shut obey: October 2013

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Poll: Youth online abuse falling but prevalent

Sarah Ball, a victim of cyber bullying during her high school years, sits for a portrait at her home on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, in Spring Hill, Fla. Ball, now a student at a nearby community college, maintains a Facebook site called "Hernando Unbreakable", an anti-bullying page and mentors local kids identified by the schools as victims of cyberbullying. (AP Photo/Brian Blanco)

Sarah Ball, a victim of cyber bullying during her high school years, poses for a portrait at her home on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, in Spring Hill, Fla. Ball, now a student at a nearby community college, maintains a Facebook site called "Hernando Unbreakable", an anti-bullying page and mentors local kids identified by the schools as victims of cyberbullying. (AP Photo/Brian Blanco)

Grapic shows opinion poll on online bullying; 2c x 5 inches; 96.3 mm x 127 mm;

WASHINGTON (AP) — More young people are reaching out to family members after being harassed or taunted online, and it's helping. At least a little.

A poll released Thursday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and MTV found incidents of "digital abuse" are still prevalent but declining somewhat. It found a growing awareness among teenagers and young adults about harm from online meanness and cyberbullying, as well as a slight increase among those willing to tell a parent or sibling.

The findings come a week after two Florida girls, ages 12 and 14, were arrested on felony charges for allegedly bullying online a 12-year-old girl who later killed herself by jumping off a tower at an abandoned concrete plant.

"I feel like we're making progress. People should be encouraged," said Sameer Hinduja, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center and professor at Florida Atlantic University.

The AP-NORC/MTV poll found that some 49 percent of all teenagers and young adults in the United States say they have had at least one brush with some kind of electronic harassment, down from about 56 percent in 2011. Of those who have encountered an incident, 34 percent went to a parent — compared to 27 percent just two years ago. And some 18 percent — up from 12 percent in 2011 — asked a brother or sister for help.

When asked what helped, 72 percent of those encountering digital abuse said changing their email, screen name or cell number, while 66 percent said talking to a parent. Less than a third of respondents found retaliation helpful, while just as many said it had no effect and 20 percent said getting revenge actually made the problem worse.

Girls were more likely than boys to be the targets of online meanness — but they also are more likely to reach out for help.

Sarah Ball was a 15-year-old high school sophomore at Hernando High School in Brooksville, Fla., when a friend posted on Facebook: "I hate Sarah Ball, and I don't care who knows."

Then there was the Facebook site dubbed "Hernando Haters" asking to rate her attractiveness, the anonymous email calling her a "waste of space" and this text that arrived on her 16th birthday: "Wow, you're still alive? Impressive. Well happy birthday anyway."

It wasn't until Ball's mom, who had access to her daughter's online passwords, saw the messages that Ball told her everything.

"It was actually quite embarrassing to be honest," remembers Ball, now an 18-year-old college freshman. But "really, truly, if it wasn't for my parents, I don't think I'd be where I'm at today. That's for sure."

The poll also indicated that young people are becoming more aware of the impact of cyberbullying. Some 72 percent, up from 65 percent in 2011, said online abuse was a problem that society should address. Those who think it should be accepted as a part of life declined from 33 percent to 24 percent.

Hinduja credits school programs that are making it "cool to care" about others, and increased awareness among adults who can help teens talk through their options, such as deactivating an account or going to school administrators for help in removing hurtful postings.

That was the case for Ball, whose parents encouraged her to fight back by speaking up. "They said this is my ticket to helping other people," Ball said.

With their help, Ball sent copies of the abusive emails, texts and Facebook pages to school authorities, news outlets and politicians and organized a local anti-bullying rally. She still maintains a Facebook site called "Hernando Unbreakable," and mentors local kids identified by the schools as victims of cyberbullying.

Ball said she thinks if other teens are reaching out more for help, it's as a last resort because so many kids fear making the situation worse. That was one reason Jennifer Tinsley, 20, said she didn't tell her parents in the eighth grade when another student used Facebook to threaten to stab and beat her.

"I didn't want them to worry about me," Tinsley, now a college student in Fort Wayne, Ind., said of her family. "There was a lot of stress at that time. ... And, I just didn't want the extra attention."

According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, every state but Montana has enacted anti-bullying laws, many of which address cyberbullying specifically. Most state laws are focused on allowing school districts to punish offenders. In Florida, for example, the state legislature this year passed a provision allowing schools to discipline students harassing others off campus.

In Florida's recent cyberbullying case, the police took the unusual step of charging the two teen girls with third-degree felony aggravated stalking. Even if convicted, however, the girls were not expected to spend time in juvenile detention because they didn't have criminal histories.

The AP-NORC Center/MTV poll was conducted online Sept. 27 through Oct. 7 among a random national sample of 1,297 people between the ages of 14 and 24. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points. Funding for the study was provided by MTV as part of its campaign to stop digital abuse, "A Thin Line."

The survey was conducted by the GfK Group using KnowledgePanel, a probability-based online panel. Respondents are recruited randomly using traditional telephone and mail sampling methods. People selected who had no Internet access were given it for free.

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Associated Press Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta and AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

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Follow Anne Flaherty on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnneKFlaherty

___

Online:

AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research: http://www.apnorc.org

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-10-24-Poll-Online%20Bullying/id-a75e102adbaa4f828aceb8f9a364cf03
Tags: Healthcare.gov channing tatum diana nyad The White Queen jimmy fallon

Samsung hit with fine in Taiwan, probe into failing devices in China

Samsung

Bogus online comments land Samsung with $340k fine in Taiwan; Chinese investigation into dead phones results in apology and warranty extensions

A double-whammy of bad news for Samsung this morning. In Taiwan, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) hit the Korean company with a NT$10 million ($340,000) fine after finding that it organized an online campaign to post critical comments on HTC products, while praising its own. The commission found that through local marketing companies, Samsung hired "a large number of writers" to leave the comments on Taiwanese discussion forums, in violation of fair-trade laws. The marketing companies involved were also given smaller fines.

And in China, an investigation into failing Galaxy S3 and Note 2 handsets by state TV criticized the company's warranty arrangements. The issue concerns certain handsets dropping dead out of the blue, apparently due to faulty NAND chips in some devices. In response, Samsung's Chinese arm has issued a apology, saying the issues were the result of a "management problem" and that it welcomed the media scrutiny. The firm also promised to extend the warranties of devices made before Nov. 30, 2012 for an additional year.

Source: AP via SamMobile; Engadget

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/CISAbuLWQow/story01.htm
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HealthCare.gov fixes will meet deadlines, contractors say

The glitch-ridden website built for people to purchase compulsory health insurance under the Affordable Care Act will be fixed in time for applicants to enroll in plans before the law’s deadline to sign up, contractors who built the site assured lawmakers on Thursday.

“The experience will be improved as we go forward, and people will be able to enroll by the Dec. 15 time frame,” Cheryl Campbell, senior vice president for CGI Federal, the company that helped build the government website, told members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “We’re seeing improvements day over day.” (People who want their coverage to become effective Jan. 1 must enroll by Dec. 15.)

The launch of HealthCare.gov has been fraught with accessibility problems since it launched Oct. 1. Users have complained that they are unable to create accounts or complete the application process to buy insurance from companies participating in the new government-run marketplace.

On Thursday, the Republican-majority committee questioned four private contractors who coordinated with the Department of Health and Human Services to build the site about why the site has so many early problems.

The contractors testified that their contributions to the site had tested well before the launch and that they had not recommended that the site launch be delayed.

Despite assurance that the website would be fixed in time, the White House on Wednesday night announced that applicants would be able to sign up for insurance until March 1, 2014 — the original deadline was Jan. 1 — without facing a penalty. Republicans and even some Democrats, meanwhile, have called for the law's individual mandate to purchase insurance to be delayed for at least a year because of the problems.

The federal government plans to announce official enrollment numbers by mid-November, officials said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/healthcare-gov-website-problems-will-be-fixed-145058596.html
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Healthcare.gov problems are target at Hill hearing

From left, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, Humana CEO Bruce Broussard, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida CEO Patrick Geraghty, and other health care chief executive officers arrive at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, to meet with White House officials regarding President Barack Obama's health care law. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a new conference following a meeting at the Republican National Committee offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, left, and House Majority Leader Eric Canton of Va., right, walk away from the microphones following a news conference after a meeting at the Republican National Committee offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

From left, Tufts Health Plan President and CEO James Roosevelt, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, Humana CEO Bruce Broussard, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida CEO Patrick Geraghty, Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard Tyson, and other health care chief executive officers arrive at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, to meet with White House officials regarding President Barack Obama's health care law. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The principal contractors responsible for the federal government's troubled health insurance website say the Obama administration shares responsibility for snags that have crippled the system.

Executives of CGI Federal, which built the federal HealthCare.gov website serving 36 states, and QSSI, which designed the part that verifies applicants' income and other personal details, were testifying Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

As the hearing began, Republican committee members said the website problems are symptomatic of deeper flaws in the Affordable Care Act, and they accused administration officials of misleading Congress with repeated assurances that the rollout was on track.

"The American people deserve something that works, or start over," said Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., adding that the administration should suspend the health law until problems are fixed.

Democrats acknowledged the website problems but defended the law, saying millions of uninsured Americans are counting on it to finally get coverage — and thousands are succeeding in signing up. They accused Republicans of trying to sabotage the law, not to fix it.

"Republicans don't have clean hands coming here," said Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J.

The hearing comes as President Barack Obama's allies are starting to fret about the political fallout. Democrats had hoped to run for re-election next year on the benefits of the health care law for millions of uninsured Americans. Instead, computer problems are keeping many consumers from signing up through new online markets.

One House Democrat says the president needs to "man up" and fire somebody, while others are calling for signup deadlines to be extended and a reconsideration of the penalties individuals will face next year if they remain uninsured.

The focus on the contractors is a first step for GOP investigators. After the failure of their drive to defund "Obamacare" by shutting down the government, they've been suddenly handed a new line of attack by the administration itself. Administration officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, are to testify next week.

Cheryl Campbell, senior vice president of CGI, suggested in prepared testimony that Congress should look beyond the contractors. HHS "serves the important role of systems integrator or 'quarterback' on this project and is the ultimate responsible party for the end-to-end performance," she said.

Overwhelming interest from consumers triggered the website problems, she said. "No amount of testing within reasonable time limits can adequately replicate a live environment of this nature," she said.

Andy Slavitt, representing QSSI's parent company, said the operation's virtual back room, known as the federal data hub, is working well despite some bugs. But his company was also involved with another part of the system, a component for registering individual consumer accounts that became an online bottleneck.

Slavitt blamed the administration, saying that a late decision to require consumers to create accounts before they could browse health plans contributed to the overload. "This may have driven higher simultaneous usage of the registration system that wouldn't have occurred if consumers could window-shop anonymously," he said.

Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., chairman of the panel's health subcommittee, said he wants to focus on the administration's decision not to allow browsing, or window-shopping. That's a standard feature of e-commerce sites, including Medicare.gov for seniors. Lack of a browsing capability forced all users to first go through the laborious process of creating accounts, overloading that part of the site.

"Who made that decision? When was it made? Why was it made?" Pitts asked.

Acknowledging what's been obvious to many outside experts, the administration said Wednesday that the system didn't get enough testing, especially at a high user volume, before going live. It blamed a compressed time frame for meeting the Oct. 1 deadline to open the insurance markets. Basic "alpha and user testing" are now completed, but that's supposed to happen before a launch, not after.

The administration provided no timetable to fix extensive computer snags but said technicians are deep into the job. Its explanation, posted online in an HHS blog post and accompanying graphic, identified six broad areas of problems and outlined fixes underway but in most cases incomplete.

The HHS explanation identified some bugs that have gotten little outside attention. Technical problems have surfaced that are making the application and plan-shopping functions difficult to complete. That's a concern because those stages are farther along in the signup process than the initial registration, where many consumers have been getting tripped up. The problems are being analyzed and fixes are planned.

Meanwhile, House Democrats are starting to worry aloud about persistent problems with the rollout.

Rep. Richard Nolan, D-Minn., told The Associated Press the computer fiasco has "damaged the brand" of the health care law.

"The president needs to man up, find out who was responsible, and fire them," Nolan said. He did not name anyone.

Former White House chief of staff Bill Daley, interviewed Thursday on "CBS This Morning," said that Obama "can't just get stuck on this for the next several weeks." As for calls that Sebelius be fired, Daley said that would be like firing the captain of the Titanic "after the ship hit the iceberg."

Obama says he's as frustrated as anyone and has promised a "tech surge" to fix the balky website. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration will be more transparent about the problems. After more than 20 days without briefing the media, HHS will start regular sessions on Thursday, he said.

In light of the computer problems, some Democrats are saying Obama should consider extending open enrollment season beyond March 31 and revisit the penalties for individuals who don't sign up and remain uninsured. Under the law, virtually all Americans must carry health insurance starting next year or face fines.

On that point, a change in the timeline for signing up for coverage is underway, the White House said. Consumers have until Dec. 15 to apply for coverage that's effective Jan. 1. Even though open enrollment lasts until March 31, people would face a penalty if they postpone buying coverage beyond mid-February. Calling that a "disconnect," the White House said officials will soon issue policy guidance allowing consumers to sign up by the end of March without penalty.

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Associated Press writers Josh Lederman and Laurie Kellman contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-24-Health%20Overhaul-Problems/id-b031d2ff912248758b8967355a6049de
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Official BBM how-to videos show the ropes to new users

Got BBM on Android? Here are the basics.

BBM is starting to get (kinda-sorta) rolled out today on Android, and to get folks acclimatized, BlackBerry has posted a few how-to videos on their YouTube channel. Videos show how to manage groups, how read/delivered receipts work, handling multi-person chat, checking status updates, sharing files, and adding contacts.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/L-lP313jW_8/story01.htm
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Adblock Plus' new target: Facebook 'annoyances'

Call it "walled-garden manicuring," if you will. Adblock Plus is now capable of blocking that many more of the sorts of annoyances that only Facebook provides to its readers.

Having the ad-blocking plug-in block the likes of sponsored stories, promoted posts, and so on isn't new. What is new is the ability to block things like upcoming events in your area, or "People You May Know" displays.

Twenty-one additional Facebook elements can now be blocked with the new plug-in. Most of them are attempts to glean feedback from the user about other Facebook content ("Games you may like" or "Rate movies you've watched"). Even Adblock Plus' own makers admit, "[These] are not advertisements. Rather, this material is actually from Facebook, and it is served to you based upon the information Facebook receives from your profile and activities."

The privacy implications of this are never gladdening, especially if such material ends up leaking out of Facebook entirely. No surprise then that some people would prefer it was never served up at all. But being able to one-up Facebook's own customization almost certainly won't sit well with Facebook.

Adblock Plus has garnered itself a mixed reputation from content providers and end-users alike. Many end-users understand all too well that the vast majority of sites need ad revenue to survive, but are fed up with obnoxious, experience-killing ads that leak privacy data. But Adblock Plus' attempts to dictate the direction of Web-based advertising via its Acceptable Ads initiative has come off as a heavy-handed attempt to dictate how advertising on the Web should work. (Adblock Plus recently reached out to Twitter to be non-annoying right as that company was filing for its IPO.)

Until now Adblock Plus has focused most of its work on blocking ads on sites where the difference between an ad and the actual content is normally quite clear. But now it seems Adblock Plus is also attempting to change the ways end-users experience sites where content, advertisement, and promotion are heavily -- sometimes inextricably -- mixed.

Facebook could fight back in any number of ways. The most urbane would be to change its service to allow the most annoying content to be removed entirely or maybe after a short period of use. (For example, you have to endure "Games you may like" at least one day a month before you're given the option to toggle it off.) But it's more likely the company'll fight back by finding ways to render Adblock Plus' blocking useless -- a move that could spark an arms race between two of the Web's most contentious and divisive presences.

It all amounts to a striking example of one third-party company providing ways for users to experience another third-party company's content -- perhaps even at the expense of Facebook losing a way to harvest information from its users in an aboveboard fashion.

That's the real worry: What if, when faced with challenges like Adblock Plus to its data-gathering model, Facebook decides to remind folks what's going on Friday night downtown in the middle of a chat session or asks you whether or not you've seen a movie right when you're typing its name in a reply to someone else's post?

This story, "Adblock Plus' new target: Facebook 'annoyances'," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Get the first word on what the important tech news really means with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/web-browsers/adblock-plus-new-target-facebook-annoyances-229247?source=rss_applications
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Pat Miletich on MMA's refusal to throw in the towel, and why the loss of Strikeforce was so significant

Midway through UFC 166's heavyweight title fight, as a concussed Junior dos Santos ate heavy punch after heavy punch, unable or unwilling to mount any semblance of defense, Pat Miletich reached the same conclusion as UFC President Dana White -- the fight needed to be stopped.

Regardless referee Herb Dean, cageside physicians, and most questionable of all, dos Santos' corner, all allowed the Brazilian's beating to continue well into the fifth round, leading Miletich to join the chorus wondering why MMA corners are so hesitant to throw in the towel while the practice is widely accepted in boxing.

"God, you know, there's a lot of pride involved," Miletich said on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour.

"A lot of the guys that are cornering these guys, many times are training partners, pretty strong, virile young guys who don't see themselves as vulnerable probably, to be honest with you."

Miletich went on to cite an example of the problem in action at XFC 26, which aired live on AXS TV last weekend with Miletich in the broadcast booth.

"I witnessed a fight Friday night, Roger Carroll getting beat up by Scott Holtzman," Miletich explained. "It was a hell of fight, but Roger Carroll took a -- I can't even count how many elbows he took. His face was swollen shut and there was no use of the fight going on.

"I'd seen enough and I said that on TV. The boys agreed with me, but it wasn't getting stopped. I think it's just a matter of people not -- they care so much about the guy that they want to see him win. I don't know, they're blind at points. Junior dos Santos took a serious ass whopping, and I tend to agree with some people that, yes, that should've been stopped."

The primary concern in situations like dos Santos' is not the immediate danger -- although that definitely plays a part -- but rather, the potential for tremendous amounts of unnecessary damage to negativity impact fighters later in life.

"I think it's already there. I've seen it in guys that I've trained with in the earlier days," Miletich admitted.

"In both boxing and MMA, guys that aren't the same as they were when we were all young. So it's there."

Miletich has been around mixed martial arts long enough to hold a nuanced perspective on the sport's inner workings. The 47-year-old became the inaugural UFC welterweight champion in 1998, defended the belt four times, founded Miletich Fighting Systems -- a camp which at one time produced champions like an assembly line -- then, among other gigs, worked as a commentator to now-defunct Strikeforce.

When Strikeforce dissolved in early-2013, Miletich was struck particularly hard by the loss; not due to any lack of employment opportunities for himself, but rather, he saw it as a disastrous blow to fighters' ability to negotiate a proper income.

"It bothered me, because more than anything else, (the thing that helps) the growth of the sport and the development is athletes having the ability to truly have organizations bid on their talent and make more money for themselves," Miletich said.

"That's where the competition is important. It's healthy, and until that comes back, some sort of organization that could put something together like that, that was a loss for the sport and the athletes, and for the fans, quite frankly."

In the aftermath of Strikeforce's demise, Miletich believes the current MMA landscape leaves much to be desired. The way he sees it, the fighters at the very top of the ladder are getting compensated, but those below them are left to simply fend for themselves.

"There are a lot of places where guys can get their start," Miletich explained. "I think there's a lot of places where guys can gain experience and get their name known out there, to a certain extent, to make themselves marketable to then go on to the UFC.

"But until you have a place that can pay you as well or better than the existing king of the hill, then it's a pyramid and there's no options. There's no options for the athletes. The only reason I say this now is, having been an athlete, having been from the bottom of the ladder to the top, when there are no options, things tend to -- athletes have zero control. And the athletes definitely need control," Miletich said in closing.

"If I'm in the NFL, I have a lot of control because there are several teams, people are going to bid for my services. And that does not exist in this sport."

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2013/10/23/4867936/pat-miletich-on-mmas-refusal-to-throw-in-the-towel-and-why-the-loss
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Soft-spoken teen accused of killing Mass. teacher

Danvers High School teacher Colleen Ritzeris seen in this undated photo provided by the family of Ritzer. Fourteen-year-old high school student Philip Chism was accused of killing Ritzer, a well-liked math teacher at Danvers High School, in Danvers, Mass., whose body was found in the woods behind the school. Law enforcement officials recovered the remains of 24-year-old Ritzer early Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said. Chism was arraigned Wednesday in Salem on a murder charge and ordered held without bail. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Dale Webster via the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune)

Philip Chism, 14, stands during his arraignment for the death of Danvers High School teacher Colleen Ritzer in Salem District Court in Salem, Mass., Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013. Chism has been ordered held without bail. (AP Photo/Boston Herald, Patrick Whittemore) MANDATORY CREDIT

Parents and Danvers High School students hold a candlelight vigil to mourn the death of Colleen Ritzer, a 24-year-old math teacher at Danvers High School, on Wednesday, Oct 23, 2013, in Danvers, Mass. Ritzer's body was found in woods behind the high school, and Danvers High School student Philip Chism, 14, who was found walking along a state highway overnight, was charged with killing her. (AP Photo/Bizuayehu Tesfaye)

Danvers High School students hold candlelight vigil to mourn the death of Colleen Ritzer, a 24-year-old math teacher at Danvers High School on Wednesday, Oct 23, 2013, in Danvers, Mass. Ritzer's was found slain in woods behind the high school, and Danvers High School student Philip Chism, 14, was charged with killing her. (AP Photo/ Bizuayehu Tesfaye)

Parents and Danvers High School students hold candlelight vigil to mourn the death of Colleen Ritzer, a 24-year-old math teacher at Danvers High School, on Wednesday, Oct 23, 2013, in Danvers, Mass. Ritzer's body was found in woods behind the high school, and Danvers High School student Philip Chism, 14, who was found walking along a state highway overnight was charged with killing her. (AP Photo/ Bizuayehu Tesfaye)

DANVERS, Mass. (AP) — A well-liked teacher was found slain in woods behind this quiet Massachusetts town's high school, and a 14-year-old boy who was found walking along a state highway overnight was charged with killing her.

Blood found in a second-floor school bathroom helped lead investigators to the body of Colleen Ritzer, a 24-year-old math teacher at Danvers High School who was reported missing when she didn't come home from work on Tuesday, Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said.

"She was a very, very respected, loved teacher," Blodgett said.

The suspect, Philip Chism, was arraigned on a murder charge Wednesday and ordered held without bail. The teenager, described by classmates as soft-spoken and pleasant, also did not come home from school the day before and was spotted walking along Route 1 in the neighboring town of Topsfield at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Officials didn't release a cause of death and haven't discussed a motive in the killing.

A court filing said Ritzer and Chism were known to each other from the high school, but it did not elaborate. The arrest was made based on statements by the suspect and corroborating evidence at multiple scenes, investigators said in court documents.

Ritzer's family said they are mourning the death of their "amazing, beautiful daughter and sister."

"Everyone that knew and loved Colleen knew of her passion for teaching and how she mentored each and every one of her students," the family said in a statement provided by her uncle Dale Webster.

At his arraignment in adult court in Salem, Chism's defense attorney argued for the proceeding to be closed and her client to be allowed to stay hidden because of his age. The judge denied the request. The lawyer, Denise Regan, declined to comment outside court. No statement had been released from his family by Wednesday evening.

The tall, lanky teenager had moved to Massachusetts from Tennessee before the start of the school year and was a top scorer on the school's junior varsity soccer team, said Kyle Cahill, a junior who also plays soccer. He said the team had been wondering where Chism was when he skipped a team dinner Tuesday night.

"We're all just a family. It just amazes me really," Cahill said. "He wasn't violent at all. He was really the opposite of aggressive."

Ritzer had a Twitter account where she gave homework assignments, encouraged students and described herself as a "math teacher often too excited about the topics I'm teaching."

She was a 2011 graduate of Assumption College in Worcester, a school spokeswoman said Wednesday. She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in math, a minor in psychology and a secondary education concentration, according to the college's 2011 commencement program.

One of her former students, Chris Weimert, 17, said she was a warm, welcoming person who would stand outside her classroom and say hello to students she didn't teach. He said she had been at the school for two years.

"She was the nicest teacher anyone could ever have. She always had a warm smile on her face," he said.

Ryan Kelleher, a senior, said students related to the young teacher, who liked to wear jeans and UGG boots just like the teenagers she taught. Kelleher, who also plays soccer, said the arrest of the soft-spoken Chism didn't make sense to him.

"From what I know about him and seeing him every day, it just doesn't add up that he would do such a thing, unless this was all an act to fool somebody," the 17-year-old said.

Ritzer lived at home with her 20-year-old brother and her sister, a high school senior. The close-knit family was often outside, barbecuing, spending time together and enjoying each other's company, neighbors said.

Mary Duffy has lived next door to the Ritzers in the suburban neighborhood in Andover since the family moved there more than two decades ago. She had known Colleen Ritzer from the time she was a baby and said the Ritzers' oldest child had just one life ambition: to be a high school math teacher.

"All I ever heard is that she loved her job," Duffy said.

All public schools in Danvers, about 20 miles north of Boston, were closed Wednesday.

The Boston Red Sox had a moment of silence for Ritzer Wednesday before Game 1 of the World Series.

Hundreds turned out for a candlelight vigil Wednesday evening on the parking lot of the school. Many wore pink, Ritzer's favorite color. They prayed and sang and, at the end of the vigil, they placed their candles along with some stuffed animals in the middle of a ring they have formed for the gathering.

"She supported all of us. We should be there to support her," said Danvers senior Courtney Arnoldy, 18, who had Ritzer for a teacher.

Ritzer is the second teacher allegedly killed by a student in the U.S. this week. A Sparks, Nev., middle school teacher was allegedly shot by a 12-year-old student on Monday.

___

Associated Press writer Lynne Tuohy in Andover and news researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York City contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-24-Schools%20Closed-Homicide/id-002d3a7091ab4062976bb23938a6f307
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Obama launches major fundraising push for Dems

WASHINGTON (AP) — Call the caterer, and fuel up Air Force One. President Barack Obama is launching an intense fundraising push for Democrats that will take him to more than a half-dozen states before the end of the year.

In all, Obama has scheduled at least nine fundraisers from Florida to Texas to California, and first lady Michelle Obama plans a 10th event. Benefiting from the presidential appearances will be the national Democratic Party, plus the campaign committees that raise money for Democratic House and Senate candidates.

Vice President Joe Biden is also expected to raise money for Democratic candidates.

For weeks, as the federal government was shut down and the U.S. edged perilously close to a first-ever default on its debt, the White House put political activities on hold. Biden and Mrs. Obama canceled or postponed fundraisers for Democrats, and Obama nixed an appearance at the glitzy Congressional Hispanic Caucus gala.

The overwhelming partisanship and gridlock that led to the shutdown made it clearer than ever that Obama's prospects for achieving his goals during his final years in office depend heavily on Democrats making major gains in next year's midterm elections.

With the budget crisis averted — at least for the moment — Obama is diving head-first into a six-week stretch of top-dollar receptions, dinners and photo lines that will bring in campaign cash for Democrats ahead of the 2014.

The Democratic National Committee is still retiring debt it racked up last year getting Obama re-elected. And campaign committees want to stock their coffers now to improve their prospects of retaking control of the House next year and maintaining their fragile majority in the Senate.

Obama's first post-shutdown fundraiser will come Friday, when Obama will travel to New York to promote high-tech education at a Brooklyn high school before raising money in the evening.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Steve Israel, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, will join Obama at the first event. An invitation obtained by The Associated Press says it costs $16,200 per person to attend the event, hosted by Kathryn Chenault — the wife of American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault — and two other prominent Democratic donors.

Later that evening, Obama will raise money for the DNC, and Mrs. Obama will appear at the Women's Leadership Forum in Washington — another fundraiser for the DNC.

Pelosi and Israel at his side, Obama will headline two other fundraisers for House Democrats this year — one next week outside Boston, and one in late November in the Seattle area. In between, he'll fly to Dallas, Miami and Philadelphia for events for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said a Democratic source, who demanded anonymity because the White House has not yet announced the events.

Obama will round out the fundraising swing in late November in California, where he'll raise money for the DNC in San Francisco and hold a joint event for House and Senate Democrats in Los Angeles.

___

Reach Josh Lederman at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-launches-major-fundraising-push-dems-214724902.html
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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Bank of America liable for Countrywide mortgages fraud

By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp was found liable for fraud on Wednesday on claims related to defective mortgages sold by its Countrywide unit, a major win for the U.S. government in one of the few big trials stemming from the financial crisis.

Following a four-week trial, a federal jury in Manhattan found the Charlotte, North Carolina bank liable on one civil fraud charge. Countrywide originated shoddy home loans in a process called "Hustle" and sold them to government mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government said.

The four men and six women on the jury also found former Countrywide executive, Rebecca Mairone, liable on the one fraud charge facing her.

A decision on how much to penalize the bank would be left to U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff. The U.S. Department of Justice has said it would ask Rakoff to award up to $848.2 million, the gross loss it said Fannie and Freddie suffered on the loans.

Bank of America bought Countrywide in July 2008. Two months later, the government took over Fannie and Freddie.

"The jury's decision concerned a single Countrywide program that lasted several months and ended before Bank of America's acquisition of the company," Bank of America spokesman Lawrence Grayson said. "We will evaluate our options for appeal."

Wednesday's verdict marked a major victory for the Justice Department, which has come under criticism for failing to hold banks and executives accountable for their roles in the events leading up to the financial crisis.

In late afternoon trading, Bank of America shares were down 27 cents at $14.25 on the New York Stock Exchange.

WHISTLEBLOWER

The lawsuit stemmed from a whistleblower case originally brought by Edward O'Donnell, a former Countrywide executive who stands to earn up to $1.6 million if the government prevailed.

It centered on a program called the "High Speed Swim Lane" - also called "HSSL" or "Hustle" - that government lawyers said Countrywide started in 2007 as it sought to move away from subprime lending and issue prime loans.

Prime loans are considered less risky than subprime. But the Justice Department said fraud and other defects were rampant in HSSL loans, because Countrywide eliminated loan quality checkpoints and paid employees based on loan volume and speed.

The Justice Department said the process was overseen by Mairone, a former chief operating officer of Countrywide's Full Spectrum Lending division.

Mairone later became a managing director at JPMorgan Chase & Co. That bank had no immediate comment.

In 2012, the Justice Department intervened in O'Donnell's lawsuit and filed its own complaint under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989. That law, passed in the wake of the 1900s savings-and-loan scandals, covers fraud affecting federally insured financial institutions.

The case is U.S. ex rel. O'Donnell v. Bank of America Corp et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-01422.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond; Additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bank-america-loses-fraud-trial-over-u-mortgages-194751822--sector.html
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Uncovering the tricks of nature's ice-seeding bacteria

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Oct-2013

[

| E-mail

]

Contact: Catherine Meyers
cmeyers@aip.org
301-209-3088
American Institute of Physics

Like the Marvel Comics superhero Iceman, some bacteria have harnessed frozen water as a weapon. Species such as Pseudomonas syringae have special proteins embedded in their outer membranes that help ice crystals form, and they use them to trigger frost formation at warmer than normal temperatures on plants, later invading through the damaged tissue. When the bacteria die, many of the proteins are wafted up into the atmosphere, where they can alter the weather by seeding clouds and precipitation.

Now scientists from Germany have observed for the first time the step-by-step, microscopic-level action of P. syringae's ice-nucleating proteins locking water molecules in place to form ice. The team will present their findings at the AVS 60th International Symposium and Exhibition, held Oct. 27 Nov. 1 in Long Beach, Calif.

"Ice nucleating proteins are the most effective ice nucleators known," said Tobias Weidner, leader of the surface protein group at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research. The proteins jump-start the process of ice crystal formation so well that dried ice-nucleating bacteria are often used as additives in snowmakers.

Although scientists discovered ice-nucleating proteins decades ago, little is known about how they actually work. Weidner and his team tackled the mystery with a powerful tool called spectroscopy that can decipher patterns in the interaction between light and matter to visualize the freezing process in layers of materials only a few molecules thick.

The researchers prepared a sample of fragments of P. syringae bacteria that they spread over water to form a surface film. As the temperature was lowered from room temperature to near freezing levels the scientists probed the interface between the bacterial proteins and the water with two laser beams. The beams combined within the sample and a single beam was emitted back, carrying with it information about how the protein and water molecules move and interact.

By analyzing the returning light beam's frequency components, Weidner and his colleagues found a surprisingly dramatic result: as the temperature approached zero degrees Celcius the water molecules at the ice-nucleating protein surface suddenly became more ordered and the molecular motions become sluggish. They also found that thermal energy was very efficiently removed from the surrounding water. The results indicate that ice nucleating proteins might have a specific mechanism for heat removal and ordering water that is activated at low temperatures, Weidner said.

"We were very surprised by these results," Weidner added. "When we first saw the dramatic increase of water order with lower temperatures we believed it was an artifact." The movements of the water molecules near the ice-nucleating protein was very different than the way water had interacted with the many other proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and other biomolecules the team had studied.

Recent studies have shown that large numbers of bacterial ice-nucleating proteins become airborne over areas like the Amazon rainforest and can spread around the globe. The proteins are among the most effective promoters of ice particle formation in the atmosphere, and have the potential to significantly influence weather patterns. Learning how P. syringae triggers frost could help teach researchers how ice particle formation occurs in the upper atmosphere.

"Understanding at the microscopic level down to the interaction of specific protein sites with water molecules the mechanism of protein-induced atmospheric ice formation will help us understand biogenic impacts on atmospheric processes and the climate," Weidner said. For a more detailed picture of protein-water interactions it will also be important to combine their spectroscopic results with computer models, he said.

###

Presentation BA+AI+AS+BI+IS+NL-MoM10, "A Molecular View of Water Interacting with Climate-active Ice Nucleating Proteins," is at 11:20 a.m. Pacific Time on Monday, Oct. 28, 2013.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE AVS 60th INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM & EXHIBITION

The Long Beach Convention Center is located at 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90802.

USEFUL LINKS

Main meeting website: http://www2.avs.org/symposium/AVS60/pages/info.html

Technical Program: http://www.avssymposium.org/

PRESSROOM

The AVS Pressroom will be located in the Long Beach Convention Center. Pressroom hours are Monday-Thursday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Your press badge will allow you to utilize the pressroom to write, interview, collect new product releases, review material, or just relax. The press badge will also admit you, free of charge, into the exhibit area, lectures, and technical sessions, as well as the Welcome Mixer on Monday Evening and the Awards Ceremony and Reception on Wednesday night.

This news release was prepared for AVS by the American Institute of Physics (AIP).

ABOUT AVS

Founded in 1953, AVS is a not-for-profit professional society that promotes communication between academia, government laboratories, and industry for the purpose of sharing research and development findings over a broad range of technologically relevant topics. Its symposia and journals provide an important forum for the dissemination of information in many areas of science and technology, enabling a critical gateway for the rapid insertion of scientific breakthroughs into manufacturing realities.

[

| E-mail

Share

]

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Uncovering the tricks of nature's ice-seeding bacteria

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Oct-2013

[

| E-mail

]

Share
Contact: Catherine Meyers
cmeyers@aip.org
301-209-3088
American Institute of Physics

Like the Marvel Comics superhero Iceman, some bacteria have harnessed frozen water as a weapon. Species such as Pseudomonas syringae have special proteins embedded in their outer membranes that help ice crystals form, and they use them to trigger frost formation at warmer than normal temperatures on plants, later invading through the damaged tissue. When the bacteria die, many of the proteins are wafted up into the atmosphere, where they can alter the weather by seeding clouds and precipitation.

Now scientists from Germany have observed for the first time the step-by-step, microscopic-level action of P. syringae's ice-nucleating proteins locking water molecules in place to form ice. The team will present their findings at the AVS 60th International Symposium and Exhibition, held Oct. 27 Nov. 1 in Long Beach, Calif.

"Ice nucleating proteins are the most effective ice nucleators known," said Tobias Weidner, leader of the surface protein group at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research. The proteins jump-start the process of ice crystal formation so well that dried ice-nucleating bacteria are often used as additives in snowmakers.

Although scientists discovered ice-nucleating proteins decades ago, little is known about how they actually work. Weidner and his team tackled the mystery with a powerful tool called spectroscopy that can decipher patterns in the interaction between light and matter to visualize the freezing process in layers of materials only a few molecules thick.

The researchers prepared a sample of fragments of P. syringae bacteria that they spread over water to form a surface film. As the temperature was lowered from room temperature to near freezing levels the scientists probed the interface between the bacterial proteins and the water with two laser beams. The beams combined within the sample and a single beam was emitted back, carrying with it information about how the protein and water molecules move and interact.

By analyzing the returning light beam's frequency components, Weidner and his colleagues found a surprisingly dramatic result: as the temperature approached zero degrees Celcius the water molecules at the ice-nucleating protein surface suddenly became more ordered and the molecular motions become sluggish. They also found that thermal energy was very efficiently removed from the surrounding water. The results indicate that ice nucleating proteins might have a specific mechanism for heat removal and ordering water that is activated at low temperatures, Weidner said.

"We were very surprised by these results," Weidner added. "When we first saw the dramatic increase of water order with lower temperatures we believed it was an artifact." The movements of the water molecules near the ice-nucleating protein was very different than the way water had interacted with the many other proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and other biomolecules the team had studied.

Recent studies have shown that large numbers of bacterial ice-nucleating proteins become airborne over areas like the Amazon rainforest and can spread around the globe. The proteins are among the most effective promoters of ice particle formation in the atmosphere, and have the potential to significantly influence weather patterns. Learning how P. syringae triggers frost could help teach researchers how ice particle formation occurs in the upper atmosphere.

"Understanding at the microscopic level down to the interaction of specific protein sites with water molecules the mechanism of protein-induced atmospheric ice formation will help us understand biogenic impacts on atmospheric processes and the climate," Weidner said. For a more detailed picture of protein-water interactions it will also be important to combine their spectroscopic results with computer models, he said.

###

Presentation BA+AI+AS+BI+IS+NL-MoM10, "A Molecular View of Water Interacting with Climate-active Ice Nucleating Proteins," is at 11:20 a.m. Pacific Time on Monday, Oct. 28, 2013.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE AVS 60th INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM & EXHIBITION

The Long Beach Convention Center is located at 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90802.

USEFUL LINKS

Main meeting website: http://www2.avs.org/symposium/AVS60/pages/info.html

Technical Program: http://www.avssymposium.org/

PRESSROOM

The AVS Pressroom will be located in the Long Beach Convention Center. Pressroom hours are Monday-Thursday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Your press badge will allow you to utilize the pressroom to write, interview, collect new product releases, review material, or just relax. The press badge will also admit you, free of charge, into the exhibit area, lectures, and technical sessions, as well as the Welcome Mixer on Monday Evening and the Awards Ceremony and Reception on Wednesday night.

This news release was prepared for AVS by the American Institute of Physics (AIP).

ABOUT AVS

Founded in 1953, AVS is a not-for-profit professional society that promotes communication between academia, government laboratories, and industry for the purpose of sharing research and development findings over a broad range of technologically relevant topics. Its symposia and journals provide an important forum for the dissemination of information in many areas of science and technology, enabling a critical gateway for the rapid insertion of scientific breakthroughs into manufacturing realities.

[

| E-mail

Share

]

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/aiop-utt102313.php
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GOP Pollster: What Went Wrong, And Why

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio (center), with House GOP leaders, speaks briefly to reporters on Oct. 1. Joining Boehner are (from left) House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., the Republican conference chairwoman.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

How badly did the recent fiscal fight go for the GOP?

Here's one hint: Prominent Republican pollster Bill McInturff opens his "after action report" on the government shutdown with a quote from Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu on the skills needed in picking the terrain of battle: "He who knows them not, nor practices them, will surely be defeated."

McInturff then goes on to catalog the woes the party has suffered over the previous month. "Defunding" President Obama's health care law, the original goal of the showdown, actually got less popular over time. Voter sentiment shifted to support Democrats for Congress. And approval ratings for Republicans have plummeted — to below 30 percent, nationally.

"There's no question that the Republican Party brand and the public perception of Congress are at historic lows," McInturff said in an interview with NPR.

McInturff is the Republican half of the bipartisan polling team for NBC News and The Wall Street Journal, but this report was done for his clients and colleagues. He said it was drawn from those joint polls, but that he also used some data from Gallup polling.

One section titled "Why it happened" features bar graphs showing the ideological range of the House over time, from most liberal to most conservative. In 1982, 344 of the 435 members fell between a broad swath bounded by "most liberal Republican" and "most conservative Democrat." Three decades later, that number has shrunk to just 11 members.

McInturff also points to a lack of "long term" institutional knowledge in Congress –- 47 percent of the House and 44 percent of the Senate have only been in office since the start of the Obama administration five years ago.

By further way of explanation for the push to get rid of Obama's signature achievement, McInturff has a page titled "Understanding the world through the view of Republican members of Congress in their districts." While in the country as a whole, Obama's approval rating is within a few points of his disapproval, in the 233 Republican districts Obama's numbers are 37 approve to 57 percent disapprove. And while the nation as a whole prefers a Democratic-controlled Congress by nearly double digits, the exact opposite is true in the Republican districts.

This helps explain one of McInturff's forecasts for the coming months: "Do not expect much change in how Congress functions and the level of likely paralysis that continues to lay ahead."

Another of McInturff's predictions offers some comfort to Republicans worried about the possible consequences of the government shutdown: "The significant shifts in attitude today are not a predictor, though, of whether the shutdown will end up truly impacting the 2014 election."

There is, after all, more than a full year between now and Election Day 2014.

"In America, the big story of today is rarely the big story a year from now. Whether it be the impeachment votes against President Clinton in 1999 that everyone presumed would be hugely consequential in the next election, the Democrats not voting for the use of force in the two Iraq wars — all of these were perceived at the time to be game changers for the next election, and none of them mattered," McInturff said, pointing out that over the past two months, the story of the day has moved from Syria to the shutdown to the health care law's website. "By next October, there will be national events, world events — there will be things of such consequence that it is very unlikely that the October campaigns of 2014 are going to be dealing with what happened in the shutdown of 2013."

S.V. Dáte edits politics and campaign finance coverage for NPR's Washington Desk.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/10/23/240269361/gop-pollster-what-went-wrong-and-why?ft=1&f=1014
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Sony hopes sharable clips, extras aid movie buying

[unable to retrieve full-text content]LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sony is hoping that providing sharable movie clips and extras like deleted scenes will prompt more people to buy digital movies. At least that's the intention behind a new initiative it's calling Vudu Extras+.Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-10-23-Sony-Vudu%20Extras+/id-07ab6ed478124a5ba7a3a5a704ce7fe9
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What you need to know about Apple's free apps policy

Apple made waves during Tuesday's media event when the company announced that its iLife and iWork suite would be free for customers who buy a new Mac or iOS device. But the apps are also free for users who already have the apps installed, and one app is free, period.

Here's our guide to demystifying Apple's new pricing structure on its iLife and iWork apps.

[ InfoWorld presents the Bossies 2013, the best open source software for clouds, mobile, developers, and more. | Get the latest insight on the tech news that matters from InfoWorld's Tech Watch blog. ]

How 'free with purchase' works
When Apple first announced that its iOS apps would be free with the purchase of a new iPhone, I theorized that Apple might include a notification alert after you first activated your new device, with a link to download your free apps. Instead, there's no link or alert to be found. If you want your free iWork and iLife apps -- on OS X Mavericks or on iOS -- you have to first visit the Mac App Store to do so. When you do, however, the "Buy" button for those apps will be replaced with "Download" or "Update" (or the iCloud icon on the iOS App Store).

Though I can't yet confirm it (I asked Apple for more details but have yet to receive a response), I suspect that Apple associates the iWork and iLife suite with your Apple ID when you first activate a new device. That way, when you visit the app's page, it shows up as already "purchased" on your account, and you can download away.

The iLife app suite
Apple's new iLife suite consists of three apps -- iMovie, iPhoto, and GarageBand -- available for both OS X and iOS. On the Mac side, you're looking at iPhoto 9.5, iMovie 10.0, and GarageBand 10.0. iPhoto and iMovie each appear on the store for $15, while GarageBand is a free download with a $5 in-app purchase. All three apps require OS X Mavericks or later; if you attempt to download them while running an earlier version of OS X, you won't be able to proceed.

Apple's iOS versions of these apps are all version 2.0 and require iOS 7 or later; iMovie and iPhoto show up as $5 on the App Store by default, with GarageBand again available as a free download -- you can add more touch-based instruments for a single $5 in-app purchase.

Like iLife, the iWork suite also consists of three apps—Pages, Numbers, and Keynote—which are available for both OS X and iOS. The new Mac versions are Pages 5.0, Numbers 3.0, and Keynote 6.0, and they too require OS X Mavericks; the iOS versions are all 2.0 and require iOS 7 or later. On the Mac, the three apps retail for $20 each; on the iPhone or iPad, they’re $10 each.

So who gets these for free and who has to pay up? Read on.

If you own iLife '11 or iWork ’09 apps (or v1 iOS apps) and you got them from the Mac App Store or iOS App Store: You should be able to download the latest versions for free by going to the app page on the Mac or iOS App Store.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/what-you-need-know-about-apples-free-apps-policy-229336?source=rss_mobile_technology
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Apple announces new version of iLife for OS X Mavericks and iOS, available today

Every three years around this time, Apple comes out with a new version of iLife. So, given that the current suite was launched back in 2010, we had an inkling today we'd be getting an update today at Apple's press event. Sure enough, the company just unveiled new versions of iPhoto, iMovie and ...

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/sxhhvAf1QB4/
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George Clooney's 'Monuments Men' Pushed to 2014

George Clooney’s The Monuments Men has been pushed to 2014, The Hollywood Reporter confirms.

Sony Pictures had planned to open the World War II drama domestically Dec. 18, but the film will now hit theaters during the first quarter of next year. The Los Angeles Times first reported the news.

PHOTOS: 25 of Fall's Most Anticipated Movies

Clooney told The Times that he and producing partner Grant Heslov asked Sony and 20th Century Fox (which partnered with Sony on the drama) to postpone the film's release, partly because more time was needed to complete the hundreds of visual effects.

The year-end holidays are especially crowded this year and could become even more so if Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street is completed in time for a Christmas release.

Monuments Men had been considered one of the season's awards contenders, but the move will make it ineligible for the upcoming Oscars. It follows Sony Pictures Classics' Foxcatcher and The Weinstein Co.'s Grace of Monaco as awards contenders moved to 2014 and out of contention this year. Sony still has David O. Russell's American Hustle, opening Dec. 25, and Tom Hanks-starrer Captain Phillips in play for the upcoming awards season.

Monuments Men centers on a group of art historians and museum curators charged with rescuing art treasures taken by the Nazis. Clooney, who directs and stars in the film, is joined by cast members Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray and John Goodman. Clooney and Heslov adapted the screenplay from Robert Edsel's nonfiction work The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History.

Sony is handling the film's domestic release, while Fox will release it internationally.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/news/~3/9pXGg_uIrrk/george-clooneys-monuments-men-pushed-650274
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