MANILA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Filipinos jumped from their seats and watched in horror as Manny Pacquiao fell face first to the canvas after being knocked out by Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas. Cinemas, hotels, public parks and even army bases across the Philippines fell silent on Sunday as Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions, tasted his second straight defeat this year. "I'm so shocked, I can't believe it when Manny was ahead on points," barber Pedro Varela told Reuters after watching the fight at a cinema in a Manila shopping mall. ...
Showing posts with label Tech News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tech News. Show all posts
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Cisco grabs for 'No. 1 IT company' crown
NEW YORK (AP) — Cisco Systems Inc. isn't content to be the world's largest maker of computer networking gear. It says it wants to become the "No. 1" supplier of information technology to big businesses by broadening its offerings of services and software.
But when Cisco says "No. 1 IT company," it doesn't mean that it's going to be the biggest-selling company. That goal is out of reach, as IBM Corp.'s revenue is twice that of Cisco.
Rather, Cisco CEO John Chambers says he wants the company to loom largest in the minds of its customers and to be the one setting the pace in the industry. Being No. 1, he says, means having the best customer satisfaction and the best profit margins for products.
The strategy statement, articulated Friday at a presentation for Wall Street analysts, follows some lean years that have seen Cisco retrench from even broader goals, which included trying to establish itself as a consumer brand and buying a maker of camcorders. The new direction will be supported by a global advertising campaign with the slogan "Tomorrow starts here." The ad campaign starts Monday.
"The play sounds a lot like the IBM story," Raymond James analyst Simon Leopold said. After the maker of mainframe computers struggled in the 1980s with the rise of cheap microprocessors and rapid changes in the industry, IBM successfully transformed itself into a company that combined consulting services, software and hardware.
For Cisco, the new playbook comes as Chambers, who is 63 and one of the longest-serving CEOs in Silicon Valley, is nearing retirement and looking to hand over to a successor in two to four years. There are two chief candidates, who appeared with Chambers on Friday: Rob Lloyd, the head of sales and product development, and Gary Moore, the chief operating officer.
"Both Rob and I are prepared to be the CEO," Moore said, adding that whoever wasn't chosen would accept the board's decision and remain with the company.
Chambers told analysts that Cisco pulls in about $6 billion from software per year and plans to double that in the next three to five years. That's not a figure the company usually breaks out, as most of its software is deeply integrated into hardware such as routers and switches, which shunt data through networks.
Analysts at the meeting were unsure how to incorporate the figure into their models, and the company didn't give a lot of specifics on how it hoped to achieve that.
Analysts also questioned how Cisco hopes to be the top player when it doesn't sell the massive storage arrays that big companies need for their data. Chambers said Cisco will keep partnering with companies that do sell storage products, including IBM and EMC Corp.
Apart from IBM, Cisco's chief competitors for the "No. 1 IT" throne are Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp., SAG AG and Hewlett-Packard Co. Cisco partners closely with them, except for HP.
Chambers said the company is sticking to its forecast of growing sales by 5 percent to 7 percent per year and its earnings slightly faster, at 7 percent to 9 percent per year. Both figures represent pullbacks from the past two decades, when the San Jose, Calif., company often grew sales by more than 10 percent per year.
Cisco's stock fell 15 cents, or 0.7 percent, to close Friday at $19.33.
Best E-Reader for Under $100
E-readers are some of this year's hottest gifts. And good news: they have dropped way down in price. But in the battle for Best E-reader for Under $100, which one comes out the winner?
Top Contenders
The basic model Kindle, the Nook Simple Touch, and the Kobo Touch all share a few traits other than a reasonable price. They all feature 6-inch screens, 2 GB of storage, Wi-Fi for downloading books, and good readability. But a few differentiating factors may tip the balance.
Kindle ($89)
The Kindle line offers a range of devices priced from $89 (or $69 if you don't mind the ad-supported version) to the $499, 8.9-inch, 4G Kindle Fire HD, which is an Android-based tablet computer rather than a straight e-reader. But for the under-$100 e-reader market, Amazon really only offers one option, simply called "Kindle." It's physical dimensions are sleek, it's thin and fits nicely in your hand; it's the smallest of the three top contenders. Another defining factor: it has a very high contrast screen; text stands out more clearly on the Kindle than on any other of the competitors.
But this reader has some serious drawbacks: All Amazon Kindles have limited access to open e-book formats. You can still borrow books from the library if they support Kindle lending, but both Nook and Kobo support EPUB formats, which are more widely available for free.
Another important issue: this Kindle model does NOT have a touch screen. That's not a big deal if you download all your books over one secure Wi-Fi network, but if you consistently need to enter passwords or search terms, toggling the cursor around to select letters instead of typing is a P-A-I-N.
Kobo Touch ($99)
You may not have heard much about the Kobo Touch, but it's been around for a few years and is actually the most popular e-reader in Canada. Their bookstore is well stocked; like the Amazon and Barnes & Noble online stores, they offer millions of titles. Kobo is also compatible with the open ebook formats like EPUB, so you can borrow a wide range of titles from your library.
Kobo isn't the zippiest of the e-readers, but I like this device. It's thin and light, just like the others, and its textured back feels quilted, like you're holding an expensive purse. Also, as the name implies, the Kobo Touch has a touch screen, which makes me rank this device ahead of the Kindle.
Nook Simple Touch ($99)
As you might have guessed, it too has a touch screen. It's the biggest of all the devices, with physical buttons along the edges to turn the pages, yet I like the feel of this device best. And while you can get it for $99, an extra $20 upgrades you to the Glow Touch, which adds backlighting to the screen for night reading. Sure, this pushes it out of the "under $100" category, but for me, it's an extra worth having. The Nook is responsive and zippy as you move between menus, it has lots of extra features, and the screen looks good (not as good as the Kindle, but very readable). I liked the Nook a lot.
[Related: Is iPad Mini Worth Buying?]
Also-Rans
There are some other sub-$100 options. The Aluratek Libre has a smaller, darker screen, and it's painfully slow. But it's discounted to about $79 dollars and comes preloaded with 100 of the classics. There's also rumor of a new ereader, the TXTR Beagle, which the company claims will be introduced to the US soon for just $13. Wow. I'll believe it when I see it.
And remember, you may already have an e-reader — your smartphone. The Kindle, Nook, and Kobo apps are free. And while the screen isn't as big as a true e-reader, the price is right, and it's always with you.
Final Verdict
You can't really go wrong with any of the top contenders, but since touchscreen is such a handy feature, I have to rule out the low-end Kindle. Kobo is easy to use, but it's not the most polished or zippiest. So that makes the Nook Simple Touch my pick for Best E-reader for Under $100.
[Related: Where to Get the Most Money for Your Used Gadgets]
New Android apps worth downloading: Kickvox, Splice, Spellwood: Word Game Adventure
Kickvox is a visual search engine designed specifically for mobile devices. We’ve got a pair of quality games for your approval including Splice, a title that’s all about recombining cells to make new organisms, and Spellwood, a word game for people who are new to word games.
What’s it about? Kickvox is a search engine app designed for mobile devices that emphasizes visual search results, rather than lists of links.
What’s cool? An emphasis on search results you can see makes Kickvox a little easier to use than your usual web search engine, especially on a mobile device while you’re out in the world. The app is also designed to provide answers, rather than just search results. You can type in questions as well as keywords. Kickvox also makes navigation through search results easier by letting you quickly click through them, rather than hitting a Back button to return to results, and keeps a history of everything you’ve searched so you can find it again later.
Who’s it for? Users who handle their Android devices like information-seeking computers when they’re out in the world will definitely find a use for Kickvox.
What’s it like? Google Search is another solid app for finding info on the go, as is Alfred.
What’s it about? Puzzler Splice has players recombining microbial cells to make specific structures and solve each of the game’s levels.
What’s cool? Splice is something of a weird take on the puzzle genre, offering something new in its microbe-rearranging mechanics. You only have a limited number of moves, or “splices,” in each level to make the target structure, so you’ll have to work carefully and strategically to get through. Splice includes more than 75 puzzles, and each one has more than a single solution, so you can try to find the best ways through each one and challenge your friends to beat them as well.
Who’s it for? Splice is for puzzle fans, especially those who are looking for something that’s a little different from the usual fare.
What’s it like? Check out Osmos for another interesting puzzler with a bacterial feel.
What’s it about? Word game Spellwood is like Scrabble, and has players dueling with one another to make the best words and rack up the highest scores.
What’s cool? Spellwood includes both a single-player mode, in which players go on an adventure of on their own, and multiplayer modes that allow you to take on players from all over the world, or friends through Facebook Connect. The game is also a simplified version of crossword titles like Scrabble and Words With Friends, which makes it great for novice players. In keeping with the magical theme, players can change things like word score values and other aspects of the game using magic spells.
Who’s it for? Spellwood is particularly good for novice word game players, and those who want to ease into the genre with something a little simpler.
What’s it like? As mentioned, Scrabble and Words With Friends also offer some great crossword and multiplayer action.
Download the Appolicious Android app
Saturday, December 15, 2012
DoorBot Lets You Answer Your Door With a Smartphone or Tablet
Wouldn't it be great to answer your front door with a smartphone? That's the promise of Doorbot, a Wi-Fi-enabled doorbell that alerts you whenever someone pushes its button, sending audio and video to your smartphone.
[More from Mashable: Most Mobile Browsers Are Unsafe to Use]
The battery-operated device installs at your threshold with four screws in a bracket. Once you've downloaded its free app and synced any iOS device or Android smartphone with it, you can see and converse with visitors at your door. The app will alert you whenever the button is pushed.
There's a microphone on board the DoorBot that lets you talk with whomever's visiting you, even if you're thousands of miles away. The camera works at night, too, using infrared technology to allow a clear view of visitors even in the dark.
[More from Mashable: Twitter Denies Accounts Can Be Hijacked Via Text Message]
SEE ALSO: Lockitron Unlocks the Door With Your iPhone
When someone presses the button on the DoorBot, you'll receive an alert on your smartphone. If you always have your phone nearby (and who doesn't these days?), you'll be able to instantly respond to visitors, or reject them without them knowing if you're home or not.
DoorBot is offered by a company called Edison Junior, and it's offering its device as a stand-alone product. Things get even more interesting when the company combines DoorBot with Lockitron, a wireless mechanism made by Apigy that lets you unlock your door from anywhere using a smartphone app. When Lockitron is combined with DoorBot, you'll be able to not only answer your door, but unlock it for those you authorize to enter your house.
What about security? Won't this shiny aluminum-clad gadget tempt opportunistic thieves? Edison Junior's CEO and Chief Inventor Jamie Siminoff doesn't think that's a deal-breaker. "DoorBot can be installed with four screws, but DoorBot comes with an included mounting bracket. Many homes have other items of value outdoors, such as lights, and should not be a cause for concern," he told Mashable.
The company says the technology used to power the video camera, microphone and Wi-Fi connectivity is highly efficient, with a year's worth of battery life for its four AA batteries.
Of course, that battery life depends on how many people visit you each day. Siminoff told us the batteries will last a year with an average of four rings each day. "If the user gets a lot of rings, about 5-10 per day, the DoorBot's batteries may last about 9-12 months," he says. But DoorBot is helpful in that instance, too. He added, "DoorBot will alert the user when the batteries are getting low so that you know to change them."
The DoorBot is a project on crowdfunding site Christie Street, and so far it's raised more than $16,000 on the way to its $250,000 goal, which is 44 days away. The price to support the DoorBot in this crowdfunding venture is $169, and CEO Jamie Siminoff says, "The retail price is not yet set, but planned to be over $200." You can also support the DoorBot with the app-enabled version of LockiTron for $319.
Lockitron was successfully funded on Kickstarter, and both products are due to ship in July, 2013. The company plans to show a working prototype of DoorBot at CES 2013 in January.
It's bigger than it looks here. It's looking good with that brushed aluminum cover.
Click here to view this gallery.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
'Walking Dead' wins game of the year at Spike VGAs
LOS ANGELES (AP) — "The Walking Dead: The Game" took a bite out of the Spike Video Game Awards.
Telltale Games' interactive episodic series based on the zombie comic book franchise was selected as game of the year at Friday's extravaganza, which honors outstanding achievements in the video game industry over the past year.
"Look, 'Walking Dead' fans, this is obviously for you," beamed "Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman. "Thank you so much. You guys watch the TV show. You read the comics. You play the video games. You make all this possible."
"The Walking Dead" also won the best downloadable and adapted game prizes, as well as best performance by a human female for Melissa Hutchison as young survivor Clementine and studio of the year for Telltale Games.
"The Avengers" star and shooter fan Samuel L. Jackson served as host of the much-censored 10th annual ceremony at Sony Pictures Studios, marking his fourth time hosting the show.
"You know me," warned Jackson at the start of the ceremony. "Whoever's in charge of the bleep button, keep your finger ready 'cause this is gonna be one heck of a show, (expletive)."
Gearbox Software's cartoony shoot-'em-up sequel "Borderlands 2" swept the VGAs with the most awards, picking up trophies for best shooter, multiplayer, performance by a human male for Dameon Clarke as villain Handsome Jack and character of the year for chatty robot Claptrap.
Other titles winning multiple trophies included 343 Industries' sci-fi shooter "Halo 4" as best Xbox 360 game and graphics; Queasy Games' musical platformer "Sound Shapes" as best handheld game and song for "Cities" by Beck; and thatgamecompany's artsy downloadable adventure "Journey" as best independent, PlayStation 3 game and original score.
"We made 'Journey' for you, to show that games can be something different — independent, experimental, moving, emotional, modern, inclusive, different," said "Journey" executive producer Robin Hunicke. "That's why we made it."
Arkane Studios' stealthy first-person game "Dishonored" was picked as best action-adventure game. BioWare's sci-fi saga "Mass Effect 3" won as best role-playing game. Valve Software's "Half-Life 2" was chosen as the best game of the decade.
The two-hour ceremony, which featured performances from Linkin Park and Tenacious D, put more emphasis on hyping upcoming games than handing out trophies though.
The show featured new footage from such upcoming titles as "The Last Us," ''South Park: The Stick of Truth," ''Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2" and "BioShock Infinite." It also served to unveil never-before-seen games like "Dark Souls II" and "The Phantom Pain," which is apparently connected to the "Metal Gear Solid" franchise.
For the first time, the VGAs were streamed on Xbox Live, the online service for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console. During the ceremony, online viewers could vote on show components like what songs and clips would be played during the VGAs.
The winners of most of the show's categories were chosen by an advisory council, while viewer votes selected character of the year and most anticipated game, which went to "Grand Theft Auto V."
___
Online:
http://www.spike.com/events/video-game-awards/
___
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang.
7 Apps You Don't Want To Miss
MANILA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Filipinos jumped from their seats and watched in horror as Manny Pacquiao fell face first to the canvas after being knocked out by Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas. Cinemas, hotels, public parks and even army bases across the Philippines fell silent on Sunday as Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions, tasted his second straight defeat this year. "I'm so shocked, I can't believe it when Manny was ahead on points," barber Pedro Varela told Reuters after watching the fight at a cinema in a Manila shopping mall. ...
MiFi With Touchscreen is a Road Warrior's Dream
Meet the Novatel MiFi Liberate: the first mobile access point with a touchscreen, letting you configure it without connecting it to a computer.
If you're not familiar with mobile access points, these handy gadgets allow you to hook up to the Internet via cellular networks. It's useful, often essential, if you're in an area that has no Wi-Fi. If you're in range of a cellular tower, this MiFi Liberate lets you connect 10 Wi-Fi devices of any kind to the Internet.
[More from Mashable: Google Considering Wireless Network [REPORT]]
Mobile access points are ideal for frequent travelers, accommodating anyone who needs to get online wherever they are. Just the fact that you're no longer at the mercy of hotels and their Wi-Fi price-gouging makes it worth the cost of admission.
The Novatel MiFi device we tested connects to the AT&T LTE network. That resulted in spectacular upload and download speed, rivaling that of wired broadband networks. The speed of LTE is variable -- depending on how many people are using it and how close you are to one of its broadcast towers -- but if you've been limping along with 3G connectivity, you'll probably be astonished at the difference.
[More from Mashable: Samsung Galaxy Camera Goes on Sale Nov. 16]
How fast was this MiFi Liberate? We took multiple readings in a variety of locations. It averaged a zippy 19.70 Mbps for downloads, and a tremendous 20.66 Mbps for uploads. That kind of speed can make a big difference in your work, especially if you're dealing with large files. In many ways, though, that's more of a testament to the speed of AT&T's network, rather than the alacrity of this particular device. Your mileage may vary.
The best new feature of this device is its excellent 2.8-inch LCD capacitive touchscreen, the first of its kind. It responds to the slightest touch, letting you easily wander around its menus. And even while using that gorgeous screen, it still has in excess of 10 hours of battery life per charge.
That screen can come in handy in unexpected ways. For example, we were impressed with the way it indicated when a device has connected. Once it has, you can drill down farther, finding out more about that device. The screen adjusts for orientation, righting itself when you turn it upside down just like smartphones do.
If you and others are connected to this MiFi unit, it lets you share movies, photos and music via DLNA, with all of you accessing content on a microSD card inserted into the side of this versatile gadget.
All that versatility and convenience doesn't come cheap. While the MiFi Liberate costs $49.99 with a two-year contract, you'll also need to pay a monthly tariff for your LTE connectivity. Because of its blazing speed, we're thinking you might want to spring for the 5 GB a month plan for $50 from AT&T. That takes the MiFi Liberate out of the value-priced category, and into one that you hope your boss will be willing to pay for.
After spending a couple of weeks with this unit, it was easy to conclude that the Novatel MiFi Liberate is the best portable access point we've ever tested.
If you need connectivity on the go at the fastest possible speed, this one will do the trick. And if you want to observe and adjust the unit on a bright and responsive touchscreen, look no further.
It's nice and small, except for that bulge, which contains a changeable lithium-ion battery.
Click here to view this gallery.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
Counting Fish: Growing Reefs
MANILA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Filipinos jumped from their seats and watched in horror as Manny Pacquiao fell face first to the canvas after being knocked out by Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas. Cinemas, hotels, public parks and even army bases across the Philippines fell silent on Sunday as Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions, tasted his second straight defeat this year. "I'm so shocked, I can't believe it when Manny was ahead on points," barber Pedro Varela told Reuters after watching the fight at a cinema in a Manila shopping mall. ...
New Halo game in works as franchise sales break 50 million
MANILA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Filipinos jumped from their seats and watched in horror as Manny Pacquiao fell face first to the canvas after being knocked out by Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas. Cinemas, hotels, public parks and even army bases across the Philippines fell silent on Sunday as Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions, tasted his second straight defeat this year. "I'm so shocked, I can't believe it when Manny was ahead on points," barber Pedro Varela told Reuters after watching the fight at a cinema in a Manila shopping mall. ...
Mobile apps slowly creeping up on TV as the lazy person’s favorite pastime
MANILA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Filipinos jumped from their seats and watched in horror as Manny Pacquiao fell face first to the canvas after being knocked out by Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas. Cinemas, hotels, public parks and even army bases across the Philippines fell silent on Sunday as Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions, tasted his second straight defeat this year. "I'm so shocked, I can't believe it when Manny was ahead on points," barber Pedro Varela told Reuters after watching the fight at a cinema in a Manila shopping mall. ...
Friday, December 14, 2012
Google hauled in $1 billion in Google Apps revenue this year
MANILA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Filipinos jumped from their seats and watched in horror as Manny Pacquiao fell face first to the canvas after being knocked out by Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas. Cinemas, hotels, public parks and even army bases across the Philippines fell silent on Sunday as Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions, tasted his second straight defeat this year. "I'm so shocked, I can't believe it when Manny was ahead on points," barber Pedro Varela told Reuters after watching the fight at a cinema in a Manila shopping mall. ...
New Sony online store offers remote downloads to PlayStation and mobile devices
MANILA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Filipinos jumped from their seats and watched in horror as Manny Pacquiao fell face first to the canvas after being knocked out by Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas. Cinemas, hotels, public parks and even army bases across the Philippines fell silent on Sunday as Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions, tasted his second straight defeat this year. "I'm so shocked, I can't believe it when Manny was ahead on points," barber Pedro Varela told Reuters after watching the fight at a cinema in a Manila shopping mall. ...
5 Apps To Prevent Your Teen From Texting While Driving
It's tempting to immediately check your phone when it notifies you of a new text message. But ignoring that sound when operating a vehicle is important for safe driving -- something that can be difficult, especially for teenagers.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) added distracted driving to its 2013 "most-wanted list" in November. So far, 35 states have passed laws banning cellphone use while driving, however some of those bans only pertain to beginner drivers.
[More from Mashable: Interactive Map Shows Each Bomb Dropped During London Blitz]
SEE ALSO: Your Kids Will Never Text and Drive Again After Watching These 10 Videos
App developers have made a number of apps for both iOS and Android devices that help parents discourage their kids from texting while driving.
[More from Mashable: Google Updates iPad App to Make Search More Local]
Some of these apps put a lock on the texting function, and leave it up to teens to be responsible drivers. Others let the parents control the phone by putting it in airplane mode so when a text comes in, the phone doesn't even beep. The level of parental control varies with each apps -- some require more responsibility on the part of your teenager to launch the app, while others can detect when the car moves at a particular speed.
Check out the gallery below and tell us, would you use an app to keep your teens from operating their phones while driving?
The Android app by car insurance company Esure can detect when drivers are traveling at more than 10 mph, and will shut off other apps that could be distracting, as well as temporarily halt incoming calls and text messages. The free app also displays a static screensaver, that gives your teen even less of a reason to glance at their phone.
Click here to view this gallery.
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, lisafx
This story originally published on Mashable here.
APNewsBreak: Dispute over records at nuclear plant
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal board Friday ordered the operator of a shuttered nuclear power plant in California to turn over dozens of pages of documents that were withheld when the company submitted a plan to restart one of its damaged twin reactors.
The records at issue were prepared by industry experts who have helped Southern California Edison investigate why the San Onofre plant's nearly new steam generators caused excessive wear to hundreds of tubes that carry radioactive water.
The plant was shut in January after a leak in a generator tube released traces of radiation.
In a seven-page order, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board said it needs the documents for a case related to Edison's restart proposal.
However, the records would not become public. The board — an arm of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission — told the company to prepare an agreement under which the records would be shared only among parties in that case.
In a statement, the company said it would "provide documents consistent with the order." On its website, the company said some of the documents prepared by Edison vendors were redacted by those companies to protect "proprietary information." Edison said the omitted information does not affect the reports' conclusions.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has promised a transparent, thorough review of the restart proposal, which focuses on how the utility would operate faulty steam generators installed during a $670 million overhaul in 2009 and 2010. "We don't experiment with safety," NRC Regional Administrator Elmo Collins told reporters in October.
But anti-nuclear activists have complained the NRC is denying the public a voice in the plant's future.
The board is reviewing a case filed by Friends of the Earth, a group critical of the nuclear power industry. The group wants federal regulators to require Edison to seek an amendment to its operating license before it could restart the plant, a process that could take up to two years.
The order follows a hearing Monday in which company representatives and board members sparred over of the records' release.
Steve Frantz, an attorney representing Edison, objected to the disclosure, saying the board was improperly widening the scope of its review. "I don't believe that these documents are necessary to resolve the issue," he said, according to a transcript.
After a three-month investigation, the NRC announced earlier this year that a botched computer analysis resulted in design flaws that caused excessive vibration and resulted in heavy wear in many tubes.
Edison's proposal calls for operating Unit 2 at up to 70 percent power, which engineers believe will stop the vibration. It would run for five months, then be shut down for inspections. The future of its twin reactor, the heavily damaged Unit 3, is unclear.
Anti-nuclear activists have argued for months that restarting the plant, located between San Diego and Los Angeles, would invite catastrophe. About 7.4 million Californians live within 50 miles of San Onofre's twin domes.
In a March letter, federal regulators outlined a series of benchmarks Edison must reach to restart the plant, including determining the cause of vibration and friction that damaged scores of generator tubes, and how it would be fixed and then monitored during operation.
Top Google executive forced off Twitter
MANILA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Filipinos jumped from their seats and watched in horror as Manny Pacquiao fell face first to the canvas after being knocked out by Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas. Cinemas, hotels, public parks and even army bases across the Philippines fell silent on Sunday as Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions, tasted his second straight defeat this year. "I'm so shocked, I can't believe it when Manny was ahead on points," barber Pedro Varela told Reuters after watching the fight at a cinema in a Manila shopping mall. ...
Self-Dissolving Condoms; The Science of Southern Accents
Discovered: hypercondoms are greening sex; children would rather befriend someone without a drawl; Maori cooking stones can tell us something about magnetic fields; DNA as Legos.
RELATED: An Issue of The New York Times Now Worth 0.836 of a McRib
Sustainable hypercondoms. People who promote safe sex and sustainability are in a bit of a sticky situation. Of course they'll encourage sexually active people to put on a condom, but the thought of all that latex ending up in a landfill isn't very exciting. University of Washington researchers might help dissolve that dilemma by producing condoms that... er... dissolve. Their model of "hypercondom" would be made from electrically spun nanofabric that would dissolve after use. And these high-tech materials could even carry medication that helps kill STDs before they spread. [Grist]
RELATED: Condoms Get in on the Social Media Check-in Trend
Even kids have a problem with Southern accents. It's hard to imagine anyone not wanting to be friends with a person like Tami Taylor, but the 5- to 6-year-old children that University of Chicago researchers studied showed a significant aversion to Southern accents. Some of these children were from the South, and some were Yankees. The researchers showed them pictures of people paired with either a Southern or Northern accent. They found that Northern kids expressed a higher preference for being friends with Northern-accented people, while Southern kids showed no preference. The same response was found when they asked kids which type of accents sounded "nicer," "smarter," and "more in charge." [Scientific American]
RELATED: Did Linda McMahon Screw Over a Staffer With a Bounced Check and a Condom?
What do Maori cooking stones have to say about the Earth's magnetism? Maori steam ovens can get pretty hot. By lining their cooking pits with hangi stones, they achieved temperatures of up to 1,100 Celsius. Gillian Turner of the Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand is studying these relics to better understand the Earth's magnetic fields. When they get that hot, the minerals in the stones realign themselves according to current field directions. "We have very good palaeomagnetic data from across the world recording field strength and direction — especially in the Northern Hemisphere," says Turner, who hopes the stones will help fill in the data set. "The southwest Pacific is the gap, and in order to complete global models, we're rather desperate for good, high-resolved data from our part of the world." [BBC]
RELATED: The Unabomber May Work With the FBI on 1982 Tylenol Poisonings
Lego-shaped DNA. Geneticists are getting in touch with their inner child. Researchers from Harvard's Wyss Institute have turned DNA into tiny, three-dimensional bricks that can be reassembled into an almost endless number of objects. So, basically, DNA Legos. The scientists write that the technology could be used to, "arrange technologically relevant guest molecules into functional devices, to serve as programmable molecular probes and instruments for biological studies, to render spatial control for biosynthesis of useful products, to function as smart drug delivery particles, and to enable high-throughput nanofabrication of complex inorganic materials for electronics or photonics applications." [io9]
How one startup is overhauling Android to make it enterprise-ready
MANILA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Filipinos jumped from their seats and watched in horror as Manny Pacquiao fell face first to the canvas after being knocked out by Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas. Cinemas, hotels, public parks and even army bases across the Philippines fell silent on Sunday as Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions, tasted his second straight defeat this year. "I'm so shocked, I can't believe it when Manny was ahead on points," barber Pedro Varela told Reuters after watching the fight at a cinema in a Manila shopping mall. ...
Thursday, December 13, 2012
SEC wrestles with Internet age in Netflix case
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. regulatory probe of Netflix Inc over disclosures made on its chief executive's Facebook page could prove an important test of whether a rule designed to prevent leaks to analysts can translate to the social media age.
The movie and TV streaming service revealed on Thursday that it may face action from the Securities and Exchange Commission if the agency determines the comments from CEO Reed Hastings violate a rule that requires information to be disclosed to investors at the same time.
Hastings' Facebook page had more than 200,000 subscribers, including reporters and analysts, when he told them on July 3 that the company had hit 1 billion hours viewed in June.
But the case may not hinge on whether or not his page qualifies as a public dissemination.
Instead, it may come down to two other issues.
One, whether the information was material to investors.
And two, if it was material, whether investors knew that Hastings' Facebook page was a venue to release important company news.
As evidence of materiality, the SEC could point to statements Hastings made earlier in the year highlighting milestones, including hours streamed, as metrics investors should watch.
But the company contends the July 3 comments were not material. It says that the company posted a blog entry a few weeks earlier that said the company was approaching that milestone.
Also, Netflix General Counsel David Hyman testified before a U.S. House of Representatives committee on June 27, and said at the beginning of his testimony that Netflix "delivers close to a billion hours of streaming movies and TV shows to its consumers every month."
Such prior disclosure could hurt any SEC case. "Whether what he said is materially different from what the company has already disseminated, that may be a real challenge for the commission to maintain that position in court," said former SEC lawyer Eugene Goldman who is now with McDermott Will & Emery.
But movements of the company's stock price could bolster an SEC case if the agency can prove the stock jumped on the news. Netflix attributed the jump in its stock price to a positive analyst report released the night prior to Hastings' Facebook post.
The stock closed at $67.85 on July 2, and opened one percent higher the next day at $68.49, on a positive report from Citigroup.
The stock closed at $72.04 on July 3, a six percent jump that would be unusual from an analyst report alone.
'LIVING IN THE REAL WORLD'
The second issue of whether Hastings' Facebook page was a known source of material company news goes to the heart of whether the SEC's rules - and its interpretation of them - are outdated.
SEC adopted the rule at issue, Regulation Fair Disclosure, or Reg FD, in 2000 over concerns that companies were meeting with small groups of analysts or institutional investors and disclosing material information to them.
The concern was that "shortly after these types of meetings, trading would take place on the basis of such information," Goldman said. "This seems a lot different from that."
The new potential action raises questions about whether the rule was designed to address disclosures like the one made by Hastings.
"There's a huge divide between CEOs living in the real world and the financial industry, which lives behind regulatory walls. Reg FD is built for the old way of communicating from behind these walls," said Howard Lindzon, a hedge fund manager and founder and CEO of StockTwits, a social network for traders and investors to share real-time ideas and information about stocks.
Reg FD does not delve into the use of social media for disclosing information to investors. But the SEC issued guidance on the subject in August 2008.
That guidance states that companies can use websites to disclose information as long as they are a "recognized channel of distribution."
To determine that threshold, the SEC lists factors companies should weigh, including whether their site is "posted and accessible" and also whether "the company has made investors and the markets aware that it will post important information" on the website.
Netflix may have hurt itself on this point, if the SEC is able to prove that the information was material.
Hastings acknowledged in a blog posting on Thursday that the company does not "use Facebook and other social media to get material information to investors."
The SEC is likely to home in on that comment as it continues its case against the company.
But Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors who has posted company-related developments on his Twitter feed, said it is hard to believe that the SEC could consider a CEO's Facebook post to be a narrow release. He noted that reporters regularly follow companies' and executives' social media posts.
"To consider a press release to be a more public venue than a Facebook or Twitter account where someone is followed by hundreds of thousands of people, including the press themselves, is simply untrue," Musk said in an email.
(Reporting By Aruna Viswanatha and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington, with additional reporting by Alistair Barr in San Francisco, Ronald Grover and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; Editing by Karey Wutkowski and Tim Dobbyn)
'Walking Dead' wins game of the year at Spike VGAs
LOS ANGELES (AP) — "The Walking Dead: The Game" took a bite out of the Spike Video Game Awards.
Telltale Games' interactive episodic series based on the zombie comic book franchise was selected as game of the year at Friday's extravaganza, which honors outstanding achievements in the video game industry over the past year.
"Look, 'Walking Dead' fans, this is obviously for you," beamed "Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman. "Thank you so much. You guys watch the TV show. You read the comics. You play the video games. You make all this possible."
"The Walking Dead" also won the best downloadable and adapted game prizes, as well as best performance by a human female for Melissa Hutchison as young survivor Clementine and studio of the year for Telltale Games.
"The Avengers" star and shooter fan Samuel L. Jackson served as host of the much-censored 10th annual ceremony at Sony Pictures Studios, marking his fourth time hosting the show.
"You know me," warned Jackson at the start of the ceremony. "Whoever's in charge of the bleep button, keep your finger ready 'cause this is gonna be one heck of a show, (expletive)."
Gearbox Software's cartoony shoot-'em-up sequel "Borderlands 2" swept the VGAs with the most awards, picking up trophies for best shooter, multiplayer, performance by a human male for Dameon Clarke as villain Handsome Jack and character of the year for chatty robot Claptrap.
Other titles winning multiple trophies included 343 Industries' sci-fi shooter "Halo 4" as best Xbox 360 game and graphics; Queasy Games' musical platformer "Sound Shapes" as best handheld game and song for "Cities" by Beck; and thatgamecompany's artsy downloadable adventure "Journey" as best independent, PlayStation 3 game and original score.
"We made 'Journey' for you, to show that games can be something different — independent, experimental, moving, emotional, modern, inclusive, different," said "Journey" executive producer Robin Hunicke. "That's why we made it."
Arkane Studios' stealthy first-person game "Dishonored" was picked as best action-adventure game. BioWare's sci-fi saga "Mass Effect 3" won as best role-playing game. Valve Software's "Half-Life 2" was chosen as the best game of the decade.
The two-hour ceremony, which featured performances from Linkin Park and Tenacious D, put more emphasis on hyping upcoming games than handing out trophies though.
The show featured new footage from such upcoming titles as "The Last Us," ''South Park: The Stick of Truth," ''Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2" and "BioShock Infinite." It also served to unveil never-before-seen games like "Dark Souls II" and "The Phantom Pain," which is apparently connected to the "Metal Gear Solid" franchise.
For the first time, the VGAs were streamed on Xbox Live, the online service for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console. During the ceremony, online viewers could vote on show components like what songs and clips would be played during the VGAs.
The winners of most of the show's categories were chosen by an advisory council, while viewer votes selected character of the year and most anticipated game, which went to "Grand Theft Auto V."
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Online:
http://www.spike.com/events/video-game-awards/
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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang.
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