the camera-equipped glasses.

"As members of the Congressional Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus, we are curious whether this new technology could infringe on the privacy of average Americans," the letter reads. "Because Google Glass has not yet been released and we are uncertain of Google's plans to incorporate privacy protections into the device, there are still a number of answered questions that we share."

Eight questions are put forth in the letter, which can be read in full here. The first question addresses Google's track record for ignoring consumer privacy and cites that in 2010 Google had collected user data over wireless networks without permission: "While we are thankful that Google acknowledged that there was an issue and took responsible measures to address it, we would like to know how Google plans to prevent Glass from unintentionally collecting data about the user / non-user without consent?"

But for many, those answers and the idea of leaving the privacy issues up to Google aren't enough. A series of public places have already begun to ban the connected glasses, including casinos like the one in Caesars Palace. MGM Resorts also says it is watching the technology closely and anyone suspected to be "videotaping or taking photographs in the gaming areas of the resorts" with the glasses will be asked to discontinue doing so. Some select bars and movie theaters have also said that use of the connected glasses won't be allowed. The West Virginia state legislature has also proposed an amendment banning the use of Glass while driving.

"There are significant privacy and security risks inherent with Google Glass and I expect more places to ban them," Brad Shear, a Washington-area attorney and blogger who is an expert on social media, told ABC News. "Would you be comfortable going to your doctor's office/hospital and a nurse and/or the doctor were wearing them? There are state wiretap laws that require consent of a user before they are recorded. Users may violate state wiretap laws while using Glass."

Tuesday 14 May 2013

Google to use open-source sensors to monitor I/O conference

Google will literally track the footsteps of developers attending the annual Google I/O conference in San Francisco this week as part of an effort to understand how visitors navigate and behave at the event.

The Google Cloud Platform Development Relations team announced in a blogpost on Monday that it is running an experiment with O'Reilly Data Sensing Lab, which will see hundreds of Arduino-based environmental sensors deployed across the Moscone Centre to monitor what is going on at all times.

The open-source sensors will work with software based on the Google Cloud Platform to record real-time information on temperature, humidity and air quality. The system will also record noise levels and footsteps to understand where people are in the conference centre.
Google is using hundreds of open-source sensors to record conditions at the annual I/O conference (Photo: Google)

The Arduino hardware designs and the information collected during the conference will be available online when the conference has finished.

The results of the experiment could impact the way that conferences and corporate events are run as they could highlight which parts of the conference were busy and which parts generated little interest.

"Networked sensor technology is in the early stages of revolutionising business logistics, city planning, and consumer products," writes blogpost author and Google developer programs engineer Michael Manoochehri. "We are looking forward to sharing the Data Sensing Lab with Google I/O attendees, because we want to show how using open hardware together with the Google Cloud Platform can make this technology accessible to anyone."

Google I/O runs from May 15 to May 17 and will be attended by those that managed to get a $900 (£590) ticket before they sold out, less than one hour after going on sale.

Some of the major announcements made at last year's event included Google Glass, the Nexus 7 and Android 4.1(Jelly Bean).

Google adds Gladstone, Mo., as fifth recipient of Google Fiber

(Credit: Google)

Google's Fiber web is growing a little bigger in the Midwest.

The Gladstone, Mo., city council on Monday approved expansion of the Web giant's speedy Internet and video service into the Kansas City suburb, Google announced Monday.

Already available in Kansas City, the first location to get the high-speed Internet service, Google Fiber's expansion plans have been picking up speed in recent months. The Gladstone decision comes a little more than a week after Shawnee, Kan. -- another city located near Kansas City -- voted to bring Google Fiber to its residents. Google also plans to install the network in Austin, Texas, and Provo, Utah.

As usual, Google cautioned that planning and installation of the gigabit Internet service takes time and there is no firm timetable for service to begin in Gladstone.

The acceleration in rollout plans comes about a year after Google launched its 1-gigabit-per-second broadband service in Kansas City and unveiled a new interactive television service called Google Fiber TV. Google offers three packages, including the high-end $120 a month for the Gigabit and Fiber TV service package, $70 for 1Gbps broadband only, and the cost-free but limited-time service of 5Mbps download speeds and 1Mbps uploads.

Netflix Dominates North American Streaming, YouTube Wins Global Crown

Nefflix Logo
Netflix streaming shows no signs of slowing down, with the video platform eating up almost a third of peak downstream traffic in North America, according to new stats from Sandvine.

On fixed networks in North America, Netflix is the "unchallenged leader" when it comes to traffic, controlling 32.3 percent of downstream traffic during peak periods. Coming in second is YouTube, with 17.1 percent of peak downstream traffic in North America, up from 13.8 percent last year.

Globally, however, YouTube is the leader when it comes to fixed and mobile networks, making the Google-owned video site "the leading source of Internet traffic in the entire world," Sandvine said.

In North America, Netflix's traffic share dropped a fraction of a percent since last year, but "it should not be interpreted as a decline in the popularity of the service at the expense of their competitors," Sandvine concluded. "In fact, competing pay-video services such as Amazon (1.31 percent) and HBO GO (0.34 percent) saw their relative share decline in a greater amount than that of Netflix."

On mobile alone, YouTube is also the top service with 27.3 percent of peak downstream traffic in North America, down from 31 percent. Netflix is nipping at its heels, though.

"While watching a full length movie, or a 22 minute sitcom, on a 4-inch smartphone screen may not be the ideal viewing experience for everyone, for many subscribers it is becoming a viable experience," Sandvine said. "Netflix's downstream traffic share in North America almost doubled from 2.2 percent to 4 percent in just 12 months time, and we believe that that this number will increase going forward and that longer form video as a whole will become more commonplace on mobile networks in North America."

YouTube's efforts to produce longer-form videos and live-streaming events hasn't really helped boost its traffic share, Sandvine said.

"Instead, we believe the increase is attributed to the continued growth of smartphone and tablet use within the home (i.e. 'Home Roaming'); as observed in this study, such devices consume over a quarter of all streaming audio and video on fixed access networks," according to Sandvine.

When it comes to streaming music, meanwhile, Pandora is still the leader, and its share of downstream traffic is actually higher during non-peak times (3.62 percent vs. 3.35 percent) - mostly because people are listening all day while at work.

Netflix, meanwhile, released its ISP rankings for April this week, which provides details on which providers offer the best Netflix streaming experience. In the U.S., Google Fiber was still No. 1, followed by Cablevision, Cox, and Suddenlink.

During the first quarter, Netflix users collectively streamed over 4 billion hours of films and TV shows, Netflix announced last month.

Type Atari Breakout into Google image search for a nice surprise

Atari Breakout
Now, if you promise you won't do this in front of your boss, I'll let you in on a nice video game secret today: Go to Google image search, type in Atari Breakout, and well, see what happens.

Yes, that's right, now you can play the old arcade and Atari 2600 hit "Breakout" on your computer, with the Google images becoming the bricks you must destroy.

This year is the 37th anniversary of the game, which has had many variations since its initial release, but there's still something magical in the original.

Now, when experts wonder why work productivity declined markedly today, you will know.

BlackBerry CEO unveils new, low-priced Q5 before full house at Jam conference

Blackberry Q5.jpg
ORLANDO, Fla. – BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. unveiled a lower-cost BlackBerry that is designed to entice consumers in emerging markets as the company stepped up efforts to regain market share lost to the iPhone and Android devices.

CEO Thorsten Heins said Tuesday that the Q5 device will be available worldwide this summer. It is RIM's third smartphone to run the new BlackBerry 10 system. The Q5 will have a physical keyboard, something that sets RIM's devices apart from Apple's iPhone and most Android phones.

'I know it's going to be a big hit. I think you're really gonna like it.'

- Blackberry CEO Thorston Heins

He said the "slim, sleek" device will be available in red, black, white and pink.

"I know it's going to be a big hit," Heins said. "I think you're really gonna like it."

Heins announced the phone to a packed ballroom to open RIM's annual three-day conference in Orlando, Fla.

RIM unveiled new, versatile BlackBerrys this year after delays allowed Apple and others to dominate.

Heins, who became RIM's CEO in January 2012, said the company has made a lot of progress in a short period of time, by moving in a diverse collection of people into leadership positions.

He restated BlackBerry's committed to "mobile first" and took a subtle jab at industry predictions that he might not make it to this year's conference as CEO in such a tough landscape.

"I'm happy to say they were wrong," Heins said. "We are not only still here. We are firing on all cylinders as a company."

The BlackBerry, pioneered in 1999, had been the dominant smartphone for on-the-go business people and consumers before the iPhone debuted in 2007 and showed that phones can handle much more than email and calls. RIM faced numerous delays modernizing its operating system.

RIM continues to do well in many places overseas.

RIM's stock fell 30 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $15.58 in morning trading Tuesday.

Heins said that RIM is "definitely in the race" and that he is excited about its outlook, with mobile being the key cog in their resurgence he said has brought it to a profitable quarter.

"The most successful year for BlackBerry is well under way," he said.

Outlook.com gets Google Talk support, rolling out worldwide this week

Outlook.com Google Talk
Following Outlook.com's recent Skype integration, Microsoft is turning its integration focus to Google services today. Google Talk, an instant messaging service for text and audio, is being integrated directly into Outlook.com, Microsoft's refreshed webmail service. The surprising move comes just days before Google is rumored to be rounding up its Google Talk and Hangouts services into a unified "Babel" service.

GOOGLE TALK SUPPORT JUST AHEAD OF RUMORED BABEL SERVICE

Microsoft heard from Outlook.com users that they wanted to chat to their contacts using Google Talk, so the company utilized Google's APIs to build the support. At the moment it will only work with text chat, as video and audio chat is not supported. "If it turns out a lot of people want the voice and video with Google, that's certainly something we'll go talk to them about," explains Dharmesh Mehta, senior director of Outlook.com. The integration works as soon as you connect a Google account to Outlook.com, letting users chat in the sidebar.

Discussing the recent completion of the Hotmail to Outlook.com upgrade, Mehta explained it was a rather sudden change for some. "For the average Hotmail customer, this was a pretty big change relative to things you normally experience." Aside from that, it has been successful for the team involved in migrating millions of accounts. "This went better than any migration I've seen in my history," says Mehta.

STILL NO COMMITMENT TO IMAP SUPPORT

So what's next? Now the migration is complete, Outlook.com users should expect an increased pace of updates. Back in August, Microsoft's Outlook.com team hinted at IMAP support and a possible Mac client. Mehta says the Outlook.com team is still figuring out how it plans to better support Mac users with clients that support Outlook.com. "It's a pretty diverse space in terms of trying to do it well," explains Mehta, detailing the challenges of opening up a protocol or making Outlook.com more desirable to third-party app developers that traditionally favor Gmail's IMAP support over Microsoft's alternative. "We absolutely do hear that there's a set of users that today either have to default to POP or a pure web experience in a set of places that there's richer options," reveals Mehta. "We're absolutely listening to that and thinking about where and in what ways we need to go expand."

Nvidia's Shield gaming handheld launches in June for $349

Nvidia's Project Shield handheld gaming device, now called simply Shield, will be available for pre-order on May 20 priced at $349, though it won't ship to customers until the end of June.

Shield takes the form of a console game controller with a 5-inch, pop-up screen that can display images at a 720p (1280 x 720 pixel) resolution. It runs on Nvidia's latest Tegra 4 chip, which has four CPU cores and 72 graphics cores to support a maximum resolution of 3200 x 2000 pixels, so games can be played at full HD on an attached TV.

Shield will be available for order through Nvidia's website and via retailers Newegg, GameStop, Micro Center and Canada Computers. The handheld was introduced at the International CES in January.NVIDIA

Shield runs the Android 4.1 OS, code-named Jellybean. Games will be available for download from the Google Play store and from gaming libraries like Steam and Nvidia's TegraZone. TegraZone currently lists 76 games, including "Max Payne," "Sonic 4," "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" and "NBA 2K13."

Nvidia insists the gaming experience on Shield will be better than on smartphones. With 802.11n Wi-Fi, the handheld can also play PC games streamed from a computer with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 graphics processor or better.

Shield has integrated speakers and a set of controls including dual joysticks, directional buttons and bumpers. It has a mini-HDMI out port so the controller can be hooked up to a TV. Other features include 16GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, Bluetooth and GPS. There's also a microSD slot for adding more storage.

Nvidia will compete with Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft in the gaming hardware market, which will undergo some big changes this year. Sony's PlayStation 4 will ship later this year, and Microsoft is expected to announce the next Xbox gaming console on May 21. Nintendo started shipping the Wii U late last year. Sony and Nintendo also offer handheld gaming products.

While Shield will compete mainly with the handheld consoles, the gates are open for Nvidia to go after the PlayStation and Xbox, said Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy.

"If Nvidia can get some AAA titles and a good experience connecting to an HDTV, I could see a small segment of consumers choosing Shield over a new console," he said via email.

Some buyers, such as GTX PC gamers and Android gamers, will be willing to pay the $349 for the handheld, Moorhead said.

"This doesn't have to be some big blowout to the general population for this to be deemed a success, only sales to their two target audiences. The key will be for Nvidia to deliver an amazing game experience to that audience," he said.

Nvidia is traditionally known as a graphics company, and its GPUs were used by Sony in the PlayStation 3. However, Sony's PlayStation 4 will have chips from Advanced Micro Devices, which is also expected to supply chips for Microsoft's next Xbox.

Google unifies cloud storage across Gmail, Drive and Google+, 15GB of free space offered

google-storage-drive.jpg
As a part of the process of integrating its various products, Google has now made changes to the way data is used, accessed and stored in free cloud storage offered with products such as Gmail, Google Drive and Google+ Photos.

Google announced that instead of offering 10GB storage for Gmail and another 5GB for Drive and Google+ Photos, it will now offer 15GB of unified storage, which can be used between Drive, Gmail, and Google+ Photos.

The move would give more flexibility to users, allowing them to make optimal use of cloud storage for the service they use the most. For instance, users who majorly use Gmail would be able to get 15GB of space instead of 10GB if they don't use Drive or Google+ photos. Similarly, users who store lots of data in Drive but don't use Gmail would get much more space in Drive compared to what they were getting earlier.

It also means that Gmail users who could earlier upgrade to a 25GB mailbox at max when they upgraded to a 100GB Drive plan, would be able to use the full 100GB offered in the same plan and upgrade to up to 16TB storage.

The consolidated space would be grouped under Drive and users will also be able to check how much of the space they've been using for individual services. They'll be able to see a breakdown of storage use across Drive, Gmail, and Google+ Photos when they hover over the pie chart that depicts Drive usage on the Google Drive storage page.

The changes to Google Drive storage will be rolled out over the next couple of weeks, according to Google. Google Apps users will also be getting shared storage shortly and they'll be able to share their 30GB unified space across Gmail, Drive and Google+ photos.

Google had earlier announced a "Save to Drive" button to save files directly from websites if websites added a code to enable it.

Monday 13 May 2013

A Day on the Set of Breaking Bad - Part I


On a crisp January morning, the Breaking Bad crew huddles against a concrete spillway in Albuquerque. They're here to get one shot: It's at this location where Jesse will come to a decision that, as the episode's director Michael Slovis tells me, "pushes all the stories forward" in the final eight episodes. But first, the sun has to rise.

Aaron Paul emerges from his trailer wearing a fur-lined parka, which he'll shed before filming starts. (Gennifer Hutchison, the episode's writer, explains that the show maintains a constant "spring" look, meaning the actors always wear light jackets. "So in the summer they're sweltering," she says, "and now they're freezing.") His hair has grown longer since last we saw him, as has his beard. "Jesse's so haggard," Paul laughs. "I feel bad for him."

"We've got sun!" a crew member shouts, sparking a frenzy of activity. Paul quickly sheds the parka and positions himself on top of a crate. At his feet is what Hutchison calls the "smallest circular track ever," which will carry a camera 360 degrees around Paul as the scene develops. Slovis calls "action" and Paul's demeanor instantly shifts as he becomes Jesse, right before everyone's eyes.

Between takes, the police allow traffic to pass along Juan Tabo Boulevard (coincidentally home to the late great Gale Boetticher). Some drivers honk their horns; others open their windows and shout "Yeah Breaking Bad!" The crew has noticed more and more of this as the seasons have progressed. Whereas once signs directed crew members to shooting locations using the iconicBreaking Bad periodic table logo, now they use more obscure arrangements of letters -- code, I'm told, to prevent locals from stealing the signs. "I think everybody in Albuquerque watchesBreaking Bad now," Paul says.

The final shot of the morning takes place across the street, where Jesse appears as just a small speck against the concrete edifices that look like tombstones. Camera Operator Andy Voegeli is perched 10 feet above the ground on an enormous tripod. Between the camera and Paul, a street dead-ends into the dam with left- and right-turn only arrows painted onto the lanes. "I love this shot," Slovis says of the panorama. "It's like Jesse could go either way."

Whichever way Jesse goes, Paul at least is finished for the day. The production quickly packs up and heads to its second location: A family-style Mexican restaurant where red and green bare light bulbs hang from the ceiling and the wait-staff sport Cozymel blouses and long purple skirts -- so kitschy it just has to be real.

Originally, the script called for the Whites (Skyler and Walt) and the Schraders (Hank and Marie) to meet at a national chain restaurant. But last-minute cold feet on the restaurant's part forced the production to find a new location -- a turn of luck that Line Producer Stewart Lyons couldn't be more thrilled about. "I'm a big believer in happy accidents," he tells me. "Look at this place. It's a family restaurant with just that little twist that makes it uniquely Breaking Bad."

Also present in the scene will be over 60 extras -- waiters, busboys and most importantly, families -- all enjoying a pleasant outing while the White family sits through yet another of the show's now-signature family meals nearby. "That's the whole point," Hutchison tells me. "They're surrounded by families."

Of course, having all those people eat and interact with each other while trying to pick up whispered dialog presents certain challenges. As the extras take their seats at tables throughout the restaurant, First Assistant Director Nina Jack addresses them: "I'm going to ask you to do one thing," she says. "It sounds easy now, but it's going to get really hard later on: No talking." Throughout the scene -- and for the rest of the day -- the extras will be eating, smiling, laughing and chatting with each other all in complete silence.

The cameras are set up on a stage separating the dining area from the bar. Typically, the stage would be set for a live band, but in a bizarre role reversal the stage is ready to watch the performance in the audience. When the cast arrives, the extras cheer. Bryan Cranston walks around the tables introducing himself. When he gets to a family with two young boys, he pretends to sneeze in their food.

The actors take their seats while Arthur Albert -- filling in for Slovis as this episode's Director of Photography -- measures light levels. Dean Norris is seated across from Bryan Cranston; Anna Gunn faces Betsy Brandt.

When Slovis yells "Action," the principal actors drop into character. The background actors begin silently mouthing to each other, smiling and taking bites from their meals. They've begun what will become an eight-hour marathon performance of four pages of script.

Zact tries to out-uncarrier T-Mobile with customizable mobile plans


A new wireless carrier is launching today, it's called "Zact" and though it's piggybacking on top of Sprint's wireless network, the company swears up and down that it's not an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). Zact's goal is to out-T-Mobile T-Mobile as the "Uncarrier" by offering no-contract service plans that are customizable to an incredibly granular level. It's a compelling idea in a sea of restrictive and annoying service plan options — but for now it's probably only going to appeal to the traditional pre-paid customer.

Zact is offering two low-end Android handsets for sale at un-subsidized prices: LG Viper 4G LTE for $399 and LG Optimus Elite for $199 — both running older versions of Android. These devices have special software built deeply into the OS that allow them to dynamically change your service plan on the go. You pay a flat fee of $4.99 per-device, and then choose your minutes, texts, and data packages as you need them. You can select amounts down to very specific levels — the typical "steps" between plans range in the dollars and cents instead of in the tens of dollars.

GOOD PLANS, TERRIBLE DEVICES

The idea is that you only need to pay for what you're actually going to use as you use it, and Zact will refund you for whatever you don't use at the end of the month. In theory, this can result in radically lower bills — or at least bills that accurately reflect your actual usage instead of your best guess. As you use your phone, an app will pop-up as necessary for you to add more minutes or data — or you can modify it whenever you like.

Zact also allows for incredibly discrete parental controls — you can manage another device on your plan directly from the phone and disallow data, texting, and even app usage for other devices. Zact is also offering ways to get app-specific plans: if you'd like to get an email plan or a Facebook plan instead of a generic data bucket, you can do that. The features all come thanks to Zact's deep integration with Android, which allows them to recognize which apps are trying to launch or use data and whitelist or blacklist them as appropriate.

IF IT SOUNDS CONFUSING, THAT'S PROBABLY BECAUSE IT IS AT FIRST

If it sounds confusing, that's probably because it is a little confusing — at least to people who are used to more traditional plans with big buckets of minutes and data. CEO Greg Raleigh believes that the new pricing model should become the new standard. T-Mobile's Un-Carrier plans were "a good kind of half-step," Raleigh says, "but at the end of the day what it is really? It's just a rebanding or remarketing of the no-contract concept."

The company behind Zact is called ItsOn, and Raleigh insists that the service that powers Zact isn't the same thing as a traditional, pre-paid MVNO. "An MVNO would take the same box as the carrier would buy and then create a network with the same offers. That is not what we do, we have a virtual service that has 10 times the flexibility," he says, "I would not spend my time on an MVNO."

"I WOULD NOT SPEND MY TIME ON AN MVNO."

That may indeed be true from a technical perspective, as Zact doesn't need to build out the infrastructure that most MVNOs do, but the end result for consumers will essentially be the same — the company currently only offers low-end Android devices dependent on Sprint's largely-3G network. However, Raleigh notes that ItsOn will announce "top tier carrier deals" later this year, offering the same flexible plans. Theoretically, Zact could also offer higher-end Android phones as well, Raleigh says that the custom software necessary for Zact to work is compatible with Jelly Bean.

Until then, Zact is meant to be a "lighthouse," as Raleigh puts it. Raleigh's goal is to prove that consumers can save money (an average of $1,126 over two years, the company claims) without carriers losing profits. It's a lofty goal, but the thing about lighthouses is that they tend to get abandoned if no ships sail into their waters.

Google, Microsoft Make Improvements to Drive, SkyDrive

On Monday, Google said that it's unifying the virtual cloud storage used by Drive, Gmail and Google+ Photos, offering one lump volume instead of dedicating 10 GB for Gmail alone and allowing Drive and Google+ Photos to share another 5 GB. This will eliminate the worry about what users are storing and where.

"For example, maybe you’re a heavy Gmail user but light on photos, or perhaps you were bumping up against your Drive storage limit but were only using 2 GB in Gmail," said Clay Bavor, Director of Product Management. "Now it doesn’t matter, because you can use your storage the way you want."

To make the combined data management easier, Google will be making some updates to the Drive storage page. Users can simply hover over the pie chart to see a breakdown of their storage use across Drive, Gmail, and Google+ Photos. If additional storage is needed, then this is the place to upgrade, with plans starting at $4.99/month for 100 GB.

"This change means you’re no longer limited to a 25 GB upgrade in Gmail—any additional storage you purchase now applies there, too," he said. "These changes to Google Drive storage will roll out over the next couple of weeks. Google Apps users will also be getting shared storage."

Meanwhile, Microsoft announced several improvements to SkyDrive that make it easier to upload and manage photos in the cloud. This includes an "all photos view," which allows the user to scroll through all their stored photos in one seamless timeline experience, up to 3x faster upload speeds, and improved thumbnails.

"Thumbnails make it easier to find the file you're looking for, and so we're also introducing some changes to our thumbnails view," said Omar Shahine, Group Program Manager of SkyDrive.com. "We worked hard to improve the readability of the files and folders you have in SkyDrive and are introducing new thumbnails for your PowerPoint and Word files."

SkyDrive also now supports full resolution uploads of photos and videos in all markets where Windows Phone 8 is available. Now everyone with a Windows Phone 8 can have a complete backup of all the photos they take in their SkyDrive camera roll.

"We’ve also been hard at work addressing the feedback we’ve received about how long it sometimes takes to upload via the SkyDrive desktop app," he said. "To improve upload times, we worked on changes to both the app and the server code. The end result is that in our internal tests, we’ve seen a 2-3x improvement in upload times for photos."

Changes to SkyDrive will begin today and roll out over the next 24 hours.

Lamborghini Egoista Concept breaks cover at the automaker`s 50th anniversary celebrations



For all those high-profile car owners who don't want to share their prized possessions with friends/relatives or otherwise, Lamborghini has a solution for you. The supercar maker unveiled the Egoista concept, a car which may not be in the scheme of things for a launch soon but already promises it's would-be owner real exclusivity with its design. The styling has been inspired from the Apache helicopter and the bodywork, in Lamborghini's speak is a bull preparing to charge, its horns lowered. There are no aerodynamic appendages on the top but flaps integrated into the bodywork, which depending on the driving conditions, act automatically. At high speeds, two flaps at the rear activate automatically to increase stability. The headlamps and taillights are LED clearance lamps which work in a 3D fashion. Additionally, at the front, hidden from view are two Xenon lights. Those cool orange rims that you see in the picture are made from antiradar materials and to increase aerodynamics, have carbon-fibre plates.

A single racing seat with a four-point seatbelt adorns the aluminium-carbon fiber interiors. Just like in jet fighters, there is a head-up display. As it is, supercar owners usually have an ardous task getting in and out of their vehicles, the Lamborghini Egoista concept takes it a few notches higher. In proper race-car style, the driver will have to remove the steering wheel and perform a few callisthenic acts before he can get out of the car.

Now the engine. The Lamborghini Egoista is powered by a 600PS 5.2-litre V10 motor and while the Italian car maker hasn't divulged any details about the 0-100 times or even the top speed, expect the hypercar to toe the lines of the Veneno and Aventador with sub 3-second timings.

Samsung sends gigabit '5G' signal TWO WHOLE KILOMETRES

Marketecture wars The world is getting excited at the advent of “5G” wireless systems with a demonstration of a gigabit air interface using the 28 GHz band by Samsung.

It's not too bad as a piece of early-stage academic technology demonstration, as it happens: the engineers used 64 antenna elements in what you might think of as a “massively MIMO” system, getting a gigabit per second download over a distance of two kilometres.


That huge number of antenna elements is required because of what Samsung says are the “unfavourable propagation characteristics” experienced at such a high carrier frequency. The Samsung announcement doesn't mention the channel width required to get gigabit speeds.

5G it ain't: it's merely Samsung's demonstration of its proposed air interface for whatever eventually gets proposed for the full suite of 5G standards, at some point in the future. Right now, whatever over-excitable journalists in the mainstream think, “5G” is nothing more than a “marketecture”, that odd progeny of marketing and technology in which something that doesn't exist is conjured up by the application of the right jargon.

So let's get this straight: there is no such thing as 5G, except in the fevered minds of marketing departments.

There is, for example, no working group in any standards body, no allocation of 28 GHz spectrum anywhere in the world (in Australia the band is allocated to satellite applications). There is not even agreement about whether development beyond 4G should focus on channel capacity or other characteristics. Consider, for example, the battery life that can be anticipated in a handset that's processing 64 separate radio sets.

The main point of the Samsung announcement – apart from publicising a genuine piece of research and engineering – is probably bragging rights. NTT Docomo demonstrated a 10 Gbps link using 11 GHz spectrum in March.

In other words, vendors are jockeying for position, trying to cement their respective approaches to 5G so that it reflects their technology more than someone else's.

And with even the optimists in Samsung's marketing department saying 5G won't be a reality before 2020, we can expect plenty of “we set the record” demonstrations over the next few years. ®

Samsung takes first 5G steps with advanced antenna

Samsung Electronics plans to use advanced antennas to boost the bandwidth in mobile networks by what it said was "several tens of Gbps per base station", but the improved bandwidth won't be commercially available until 2020.

The company said it can now transmit data at up to 1.056Gbps over distances of up to 2 kilometers using the 28GHz spectrum band.

Spectrum bands that high, which are called millimeter-wave because of the short wavelengths, have both pros and cons. They allow for access to lots of spectrum, which means higher speeds, but signals are not transmitted well over long distances.

Samsung thinks it can overcome that problem with a new adaptive array transceiver that uses 64 antenna elements. The company hasn't provided much detail on how the array works. But, in general, adaptive arrays are used to electronically control the direction of a signal, according to Jens Zander, professor and dean at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

However, Zander isn't convinced that Samsung can overcome the poor signal propagation characteristics.

"At these frequencies the wavelengths are so short that all obstacles become massive. Even your own body casts a large shadow. That has been shown by a number of studies," Zander said.

The key to building faster networks, especially indoors, lies in coming up with better ways of putting a larger number of smaller base stations closer to users, according to Zander.

Today, millimeter-wave spectrum is increasingly being used in cellular networks, but for wireless backhaul links. They are used to connect base stations of all sizes with the rest of the operator's network. The market is set to double in 2013, fueled by the growth of LTE networks, according to Infonetics Research.

Here adaptive arrays can be used simplify network configuration. Instead of having personnel in the field manually setting up the antenna it can configure itself, Zander said.

Samsung isn't the only company experimenting with next-generation networks. Earlier this year, NTT DoCoMo announced it and the Tokyo Institute of Technology had transmitted data at 10Gbps, using 400MHz of spectrum in the 11GHz band. The amount of spectrum compares to current LTE networks, which use up to 20MHz.

To make the higher speed it too used multiple antennas: eight to transmit the data and 16 antennas to receive it. The underlying techology is multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), which is already used in current LTE networks, but with fewer antennas.

Interestingly, the Japanese operator never used the 5G term in its announcement, instead referring to "super-high-bit-rate mobile communications."

But more announcements regarding 5G advancements will surely come, because even though it will take many years before the first networks become commercially available the race between vendors and countries is very much on. For a vendor like Samsung -- whose mobile network equipment isn't as well known as its devices -- it is important to show technological prowess and that the company is in it for the long haul.

"Samsung is still small, but did really well last year compared to the market. It has the ambition to grow and part of that is wanting to be seen," said Sylvain Fabre, research director at Gartner.

Others have also announced 5G plans, including the European Commission. In February, vice president Neelie Kroes announced a €50 million (US$65 million) investment in research to deliver 5G mobile technology by 2020, with the aim of putting Europe back in the lead of the global mobile industry.

NTT DoCoMo's experiment, meanwhile, was sponsored by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Google Talks 'Different' I/O Without Major Product, OS Launches

Google I/O 2013
Google I/O will be "different" this year, and won't focus much on major product launches, Sundar Pichai, Google's head of Chrome and Android, toldWired this week.

In his first interview since taking over control of Android from Andy Rubin, Pichai was asked what Google watchers should expect from I/O this year. "It's not a time when we have much in the way of launches of new products or a new operating system," Pichai responded. Instead, the focus will be "on all of the kinds of things we're doing for developers, so that they can write better things."

A number of things could be of use to developers and also interesting to consumers, of course. That includes an update to Android. Recent rumors and Web logs point to an incremental update to Jelly Bean - Android 4.3 - rather than a completely new version of Android, codenamed Key Lime Pie. Jelly Bean made its debut at last year's Google I/O.

Over the weekend, meanwhile, Android Police reported on a leak that revealed a host of gaming-friendly features set to arrive to the Android platform in the form of a new "Google Play Games" service. That includes Google+ gaming integration, synchronized game saves, achievement notifications, and leaderboards.

Other Google I/O rumors, meanwhile, have tipped a new, low-cost Nexus 7 and a Google Wallet app without a physical credit card.

In talking with Wired, meanwhile, Pichai said that Chrome and Android will remain two separate entities, for now.

"So in the short run, nothing changes. In the long run, computing itself will dictate the changes," he said. "The picture may look different a year or two from now, but in the short term, we have Android and we have Chrome, and we are not changing course."

Pichai was also not concerned about Facebook Home, which brings the social network front and center on the Android OS. Google is "excited they've done good work," Pichai said, something echoed by Eric Schmidt recently.

Still, "with every release of Android, we do go through changes," Pichai conceded. "So we may make changes over time. But if this is what users want, I think Facebook will be able to do it. We want it to be possible for users to get what they want."

Sunday 12 May 2013

My School Emblem . .

My school emblem . .
plz. comment guyz . .

My School

My School . . .

plz. comment guys . .

Ten Suggestions for Incoming Freshmen

Since the publication of my book, Endtimes: Crises and Turmoil at the New York Times 1999-2009, I have been blogging about the media for the Huffington Post. But today, with the fall term approaching, I want to wear another hat, namely that of Cornell English Professor, a position that I have had for more than 44 years.

In the past week, I and a handful of other professors -- who have demonstrated a strong interest in undergraduate teaching -- were asked to contribute to a Cornell discussion "Advice for Entering Freshmen." What follows is an extended version of my comments. While the suggestions apply to all entering freshmen, especially those who will be living on campus, needless to say, this is far from an exhaustive list and one that students, parents, and colleagues should think of as a point of departure. I have restricted my list to ten items.

Ten Suggestions for Incoming Freshmen

1) Time management: Keep a chart of how you are using your time. Work on your course work every day but not all day; do something that is fun and relaxing every day and be sure to get enough exercise and sleep.

2) Remember the three R's: Resilience (Falling down and getting up are one motion.); Resourcefulness (Use your skills and intelligence.); and Resolve (Pursue goals with determination and persistence.).

3) Think about your classes as communities of inquiry where you and your fellow students and the professor are sharing intellectual curiosity, love of learning, and the desire to understand important subjects.

4) Get to know one professor reasonably well each term; you will not only have necessary references for college programs, jobs, and graduate school but also you will feel part of your college community.

5) Be sure to participate in one or more of the many campus activities, but the first term chose a limited number until you are confident you can handle your course workload.

6) Take advantage of lectures outside courses, special exhibits, campus theatre, musical programs and other campus resources as well as the natural and/or urban treasures of the area in which your college is located.

7) Find a few comfortable and quiet study places on campus, places where you work effectively and are not easily distracted.

8) When you enter a new situation such as the first weeks at college, you might feel somewhat desperate to make friends quickly. But it is important to retain your core values and judgment and to avoid becoming part of a herd or doing things because others are doing them.

9) Take care of yourself physically and emotionally. Seek help when you need it, no matter what the issue. Know that substance abuse is a problem on campuses, with alcohol being the most abused.

10) Laugh a lot and continue to develop your sense of humor. When things are not going well, remember you can't fix the past. But you can start where you are.

Stop the Nuclear Industry Welfare Program

This nation is facing a $15 trillion national debt, and there is no shortage of opinions about how to move toward deficit reduction in the federal budget. One topic you will not hear discussed very often on Capitol Hill is the idea of ending one of the oldest American welfare programs -- the extraordinary amount of corporate welfare going to the nuclear energy industry.

Many in Congress talk of getting 'big government off the back of private industry.' Here's an industry we'd like to get off the backs of the taxpayers.

As a senator who is the longest-serving independent in Congress, and as the president of an independent and non-partisan budget watchdog organization, we do not necessarily agree on everything when it comes to energy and budget policy in the United States. But one thing we strongly agree on is the need to end wasteful subsidies that prop up the nuclear industry. After 60 years, this industry should not require continued and massive corporate welfare. It is time for the nuclear power industry to stand on its own two feet.

Nuclear welfare started with research and development. According to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, since 1948 the federal government has spent more than $95 billion (in 2011 dollars) on nuclear energy R&D. That is more than four times the amount spent on solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biofuels, and hydropower combined.

But federal R&D was not enough; the industry also wanted federal liability insurance too, which it got back in 1957 with the Price-Anderson Act. This federal liability insurance program for nuclear plants was meant to be temporary, but Congress repeatedly extended it, most recently through 2025. Price-Anderson puts taxpayers on the hook for losses that exceed $12. 6 billion if there is a nuclear plant disaster. When government estimates show the cost for such a disaster could reach $720 billion in property damage alone, that's one sweetheart deal for the nuclear industry!

R&D and Price-Anderson insurance are still just the tip of the iceberg. From tax breaks for uranium mining and loan guarantees for uranium enrichment to special depreciation benefits and lucrative federal tax breaks for every kilowatt hour from new plants, nuclear is heavily subsidized at every phase. The industry also bilks taxpayers when plants close down with tax breaks for decommissioning plants. Further, it is estimated that the federal costs for the disposal of radioactive nuclear waste could be as much as $100 billion.

Even with all of those subsidies, the private sector still will not agree to finance a new nuclear plant, so wealthy nuclear corporations recently secured access to $18.5 billion in taxpayer-backed loan guarantees. Maybe the Wall Street banks agree with the Congressional Budget Office, which estimated the risk of default on nuclear loans at above 50 percent. The nuclear industry's financial troubles are not new. In the 1960's and 1970's, 100 reactors were cancelled due to cost overruns. Things were so bad Forbes called it "the largest managerial disaster in business history." Despite this history, some want to dramatically increase federal loan guarantees for nuclear plants.

It is shocking that the nuclear industry continues to receive so much federal support at a time of record debt. Of course nuclear subsidies benefit some of the wealthiest and most powerful energy corporations in America, which may explain the persistence of nuclear welfare.

For example, Exelon, which takes in $33 billion in revenue annually, is the leading operator/owner of nuclear reactors in the United States. Entergy, with revenues of more than $11 billion annually, is the second largest. Together, these two companies own or operate almost one-third of U.S. reactors, and based on their revenue they are doing pretty well. Why do they need endless federal welfare for their industry year after year after year? Will it ever end?

Well, as Secretary of Energy Steven Chu confirmed at a recent Senate hearing, without federal liability insurance and loan guarantees, no one would ever build a new nuclear plant. Whether you support nuclear energy or not, we should all be able to agree that with record debt, we cannot afford to continue to subsidize this mature industry and its multi-billion dollar corporations. If the nuclear industry believes so fervently in their technology, then they and Wall Street investors can put their money where the mouth is. Let's let them finance it, insure it, and pay for it themselves.

The Soul of America

Despite such terminology as "fiscal cliff" and "debt ceiling," the great debate taking place in Washington now has relatively little to do with financial issues. It is all about ideology. It is all about economic winners and losers in American society. It is all about the power of Big Money. It is all about the soul of America.

In America today, we have the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth, and more inequality than at any time period since 1928. The top 1 percent owns 42 percent of the financial wealth of the nation, while, incredibly, the bottom 60 percent own only 2.3 percent. One family, the Walton family of Wal-Mart, owns more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of Americans. In terms of income distribution in 2010, the last study done on this issue, the top 1 percent earned 93 percent of all new income while the bottom 99 percent shared the remaining 7 percent.

Despite the reality that the rich are becoming much richer while the middle class collapses and the number of Americans living in poverty is at an all-time high, the Republicans and their billionaire backers want more, more, and more. The class warfare continues.

My Republican colleagues say that the deficits are a spending problem, not a revenue problem. What these deficit-hawk hypocrites won't talk about is their spending. They won't discuss what they did to dig the country into this $1 trillion deep deficit hole. They waged wars in Afghanistan and Iraq without paying for them. They gave away huge tax breaks for the rich. They squandered taxpayer dollars on the pharmaceutical industry by making it illegal to let Medicare bargain for lower drug prices. They also rescinded financial regulations that enabled Wall Street to operate like a gambling casino, leading to a severe recession that eroded tax revenue and left more than 14 percent of American workers unemployed or underemployed.

Now, despite the deficits their policies helped to create and despite the enormous suffering which exists in our society, the Republicans want to cut Social Security, veterans' programs, Medicare, Medicaid, education, nutrition programs, and virtually every program which benefits low- and moderate-income Americans. They choose to turn their backs on the economic reality facing a significant part of our population: high unemployment, reduced wages, 50 million without health insurance, college graduates saddled with enormous student debt and elderly people living in desperation. And they have tried to slam the door on any further discussion about how to raise revenue by ending tax loopholes and unfair tax breaks.

Republicans like Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who say the revenue debate is over don't want you to consider these facts:

• Federal revenue today, at 15.8 percent of GDP, is lower today than it was 60 years ago. During the last year of the Clinton administration, when we had a significant federal surplus, federal revenue was 20.6 percent of GDP.

• Today corporate profits are at an all-time high, while corporate income tax revenue as a percentage of GDP is near a record low.

• In 2011, corporate revenue as a percentage of GDP was just 1.2 percent -- lower than any other major country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, including Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, Norway, Australia, South Korea, Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Ireland, Poland, and Iceland.

• In 2011, corporations paid just 12 percent of their profits in taxes, the lowest since 1972.

• In 2005, one out of four large corporations paid no income taxes at all while they collected $1.1 trillion in revenue over that one-year period.

We know where the Republicans are coming from. What about the Democrats? Will President Obama fulfill his campaign pledge to "protect the middle class" or will he surrender to right-wing blackmail? Will Democrats in the House and Senate stand with the vast majority of our citizens and such organizations as AARP, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, the AFL-CIO, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and every other veterans' organization in the fight against cuts to Social Security and veterans' programs, or will they agree to a disastrous corporate-backed "chained CPI" concept which makes major benefit cuts to those programs and raises taxes on low-income workers?

The simple truth is there are relatively easy ways to deal with the deficit crisis -- without attacking the elderly, the children the sick or the poor.

For example, we have got to eliminate loopholes in the tax code that allow large corporations and the wealthy to avoid more than $100 billion in taxes every year by setting up offshore tax shelters in places like the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and the Bahamas. This situation has become so absurd that one five-story office building in the Cayman Islands is now the "home" to more than 18,000 corporations.

Further, we must also end tax breaks for companies shipping American jobs overseas. Today, the United State government continues to reward companies that move American manufacturing jobs abroad, despite the fact that millions of American jobs have been outsourced to China, Mexico, and other low wage countries over the past decade. The Joint Committee on Taxation (the official revenue scorekeeper in Congress) has estimated that we could raise more than $582 billion in revenue over the next decade by eliminating these offshore tax loopholes.

We must also recognize that Wall Street recklessness caused the economic crisis, and it has a responsibility to reduce the deficit. Establishing a 0.03 percent Wall Street speculation fee, similar to what we had from 1914-1966, would dampen the dangerous level of speculation and gambling on Wall Street, encourage the financial sector to invest in the productive economy and reduce the deficit by more than $350 billion over 10 years.

We are entering a pivotal moment in the modern history of our country. Do the elected officials in Washington stand with ordinary Americans -- working families, children, the elderly, the poor -- or will the extraordinary power of billionaire campaign contributors and Big Money prevail? The American people, by the millions, must send Congress the answer to that question.

One Simple Step Toward Forgiveness

Big buildings like the high school reduced to rubble. The house where my husband, Ed, and I raised our two sons, in ruins. The football field that Ed, the longtime head coach at Aplington-Parkersburg High, meticulously groomed every morning, ripped to shreds.

I didn't think anything could hurt worse than seeing the field that was like our town square, the place where everyone came together on Friday nights in the fall, the place people nicknamed the Sacred Acre, utterly destroyed.

Then came that terrible morning a year and a month later, June 24, 2009. The emergency call came in a little before 8, just as I was heading to work in the town clerk's office. Details were sparse, which I knew from my years as a volunteer EMT was often the case with panicky calls to 911.

Someone had been shot in the school bus barn. I couldn't imagine it. I knew the building. It doubled as the football team's weight room.

The school was only three blocks from our house, and what with his duties as athletic director, football coach, and history and economics teacher, it was Ed's second home. I pulled up to the scene with the rest of the ambulance crew. We grabbed our gear and ran for the door.

"Jan! Stop!" someone shouted. I wheeled around. Our police chief, a family friend. Why was he holding me up? He, of all people, knew I had a job to do.

The chief grabbed me by the shoulders. "Jan, stop," he said again, more softly. He paused. "The person in there ... it's Ed. He's been shot. Several times in the head."

That couldn't be. Everyone loved Ed. He was the one who pulled our town together after the tornado and led the efforts to get the football field in shape in time for the first game of the season. My brain struggled to make sense of what the chief was saying.

But then my gaze went to the ambulance crew rushing out of the weight room ... to the gurney they were wheeling ... to the pale, eerily still form it was carrying. And I knew. God had gotten me there just in time to say goodbye to my husband, the love of my life.

Ed died at the hospital. I'd ridden with the chief. I heard him take a call on his cell phone, his voice hushed. He hung up and turned to me. "They have the shooter in custody," he said. "You might as well know who it is because you're going to find out pretty quickly."

That was true of both good news and bad in a town of 1,900. I took a deep breath. "Who is it?" I asked.

"Mark Becker."

Oh, no. Even in a town where everyone knows everyone, our family and the Beckers had history.

Dave and Joan, Mark's parents, were good people. Dave was captain of the first football team Ed coached at the high school, back in 1975, and still called him Coach out of respect. His photo was the first Ed framed and hung on his office wall. Joan was a cheerleader who knew the game as well as the guys.

It was no wonder that all three of their boys grew up to play for Ed, too. Scott, their youngest, was a lineman and would be starting his senior season this fall. Mark, their middle son, was a lineman for the Falcons' state championship team in 2001.

Then Mark started having problems, getting into trouble off the field. More than once Ed had to suspend him from the team, but he always took him back. Our older son, Aaron, who'd followed Ed into coaching and was working at a school an hour and half away, didn't get it.

"Sounds like the guy's toxic, Dad. Why are you keeping him?"

"Mark needs A-P football more than A-P football needs him," Ed said. "I think he's going to turn around. I've been praying for him."

That was Ed. Always seeing the good in people, the possibilities they didn't necessarily see for themselves. One of the reasons I'd fallen in love with him.

Aaron and his wife would be here soon. My younger son, Todd, and his wife were on vacation but catching the first flight back.

I thought about how Ed kept praying for Mark in the years since he graduated high school, hoping he'd overcome his psychological troubles.

The Beckers went to the same church we did, First Congregational, where Ed was an elder and taught adult Sunday school. Dave and Joan attended his class. Joan sang with me in the choir.

Sometimes they'd confide in us how worried they were about Mark. They were trying to get him mental-health treatment, but because he was 24, an adult, privacy laws prevented doctors from disclosing full information about his condition.

This past weekend Mark had landed in the hospital again, after he grabbed a baseball bat and smashed it into a family's house, then led the police on a high-speed chase. Someone had turned Mark's driver's license in to the town clerk's office and I heard about everything from Joan when she came by to pick it up.

"He'll probably be in the hospital for a while," she said, her expression weary. Once his condition stabilized, the hospital was to release him into police custody. "We'll pray for him," I told Joan. And Ed and I had.

Why would Mark do what he did? I just couldn't get my head around it.

Then Aaron walked in the door. We didn't say much at first, just held each other for a long time. I took Aaron to see his father so he could say goodbye. A police investigator and a victim advocate arrived. They told us what to expect over the next several days.

"Because Ed was well-known, the media will be here and at the funeral too," the advocate warned. "You're going to have to make a statement at some point. One person can speak for the family, but you'll probably want to decide together what to say."

What if people blamed the Beckers for what their troubled son did? I knew Ed wouldn't have wanted that. Day in and day out, he exhorted his players to do the right thing -- on the field and, even more important, off it. And for Ed, the right thing was always to choose to follow God.

My sons and I agreed: We didn't want to have the Beckers feel unwelcome in their own town over something that wasn't their fault, or worse, to see our community divided over this.

Aaron made our statement to the media. "We also want to express our concern and our compassion for the Becker family. We ask that people pray for them as well, and that people take time to comfort and be with them through this."

I went home to the house Ed and I had rebuilt after the tornado, the house where we thought we'd live out our lives together. It felt so empty now. That night I couldn't sleep. I needed some time alone with God. Around dawn I slipped out of the house and walked to the high school.

Red plastic cups stuck in the chain-link fence around the practice field spelled out "Coach T." with a big heart after it. People had left flowers, cards, photos. I read some of the cards, tears trickling down my face.

Next thing I knew, I was sitting in the bleachers above the football field. I looked out over the thick grass to the sign that read "Ed Thomas Field." Ed hadn't wanted the recognition but everyone at the school insisted. "I'm just a man," he said. "It's God who's doing the work."

Everything in the hours since that EMS call yesterday morning had been such a blur, but now I could feel Ed's absence like a physical ache. Why, God? I asked. Why did it have to end like this?

Was it in my heart or my spirit that I heard a whisper in reply? "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

In all things. Could God be at work even in a senseless tragedy like this?

Oh, Lord, it just hurts so bad right now. But I believe you. I trust you. Please take this act of evil and use it for good.

I made my way home as the sun rose. I knew what Ed would have wanted, what I needed to do. I went in our bedroom and closed the door. I picked up my cell phone and dialed Joan Becker's number. It went straight to voicemail.

"Hi, Joan. It's Jan," I said. "I know we're both going through a really tough time right now. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am that it was Mark. I'm praying for you. Please call me when you get a chance."

Five minutes later Joan called. "I am so sorry," she said, her voice cracking. "Dave and I both are. I can't explain my son." That was as far as she got. She started to cry. So did I. They'd lost Ed too, and in a way, it was harder for them because it was at the hands of their son. I knew they'd tried to help him. I arranged for Dave and Joan to pay their respects to Ed privately before the visitation.

At Ed's funeral, our pastor spoke about forgiveness and healing. A message our family hoped people in Parkersburg would hear. And they have.

That summer Aaron moved home and took over his father's job as A-P athletic director. Todd came back too, to be the Falcons' offensive coordinator. September was our first home game.

I knew it would be hard for me not to see Ed down on the field, but I had to be there for our sons, for our team and for one player in particular.

It seemed like everyone in town was there. The players and coaches ran onto Ed's perfectly groomed field. The announcer introduced the players one by one. When he said Scott Becker's name, I stood up with the rest of the crowd.

My gaze met that of my friends Joan and Dave. And I cheered as loud as I could.

The Art of Being Interesting

image of the most interesting man in the world
“Be interesting.”

It’s good advice, but it’s nothing new. You’ve probably known from the beginning that being able to interest readers is a crucial part of growing a popular blog.

It’s pretty obvious that no one is going to stick around unless they find your blog interesting.

But how are you supposed to do it exactly? How can you “be interesting?”

Far too much of what we write about attention and interest is abstract. We talk about differentiation, value, and triggers — all useful concepts, but you can’t point to them.

You can’t hold out your hand and say, “Give me some differentiation.” As a result, it’s hard to wrap your mind around what those things actually mean.

I’d like to change that. Right now.

I’ve been paying attention to the things that command attention, both of myself and others, and I’ve made a list of 21 techniques that work. This list is far from all of them I’m sure, but it should be enough to get you started …
1. Be wrong

The world is full of people trying to do the right things. It’s become so common that many of us are bored by it. We long for someone that’s willing to do the wrong thing, say the wrong thing, be the wrong thing. If you have the courage to be that person, you’ll find lots of people paying attention to you.
2. Be right

You can also gain attention by being right … but only if you’re more right than everyone else. Run a mile faster than anyone else, explain your topic more clearly than anyone else, be funnier than everyone else. Embody perfection, and people will take notice.
3. Communicate what others can’t

As writers, we take ideas from our heads and put them on the page. Sometimes we forget how difficult that is for some people and how valuable that makes us. Lots of people would give anything to be able to say what they mean. But they can’t. So, they turn to songs, books, and art that communicate for them. Be a producer of those things, and you’ll never lose their attention.
4. Do something

Everybody online is trying to say something important, but very few are trying to do something important. If you want attention, dare not to just give advice to others, but to live that advice yourself. Then publish it to the open web.
5. Surprise people

Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick, say that one of the best ways to set yourself apart is to break people’s “guessing machines.” Take a surprising position, making outlandish analogy, or otherwise do the opposite of what you normally do. As long as it’s unexpected, people will stop and pay attention.
6. Make people laugh

Bloggers are far too serious. We’re so busy teaching that we sometimes forget to entertain. As a result, large portions of our readerships fall asleep. And what’s the best way to wake people up? Humor. Public speakers have been using it for ages, and as long as it’s appropriate for your audience, humor can wake your readers up and get them paying attention again.
7. Offer them an aspirin

Some of the best blog posts ever written are simple as an aspirin. Your reader has a headache, you have a cure, so you offer them that cure in the form of a blog post. They pay attention … not because of how pretty or well crafted your blog post is, but because it cures their headache. Conclusion: try acting like a pharmacist, not a blogger, and you’ll never lack for attention.
8. Show a (half) naked woman

Ever noticed that a disproportionate number of advertisements feature a scantily clad woman? That’s because it works. It draws the attention of not only men (as you’d expect), but also women. For whatever reason, nearly everyone finds their attention drawn to it. Here’s proof that it even works with blog posts.
9. Tell them who they are

“Who am I?” is not just a question; it’s a universal quest that most of us follow for our entire lives, continually defining and redefining ourselves, always insecure about whether who we are being is really us. As a blogger, you can (and should) harness that insecurity. Turn your blog into something that defines your readers.
10. Predict the future

Every once in awhile, use your expertise to make a bizarre claim about the future. If you have any authority at all, people will take notice. Imagine if Brian or Sonia wrote a convincing, well reasoned argument that online courses are the business model of the future. Oh wait… they did, and some of the biggest names in online marketing continue to talk about it.
11. Unleash your inner dork

Many blog posts are like miniature textbooks; they’re instructive, well-organized, and put you to sleep with their lack of enthusiasm. If you want to become famous on the web, stop trying to sound like an all-knowing teacher and unleash the “inner dork” inside of you — the part of you that’s so enamored with your topic that everyone else thinks it’s funny … but they pay attention anyway.More on dorkyness here.
12. Be courageous

The fact is, pretty much everyone has felt the foot of adversity on their neck, but very few of us respond to it with courage and grace. Be one of those people, and you’ll find the world will be watching.
13. Be startlingly honest

Every once in awhile, tell the truth. Be so honest that you’re scared to click the “Post” button. Be so honest that no one knows what to say in the comments section. Be so honest that your lawyer tells you to stop. You’ll feel better … and people will talk about you.
14. Be irreverent

Want to stir people up? Make fun of their god, their politics, their family — anything they hold dear. Yes, they’ll be offended, but lots of other people will think it’s hilarious. If you can’t stomach being hated by a portion of the world and loved by another, then you don’t deserve to have a blog.
15. Tell a good story

This one has been drilled into us so many times that I almost didn’t include it … except for one thing: people still don’t get it. Yes, stories support your points, make solid openers, and teach people while entertaining them, but a good story can make you a legend. I’m not talking about the little anecdotes that pepper the blogosphere. I’m talking about the story that haunts you on your deathbed. Forget about all the others. Tell me that one.
16. Break an important piece of news

Every time Google does something new, thousands of bloggers write about it. That’s great for Google, but where’s the real benefit for the bloggers? The first one to break the story is the only one that matters. It gets all of the traffic, links, and authority. Everyone else is just an echo.
17. Disprove the proven

For a long time, everyone thought you had to be the best to be successful. Then Chris Anderson came along and turned the world upside down with The Long Tail. He disproved what a lot of people held to be true, and it made him (even more) famous. Granted, it’s hard to engineer a breakthrough, but if you run across one, people will talk about you for years.
18. Pick the perfect picture

Want to make a good post better? Pick a picture that expresses exactly what you mean, and put it at the top of your post. Yes, it takes time, but the extra traffic is more than worth it.
19. Master the metaphor

Metaphors are the paths we create to lead our readers to our ideas. Create one strong enough, and it will become a highway of attention, leading readers to your blog more quickly than any other technique here (except maybe the last one. More on metaphors here.
20. Create a work of art

Many bloggers crank out posts the way slaughterhouses crank out chickens. They’re ugly things, fit for nothing but consumption. If you want to surprise people, stop and put some actual effort into your blog posts, creating a work of art. You’ll be surprised by how many people remember it long after it’s been swept off your front page.
21. Put your readers first

Yes, you’re the blogger. Yes, you’re the one with talent. Yes, you’re the one working your tail off. But it doesn’t matter. The one and only thing of consequence is your reader. You can rail against this fact for as long as you like, but as long you do, you’ll never be interesting.

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