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Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Inside the Fox Exec Shake-Up: Jim Gianopulos' Power Play Explained
From left: Tomas Jegeus, Jim Gianopulos and Paul Hanneman
This story first appeared in the Nov. 1 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.
Hollywood obsessed all summer over whether ousted Warner Bros. film chief Jeff Robinov would land at 20th Century Fox. But it turned out people were looking to the wrong man -- or men. On Oct. 16, Fox chief Jim Gianopulos upped longtime international presidents Paul Hanneman, 53, and Tomas Jegeus, 50, to lead worldwide marketing and distribution.
Gianopulos' first major power grab as sole chairman and CEO of Fox -- he shared the top job with Tom Rothman until late 2012 -- also included ousting domestic marketing co-president Oren Aviv, who joined the studio in January 2011. Tony Sella, Aviv's fellow co-president, was given the chance to stay under Jegeus and Hanneman, but he quickly let his new bosses know he was resigning. (Sella skipped a morning meeting called by Gianopulos on Oct. 17 to announce the reorganization. Sella has threatened to quit before, however, and at posting time it remained unclear when or if he actually will leave.)
PHOTOS: Top 10 Dramatic Studio Shake-Ups
Many within Fox long have recognized a problem with its domestic marketing. Part of the reason could be that Sella, considered the creative brain, and Aviv never got along. "It became apparent there was no unity in the department," says one source.
Conversely, Hanneman and Jegeus -- who will continue to report directly to Gianopulos -- have enjoyed stunning success since taking over international marketing and distribution in 2005. Fox's foreign box-office revenue has passed $2 billion for five consecutive years, a record for a Hollywood studio.
Gianopulos, who rose through the studio's international side, says the move recognizes the importance of the global industry. "Someone sneezes in Chicago, and they say 'I bless you' in Brussels," he tells THR, noting that several studios have consolidated marketing operations into a global division, including Paramount and Disney. "Also, we are not a company that embraces silos."
PHOTOS: Hollywood's Season of Firings: 10 Ousted Executives
Adds Hanneman: "The industry has changed. National cultural borders have all but been eradicated by the new digital reality. Combining operations -- both distribution and marketing -- will allow us to get out in front of our campaigns and better manage our process."
Jegeus and Hanneman have two key allies with strong ties to Fox: Former News Corp. president Peter Chernin, whose production company Chernin Entertainment now has a deal with the studio, and DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, whose films now go out through Fox. "Without question, they built the leading international organization and are aggressive and innovative," says Katzenberg.
The promotion of Hanneman and Jegeus does not preclude a future at Fox for Robinov, whose chief talents are in creative development. However, insiders say Robinov pushed back when informally approached about the possibility of becoming Gianopulos' No. 2 (i.e., a possible vice chairmanship). The No. 2 job could still be open to Robinov, but the ball is in his court.
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Ex-Googler Hugo Barra gushes over Chinese Xiaomi's fanboys
Ex-Googler Hugo Barra has a thing for the fans—but not Google’s.
While the Internet data behemoth may strive to “do no evil,” “we do everything for the ‘Mi fens,’” Barra said Tuesday, speaking of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi’s loyal users. Mi fen is shorthand for “Xiaomi fan,” and also means “rice flower.”
“They come first, they’re our priority,” he said, speaking during the GMIC mobile Internet conference in San Francisco.
At the event, Barra delivered candid remarks in one of his first public appearances since news broke of his departure as Google’s high-ranking vice president of Android. Now he’s vice president for Xiaomi Global, and is responsible for leading the Chinese company’s international expansion efforts.
In Barra’s comments, Google seemed to be a thing of the past, and he spoke like one of the Xiaomi crew. So what’s Xiaomi got that Google doesn’t? A mentality that strongly incorporates user feedback throughout the product development process, he said.
“No one takes user feedback anywhere near as seriously as Xiaomi does,” Barra said. “A significant number of product features come from user suggestions,” he said.
Xiaomi has a different way of marketing its products. Instead of shipping them out on a massive scale like Apple would for the next iPhone or iPad, Xiaomi has a more iterative process, maybe making only 1,000 phones available at a time. The company does this so it can gather precious feedback from users each step of the way, Barra said, and quickly incorporate their reactions into the next build, maybe as soon as a week later.
Xiaomi, and now Barra, like to call the process “design as you build.” It’s a concept that already plays out in software development, but not as much in hardware.
“It’s a beautiful cycle that Silicon Valley has become known for,” Barra said, but what Xiaomi has created is a company doing that for hardware.
Barra said he had been eyeing Xiaomi since its inception three years ago, when asked by AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher about why he left Google, during an on-stage chat at GMIC.
Since his departure questions have swirled over the real reasons why he left, partly because it happened amid reports of a love triangle involving Google co-founder Sergey Brin and a female Google employee.
Zach Miners, IDG News Service , IDG News Service
Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service
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Taylor Swift: Home Sweet Home
Back home after a long flight from South Africa, Taylor Swift arrived at LAX airport in Los Angeles on Tuesday (October 22).
The "I Knew You Were Trouble" singer looked cute in a short, lacy white dress with black nylons as she carried her guitar on her back through the terminal.
As previously reported by GossipCenter ,the 23-year-old songstress was in Cape Town filming "The Giver" with Katie Holmes and Alexander Skarsgard for her big screen debut.
In the film based off of the classic bestseller, a young boy is chosen to learn about true pain and pleasure of the real world from an elderly man in a community without war, pain, suffering, differences, or choice.
Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/taylor-swift/taylor-swift-home-sweet-home-947665
Tags: philip rivers Olivia Culpo Tomas Hertl ncis princess diana
Taylor Swift: Home Sweet Home
Back home after a long flight from South Africa, Taylor Swift arrived at LAX airport in Los Angeles on Tuesday (October 22).
The "I Knew You Were Trouble" singer looked cute in a short, lacy white dress with black nylons as she carried her guitar on her back through the terminal.
As previously reported by GossipCenter ,the 23-year-old songstress was in Cape Town filming "The Giver" with Katie Holmes and Alexander Skarsgard for her big screen debut.
In the film based off of the classic bestseller, a young boy is chosen to learn about true pain and pleasure of the real world from an elderly man in a community without war, pain, suffering, differences, or choice.
Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/taylor-swift/taylor-swift-home-sweet-home-947665
Tags: philip rivers Olivia Culpo Tomas Hertl ncis princess diana
Human Rights Group Investigates Drone Strikes In Pakistan
Amnesty International released a new report on Tuesday on U.S. drone strikes along Pakistan's chaotic border region with Afghanistan.
Copyright © 2013 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning, I'm Steve Inskeep.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
And I'm David Greene.
President Obama plans to meet tomorrow in Washington with Nawaz Sharif. He's the prime minister of Pakistan, one of the most unstable nations on the planet. One subject likely to be high on the agenda is the controversial issue of U.S. drone strikes along Pakistan's chaotic border with Afghanistan.
INSKEEP: Now, today Amnesty International released a new report on this. The human rights group concludes some American drone strikes may constitute war crimes. And the group is calling on the U.S. government to investigate.
GREENE: We're joined by NPR's Philip Reeves in London, where Amnesty is based. Phil, good morning.
PHILIP REEVES, BYLINE: Good morning.
GREENE: We should say here that U.S. drone policy has been a controversial topic for some time now. But this is Amnesty now saying there might be war crimes involved. That is a significant accusation to make, and tell us how they reached that conclusion.
REEVES: Yeah, Amnesty has reviewed 45 drone strikes that happened in North Wazirastan. That's in the tribal belt that borders Afghanistan. And these happened between January of last year and last month, and they examined nine of these in particular. And its report highlights a couple of incidents. In one, it says that according to witnesses, 18 laborers were killed when a missile crashed into their tent where they had gathered for evening meal. The second missile then struck those who came to help the wounded.
And in the second, it was an attack that killed a 68-year-old grandmother. And Amnesty said this was witnessed by some of her grandchildren, three of whom were injured.
GREENE: So, Amnesty really painting a portrait of the actual victims and making the argument that at least, in terms of their research, these are not people who should be suspected of terrorism. I mean, they're innocent civilians.
REEVES: Yes. And I think by highlighting cases like this they're bringing home their point. They say they're very concerned about these and other strikes, and that they may constitute extrajudicial executions - or war crimes. So Amnesty calls on the U.S. to comply with its obligations under international law by investigating the killings that it's documented, and by providing victims with full reparation.
It says it recognizes that some U.S. drone strikes may not violate international law. But the U.S., it says, has a legal obligation to ensure that independent investigations are conducted into these - into drone strikes - especially where civilians are involved and calls on it to make public information about its drone program.
GREENE: So is Amnesty basically saying, Phil, that the U.S. has not been transparent in terms of the impact of these attacks?
REEVES: Oh, very much so. I mean, the U.S. doesn't give details about drone strikes - or even knowledge responsibility. But officials, American officials have, of coarse, long maintained that they're based on reliable intelligence; that they're accurate; and that the vast majority of the victims are members of armed groups such as al-Qaida and the Taliban.
The president has spoken of a need for there to be near certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured, before a strike can take place. Clearly the U.S. considers the program to be a key weapon against insurgence groups. But, of course, there's a very widespread belief in Pakistan that these strikes kill large numbers of civilians. And critics of the program say that this is why it's counterproductive because it sews resentment against the U.S., and it makes it therefore easier for the militants to operate and expand in numbers.
GREENE: An interesting timing of this report, Phil, with the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif in Washington meeting with President Obama tomorrow. It certainly adds a backdrop to that meeting.
REEVES: Yes. Mr. Sharif has long been a staunch critic of the drone strikes. So there's speculation, of course, that he would use this occasion to press for an end to them. However, there's a difference between the public and the private positions of senior Pakistani government officials on this issue. Some senior figures in government and in the army are known to have, in the past, privately supported drone strikes. And, indeed, a certain element of the Pakistani public actually feels the same way.
Incidentally, Amnesty expresses concern, too, about Pakistan and what it calls the failure of the Pakistani authorities to protect and enforce the rights of victims of drone strikes. So this is a report that's not only leveled at the United States.
GREENE: NPR's Phil Reeves joining us from London. Phil, thanks a lot.
REEVES: You're welcome.
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Thor takes a hit for womankind
In this film publicity image released by Paramount Pictures, Chris Hemsworth, portraying superhero Thor, and Natalie Portman, portraying jane Foster, are shown in a scene from the film, "Thor." Hitting Chris Hemsworth was “one small slap for womankind” says Natalie Portman. The actress, who reprises her role as Jane Foster in “Thor: The Dark World,” gives the superhero a swipe round the face when she reunites with him for the Marvel sequel. (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures-Marvel Studios, Zade Rosenthal)
LONDON (AP) — Natalie Portman says hitting Chris Hemsworth was "one small slap for womankind."
The actress, who reprises her role as Jane Foster in "Thor: The Dark World," gives the superhero a smack in the Marvel sequel.
"Thor: The Dark World" has its world premiere in London Tuesday and is out in U.S. cinemas Nov. 8.
In an interview on Saturday, Portman said that she channeled all her single girlfriends: "You hear all these stories about guys and it's just good to get a nice on-screen slap like 'you didn't call me back.'"
The intention may have been payback but, according to Hemsworth, the result was less so.
"It just got really funny and ridiculous you know. It's like in high school when you're not meant to laugh," he said.
And fun and laughs is what Portman wants audiences to have. Despite appearing in many more serious and highbrow roles, the Oscar winner will not have the Hollywood blockbuster devalued.
She says "escapism" is the main reason people go to the movies and there is no room for snobbery.
"All independent art films aren't good, all blockbusters aren't good, and all foreign films aren't good. There are a few of each that are really great, whether it is for pure entertainment, for something that is going to change your mind about how you see the world or taking you to a place that you haven't been before."
Talking about the "Thor" franchise, she added: "This kind of movie — this grand spectacle and good old fashioned entertainment where for two hours you are having a great time — is really, really valuable."
Next year Portman will be leaving Hollywood behind, as a home at least, when she relocates to Paris with her husband, French choreographer Benjamin Millepied, and their 2-year-old son, Aleph.
Millepied will take up the role of director of the Paris Opera Ballet and Portman can't wait to explore.
"It is such a fun thing that you can take an hour flight or train or something and end up in a completely different country," she said. "It is exciting."
And with work in mind, Portman admits she would be "thrilled" to work in Europe more and appealed to European directors: "Hire me. I need jobs!"
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Tuesday, October 22, 2013
OS X Mavericks review
Top to bottom review of Apple's newest Mac operating system, OS X Mavericks
Over the course of the past decade, we've seen many changes to OS X - some iterative, some significant. OS X's newest incarnation, "Mavericks" or version 10.9, is a bit of both. It doesn't significantly rework the user interface like Apple did with iOS 7, though there are some nice tweaks. Apple did make a number of changes under the hood to improve performance and efficiency, however, especially for mobile users.
Note: Some of this material was originally published in our Mavericks preview but was incomplete and outdated due to Apple's non-disclosure agreement (NDA). It's been fully updated, expanded upon, and refined here into our full on OS X review. Enjoy!
OS X evolution
It's been a long road to get here. Mac OS X was first introduced as a public beta in 2001, and beta it was - a radical departure from Mac OS 9, both in look (introducing the "Aqua" interface) and in operation. Mac OS X was built on a UNIX foundation, and was more closely related to the NextStep operating system that had been developed by NeXT, the computing company Steve Jobs founded between stints running Apple.
Over the years Apple has iteratively improved OS X, typically waiting until a major release before introducing major new features, capabilities and applications. Early on Apple cranked out changes to OS X on an annual basis, but once the company hit Mac OS X 10.3 "Panther," it slowed down, changing to a biannual upgrade cycle.
Apple wasn't standing still between those upgrades, either. By 2005 the PowerPC chip that had served as the basis for Macs throughout the 90s was pushing its limits. Fortunately, hedged its bets, and had been working to keep OS X operating on Intel hardware as well. And so Apple was able to migrate successfully to a different microprocessor architecture without having to start over at square one.
Since then Apple's stayed the course, and with the introduction of Mountain Lion in 10.8, made it clear that it was resuming its annual upgrade cycle again, to iterative make changes to the operating system to keep up with new technology and user expectations. And that brings us to today and the launch of OS X 10.9 "Mavericks," the first installment of the operating system not to carry a big cat's name.
To that end, Apple has run out of big cats to name their operating system. So starting with Mavericks, they've switched to a nomenclature based on places in California, Apple's home state - places that Apple says its employees draw their inspiration from.
Mavericks is actually a surfing spot in Northern California, not too far from Half Moon Bay. That's a local spot for Apple employees, to be sure - it's in San Mateo County, only about 30 miles from Apple's corporate headquarters.
Compatibility and updating
OS X Mavericks comes pre-installed on the new Macs introduced on Tuesday's Apple Event. It's also available as a downloadable update for free from the Mac App Store.
Mavericks works on any 64-bit capable Mac. Supported models include:
- iMac (Mid-2007 or later)
- MacBook (13-inch Aluminum, Late 2008), (13-inch, Early 2009 or later)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid-2009 or later), (15-inch, Mid/Late 2007 or later), (17-inch, Late 2007 or later)
- MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later)
- Mac Mini (Early 2009 or later)
- Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later)
- Xserve (Early 2009)
Installing Mavericks will require a Mac running OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.7 or later with the Mac App Store installed. You don't need to have Lion or Mountain Lion installed to upgrade.
OS X Mavericks interface updates make an easy, productive transition
Tabbed Web browsing has been a staple of Safari for a number of years - instead of cluttering up your desktop with more windows, hit Command-T to create a tab, instead. It's neatly consolidated inside your existing Safari window but gives you an entirely separate Web page to work from. When you're multitasking or if you need to compare information on different pages, tabbed web pages are a great time saver.
The same basic concept has been employed for Finder Tabs. Instead of creating multiple windows to clutter your desktop, everything stays in one window instead. You can create different Finder Tabs to keep track of anything you'd use a Finder window for - documents or specific folders you're using, AirDrop, the Desktop and more.
Tabbed Web browsing has been a staple of Safari for a number of years - instead of cluttering up your desktop with more windows, hit Command-T to create a tab, instead. It's neatly consolidated inside your existing Safari window but gives you an entirely separate Web page to work from. When you're multitasking or if you need to compare information on different pages, tabbed web pages are a great time saver.
The same basic concept has been employed for Finder Tabs. Instead of creating multiple windows to clutter your desktop, everything stays in one window instead. You can create different Finder Tabs to keep track of anything you'd use a Finder window for - documents or specific folders you're using, AirDrop, the Desktop and more.
In fairness, Finder tabs have been the domain of third-party utilities for some time, but that requires that users install a separate program to enable the capability. This brings that feature to the masses once and for all.
You've been able to assign color labels to Mac files since time immemorial, but tagging is new to Mavericks. It's another big time saver, and it will help you instantly find files and folders you're looking for - not just for local files on your Mac, but for stuff you've stored in iCloud, too.
Tagging lets you attach metadata to your files to make them easier to find - color tags, of course, but also specific keywords that will help you locate things later. You can use descriptive words - "home," "work," "important," "contract" - whatever you might need - then use those tags to find content later. If you lose documents in folders inside of folders nested like Russian matryoshka dolls, this may be a better way for you to find what you need later. What's more, tagging is supported in save dialogues, so you can add tags when you first create files.
OS X Mavericks brings iPad-style iBooks to the Mac - only better
Apple's ebook reader software, iBooks, was first introduced when the iPad debuted in April 2010 and later became available for other iOS devices with iOS 4's release. It's never been essential software - Apple offers it as an optional free download from the App Store rather than including it with every shipping iOS device - but it's an obvious killer app, especially for the iPad.
Now it's come to the Mac, and it's largely unchanged from before. All of the features you're already familiar with from iBooks are present: you can search, you can bookmark pages, adjust font and type size, even switch page color from white to sepia or to night mode, which inverts the color scheme to white type on black pages (less intrusive if you're lying in bed next to someone who's trying to sleep). There's also a scrolling function if you'd prefer not to have to manually flip pages using the mouse, trackpad or keyboard.
You can do things with iBooks on the Mac that you can't on the iPad or iPhone, however. You can have multiple books open simultaneously, for example. Need to compare or contrast source material from two different textbooks? No problem. Mavericks' iBooks lets you highlight passages and attach notes - a feature you can find in the iOS version too - but rather than burying the notes as popups that run in the margin of the book, a Notes pane that runs along one side of the page. This makes it much easier to refer to notes you've added or attached as parts of highlighted sections.
iBooks in Mavericks syncs with iBooks in iOS, so you'll see the same library selections. And you can import PDFs and ePub books, too.
OS X Mavericks Maps help you - and other apps - find your way
Maps in Mavericks looks and acts very much like its iOS counterpart. In fact, it uses the same datasets. The difference is in the size of the screen you're looking at it on, the speed of the network you're downloading data from (Wi-Fi, versus whatever your cell service provider has available), and the rendering power of the computer behind it.
The three of those things combined make Maps on Mavericks a real pleasure to use. When you zoom in to an area, it very quickly renders and populates with points of interest, and it's lightning-fast to respond to search queries too.
Opening the Maps application should look instantly familiar to anyone who's used it on iOS. You can pinpoint your location, look at your surrounds in a 2D view, switch to 3D if you prefer, or combine satellite and 3D imagery to use the "Flyover" feature Apple pioneered in iOS 6, where cityscapes are rendered in photo-realistic 3D.
A Search field lets you find specific addresses, but it can be also used to find points of interest. So if you want to locate a restaurant, museum or shop near you, enter whatever info you're looking to search on and Maps will try to locate something nearby.
Once you've plotted the location of your destination, You can add it to your Bookmarks list (synced between the maps apps of any other OS X or iOS devices connected through iCloud), get directions or add it to your Contacts database.
Like Maps on iOS, Maps for Mavericks provides point to point directions, and will show you real-time traffic conditions. If traffic's bad, Maps can suggest alternate routes. Once you've got your route plotted out, you can send them in a message, e-mail the information, post it to Twitter or Facebook if you've connected those services, add it to Contacts, bookmark it, or send it to your iPhone.
Maps also introduces some much-welcome support for mapping functions into other applications. Take Calendar, for example: Now when you type in an address for a new appointment, Calendar uses that map data to locate the address, show you a thumbnail map (which opens the Maps app) and can even pad your schedule with travel time.
Maps illustrates a couple of very important points that Apple isn't stating directly but wants to underscore. One is that Maps integrates really well into other Mavericks apps, like Contacts and Calendar. Presumably, there will be other ways to integrate that connectivity into other apps, too, because like iOS Maps, Maps in Mavericks doesn't directly support mass transit travel information.
Secondly, Maps does its best to erase the division between iOS and OS X. You can send map data to your phone, for example. And bookmarking a map in the Maps app will sync that bookmark to the Maps app on any other device, iOS or OS X, connected via iCloud.
Apple's also publishing a Map Kit API for third-party app developers who want to integrate Maps data into their own applications. They've even provided a very handy example of how this works with the reworked Calendar app, which lets you plot travel time and embed directions.
OS X Mavericks debuts a familiar-looking Calendar
While Mavericks doesn't have the top-to-bottom flat interface makeover that iOS got when iOS 7 debuted (one can only imagine the howls of outrage from Mac users if such a thing had happened), there are some improvements to reduce the evidence of "skeuomorphism" in Mavericks app design. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Mavericks Calendar app, which is very similar to what we see in iOS 7.
The familiar deskpad interface with its torn margin is gone, and it its place is a sleek and simple design that Apple calls "streamlined."
From the top down, the next obvious change is the placement of the navigation buttons and the date - they've been reversed in weekly, monthly, and yearly views, to give you a clearer visual cue to show what time period you're looking at.
Also gone is the one pixel-wide table grid that's used in Mountain Lion's Calendar for Week, Month and Year layouts. Days in Mavericks are instead separated with white space, with a one-pixel border to separate them vertically. The net result is a cleaner, less cluttered look.
Continuous scrolling is a new feature in Mavericks Calendar. In the monthly view, this means that you can scroll vertically from week to week (the current week gets a colored horizontal line across the top to help you return to it quickly; you can also just click the Today button). In Mountain Lion Calendar, you can horizontally scroll, in weekly or daily views. The scrolling in daily mode is abrupt, replacing each day's events as you scroll; weekly will snap to the next week's events. Now it's smoother and more continuous.
The new look and feel of Calendar will be a welcome change for users who are increasingly accustomed to gesture-based controls for all aspects of the OS X interface, but Calendar gets some really functional enhancements, too. The Inspector is where you'll see the greatest changes. Calendar's Inspector now ties into that data to provide you with a small map showing your meeting location. That's only a thumbnail, though, so if you need walking or driving directions, you can click on the image and the Maps app will automatically open and plot the way.
OS X Mavericks lets you connect to your Facebook account, and if you've said yes to events you've learned about through Facebook, they'll be displayed on a separate Facebook Events calendar.
OS X Mavericks Notifications become interactive - do more with less effort
For years, Mac users who wanted to consolidate notifications from various applications had to rely on third-party apps like Growl to get the job done. That changed in 2012 when Apple rolled out Mountain Lion, which incorporated the iOS-like Notification Center for the first time.
But Apple's implementation of system-wide notifications was sorely lacking: while it provides you with regular status updates through pop up windows and collects them all in a sidebar you can view using a trackpad or mouse gesture, Mountain Lion notifications don't provide any sort of interactivity. So when a tweet comes your way you want to respond to, you still have to open your Twitter application and do it yourself.
Mavericks is taking a big step in the right direction by offering one-click interactivity with notifications. Now when a notification pops up from e-mail, Messages or FaceTime, you can respond without breaking stride in whatever you're doing.
Apple's doing more than that, however - they're bridging connectivity between iOS and OS X Mavericks. So if you have an app running on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad that sends you Push Notifications, you can now get those Push Notifications on the Mac.
Notifications also rounds up your alerts when your Mac is asleep, so when you wake your computer you'll get a list of all notifications that have happened directly from your Lock Screen. If you're concerned about people spying stuff they shouldn't see from your Mac's Lock Screen, worry not. The Notifications system preference pane remains in place in Mavericks, now with additional features, like the ability to customize whether an app will show notifications when the display is asleep or locked.
Apple's also published a spec that Web developers can use on their own sites, which make it possible for you to get push notifications from the site just as if it were an app running locally on your Mac. This is great for news hounds and others who want to stay up to the minute with breaking information on web sites. It'll be interesting to see how wide spread it gets used.
OS X Mavericks Safari speeds up and gets more social
Calendar isn't the only app to lose some real-world imitation. The pseudo-3D gallery interface for Top Sites is gone in the new Safari, replaced with a flatter look that complements Apple's new flat design philosophy. There are some functional changes, as well - you can add sites from your bookmarks, and you can rearrange top sites by clicking and dragging thumbnails around.
A new plus button has been added to Safari's toolbar, which provides one-click bookmarking. And a new Sidebar interface consolidates bookmarks and your reading list, making it easier to locate links you'd like to follow. Web pages you've marked to visit in your reading list will now scroll consecutively, so as you finish one web page, another one will load automatically.
A third tab is added to the new Sidebar called Shared Links, and that provides a social component that's new to Safari: links shared by people you follow on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also retweet links you're visiting directly in Safari.
Apple's worked hard to make JavaScript on Safari run faster than Chrome or Firefox, while improving memory efficiency over both those alternative browsers as well. What's more, Safari uses the CPU much more efficiently than the competition, as well, so you won't burn through battery charge quite as quick as you might with other browsers.
All told, Safari is faster, more efficient and easier to use than before - and instantly familiar to millions of Mac users who depend on it for their everyday web use.
OS X Mavericks new iCloud Keychain feature fixes web password management once and for all
You need secure login credentials to be able to engage in e-commerce and other online activities, but keeping passwords straight can stump even the most advanced computer user. At best, you forget and need to reset your password every time you visit an infrequently-accessed site. At worst, you end up using an insecure password that opens you up to identity theft and other modern problems. Apple's fix for this is iCloud Keychain.
Apple's taking the tried and true functionality of the Keychain utility that's already in the OS, and moving it to iCloud. iCloud Keychain remember AirPort passwords, for example. Web-based passwords are now front and center in iCloud Keychain. Safari will help you generate secure passwords that you don't have to remember - iCloud Keychain fills them in for you whenever they're needed.
iCloud Keychain also retains credit card information, so you don't have to haul your card out from your wallet (or commit its number to memory) to place an online order anymore. The only piece of information you will have to remember is the security code that's imprinted on the back side of your card.
Apple doesn't want your keychain info to get into the wrong hands, so that data is heavily encrypted. Additionally, Mavericks will really push you to lock down your Mac with a password that needs to be entered when your system wakes from sleep, to make sure you're really you. And iCloud Keychain works between iOS and OS X (provided you've updated to iOS 7.0.3 or later).
I can't help but wonder if a Touch ID technology is in development for the Mac. After using it on the iPhone 5s, I'd love to see iCloud Keychain on the Mac paired with a fingerprint reader - it'd make life a lot more convenient.
OS X Mavericks finally gets multiple displays working the way they should
Apple's 2011 release of Lion introduced "full screen" mode for apps, which messed up the Mac's long-standing ability to display multiple screens at once. Going full-screen would reduce one monitor to displaying a pattern while the other one showed the app in edge-to-edge glory. Don't even get me started on Spaces in Lion - that was a tooth-grindingly irritating endeavor.
Now, with Mavericks, when you go full-screen on one monitor the app will, predictably, take over the display. But the second monitor is unencumbered. You can go full-screen with another app on that one, or just use it in regular windowed mode if you prefer. Also, each monitor can have its own menu bar. That's a big advantage that you've never been able to do in OS X before without using third-party software. Less moving the mouse from screen to screen, finally!
Mission Control, OS X's built in window management utility, now shows you an overview of what's running on each display. And you can easily rearrange the location of apps on each display by clicking on its thumbnail and dragging it to a new screen.
AirPlay Mirroring is great if you have an Apple TV connected and it's visible to your Mac over Wi-Fi, but Mavericks takes it a step further: now you can use your TV as an entirely independent display.
All told, multiple monitor systems finally work the way they're supposed to with Mavericks.
The Dock is available in any screen to screen - so if you move your cursor to the bottom of the screen (or wherever you've designated the Dock to appear), the Dock will be available.
OS X Mavericks brings major boosts to efficiency, for Mac users on the go
There are certainly some nice changes to Mavericks to make it easier to use and more functional, but that's only scratching the surface of what Apple has changed here. Because the real meat of Mavericks' changes are under the hood. They're things you'll never see, but they're significant improvements to efficiency that will help your laptop battery last longer than before.
Timer Coalescing is a practical example. A mainstay of Windows for a while, Timer Coalescing helps keep your laptop's battery working longer by putting the processor to sleep whenever it can - and when I say "whenever," I mean in the split milliseconds when it's not doing anything else.
In the space of a few seconds, your CPU will spike in activity many times. This is not only because of the applications you're running, but also because of all the other housekeeping tasks needed to keep OS X up and running. In between those moments, your Mac's CPU enters an idle state, where it's not doing much of anything.
To wake from that idle state requires power, and using power means the battery of your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro won't last as long. Timer Coalescing changes that by grouping together those operations, so instead of constantly flickering between an idle state and operation, the CPU stays idle longer. It may only stay idle for a fraction of a second, compared to a few milliseconds, but over minutes and hours, that idle state adds up. The net result is that your Mac's CPU uses less power. A lot less power.
App Nap is another great battery booster. Sometimes in the course of your day, you'll open one, two, three, half a dozen Mac apps without thinking about it. If you have lots of RAM installed on your Mac and you're not working from battery power, this can be no big deal - but every little bit helps when you have to manage resources like power and CPU activity. OS X Maverick's built-in App Nap function helps better manage what's going on when you have a bunch of apps open.
App Nap automatically slows apps down unless they're being used at that particular moment. As soon as you bring the app front and center, bringing that window forward, App Nap speeds right back up as if nothing's happened.
If there's one thing that can absolutely kill your Mac laptop's battery, it's a runaway Flash process. Load up web pages with Flash objects and you can hear your fans whir up to top speed as they try to cool off the processor, which chomps through your battery reserves at a terrifying rate.
Outside of using a Flash blocker - or not installing Flash to begin with - Mavericks takes a more measured approach. Unless you're give Safari permission, it doesn't arbitrarily load Flash content on a web page anymore. Instead, Safari displays a static preview with a graphic laid on top that says, "Click to Start Flash plug-in." Once you've told it to use Flash, Safari goes ahead and loads the content. Otherwise, the Flash content is paused.
Finally, Mavericks employs some very nifty memory compression technology to help get more from less. If you open a lot of applications, or if some of your apps need a lot of memory, your Mac will slow down. Way down. That's because your Mac runs out of physical RAM to allocate. OS X isn't in the habit of saying no, though, so what it does is create a swap file that gets written to your Mac's hard disk. That swap file contains the contents of inactive memory. Reading from that swap file and writing to it takes time, and that slows the Mac down.
Apple has ameliorated some of the effects of swap memory in machines like the MacBook Air, which uses flash storage instead of a conventional hard drive. The MacBook Air has pretty limited amounts of RAM compared to other Macs but can still run a number of applications simultaneously quicker than Macs with conventional hard drives, thanks to the speed of flash storage. And newer MacBook Airs can go even faster, with speedy PCIe-based storage.
Not all Macs have flash storage, however. And even solid state drives have their limits. The speed of SATA and PCIe interfaces are less than the direct path between the CPU and the installed RAM, creating a bottleneck.
Mavericks' memory compression technology takes a different approach here. It looks at apps and proceses that are running, and may be sitting in memory but not actually using memory. Mavericks figures out which processes are active and which are inactive. It then compresses the memory that the inactive applications have allocated, which frees up more RAM. That keeps your Mac from having to write content out to and read from swap files.
This doesn't have any direct benefit on battery life, but it makes a big difference when you're doing things like waking your Mac from sleep, for example - that happens half again as fast as it did with Mountain Lion. Systems under load are faster, documents open quicker, and inactive applications start up faster than they did with Mountain Lion. These are tangible improvements that make a Mac running Mavericks feel snappier than ever before.
OS X Mavericks bottom line
Apple is in a completely different place with Mavericks than it had to be with iOS 6 - iOS 6 was tired-looking, and it was bursting at the seams with changes that were long overdue. Mavericks, by comparison, takes a finely honed operating system and makes it even better than it was.
That's not to say that Mountain Lion was perfect (Mavericks isn't either). But all of the enhancements to Mavericks in this release, from the new apps to the changes to the Finder to under the hood details that improve efficiency and performance, all just make sense. It moves Mavericks in the right direction, and makes the Mac iteratively better than before.
Whether or not some of the functionality of this new release will pay off for Apple still remains to be seen. Web site push notifications, for example, are entirely dependent on support from web developers, who can be a very finicky bunch. And iCloud Keychain still isn't fully baked - while the promise of set-it-and-forget-it is very appealing, iOS 7 launched without iCloud Keychain, so we're still waiting to see really ubiquitous password management between Apple devices.
There are a lot of very compelling reasons to download and install Mavericks, from the obvious - the new Maps and iBooks apps, a new and improved Safari, and tabbed Finder windows and tagging - to the not-so-obvious, like Timer Coalescing and App Nap.
The bottom line is that if you're interested in seeing your Mac work more efficiently and seeing yourself work more efficiently, Mavericks will help you catch the perfect wave.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/Jm3bwXkgO14/story01.htmRelated Topics: Janet Yellen bob newhart Justin Timberlake Vma paulina gretzky Jason Dufner
Cracked Windows RT 8.1 update fixed, back in the Windows Store
The Windows RT 8.1 update is back on the Windows Store, days after Microsoft took it down in response to installations that went wrong and left users with devices that couldn't boot up.
The bug affected only Surface RT tablets, which are made by Microsoft. The company estimates that about one out of 1,000 Surface RT customers who downloaded the 8.1 update were affected.
The unlucky ones found themselves unable to launch Windows after downloading the update, and instead saw an error message informing them their devices needed to be repaired and that a Boot Configuration Data file was corrupted.
On Tuesday, Microsoft said that the problem was caused by a "rare situation" in which certain devices' firmware updates hadn't been completed at the time of the 8.1 update for Windows RT. This in turn caused the update to be incomplete, rendering the devices unusable.
"We worked to quickly resolve the issue and now encourage customers to update their Surface RT devices," a Microsoft spokesman said via email.
Microsoft pulled the Windows RT 8.1 update from the Windows Store late on Friday once users started reporting the problem.
For affected Surface RT customers, Microsoft provided on Monday a way to fix the problem that involves downloading recovery code to a USB drive via a working Surface RT tablet or a Windows 7 or Windows 8 PC. The USB drive can then be plugged into the affected Surface RT tablet to fix the problem.
This is the latest in a string of setbacks that have affected Windows 8, the historic new version of the OS that started shipping a year ago but that hasn't met the sky-high expectations Microsoft had set for it.
Disliked by customers and hardware makers, Windows RT, the version for devices running on ARM chips, has fared worse than the regular Windows 8 version for x86 chips from Intel and AMD.
Microsoft has high hopes for the 8.1 update, which became available Thursday. The company is counting on the 8.1 improvements to improve the perception and adoption of the OS among both consumers and business customers.
Windows 8, with its controversial Modern (renamed from Metro) user interface based on tile icons and optimized for touch screens, was supposed to give Microsoft a boost in the tablet OS market, but Apple's iOS and Google's Android remain dominant, while Windows is still a minor player.
Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.
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Lady Gaga, ex-assistant settle NY lawsuit
NEW YORK (AP) — Lady Gaga and a former personal assistant who sued her won't face off in a New York trial next month after settling their differences.
The settlement in a lawsuit brought by Jennifer O'Neill was revealed Monday in a court order dismissing the case. O'Neill had claimed the singer cheated her out of overtime wages when she worked for her for a few weeks in early 2009 and for 13 months beginning in February 2010.
A trial was scheduled to begin next month. O'Neill had testified she was responsible for sometimes monitoring the singer's communications and for handling about 20 bags of luggage.
Court papers revealed that Lady Gaga and O'Neill were roommates and friends on the Lower East Side of Manhattan before 2008. Lawyers did not immediately comment.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-10-21-Lady%20Gaga%20Lawsuit/id-48fc360d341a4a069b55b5cdcac91a78Tags: Wojciech Braszczok Rihanna Pour It Up Video Anna Gunn mark sanchez DJ Khaled
Sky to tweet near real-time video highlights from soccer matches
Seeing a soccer game unfold in bursts of 140 characters or less is better than nothing when out of TV range, but a new deal between Twitter and Sky means you won't have to wait to gawp at goals. Starting with the three matches being played today, Sky will begin embedding highlight clips from UEFA Champions League games, such as goals and interviews, in tweets from some of the broadcaster's accounts. Mimicking similar sports-focused arrangements Twitter has in the US, Sky is the latest partner in the social network's Amplify program, which wants more video filling feeds. This particular agreement will allow fans and non-fans alike (through Promoted Tweets) to keep up with every bicycle kick and penalty in almost real-time. There's a catch, though: every clip includes an advert for Sky's Now TV sport and movie streaming service, so footie fans best prepare to have that brand baked into your brain 'til you wake up one morning with a Now TV box and no recollection of buying it.
[Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons]
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France is latest US ally angered by NSA snooping
U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, right, leaves the Foreign Ministry in Paris, after he was summoned Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. The French government had summoned the ambassador to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies. Le Monde newspaper said Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, right, leaves the Foreign Ministry in Paris, after he was summoned Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. The French government had summoned the ambassador to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies. Le Monde newspaper said Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry waves to the media as he arrives at the U.S. embassy for a meeting with the Arab League in Paris, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. Kerry is in Paris for diplomatic talks about a peace process for Israel and Palestinian authorities. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, right, leaves the Foreign Ministry in Paris, after he was summoned Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. The French government had summoned the ambassador to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies. Le Monde newspaper said Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The sweep and scope of National Security Agency snooping abroad forced President Barack Obama once again to hear complaints from a U.S. ally angry about the surveillance net that has sparked an international debate over the limits of American spying.
France is the latest in a growing list of nations — Germany, Brazil and Mexico included — demanding explanations from Washington. A report published on Monday said the U.S. swept up 70 million French telephone records and text messages and recorded some private conversations.
President Francois Hollande's office expressed "profound reprobation," saying the spying violated the privacy of French citizens. The White House said some news reports have distorted the work of U.S. surveillance programs, but said Obama acknowledged to Hollande in a telephone conversation that some reports have raised "legitimate questions for our friends and allies."
"The president made clear that the United States has begun to review the way that we gather intelligence, so that we properly balance the legitimate security concerns of our citizens and allies with the privacy concerns that all people share," the White House said.
The report in Le Monde, co-written by Glenn Greenwald, who originally revealed the surveillance program based on leaks from former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden, found that when certain phone numbers were used, conversations were recorded automatically. The surveillance operation also gathered text messages based on key words, Le Monde reported.
Hollande's office said the French leader asked Obama to make available all information on NSA spying of French communications.
"This sort of practice between partners that invades privacy is totally unacceptable and we have to make sure, very quickly, that this no longer happens," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. "We fully agree that we cooperate to fight terrorism. It is indispensable. But this does not justify that personal data of millions of our compatriots are snooped on."
Earlier, the French government summoned U.S. Ambassador Charles Rivkin for answers. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was in Paris on Monday, would not confirm the newspaper account or discuss intelligence-gathering. He told reporters that the U.S. would discuss the NSA surveillance with French officials.
"Lots of countries are engaged in the activity of trying to protect their citizens in the world," he said.
Le Monde reported that from Dec. 10, 2012, to Jan. 8 of this year, 70.3 million recordings of French citizens' telephone data were made by the NSA. Intercepts peaked at almost 7 million in Dec. 24 and again on Jan. 7, the newspaper said. The targets were people with suspected links to terrorism and people chosen because of their roles in business, politics or the French government, the report said.
Former CIA officer Bob Baer, who was stationed in Paris for three years, said the French intelligence service regularly spies on Americans — both on U.S. diplomats and business people. The spying has included rifling through possessions of a diplomat, businessman or spy in Paris hotel rooms and installing listening devices in first-class seats of the now-defunct Concord aircraft to record Americans' conversations, he said.
In another instance, a former French intelligence director stated that the spy agency compiled a detailed secret dossier of the proprietary proposals that U.S. and Soviet companies wrote to compete with a French company for a $1 billion contract to supply fighter jets to India.
But while corporate and spy- vs.-spy espionage may be common, the newspaper report indicated that French citizens were unwittingly drawn into U.S. surveillance, too.
Dennis Blair, a former director of national intelligence, tried to broker a closer intelligence-sharing relationship with France, so the two would simply ask each other to explain political or economic policies directly instead of resorting to snooping.
"The U.S. is overwhelmed by cooperation by France on things like ... terrorism and organized crime," Blair said in an interview Monday. "It dwarfs the amount of time we spend on spying on each other. I'm hoping the day will come when both countries realize they have a lot more to be gained by working with each other, but we're not quite there yet."
So far, the strongest objection to the NSA surveillance abroad has come from Brazil.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff canceled a state visit to Washington over a dispute involving Brazil's desire to question Snowden after information he leaked indicated that the U.S. intercepted Rousseff's communications with aides, hacked the state-run oil company's computer network, and snagged data on emails and telephone calls flowing through Brazil.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government canceled a Cold War-era surveillance agreement over reports that NSA snooping swept up communications in Europe.
Mexico has also expressed outrage about an alleged NSA program that the German magazine Der Spiegel said accessed a domain linked to former Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his Cabinet. Also, a document from June 2012 indicated the NSA had read current Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's emails before he was elected.
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Associated Press writers Lara Jakes and Lori Hinnant in Paris, Matthew Lee and Adam Goldman in Washington and Raf Casert in Luxembourg contributed to this report.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-10-22-US-NSA-Surveillance/id-8594f1b41f2d4c0d863615e28d262845Category: harry potter David Frost
Amnesty criticizes US drone program in Pakistan
FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2010 file photo, an unmanned U.S. Predator drone flies over Kandahar Air Field, southern Afghanistan, on a moon-lit night. Amnesty International calls on the U.S. to investigate reported civilian casualties from CIA drone strikes in Pakistan and compensate victims in a report providing new details about innocent citizens allegedly killed in the attacks. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2010 file photo, an unmanned U.S. Predator drone flies over Kandahar Air Field, southern Afghanistan, on a moon-lit night. Amnesty International calls on the U.S. to investigate reported civilian casualties from CIA drone strikes in Pakistan and compensate victims in a report providing new details about innocent citizens allegedly killed in the attacks. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
FILE - In this Friday, Dec. 10, 2010 file photo, Pakistani tribal villagers hold a rally to condemn the U.S. drone attacks on their villages in border areas along the Afghanistan border, in Islamabad, Pakistan. Amnesty International calls on the U.S. to investigate reported civilian casualties from CIA drone strikes in Pakistan and compensate victims in a report providing new details about innocent citizens allegedly killed in the attacks. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash, File)
In this Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 photo, Pakistani Christian leader J. Salik chants slogans as he marches demanding the end to U.S. drone attacks at hideouts of militants in Pakistani tribal areas, in Islamabad, Pakistan. Amnesty International calls on the U.S. to investigate reported civilian casualties from CIA drone strikes in Pakistan and compensate victims in a report providing new details about innocent citizens allegedly killed in the attacks. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Amnesty International called on the U.S. to investigate reports of civilians killed and wounded by CIA drone strikes in Pakistan in a report released Tuesday that provided new details about the alleged victims of the attacks, including a 68-year-old grandmother hit while farming with her grandchildren.
Mamana Bibi's grandchildren told the London-based rights group that she was killed by missile fire on Oct. 24, 2012, as she was collecting vegetables in a family field in the North Waziristan tribal area, a major militant sanctuary near the Afghan border. Three of Bibi's grandchildren were wounded in the strike, as were several others who were nearby, the victims said.
The U.S. considers its drone program to be a key weapon against insurgent groups that it says stages cross-border forays into neighboring Afghanistan. But the belief, widespread in Pakistan, that the strikes kill large numbers of civilians sparks resentment and complicates the two countries' ability to coordinate efforts against militants based in the country, including al-Qaida.
An even deadlier incident noted by the report — titled "'Will I be next?' U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan"— occurred in North Waziristan on July 6, 2012. Witnesses said a volley of missiles hit a tent where a group of men had gathered for an evening meal after work, and then a second struck those who came to help the wounded, one of a number of attacks that have hit rescuers, the rights group said.
Witnesses and relatives said that total of 18 male laborers with no links to militant groups died, according to Amnesty. Pakistani intelligence officials at the time identified the dead as suspected militants.
The U.S. did not respond to request for comment on the strike. President Barack Obama said during a speech in May that the U.S. does not conduct a drone strike unless there is "near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured." But Amnesty said the U.S. is so secretive about the program that there is no way to tell what steps it takes to prevent civilian casualties. They say it has "failed to commit to conduct investigations" into alleged deaths that have already occurred.
Several different organizations have tried to track the number of civilian casualties from nearly ten years of drone strikes in Pakistan, including the Long War Journal website, the New America Foundation think tank and the Bureau of Investigative journalism. These groups indicated that the attacks have killed between 2,065 and 3,613 people, the report said. Between 153 and 926 were thought to be civilians.
Amnesty said it is concerned that the attacks outlined in the report and others may have resulted in unlawful killings that constitute extrajudicial executions or war crimes, even though the U.S. insists the strikes are legal.
"We cannot find any justification for these killings. There are genuine threats to the USA and its allies in the region, and drone strikes may be lawful in some circumstances," said Mustafa Qadri, Amnesty International's Pakistan researcher. "But it is hard to believe that a group of laborers, or an elderly woman surrounded by her grandchildren, were endangering anyone at all, let alone posing an imminent threat to the United States."
Amnesty called on the U.S. to comply with its obligations under international law by investigating the killings documented in the report and providing victims with "full reparation."
The U.S. carried out its first drone strike in Pakistan in 2004 and has carried out nearly 350 more since then, the majority of which have been in North Waziristan. President Barack Obama significantly ramped up attacks when he took office in 2009, and the number peaked the following year with over 100 strikes. The frequency has steadily dropped since then, partly because of growing tension between Pakistan and the U.S. There have only been around two dozen strikes so far this year.
Pakistani officials regularly denounce the attacks in public as a violation of the country's sovereignty, but senior members of the government and the military are known to have supported the strikes in the past.
"Amnesty International is also extremely concerned about the failure of the Pakistani authorities to protect and enforce the rights of victims of drone strikes," said the report. "Pakistan has a duty to independently and impartially investigate all drone strikes in the country and ensure access to justice and reparation for victims of violations."
Amnesty said victims they interviewed with no apparent connection to militant groups have either received no compensation or inadequate assistance from the Pakistani government.
The top political official in North Waziristan gave Bibi's family around $100 to cover medical expenses for the children injured in the strike, even though the total cost to the family, including loss of livestock and repairs to their home, was around $9,500, the rights group said. None of the victims in the attack on the laborers received compensation, Amnesty said.
Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry praised the report's criticism of the drone program, telling Geo TV that "our point of view is being acknowledged internationally." He didn't comment on Amnesty's criticism of the Pakistani government.
The U.S. drone policy sets a dangerous precedent "that other states may seek to exploit to avoid responsibility for their own unlawful killings," said Amnesty.
"The USA and Pakistan both have obligations under international law to investigate these and any other cases where unlawful killings might have occurred, and deliver justice," said the report. "But the USA's persistent refusal to acknowledge these strikes, coupled with Pakistan's ambiguous attitude towards the drone program and limited governance in the Tribal Areas, make it almost impossible for victims to secure the redress they need."
___
Associated Press writer Asif Shahzad contributed to this report.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-10-22-Pakistan-Amnesty-Drones/id-eadf62cbe2294016850939e467cd47ebRelated Topics: Ted Cruz silk road Jonathan Ferrell Humble Bundle will smith
A Closer Look At Microsoft's New Surface 2 And Surface Pro 2 Tablets
Over the past few days, we’ve had in our hot hands the new Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets. We published an initial video clip and hands-on notes last evening and today, we’re sharing a short video run-through of the hardware.
Surface, of course, is Microsoft’s hardware gambit that places it in contention with its traditional OEM partners. The company’s new devices replace its earlier efforts, which produced decidedly mixed sales.
So, enjoy the above clip, and then strap in: Apple’s iPad event is tomorrow morning, and you’re going to need your rest.
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Visualized: global DDoS attacks animated and mapped by Google
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Earlier today, Google announced it had built Project Shield to help small websites stay online during DDoS (distributed denial of service) strikes, and it turns out the search giant also unveiled a frequently-updated online map of such assaults. Dubbed Digital Attack Map, the project was created in partnership with Arbor Networks, which updates the site every hour with anonymous DDoS events from over 270 internet service providers it counts as customers. Animations of inbound, outbound and internal volleys from countries across the globe fill the map, and are accompanied by data regarding duration, bandwidth and more. However, only a partial picture of the situation is painted, and the source of incursions can be incorrect. Not only does the effort rely on an incomplete data set -- though Mountain View argues this is the most fleshed out around -- but the origin of DDoS attacks are often forged, and are sometimes unwilling computers directed by foreign-controlled botnets. This affair is far from scientific, but feel free to play security researcher for a day at the source.
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Monday, October 21, 2013
'Hero' teacher killed in Nevada shooting
SPARKS, Nev. (AP) — A student at a Nevada middle school opened fire on campus just before the starting bell Monday, wounding two boys and killing a math teacher who was trying to protect children from their gun-wielding classmate.
Teacher Michael Landsberry was being hailed for his actions outside Sparks Middle School, where 20 to 30 horrified students witnessed the shooting as they returned to classes from a weeklong fall break.
"In my estimation, he is a hero. ... We do know he was trying to intervene," Reno Deputy Police Chief Tom Robinson said.
The unidentified shooter was killed along with Landsberry, a 45-year-old military veteran who leaves behind a wife and two stepdaughters. The motive for the shooting is still unknown. One of the wounded students is out of surgery and the other is doing well, police said.
It's unclear whether the student committed suicide, but authorities say no shots were fired by law enforcement. Police said between 150 and 200 officers, including some from as far as 60 miles away, responded to the shooting.
The violence erupted nearly a year after a gunman shocked the nation by opening fire in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., leaving 26 dead. The Dec. 14 shooting ignited debate over how best to protect the nation's schools and whether armed teachers should be part of that equation.
On his school website, Landsberry posted a picture of a brown bear and took on a tough-love tone, telling students, "I have one classroom rule and it is very simple: 'Thou Shall Not Annoy Mr. L.'"
"The kids loved him," said his sister-in-law Chanda Landsberry.
She added his life could be summed up by his love of his family, students and country.
"To hear that he was trying to stop that is not surprising by any means," she said.
Students from the middle school and neighboring elementary school were evacuated to the nearby high school, and classes were canceled. The middle school will remain closed for the week.
"As you can imagine, the best description is chaos," Robinson said. "It's too early to say whether he was targeting people or going on an indiscriminate shooting spree."
At the evacuation center, parents comforted their children.
"We came flying down here to get our kids," said Mike Fiorica, whose nephew attends the school. "It's really chaotic. You can imagine how parents are feeling. You don't know if your kid's OK."
The shooting happened on the school's campus and ended outside the school building itself, according to police.
"I was deeply saddened to learn of the horrific shooting at Sparks Middle School this morning," Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said in a statement extending his thoughts and prayers to those affected.
About 700 students in 7th and 8th grades are enrolled at the school, located in a working class neighborhood.
"It's not supposed to happen here," Chanda Landsberry said. "We're just Sparks — little Sparks, Nev. It's unreal."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, offered his condolences to those who experienced a "traumatic morning."
"No words of condolence could possibly ease the pain, but I hope it is some small comfort that Nevada mourns with them," Reid said in a statement.
In a statement on the website of Sandy Hook Promise, a gun control advocacy group, Nicole Hockley, whose son Dylan was killed in the shooting said, "It's moments like this that demand that we unite as parents to find commonsense solutions that keep our children — all children — safe, and prevent these tragedies from happening again and again."
The Washoe County School District held a session in the spring in light of the Connecticut tragedy to educate parents on what safety measures the district takes.
Sparks, a city of roughly 90,000 that sprung out of the railway industry, lies just east of Reno.
Mayor Geno Martini spoke at a morning press conference to assure residents that the community was safe.
"It's a tragic day in the city of Sparks," he said. "This is just an isolated incident."
__
Associated Press writer Michelle Rindels in Las Vegas and news researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/student-kills-teacher-hurts-2-boys-nev-school-213556027.htmlRelated Topics: washington post
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