IRL: Securifi Almond, Samsung Galaxy Note II and the LG Optimus G

Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

This is the one place where it's okay for us Engadget editors to be slightly behind the times. Back at CES a couple weeks ago, for instance, we got hands-on with the Securifi Almond+, a touchscreen router with a fancy all-white design and even fancier support for Zigbee / W-Wave home automation. Here in "IRL," though, we're just fine to talk about the OG Almond, which doesn't offer quite so many add-ons. Rounding things out, we've also got some anecdotes about the Galaxy Note II and Optimus G, neither of which need an introduction at this point.

Securifi Almond

Look, I moonlight as the IT guy at the White House, okay? Now that we're having such an honest conversation, I will say that I've been on the hunt for an ideal WiFi range extender for some time now. Western Digital's My Net Wi-Fi Range Extender does a fine job, but a) it's pretty large and b) it lacks bells and whistles. If you're looking for an alternative that addresses both of those issues, let me introduce you to the other product I'd trust to stretch WiFi waves from the Situation Room to the Rose Garden: the Securifi Almond.

While this is a bona fide WLAN access point / router at heart, I was focused primarily on testing its range extension abilities. I plugged the unit in some 90 feet away from a Netgear N900, watched the colorful touchscreen dance to life, and then tapped on a few screens in the Wizard Guide to set it all up. We've all heard it before -- "easy to set up!" -- but this one's truly capable of doing as advertised. Within four minutes, the unit had found my local 2.4GHz network, accepted my password and created a new network using that same password for areas that were previously out of reach.

In practice, it adds another 150-odd feet of range to my N900, and I saw no degradation in performance while streaming video. The touchscreen also continues to be useful after you've pecked in your information. You can have it display the local weather or the time, making it a pretty awesome glanceable piece of technology while it's broadcasting in the background. Two quirks, though: one, the weather forecast (apparently) doesn't update on its own, and two, the clock reversed AM and PM in my testing. Granted, both of these are in "Beta," and I'm hoping the company adds even more functionality through OTA software updates -- which the unit is fully capable of receiving.

The other bits you should know about: it won't rebroadcast 5GHz signals (boo!), and it actually creates a new SSID (network name) instead of just amplifying your existing one. This means that once you walk out of range of your existing router, you need to disconnect and reconnect to a new network name, which is a slight hassle. Those things aside, it's a solid performer at $80, and hopefully it'll get even better once the updates begin to roll in.

-- Darren Murph

Samsung Galaxy Note II

I was among the naysayers when Samsung released the Galaxy Note. Maybe it was my memories of the Streak 5 or perhaps it was just dread at the idea of carrying around a gargantuan handset. The Note's massive success did little to change my perception, but it did make me look at its successor with respect. Spec bump aside, the Galaxy Note II is certainly a more mature product compared to the OG Note, what with its bag of software tricks and that improved S Pen. I can see the S Pen's usefulness for not only the creative types, but also obsessive note takers and for general tomfoolery. Add smooth performance and impressive battery life, and it makes the Note II quite a compelling proposition indeed.

Attempting to occupy that middle ground between smartphone and tablet, the Note II's size is its chief strength as well as its weakness, depending on how you look at it. Despite the new one-handed mode that shrinks the keyboard and dialing pad and docks them to the side, I still think the large size is tough to handle with a single hand. Heck, even using the lockscreen slider to accept or reject calls might be an issue if you try doing it one-handed, making the pebble-smooth handset prone to slipping. Ditto when you stretch your thumb across the glass to pull down the notification bar or to reach any app controls placed on the top.

On the flip side, watching movies is lots of fun thanks to that big display, as is playing games. Apps like Flipboard also shine with some extra screen real estate. Features such as multi-window and pop-up video make great use of the extra screen real estate and add to the device's pull factor, much more than having the same functionality on its smaller sibling, the Galaxy S III.

Basically, when it comes to smartphones, size does matter. It's really up to you what you prefer -- a large slab that can possibly help avoid the hassle of lugging both a phone and a tablet, or a conventional-sized blower that's more pocket-friendly but leaves something to be desired when it comes to the media and app experience. Personally, I think of these high-end phablets as SUVs of the smartphone world -- hardly easy to parallel park or squeeze into tight spaces -- but big, powerful and spacious. Love 'em or leave 'em, they're here to stay.

-- Deepak Dhingra

LG Optimus G on Rogers

The Optimus G feels like the Nexus 4's neglected cousin. Both LG phones are capable, but the Nexus 4's status as the official Google phone -- and the accompanying $350 unlocked price -- tend to overshadow the Optimus G's more traditional approach. I felt compelled to try the Optimus G on Rogers for a few weeks for just that reason. Is it worth it to give up stock Android and pay more, all so that you can score a few hardware advantages?

The Cliff's Notes answer: yes. In some cases, anyway. The battery life could certainly clinch a few sales. Where the Nexus 4's runtime is fairly average, the Optimus G has no problem lasting through a photo- and Twitter-heavy day. The 32GB of storage space is naturally useful for a hefty music collection like mine, too. LTE is indeed appreciated versus the Nexus 4's dual-carrier HSPA+ 3G, although I'll readily acknowledge that the 3G in my area is often fast enough. I'm even sanguine about the interface, despite my preference for pure Android. LG's custom interface feels relatively unintrusive and light, at least next to Samsung's TouchWiz. It mostly stays out of the way, and it doesn't lean on gestures that might only be useful once in a blue moon (see: Samsung's tilt-to-zoom).

If an unfettered Google experience isn't a factor, about the only potential dealbreaker is that oh-so-frustrating camera focus system. The Optimus G's camera (eight megapixels on the Rogers model) is fine in much of the time, but it's tough to compose some macro or close-up portrait shots when the continuous autofocusing offers just a split second of sharpness before it readjusts; I've taken a few photos that looked fine in the preview but were blurred by the time I hit the capture button. If LG ever embraces traditional autofocus for the Optimus G's camera, though, it'll be easier to recommend it, regardless of whether the Nexus 4 is on the shopping list.

-- Jon Fingas

Filed under: Misc, Samsung, LG

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/91ks9eSdOSU/

louisiana primary syracuse basketball chipper jones chipper jones dancing with the stars cast mickael pietrus heart transplant

With $4.1M In New Funding, MasteryConnect Wants To Give ...

One of the most important roles that technology can play in transforming education revolves around data. Whether that?s by implementing APIs to make student data more transportable (a la Clever and LearnSprout) or creating integrated, cloud-based analytics platforms that give educators more insight into student performance through realtime metrics, finding better ways to make data more accessible can solve some of the biggest problems that are crippling our educational system.

Today, many educators agree that the educational process relies too much on end-of-the-year or end-of-term assessments and standardized testing, and, instead, need a better way to assess their students? mastery of the material during the term so they can make adjustments on the fly ? rather than at the end of the term, when it?s too late. MasteryConnect launched in July 2011 to help solve this problem by offering a cloud-based platform that allows educators to track student progress through their mastery of Common Core standards.

The Salt Lake City-based startup focuses, particularly, on formative assessments ? a type of assessment that involves qualitative feedback (instead of relying on scores) and takes place during the learning process, with the goal of helping educators tweak their activities and approach to teaching with the goal of helping students learn more effectively. MasteryConnect, then, makes it easier for teachers to create these types of assessment and share them with colleagues, parents and students.

MasteryConnect co-founder and CEO Mick Hewitt tells us that another important part of the startup?s mission is to help teachers, parents and schools understand the Common Core Standards, while allowing teachers to help drive the shift away from a situation in which students tend to be over-tested yet under-assessed. Hewitt, whose wife and father are both teachers, says that he hears time and again that teachers go into teacher-parent conferences wanting to explain why their son or daughter got a ?C? grade in Math, and, while they can point to poor grades on homework or tests as a result, they still find it nearly impossible to explain which concepts or lessons they struggled with, which in turn led to the poor grades.

That?s why MasteryConnect created a widget that allows schools to embed Common Core standards into any website so that they can easily look up those standards and better understand the connection between them and the lessons they?re teaching (or learning) and the meaning behind them. In turn, the platform makes it easy for teachers to upload their assessments and answer keys, analyzing feedback from students through the browser or MasteryConnect?s app, which are then graded automatically.

Allowing teachers to drive the assessment process, doing so in the ways that they see fit while getting access to realtime results on those assessments has led to some promising traction. Hewitt tells us that the startup?s iOS and Android apps have seen 500K downloads to date, and standards in these Common Core reference apps have seen 40 million page-views. In turn, its patent-pending technology is now used by teachers in 7,700 districts across the U.S. ? over half of the country?s 15,000-odd districts ? and some 23,000 schools.

To support this growth ? most of which has occurred over the last twelve months ? the startup is today announcing that it has raised $4.1 million in series A financing, a round that will remain open for the next month or so, Hewitt says. Catamount Ventures led the investment, while the second largest chunk came from the Michael And Susan Dell Foundation, with contributions from Deborah Quazzo of GSV Advisors and existing investor, LearnCapital. The new round adds to the $1.1 million in seed financing MasteryConnect raised from Imagine K12, NewSchools and Learn Capital, bringing its total to $5.2 million.

It tends to be unusual to see venture firms investing along-side non-profit foundations, but for Hewitt, it?s an important sign of validation. While the Dell Family Foundation has made a handful of investments in both non-profit and for-profit ventures over the last six years, this represents ?the first equity investment for the foundation in a U.S.-based edtech startup,? Hewitt said today, echoing the company?s blog post on the investment.

As a result of the investment, the Dell Family Foundation required that part of MasteryConnect?s schools be low-income institutions. And while that could be seen as a handicap for an education software startup amidst a space that is traditionally rife with slow sales cycles, the Chief Executive welcomes the requirement, helping it maintain its focus on its core user base: The public school market, both low-income and otherwise.

Not only that, but MasteryConnect wants to help transform education in such a way that learning is driven by teachers and educators, allowing them to decide how assessment data is used in the classroom. Teachers are becoming disillusioned with the types of tests they?re required to administer by the state, with many of them believing that they are far from being the most effective way to measure progress. Instead, MasteryConnect offers teachers an opportunity to do away with the old letter grade standard, using its platform to track student mastery against Common Core or state standards as they go. For both teachers and students, that?s an exciting proposition.

In terms of its business model, MasteryConnect has opted for the freemium approach, offering free accounts to teachers, which allows them to access its Learning Community to find, share and collaborate on assessments, along with including basic grading functionality. Premium accounts, which cost $159/year for teachers or $6/year per student for an entire school or district, allow for more grading capabilities and integration with Student Information Systems (SISes), more robust collaboration and reporting.

Part of the success of the platform thus far, Hewitt attributes to this social component, which allow teachers to collaborate on the most effective ways to create formative assessments and discover which teachers, classes and students perform best under different teaching styles and methods of assessment. Traditionally, assessment in K-12 education has been driven by top-down models, with higher-ups in the district or state determining how testing will be structured, and on what content students will be tested, with pre-determined content from publishers driving the whole process.

MasteryConnect allows teachers to play a greater role in determining what content should be used, how it should be used, and test the efficacy of content and different styles in their own classrooms. While the startup is pushing a greater understanding of the Common Core within education?s ranks, it doesn?t play favorites or put any requirements on how teachers use these assessments. This, in turn, has led to the sharing of 25,000 different types of assessments by teachers via MasteryConnect, and, with its new funding under its belt and the ability to scale its own infrastructure, Hewitt sees a lot more growth in the future.

For more on MasteryConnect, find it at home here.

At MasteryConnect we?re changing education with standards-based learning in the cloud. We bring educators, students and parents together to understand and master the Common Core. Our mastery tracking of Common Core and state standards is powerful, simple, social, and real-time. For teachers, our innovative and time-saving assessment tools make formative assessment simple and efficient. They can electronically grade assessments taken on the iPod or iPad app, and correct plain-paper answer sheets in seconds by simply...

? Learn more

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/20/with-4-1m-in-new-funding-masteryconnect-wants-to-give-teachers-a-better-way-to-track-student-progress/

critics choice awards 2012 honey badger colbert president huntingtons disease rob the firm new york philharmonic

Foreclosures in Centerville GA 31028, December 2012

December was yet another?month of single digit?Foreclosures in Centerville GA 31028.? The inventory is thin so both investors and live-in buyers need to act quickly when they see a property they like!

Currently, there are only 7 Foreclosures in Centerville GA, ranging in price from $61,950 to $329,900 and square footage from 1,326 up to 3,820.

In December 2 new foreclosure properties made their way onto the Centerville real estate market. The details for these homes are as follows (address, price, heated sq feet, subdivision, year built):

• 106 Scarborough Road, $89,900, 1471, Westover, 1970
• 160 Sourwood Lane, $102,800, 1419, Old Stone Crossing, 2010

For a complete list of available Centerville real estate, visit Homes for Sale in Centerville or call me at (478) 960-8055 (C) / (478) 953-8595 x227 (O) so we can discuss your housing needs.

---

Foreclosures in Houston County Georgia

Bonaire GA Foreclosures ? 31005

Byron GA Foreclosures ? 31008

Centerville GA Foreclosures ? 31028

Kathleen GA Foreclosures ? 31047

Perry GA Foreclosures ? 31069

Warner Robins GA Foreclosures ? 31088

Foreclosures in Centerville GA 31028, December 2012

View Foreclosures in Centerville GA 31028, December 2012 in a larger map

Statistics represent ONLY available foreclosure single family homes, condos, and townhouses in Centerville GA for the month listed.? (Source: CGMLS).? Information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

?

About Anita Clark Realtor

Anita Clark has written 912 posts on this blog.

Anita Clark Realtor sells Warner Robins Real Estate and provides community information as a service to the public. You can contact her at (478) 960-8055 or via email at anita@cbssk.com.

Source: http://sellingwarnerrobins.com/2013/01/foreclosures-in-centerville-ga-31028-december-2012/

Kliff Kingsbury Amish Mafia Dave Grohl 121212 Cal State Fullerton Pacific Rim tumblr

University of Greenwich ? Bnr.Co

University of Greenwich is positioned in the historic London Borough of Greenwich, London, England. It has three campuses ? Avery hill in south ? east London, Greenwich and Medway in Chatham Maritime, Kent. It is a single of the most diverse of all UK universities with students from over 100 nations and many projects in collaboration with more than 20 nations.

Courses supplied:
Traditionally, the University?s locations of concentrate are mathematics, computing and natural sciences, but in recent years it has built on architecture, teacher training, engineering and history with its Enterprise School emerging as one of the best.

The University schools and institutes are -
The Enterprise School ? consists of accounts and finance, monetary services, economics, international marketing and personnel management

Architecture and Construction ? contain landscape architecture, 3D designing, construction management and estate management

Computing & Mathematical Sciences ? for mathematics, statistics, software program engineering, computing and multimedia technologies

Education and Teacher Training
Engineering ? for item style and civil, mechanical and electronic engineering and communication etc.

Greenwich Maritime Institute ? delivers postgraduate programmes in maritime management, policy and history.

Well being and Social Care ? contain courses in nursing, midwifery, public well being, social function and psychology.

Humanities and Social Sciences ? consist of English, history, law and sociology, languages, media research, philosophy, politics.

Medway School of Pharmacy ? is a joint initiative among the University of Greenwich and University of Kent, providing an MPharm system and foundation degrees.

All-natural Resources Institute ? is a multi-disciplinary centre for the study of management of organic and human resources, specifically in building countries.

The Science School ? consists of biochemistry, biomedical science, chemistry, environmental science, forensic science, geography, human nutrition, pharmaceutical science and sports science.

Urban Renaissance Centre ? devoted to study programs for studying regeneration and other challenges certain to London and Kent.

Admission Method:
Applications for undergraduate courses are to be created via UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admission Service) on-line.

Application for postgraduate courses must be made on University Application Type. There is no closing date and late applications will be deemed subject to availability of seats.

Applications for primary and secondary PGCE programs are to be produced by means of GTTR (Graduate Teacher Training Registry) except for Major Flexible Plan starting in January for which the University Application has to be utilized.

International students searching to study in UK ought to apply using University Application Form and provide proof of proficiency in English.

Bursaries and Scholarships:
Some of the proposed bursaries for 2010 ? 2011 are -
Mandatory Bursary for economic assistance depending on household revenue
UCAS scholarship for academic excellence
Merit awards for academic excellence

Accommodation:
Accommodation is assured for all freshers such as international students in either halls of residence on campus or university approved person accommodations. All accommodation is conveniently situated with proximity to university campus.

Jobs and Placements:
University of Greenwich has powerful links with many top organizations and many of its graduates are employed with them. Many startup businesses have set up base in Thames Valley for technical collaborations which supply another venue for jobs for students.

Source: http://www.bnr.co/reference-and-education/college-university/university-of-greenwich/

all star game oscar red carpet daytona 500 start time ryan zimmerman oscars red carpet jennifer lopez wardrobe malfunction hugo

Loneliness, like chronic stress, taxes the immune system, researchers find

Jan. 19, 2013 ? New research links loneliness to a number of dysfunctional immune responses, suggesting that being lonely has the potential to harm overall health.

Researchers found that people who were more lonely showed signs of elevated latent herpes virus reactivation and produced more inflammation-related proteins in response to acute stress than did people who felt more socially connected.

These proteins signal the presence of inflammation, and chronic inflammation is linked to numerous conditions, including coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, arthritis and Alzheimer's disease, as well as the frailty and functional decline that can accompany aging.

Reactivation of a latent herpes virus is known to be associated with stress, suggesting that loneliness functions as a chronic stressor that triggers a poorly controlled immune response.

"It is clear from previous research that poor-quality relationships are linked to a number of health problems, including premature mortality and all sorts of other very serious health conditions. And people who are lonely clearly feel like they are in poor-quality relationships," said Lisa Jaremka, a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research at Ohio State University and lead author of the research.

"One reason this type of research is important is to understand how loneliness and relationships broadly affect health. The more we understand about the process, the more potential there is to counter those negative effects -- to perhaps intervene. If we don't know the physiological processes, what are we going to do to change them?"

The results are based on a series of studies conducted with two populations: a healthy group of overweight middle-aged adults and a group of breast cancer survivors. The researchers measured loneliness in all studies using the UCLA Loneliness Scale, a questionnaire that assesses perceptions of social isolation and loneliness.

Jaremka will present the research January 19 at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual meeting in New Orleans.

The researchers first sought to obtain a snapshot of immune system behavior related to loneliness by gauging levels of antibodies in the blood that are produced when herpes viruses are reactivated.

Participants were 200 breast cancer survivors who were between two months and three years past completion of cancer treatment with an average age of 51 years. Their blood was analyzed for the presence of antibodies against Epstein-Barr virus and cytomegalovirus.

Both are herpes viruses that infect a majority of Americans. About half of infections do not produce illness, but once a person is infected, the viruses remain dormant in the body and can be reactivated, resulting in elevated antibody levels, or titers -- again, often producing no symptoms but hinting at regulatory problems in the cellular immune system.

Lonelier participants had higher levels of antibodies against cytomegalovirus than did less lonely participants, and those higher antibody levels were related to more pain, depression and fatigue symptoms. No difference was seen in Epstein-Barr virus antibody levels, possibly because this reactivation is linked to age and many of these participants were somewhat older, meaning reactivation related to loneliness would be difficult to detect, Jaremka said.

Previous research has suggested that stress can promote reactivation of these viruses, also resulting in elevated antibody titers.

"The same processes involved in stress and reactivation of these viruses is probably also relevant to the loneliness findings," Jaremka said. "Loneliness has been thought of in many ways as a chronic stressor -- a socially painful situation that can last for quite a long time."

In an additional set of studies, the scientists sought to determine how loneliness affected the production of proinflammatory proteins, or cytokines, in response to stress. These studies were conducted with 144 women from the same group of breast cancer survivors and a group of 134 overweight middle-aged and older adults with no major health problems.

Baseline blood samples were taken from all participants, who were then subjected to stress -- they were asked to deliver an impromptu five-minute speech and perform a mental arithmetic task in front of a video camera and three panelists. Researchers followed by stimulating the participants' immune systems with lipopolysaccharide, a compound found on bacterial cell walls that is known to trigger an immune response.

In both populations, those who were lonelier produced significantly higher levels of a cytokine called interleukin-6, or IL-6, in response to acute stress than did participants who were more socially connected. Levels of another cytokine, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, also rose more dramatically in lonelier participants than in less lonely participants, but the findings were significant by statistical standards in only one study group, the healthy adults.

In the study with breast cancer survivors, researchers also tested for levels of the cytokine interleukin 1-beta, which was produced at higher levels in lonelier participants.

When the scientists controlled for a number of factors, including sleep quality, age and general health measures, the results were the same.

"We saw consistency in the sense that more lonely people in both studies had more inflammation than less lonely people," Jaremka said.

"It's also important to remember the flip side, which is that people who feel very socially connected are experiencing more positive outcomes," she said.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ohio State University, via Newswise. The original article was written by Emily Caldwell.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/zh6EAfrImIM/130119185019.htm

vice presidential debate Martha Raddatz Chris Lighty JJ Watt jerry sandusky johnny depp hayden panettiere

Crystal Crypt

Imagination begins here.

Owner:

Game Masters:

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Crystal Crypt?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
This is the auto-generated OOC topic for the roleplay "Crystal Crypt"

You may edit this first post as you see fit.

Daeron

Member for 0 years

---

---

Post a reply

RolePlayGateway is a site built by a couple roleplayers who wanted to give a little something back to the roleplay community. The site has no intention of earning any profit, and is paid for out of their own pockets.

If you appreciate what they do, feel free to donate your spare change to help feed them on the weekends. After selecting the amount you want to donate from the menu, you can continue by clicking on PayPal logo.

Who is online

Registered users: Ageha, Aniihya, aprilmasterson, Arcayne*, Augusta*, austyn101*, awesomeskaterdude*, bandgeek*, Belynta*, BillieJ, Binsetsu*, BleedingLover*, bluebirds -- bb, blueluckster*, boultinator93*, Captain Obvious*, Celedia, chaoticcarrot, ChaoticMarin*, Circ*, Cloasse*, code6435*, Colonel_Masters*, CrimsonQueen*, Crooked Thoughts*, Dark Star*, DarkCookie97*, Digital_Muse*, DuBois_Scarlett, duramon, Esana*, evolutionofshadow*, Exabot [Bot], Flame1819*, Flexar*, Floorgan*, Forget~Me~Not*, FreeRunner*, FrozenShard*, FyreT1ger*, Gamer_Templar*, Google [Bot], Google Adsense [Bot], Google Feedfetcher, GotDraggedIntoThis*, Half-Dragon*, HansenetteHeart*, Hoga, Howlkin Stranger, iCat*, Iezobel*, Imbecile*, JokerofSpades*, jukuma*, kexia, Kiyokojordie*, KryptonLion*, KulasLightShadow*, Lady Scarlette*, LadyLibby*, Lerke*, Liberator600*, Little Fox, LittleMissGeorgia, Lobos*, Loxley, Lufia*, LunaSpirit*, Marco Chain*, Marcus, Marionette*, Mela*, Miss_Dreamer*, mistsong99*, Modesty, MSNbot Media, Nebrae*, NeedySteevy*, Nevermore90, nightwolf, nltniko*, Orion Vryce, Patcharoo*, Porecomesis, PrismatechGhost, Purpl3_Flam3s, Pyramids*, RacoonMoon()*, radioinvader, Rem?us*, Rulke*, Saxious*, Script*, Season of the Star, shadereen*, Shaodow*, Shi-chan, shmband, Sicariius*, SlowPlow, Sneakyrio*, SoulSurviver233*, Stark Contrast*, Starlight77*, Stormageddon, Tanman*, teingent*, TemplarWarden*, TheUnnamedOne, Tiko, TnevdaNai*, TommyGirl, tuface, umbra Alastor, Valkryecain*, Vestiline*, VitaminHeart*, WalterF*, wolfoftheage, xoxMissClairexox, Yahoo [Bot]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/h7CdkAwk8K4/viewtopic.php

Eddie Murphy Dead michelle obama robin roberts Democratic National Convention 2012 myocardial infarction What Is Labor Day jersey shore

Some student loan borrowers report identity theft in wake of data ...

OTTAWA?A lawyer involved in a class-action lawsuit against the federal government over a massive data breach says that some of the people who have contacted his office about getting involved in the legal action have been the subject of identity theft.

And in an effort to prevent further data losses, the department at the centre of the breach has ordered all regional offices to return ?unapproved USB sticks? to Ottawa for destruction.

Bob Buckingham said that among the 12,000?Canada Student Loans recipients that have contacted his office to become part of the class-action lawsuit are people who have reported being victims of identity theft, although it isn?t clear if that?s a result of a missing external hard drive containing the?personal information, including social insurance numbers, of about 583,000 Canadians.

Should it be, it would add to the growing legal challenges facing Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), which now faces three different class-action lawsuits over the two-month old data loss only made public earlier this month.

?At that point, you?ve gone from a concern and suspicion to a known fact that it?s fallen into the wrong hands,? Buckingham said in a telephone interview from his office in St. John?s, N.L. ?That is going to heighten the fear of Canadians. Now it is just a concern and a fear that it could happen.?

In an email to Postmedia News, the department said it had no evidence that the ?information on the hard drive has been accessed or used for fraudulent purposes.?

Buckingham argued the potential for harm was reason enough for the government to put aside money to cover the cost of credit monitoring for those affected for as long as their identities remain at risk of being stolen. He said he wants to raise the matter directly with Human Resources Minister Diane Finley, who he wrote to Thursday requesting a meeting.

The call from Buckingham echoes a call from the Liberal critic on the file, Rodger Cuzner, who wrote to Finley saying that ?Canadians should not have to pay for the mistakes of this government.?

HRSDC did not say Friday evening if it was considering setting up such a fund.

Although the case law on liability in data losses of this kind is relatively small in Canada, the class action lawsuits filed in Federal Court and two provincial courts ? Alberta and Manitoba ? should force an ideological change in how the government handles the personal information of Canadians, Buckingham said.

?This is a turning point. It will be a turning point and it?s going to be a wake-up call for the government,? he said.

On Jan. 11, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada admitted that it?had lost a hard drive with the personal information of about 583,000 Canada Student Loans borrowers?between 2000 and 2006. The unencrypted, unprotected hard drive?included names, social insurance numbers, dates of birth, addresses and loan balances?? more than enough information for criminals to steal someone?s identity.

Student loan recipients from Quebec, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are not affected.

That loss followed the loss of a USB memory key from the same department in late 2012 that contained the personal information of more than 5,000 Canadians.

Canada?s privacy commissioner and the RCMP have started investigations into the most recent incident, where an unencrypted hard drive was noticed missing from an HRSDC office in Gatineau, Que., in early November. Finley admitted last week that staff violated?government guidelines on securing and handling information, including encrypting the data as an extra layer of security against theft of information.?Finley?s office has said there will be ?disciplinary measures? meted out and mandatory training for workers handling information.

?The minister has directed that the overall policy for security and storage of personal information at HRSDC be strengthened,? the department said in an email Friday. ?Among the measures being implemented is that unapproved USB sticks are no longer to be connected to the network. These USB sticks are being collected and returned to national headquarters for destruction, in accordance with approved procedures and to provide assurance that destruction protocols are followed to the letter, to meet our due diligence.?

Buckingham filed his lawsuit in Federal Court Thursday. The government now has 30 days to file a response. The class action lawsuit would have to be certified by a judge within 90 days and then it could proceed through the legal system.

HRSDC is attempting to contact those affected by the breach. The department has also set up a toll-free number for anyone to call and check if they are affected. The number is?1-866-885-1866.

Source: http://o.canada.com/2013/01/18/some-student-loan-borrowers-subject-of-identity-theft-in-wake-of-data-loss-lawyer-says/

nationwide race wanderlust gone tyler perry good deeds pretty in pink nba all star game shark tank

Interactive App: Fantastic Dinosaurs HD - Encyclopedia

This interactive app is one of the coolest encyclopedias around on the subject of dinosaurs. Fantastic Dinosaurs HD features multiple languages (English and French), a top-notch user interface and 130 dinosaurs, pterosaurs and prehistoric animals for you to discover. This Education app comes with quality HD photos and detailed information sheets for each animal covering topics on proper name and meaning, period of existence, locations of fossils found, size, weight, feeding habits, and more. While exploring in this interactive app, you?ll have an opportunity to get up-close-and-personal with amazingly detailed 3D dinosaur models that can be turned at 360 degrees for easy viewing.

Kids will have an opportunity to see human/dinosaur size comparisons and explore 24 frequently asked questions by kids ? with answers. You can Get this dinosaur interactive App FREE?..but hurry,there are only a limited number of downloads. As a courtesy to the developer for the FREE app download, please leave a comment below or head over to iTunes and leave a review for this app there. Why? Because your opinion is important and this really helps out the developer. Thank you

*Disclaimer ? Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee a promo code offer will still be good when you try to redeem it, but to the best of our knowledge all promo codes are valid at the time of posting. We have masked the codes to prevent all the codes from being taken at one time ? in order to give all CrazyMikesapps.com readers an opportunity to enjoy paid apps for free.

Download Fantastic Dinosaurs HD App Now

iTunes iPhone
iTunes iPad

Fantastic Dinosaurs HD by Oreakids 3.99 USD

Customer ratings: (19 ratings) Category: Education, Reference Languages: English, French Rated: 4+ Updated: 21.11.2012 Version: 1.1 Size: 267.19 MB Requirements: iPad 3G, iPad WiFi, iPad 2 3G, iPad 2 WiFI

Description Fantastic Dinosaurs HD ? A bug was found in imperial units conversion. Update in one or two weeks (the app is waiting for review). Use meter unit instead. We apologize for any inconvenience ? ? This interactive app is one of the coolest encyclopedias around on the subject of dinosaurs ? CrazyMikesApps.com Fantastic Dinosaurs HD is an interactive encyclopedia which allows you to discover like never before 130 dinosaurs and prehistorical animals. Each animal has a description sheet containing HD photos optimized for the Retina screen, 360? views, sizes comparisons with man (adult and children) and much more information. Fantastic Dinosaurs HD features: ? 130 dinosaurs, pterosaurs and other prehistorical animals with a detailled sheet ? 80 360? interactive views including 30 views showing combats of dinosaurs ? Nearly 1000 HD photos with a realistic rendering ? 130 HD photos for the size comparison between a dinosaur and a man / a child ? A size comparison area for dinosaurs from the same family ? 24 questions most frequently asked by children and answers ? A quick access area and a multicriteria search area ? 2 languages (english & french) configurable from the application (other languages coming soon) ? Simple and optimized interface for iPad Fantastic Dinosaurs HD is the first encyclopedia about dinosaurs that exploits the new iPad Retina screen. You will discover high quality photos showing precisely dinosaurs skin and color. The application contains neither ad nor external link, and the whole content is accessible by one single download. The application can thus be used in "Airplane mode" by children, without any Internet connection. REQUIREMENTS: iPad 2,3,4 or mini SUPPORT: support@oreakids.com DID YOU LIKE OUR APP? We would be thrilled to know what you think about our app: http://www.facebook.com/oreakids http://www.twitter.com/oreakids What's new in Version 1.1 Fixed bug in the search engine when changing language

Follow, Subscribe and Like Us On The Social Networks Below
Follow Us on Twitter
Like Our Facebook Fan Page
Watch Us on YouTube
Subscribe To Our iTunes Podcast
Download Our iPhone App Here

*Disclosure* The developer may have provided a ?promo code? (paid voucher) for review of this application.

Source: http://crazymikesapps.com/dinosaur-app-fantastic-dinosaur-hd-interactive-encyclopedia/

Shakira iOS 6 bank of america Yunel Escobar Eye Black Cruel Summer Endeavor shaun white

Studying ancient Earth's geochemistry

Jan. 18, 2013 ? Researchers still have much to learn about the volcanism that shaped our planet's early history. New evidence from a team led by Carnegie's Frances Jenner demonstrates that some of the tectonic processes driving volcanic activity, such as those taking place today, were occurring as early as 3.8 billion years ago. Their work is published in Geology.

Upwelling and melting of Earth's mantle at mid-ocean ridges, as well as the eruption of new magmas on the seafloor, drive the continual production of the oceanic crust. As the oceanic crust moves away from the mid-ocean ridges and cools it becomes denser than the underlying mantle. Over time the majority of this oceanic crust sinks back into the mantle, which can trigger further volcanic eruptions. This process is known as subduction and it takes place at plate boundaries.

Volcanic eruptions that are triggered by subduction of oceanic crust are chemically distinct from those erupting at mid-ocean ridges and oceanic island chains, such as Hawaii. The differences between the chemistry of magmas produced at each of these tectonic settings provide 'geochemical fingerprints' that can be used to try to identify the types of tectonic activity taking place early in Earth's history.

Previous geochemical studies have used similarities between modern subduction zone magmas and those erupted about 3.8 billion years ago, during the Eoarchean era, to argue that subduction-style tectonic activity was taking place early in Earth's history. But no one was able to locate any suites of volcanic rocks with compositions comparable to modern mid-ocean ridge or oceanic island magmas that were older than 3 billion years and were also free from contamination by continental crust.

Because of this missing piece of the puzzle, it has been ambiguous whether the subduction-like compositions of volcanic rocks erupted 3.8 billion years ago really were generated at subduction zones, or whether this magmatism should be attributed to other processes taking place early in Earth's history. Consequently, evidence for subduction-related tectonics earlier than 3 billion years ago has been highly debated in scientific literature.

Jenner and her team collected 3.8 billion-year-old volcanic rocks from Innersuartuut, an island in southwest Greenland, and found the samples have compositions comparable to modern oceanic islands, such as Hawaii.

"The Innersuartuut samples may represent the world's oldest recognized suite of oceanic island basalts, free from contamination by continental crust," Jenner said. "This evidence strengthens previous arguments that subduction of oceanic crust into the mantle has been taking place since at least 3.8 billion years ago."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Carnegie Institution.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. F. E. Jenner, V. C. Bennett, G. Yaxley, C. R. L. Friend, O. Nebel. Eoarchean within-plate basalts from southwest Greenland. Geology, 2013; DOI: 10.1130/G33787.1

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/BqT08AsycUg/130118130104.htm

revenge revenge adam shulman adam shulman peanut butter recall jason aldean Brigitte Nielsen

Why Online Dating Doesn't Threaten Monogamy [EXPERT] | Coach ...

Are you looking for love online?

A response to Dan Slater's article "A Million First Dates."

An article in the Atlantic Monthly written by Dan Slater claims that monogamy is on the decline because online dating makes it so easy to dump your relationship and find a new one. Oh really, Dan? Seems like you haven't talked to any of my over-40 dating coaching clients. For them, finding a new relationship online isn't so simple.

More from YourTango: 5 Tips for a Great First Phone Call

Men and women in mid-life complain equally about how difficult it is to find decent partners online. My dating coaching clients struggle to connect with enough appealing prospects to find one for a relationship. Both sexes grumble about how the other gender hardly responds to emails when they try to start a conversation.

While Dan relies on "his friend Jacob's" Internet dating experience, that hardly seems like a large enough sample to draw any proper conclusions. I have found that singles tend to develop arbitrary criteria for comparison of potential partners, causing them to become pickier. This limits possibilities rather than increasing them. For example, for many women, good spelling is crucial. Meanwhile, I bet not one of my dating coaching clients has put "good spelling" on their list of qualities for an ideal mate. After all, being a good speller doesn't make you loyal, loving or even smart.

A little perspective on the issue reveals that online dating is merely a method to help people meet people; it is not to blame for lower levels of monogamy, if they even exist.

More from YourTango: Why Didn't He Call? How To Handle Rejection [EXPERT]

In a follow-up article about online dating, Harry Reis, a professor at the University of Rochester, refutes much of Dan's commentary. I loved his subhead, which promised that monogamy is safe even with the advent of new technology. Reis' piece says that no researchers have noted a change in the breakup or divorce rate since online dating came into being when Match.com launched in 1995. Turns out, marriage statistics have not changed much since that time, although people are waiting longer to marry. Keep reading ...

More dating advice from YourTango:

Get more expert advice!

Source: http://www.yourtango.com/experts/coach-ronnie-ann-ryan/can-we-blame-online-dating-decrease-monogamy

barcelona vs real madrid Johnny Depp Dead college football rankings Steel Magnolias Niels Bohr the Rumble 2012 Columbus Day 2012

Anna Kendrick Makes Hilariously Inappropriate Tweet About Ryan Gosling!

Anna Kendrick Makes Hilariously Inappropriate Tweet About Ryan Gosling!

“Pitch Perfect” star Anna Kendrick’s tweet about Hollywood hunk Ryan Gosling went viral this week, shared by Twitter users 20,713 time. The actress tweeted, “Ugh-NEVER going to a Ryan Gosling movie in the theater again. Apparently sitting in the back row and masturbating is still considered ‘inappropriate’.” Kendrick’s funny tweet received tons of replies immediately. ...

Anna Kendrick Makes Hilariously Inappropriate Tweet About Ryan Gosling! Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/01/anna-kendrick-makes-hilariously-inappropriate-tweet-about-ryan-gosling/

obama state of the union 2012 2012 state of the union address jorge posada maurice sendak state of the union sotu boehner

Beach Buggy Blitz for Android Gets Optimization Tweaks, Bug Fixes

The guys over at Vector Unit have just announced that their amazingly popular Beach Buggy Blitz racing game for Android devices has been updated with several optimizations and bug fixes.

It appears that due to players? feedback, developers tuned Snowy Mountain setups to make them a bit easier. Obviously, this change does not concern experienced players.

Furthermore, Vector Unit claims that it has stopped using precompiled shaders, thus resulting in increased stability on some devices.

However, after the update, it may take longer to switch back to the application. The latest update introduces in-app billing version 3, along with bug fixes and general optimizations.

Beach Buggy Blitz 1.2.1 is now available as a free download via Google Play Store and it should be fully compatible with all devices running Android 2.3 and up. Check it out here.

Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Beach-Buggy-Blitz-for-Android-Gets-Optimization-Tweaks-Bug-Fixes-321364.shtml

marco scutaro Kendrick Lamar Russell Means Taylor Swift Red Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 2 celiac disease san francisco giants

Join the Engadget HD Podcast live on Ustream at 5:30PM ET

No, it's not Monday but we're still recouping from the super bowl of electronics so and still not back to our original recording schedule of the Engadget HD podcast. You can tune in live at on this Wednesday edition at 5:30PM and be be a part of it. Start by reviewing the list of topics after the break, then participate in the live chat.

Continue reading Join the Engadget HD Podcast live on Ustream at 5:30PM ET

Filed under: HD

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/I5L7X6fLRtM/

Sephora Cyber Monday 2012 Walmart.com detroit lions Thanksgiving Day cooking a turkey toysrus

Google invites Glass pre-order holders to hackathons in New York, San Francisco

Google just hit our inbox with an email inviting folks who pre-ordered the Explorer Edition of Project Glass to two-day hackathons in San Francisco and New York, where they'll be the first group of developers -- not being paid by Page and Co. -- to collectively develop for Glass. Dubbed Glass Foundry, the events will introduce developers to Glass, set them up with access to the hardware and familiarize them with the API, called Mirror. Throughout the powwow, Google engineers will be on-hand to help out with development, and the second day will feature demos and "special guest judges." Hackers in San Francisco can look forward to the event on January 28th and 29th, while those in New York City can snag time with the device on February 1st and 2nd. Hit the jump for the full text of Mountain View's email.

Continue reading Google invites Glass pre-order holders to hackathons in New York, San Francisco

Filed under: Google

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/15/google-glass-foundry-hackathon/

lytro camera andrew brietbart branson mo monkees songs rail gun harrisburg top chef texas

48 Hours in Boston's Flu Outbreak

Little Cassie Colice fought off another coughing fit as she sat in the emergency room at Boston Children's Hospital with her mother. Despite getting a flu shot this season, doctors believed the toddler was suffering from the flu.

"She's gone from having what you think for a toddler is a common cold to having difficulty breathing, coughing up a lot of mucus, terribly lethargic, no appetite," said Cassie's mother, Meghan Moriarty. "It just makes me feel bad that she can't tell me."

"Nightline" spent the last 48 hours documenting a city in crisis from a raging flu epidemic, from patients who already have it to those who are taking measures to avoid it and the doctors who are battling the outbreak.

Watch the full story on "Nightline" tonight at 12:35 a.m. ET

Moriarty was very concerned because Cassie, who isn't even 2 years old yet, was born prematurely, putting her in the highest risk category for serious complications from the flu. So doctors didn't waste time testing Cassie for flu. They admitted her immediately.

"She has a fever and cough, she's dehydrated, the degree of lethargy, the repertory rate makes me worry that she has a serious infection," said Dr. Anne Stack.

Once admitted, Cassie and her mother realized they had lots of company.

"We are at full capacity," Stack said. "The hospital is essentially completely full."

And it was not just Children's Hospital, all of Boston's world-famous hospitals are operating on overdrive. There have been more than 750 confirmed flu cases so far this season in Boston, more than 10 times the 70 cases from this time last year.

"I have been here for 19 years," said Dr. Ron Walls of Brigham and Women's Hospital. "I don't remember seeing anything like this."

At Massachusetts General Hospital, patient Shane Wells feared his laundry list of flu-like symptoms was making him another one of Boston's latest statistics. Despite getting the flu shot, the 41-year-old was suffering from chills, sweats and incessant cough.

"The aches and pains, the hot, the cold," he said. "[I'm] trying to get back to work because if you don't work you can't pay the bills."

Many people assume they have the flu without getting tested. But when Wells' lab tests came back, the results were positive for flu. There was little doctors could do for him. He had passed the 48-hour window when prescription medication could effectively treat the virus.

"You ought to be wearing a mask when you are in public," Dr. Stuart Harris told Wells. "Try to keep away from people, wash your hands all the time."

Back at Children's Hospital, Cassie's chest X-ray showed her lungs were full of mucus. She was also dehydrated and had low oxygen levels in her blood, so doctors admitted her to stay at the hospital overnight.

Just down the hall from Cassie was 4-month-old Cayson Page, who was born with congenital heart disease. For children like Cayson, the flu can be a matter of life or death.

"Our main concern is that this child doesn't have a lot of reserve," Dr. Stack said. "So even a little bit of illness can tip someone like this over."

Cayson was discharged from the hospital, but after repeatedly vomiting, his parents, James Page and Elizabeth Graul, brought him back to the ER. It was an exhausting and scary process and the Pages feared their son would become another Boston statistic.

"The main thing that worries me is just how many deaths have happened from [the flu]," Graul said. "With his heart disease, he gets really sick just off a simple cold and then I don't even want to know what the flu would do to him."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/48-hours-bostons-massive-flu-outbreak/story?id=18215079

james neal jackie robinson virginia tech emancipation proclamation april 16 tornadoes mitch hedberg

Chelsea Clinton to participate at inauguration (Washington Bureau)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/277159444?client_source=feed&format=rss

asexual jim carrey san francisco chronicle kourtney kardashian pregnant kourtney kardashian pregnant billy cundiff super bowl tickets

olloclip at CES 2013 gallery: more devices, more possibilities

olloclip is one of the few Kickstarter projects I backed that shipped, and shipped quickly. Originally a 3-in-1 fisheye, wide-angle, and macro lens attachment for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, it's now also available for the iPhone, and given what we saw at CES 2013, that's still just the beginning. At the show, olloclip showed off an adapter that lets the lens attach to the new iPod touch 5 as well, making a great mobile camera truly fantastic. They also showed off a new case that works with the olloclip to provide traditional camera mounts for tripods, flashes, and more. And it even sounds like there may be more lenses in their future as well.

Check out Derek Kessler's photos below, and let me know if you'll be adding any of this to your camera kit.

More: olloclip

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/swCZquzFp5g/story01.htm

Niels Bohr the Rumble 2012 Columbus Day 2012 carlina white Sam Champion Engaged Infield fly rule Taken 2