Sox Vs. Cards: 5 Things To Know About The World Series

Jonny Gomes of the Boston Red Sox celebrates after defeating the Detroit Tigers in Game Six of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park on Sunday.

Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

Jonny Gomes of the Boston Red Sox celebrates after defeating the Detroit Tigers in Game Six of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park on Sunday.

Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

The Boston Red Sox clinched the American League pennant last night during a 5-2 win over the Detroit Tigers in game 6 of the American League Championship Series.

That means the World Series matchup is set: It'll be the Red Sox vs. the St. Louis Cardinals beginning Wednesday in Boston.

With that, here are five things you should know about the upcoming championship series:

— The Sox have redeemed themselves this year. Last season, they ended in last place with only 69 wins; this season, they clinched the American League East with 97 wins, tying with the Cards for the best season in baseball.

— This will be the first time since the Braves and Yankees played in 1999 that league win leaders will face off in the World Series.

— MLB.com reports that the Cards and Sox have met in the world Series on four previous occasions — in 1934, 1946, 1967 and 2004. The first three meetings went to game seven and all three ended with a Cardinals win.

— As the AP reports, the 2004 series marked the third Series visit for the Sox during the past decade. They steamrolled St. Louis in a four-game sweep and won their first championship since 1918. That said, the two teams have not played each other since 2008.

— The Cardinals are a formidable — and surprising — organization. They have captured four pennants in 10 years and won the World Series in 2006 and 2011, as well as 10 other times in their history. The New York Times reports that it would be easy to say the Cards are the Yankees of the National League. But, they managed their wins without the kind of stars the Yankees have. In fact, the Cardinals "develop names that most have never heard of." So keep an eye out for Carlos Martinez, the 22-year-old reliever who throws 99 mph fast-balls and had never played anything above Double-A baseball before this season.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/20/238309669/sox-vs-cards-5-things-to-know-about-the-world-series?ft=1&f=
Related Topics: Ed Sheeran   college football   made in america   Jamaal Charles   pga championship  

How Financial Markets View Fiscal Deal

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=236212112&ft=1&f=3
Related Topics: randall cobb   Malala Yousafzai   big bang theory   Lady Gaga Vma   geraldo rivera  

Kris Jenner Loves TV Ratings More Than Hubby Bruce?! New Deets On How Her Desire For Fame Destroyed Their Marriage!

Kris Jenner might be the hardest working woman in show business these days!

She's got to juggle managing daughter Kim Kardashian's career, she's still trying to get her own talk show off the ground, and oh yeah, she's got three grandchildren to look after now too!

If you got a glimpse at her personal calendar, it would just be cover-to-cover business meetings. And nowhere would you find any dates with the word "BRUCE" circled inside!

And we hear THAT is why her marriage of 22 years to Bruce Jenner is coming to an end!

A family source has recently come forward to point the finger at Kris for causing their split! The insider claims:

"Everything in Kris’ life is about ratings. Bruce was never her priority and he was totally sick of it."

Poor Bruce!

Even though he tried at first to keep up with the Kardashians' go-go pace, he's had enough! Because as other sources claim, he just wanted the woman he married back! Not some super star! A family friend revealed:

"She was so hungry, hungry, hungry all the time. Bruce got tired of Kris’ ambition. It was awful to see how Kris treated Bruce. She was critical of his looks, she’d complain about his clothes, and she’d never call him loving names, only referring to him as ‘he.’"

Yikes…

Hard work is one thing, but you've GOT to make time for the ones you love! And not just the time when cameras are capturing your every word!

[Image via AXELLE/BAUER-GRIFFIN.]

Tags: bruce jenner, divorce, kim kardashian, kris jenner, love line, marriage, ratings

Source: http://perezhilton.com/2013-10-17-kris-jenner-love-of-tv-ratings-to-blame-for-failed-marriage-with-bruce-jenner
Related Topics: gravity   harry potter   Cal Worthington   tommy morrison   Miley Cyrus Vmas 2013 Youtube  

Italy: Protesters Throw Eggs At Finance Ministry

ROME (AP) — Anti-austerity protesters in Rome threw eggs and firecrackers at the Finance Ministry during a march Saturday to oppose cuts to welfare programs and a shortage in low-income housing. Police said 11 people were detained.

More than 4,000 riot police were dispatched to maintain order as some 25,000 protesters marched through the capital on Saturday. There were moments of tension when demonstrators passed near the headquarters of an extreme-right group, but police intervened when a few bottles were thrown.

Later, demonstrators threw eggs, firecrackers and smoke bombs outside the Finance Ministry. Police reacted by dispersing the protesters, detaining 11 of the demonstrators. There were no reports of injuries.

Ahead of the march police detained some anarchists believed to pose a security threat.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=237742509&ft=1&f=
Category: kris jenner   First Day Of Fall 2013   Talk Like a Pirate Day   never forget   diana nyad  

Nestle may be hinting at Android 4.4 KitKat launch on October 28th

We know that Google is fond of puzzles, and it may be using a few of them to tease the launch of Android 4.4 KitKat. Nestle's @KitKat Twitter account has posted two musical references (embedded after the break) that suggest the OS could appear on October 28th. The first, "everybody dance now," ...

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/JQgNLQ285fU/
Category: goog   Lara Flynn Boyle   FXX   tim tebow   jeff bezos  

Backdoor found in D-Link router firmware code

A backdoor found in firmware used in several D-Link routers could allow an attacker to change a device's settings, a serious security problem that could be used for surveillance.

Craig Heffner, a vulnerability researcher with Tactical Network Solutions who specializes in wireless and embedded systems, found the vulnerability. Heffner wrote on his blog that the Web interface for some D-Link routers could be accessed if a browser's user agent string is set to "xmlset_roodkcableoj28840ybtide."

[ Prevent corporate data leaks with Roger Grimes' "Data Loss Prevention Deep Dive" PDF expert guide, only from InfoWorld. | Stay up to date on the latest security developments with InfoWorld's Security Central newsletter. ]

Curiously, if the second half of the user agent string is reversed and the number is removed, it reads "edit by joel backdoor," suggesting it was intentionally placed there.

"My guess is that the developers realized that some programs/services needed to be able to change the device's settings automatically," Heffner wrote. "Realizing that the Web server already had all the code to change these settings, they decided to just send requests to the Web server whenever they needed to change something.

"The only problem was that the Web server required a username and password, which the end user could change. Then, in a eureka moment, Joel jumped up and said, 'Don't worry, for I have a cunning plan'!"

The technology industry has been rattled by documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, which indicate the spy agency pursues ways to subvert security measures through backdoors. But developers sometimes make mistakes and in other cases, make poor security decisions.

With access to a router's settings, an attacker could potentially steer someone's Internet traffic through another their own server and read their unencrypted data traffic.

To find other vulnerable D-Link router models, Heffner used a special search engine called Shodan, which is designed to find any device connected to the Internet, ranging from refrigerators to CCTV cameras to routers.

The affected models likely include D-Link's DIR-100, DI-524, DI-524UP, DI-604S, DI-604UP, DI-604+, TM-G5240 and possibly the DIR-615. The same firmware is also used in the BRL-04UR and BRL-04CW routers made by Planex, Heffner wrote.

A Web search turned up the suspicious user agent string in a post on a Russian forum three years ago, Heffner wrote, which means somebody has known about it for a while.

D-Link officials could be immediately reached for comment on Monday.

Send news tips and comments to jeremy_kirk@idg.com. Follow me on Twitter: @jeremy_kirk.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/d/security/backdoor-found-in-d-link-router-firmware-code-228725
Category: christina milian   Léon Foucault   big brother spoilers   Mackenzie Rosman   the bachelorette  

The Rise of the Coffee Machines

Coming soon to an airport, college, hospital, or office near you.

Courtesy Briggo

Starbucks is, by most accounts, a decent place to work. It trains its employees thoroughly. It gives them benefits, even if they’re part-time. It calls its baristas “partners,” which is hokey but also indicative of its desire to make them feel valued. Not only is Starbucks a responsible employer—it’s a vast and still-growing one. That’s because, while U.S.-based companies can stitch clothes in Bangladesh, build iPhones in China, or outsource call centers to India, a hot latte has to be made pretty darn close to where it’s served. The food-service industry is considered by economists to be part of the “nontradable sector,” meaning that its jobs can’t be outsourced.

But what if they could be automated? What if Starbucks were to someday replace its 100,000-odd baristas with machines?

Christopher Mims asked those questions in a Quartz story this week headlined “An army of robot baristas could mean the end of Starbucks as we know it.” In July, Businessweek wrote a similar piece: “Baristas, Meet the Robot That Wants Your Job.”

To be clear, there’s no indication that Starbucks has any plans to dump its workers for machines. A spokeswoman for the company told Quartz that it wouldn’t move in the direction of automation because that would “diminish what we offer every day.” But even if Starbucks doesn’t do it, others will. And if they succeed, it could have broad implications for the future of the economy.

Robots may be more reliable than humans. But what about soothing the feelings of unsatisfied customers?

The stories center on an Austin, Texas-based startup called Briggo, which has created a fully automated, one-stop coffee kiosk that churns out what it believes is a superior cup of joe. You can order and pay by smartphone, customize the brewing process to your precise specifications, and schedule it to be ready for pickup the minute you arrive. And it really doesn’t care if you say “venti” instead of “large.”

Robot-brewed coffee might sound like a bizarre, even retrograde concept in an industry that fetishizes the artisanal and eschews mass production. Anyone who has tried coffee from an office vending machine can vouch for the value of the human touch. But, contrary to what you might expect, Briggo’s goal in automating coffee is not to make it cheaper or more portable. It’s to make it better.

Here’s the concept, as explained to me by Briggo CEO Kevin Nater: “There’s this unbelievably beautiful supply chain for coffee,” he says, from the way the beans are painstakingly cultivated and harvested in countries like Honduras to the way they’re packed and shipped and roasted to perfection—“and then, at the last step, when you’ve spent all this time and money trying to make the perfect product, there’s a person brewing the coffee. And that has the potential to really just kill the customer experience. So why not automate it?”

As Quartz’s Mims points out, Nespresso machines, which automatically brew a cup when you insert a vacuum-sealed capsule, have topped hand-brewed coffee in tastings. Briggo applies similar concepts on a larger scale. Each 50-square-foot, Yves Béhar-designed kiosk is stocked with fresh milk, beans, and other ingredients, and whips up frothy, made-to-order cups according to a process the company developed with the help of an award-winning barista. From the Quartz story:

Inside, protected by stainless steel walls and a thicket of patents, there is a secret, proprietary viscera of pipes, storage vessels, heating instruments, robot arms and 250 or so sensors that together do everything a human barista would do if only she had something like perfect self-knowledge. “How is my milk steamer performing? Am I a half-degree off in my brewing temperature? Is my water pressure consistent? Is there any residue buildup on my brewing chamber that might require me to switch to a backup system?”

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/10/briggo_coffee_robot_should_starbucks_replace_baristas_with_machines.html
Related Topics: Miriam Carey   Jake Locker   GTA 5 Cheats   engadget   Blurred Lines Lyrics  

Cinedigm Set to Become Top Non-Theatrical Home Video Distributor With GVE Acquisition

In another major expansion, Cinedigm Corp. on Thursday announced the acquisition of the Gaiam, Inc. entertainment unit GVE, for $51.5 million. It will make the company the distributor of programming for the WWE, NFL, National Geographic, Discovery, the Jim Henson Company, and others.

GVE president Bill Sondheim becomes president of Cinedigm’s Entertainment Group, reporting to Cinedigm CEO Chris McGurk and COO/CFO Adam Mizel. According to McGurk, this acquisition will make the combined companies the largest U.S. distributor of non-theatrical home video.

"It's a giant transformative deal for us," McGurk told The Hollywood Reporter, adding: "Now we’ve got huge scale. That’s going to enable us to attract even more and better content. We already have the biggest library of video rights in the world. This can dramatically accelerate its size. I think at the end of the day because there’s still an arms race for content on digital platforms, the company that controls the most rights is going to be in the driver's seat and we're hoping that’s the position were going to be in now."

According to the announcement, this will increase Cinedigm’s annual retail sales to about $320 million annually. According to guidance provided with the announcement, that will add about $84 million in revenue in the next six months, which means on an annual basis Cinedigm revenues will rise to about $150 million, compared to the $88.1 million the public company reported in June.

GVE was the fourth largest independent distributor of non-theatrical home video product last year, with strong positions in children’s, family, comedy, and sports documentaries, among other programming.

Cinedigm said this will give them direct sales and marketing relationships with every major physical and digital distributor, including Wal-Mart, iTunes, and Amazon. The release said it will give them “the largest retail footprint of any independent studio distributor in the United States, with products sold through over 60,000 retail locations.”

It will also expand their library of digital distribution rights for independent films, TV series, and other content, including more than 32,000 titles and episodes. "We gave a tremendous amount of leverage in physical distribution, in digital, and we can distribute to theaters. We think this puts us in the driver's seat among all independents right now," McGurk said. 

McGurk expects this to also accelerate Cinedigm's move into over the top channels like Docurama, a documentary service distributed on a paid YouTube channel.

Gaiam is retaining its health and fitness business, its e-commerce platform, and Gaiam TV, a streaming video subscription business. Gaiam said in its announcement that it will use the proceeds to pay down its existing credit facility.

In the two and a half years since McGurk took the helm of Cinedigm, he has completely transformed the company. When he arrived, it was primarily a company that did digital distribution of movie theaters. Today, most of the digital conversions are done, and Cinedigm provides maintenance services for a fee. 

Its main businesses now have to do with distribution of content. It distributes specialty titles to movie theaters, both for traditional runs and for special event programs; it acquired New Video, which made it a big player in digital distribution; it spun off two non-core business; and now it has acquired a major physical distribution business in home entertainment."It's one-stop shopping," said McGurk. "And that’s what we love about this deal."

To finance the acquisition, Cinedigm announced it has a new $55 million credit facility from banks led by Societe Generale Corporation and Investment Banking. It also issued $3 million in restricted Cinedigm stock to Gaiam and $2 million in stock was purchased by an existing investor who wasn't named. 

Cinedigm is also issuing $13 million in new stock with B Riley & Co. and National Securities Corp. The acquisition is expected to close Oct. 21. 

Blackstone Advisory Partners acted as Cinedigm's financial advisor and Merriman Capital acted as advisor for the equity stock offering. 

Cinedigm stock closed Thursday at $1.53 per share, down 3.77 percent from the prior day's closing. 

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/business/~3/ItljGBiafhI/story01.htm
Category: Presidents Cup   Panda Express   eric decker   nfl scores   tommy morrison  

China punishes 13 medical workers for bribery in milk powder case

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities in the northern city of Tianjin have punished 13 medical workers for taking bribes from Danone S.A. to recommend the French food maker's infant formula, the local government said on Monday.

The move comes after the official China Central Television (CCTV) reported in September that Danone bribed doctors and nurses to recommend its Dumex milk powder brand at one Tianjin hospital.

The CCTV report led to Tianjin's government and police launching an investigation into the bribery charges. Danone also said it had launched an investigation.

The "serious violators" received penalties ranging from cancellation of medical licenses to salary deductions, Tianjin's government said in a statement on its website. Several of them had to go through Communist Party disciplinary procedures.

Athena Wang, the spokeswoman for Dumex China, told Reuters the company had no further comment, but reiterated that it had launched and completed an investigation.

Local government investigators said the workers were among 116 people from 85 hospitals and health groups who took bribes from Danone to give talks to parents of newborns, recommend Dumex formula and give out product samples, the statement said.

World Health Organization guidelines, implemented in China, say doctors must advise new mothers to breastfeed unless there are medical reasons to use formula instead.

Infant formula has been controversial in China since a scandal in 2008 when the industrial chemical melamine was added to baby milk and killed at least six children and left thousands ill.

The incident seriously damaged consumer confidence in local firms and led to international competitors gaining market share.

Corruption is widespread in the health care system, fuelled in part by low salaries for doctors and nurses.

(Reporting by Megha Rajagopalan and Adam Rose; Edited by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-punishes-13-medical-workers-bribery-milk-powder-105759862.html
Tags: apple event   Sloane Stephens   Becky G   Edward Snowden   huntington beach  

Iran presents nuclear proposals at Geneva talks

GENEVA (AP) — Six world powers are taking a closer look at what Iran is describing as a possible breakthrough deal that could ease suspicions it is interested in nuclear arms.

Iran says it is not interested in such weapons and is offering a proposal meant to dispel such fears. In return it expects the easing of crippling international sanctions on its economy.

A second day of talks between Iran and the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany resumed Wednesday. The plan presented Tuesday focuses on six-power demands that some activities that could be used to make nuclear arms be stopped or reduced.

An Iranian official tells The Associated Press that the proposal is divided into three stages but declines to offer detail. He demands anonymity because the plan is confidential.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-presents-nuclear-proposals-geneva-talks-133548918--finance.html
Tags: kenya   fox sports   Sloane Stephens   Antoinette Tuff   Shawn Burr  

Tom Foley, A House Speaker Who Embraced Compromise And Comity

Democrat Tom Foley served Washington state's 5th Congressional District for 30 years and was House speaker from 1989 to 1995. He died Friday at age 84.

Jeff T. Green/AP

Democrat Tom Foley served Washington state's 5th Congressional District for 30 years and was House speaker from 1989 to 1995. He died Friday at age 84.

Jeff T. Green/AP

Former Speaker of the House Tom Foley was the product of far different times, yet his career in politics a generation ago still carries a message current congressional leaders might want to heed.

Foley came to Washington with new Democratic members elected on the coattails of Lyndon Johnson's presidential landslide in 1964. The son of a judge, he had hoped to follow his father on the bench but missed out on an appointment and decided to run for Congress instead. In that fall's Democratic tide he defeated a 20-year Republican incumbent in eastern Washington's largely rural 5th District.

He served on the Agriculture Committee, a place where party mattered less than alliances by region and commodity. He learned how to put de facto coalitions together and move big bills that literally determined the food-and-fiber fate of the nation. As congressional tasks went, there was none more basic. And after a relatively short time, Foley was the committee chairman.

The electoral fates of others continued to open opportunities for the man from Spokane. He moved into the leadership as chairman of the Democratic caucus, then became the party whip when John Brademas of Indiana was defeated. When Tip O'Neill retired in 1987, Foley became the Democratic majority leader; and when Speaker Jim Wright resigned in disgrace two years later, Foley became the speaker.

He immediately set about healing the rifts that had made the House a rancorous and nearly impossible chamber in the late 1980s. He helped engineer the extraordinary, four-month-long budget negotiation in 1990 that led President George H.W. Bush to break his "read my lips, no new taxes" pledge.

That bipartisan agreement was initially rejected by majorities of both parties in the House, but Foley helped overcome the opposition of Republicans like Newt Gingrich and secure the deal's enactment. Deficits would soon begin to decline, and by the end of that decade the budget was basically in balance, a situation that was rapidly reversed after the election of the second President Bush in 2000.

Foley was in some ways ideally suited to be speaker, because he held together the regional and ideological factions of his own party while speaking calm and consistent reason to his foes across the aisle. In the 1980s it was common to hear Republicans say Foley was their favorite Democrat and ought to be speaker. He combined formidable powers of intellect with an unusual talent for hearing other people out. "I am a little bit cursed," he once told this reporter, "by the ability to understand the other person's point of view in an argument."

That did not always endear him to his Democratic colleagues, of course, and it was not nearly enough to maintain the affection of Republicans when the partisan wars resumed late in 1991.

That was when the then-General Accounting Office reported that House members were routinely writing overdrafts on their accounts at the House bank. They were, in effect, writing themselves interest-free loans on paychecks they had yet to receive. Some members had hundreds of such overdrafts.

Foley always argued that the controversy was overblown. No money had been lost; no checks had actually bounced. It was a minor abuse of privilege, perhaps, but no crime. Nonetheless he was compelled to close the House Bank and launch an ethics investigation that grew well beyond its initial mission. Some Democrats and Republicans alike met defeat in the primaries of 1992; others, in the elections that November.

The other disaster that overtook Foley's speakership was the election of a Democratic president, Bill Clinton, who took office in 1993. Clinton undertook to stimulate the economy with new spending and to raise taxes beyond the 1990 budget agreement. He also set in motion a vast overhaul of the health care and insurance systems that failed to win approval from Congress.

The upshot was an anti-Democratic upheaval in the midterm elections of 1994. It cost the party its control of the Senate for the first time since 1986 and its control of the House for the first time since 1954. Foley himself was unable to hold his GOP-leaning district back in Washington state, becoming the first sitting speaker to lose his own seat since 1862.

Foley had made a critical error in the campaign year: He had allowed his name to be attached to a lawsuit in his home state that challenged a term-limit referendum approved by the voters there. He was, in a sense, suing his own voters.

But in a larger sense, Foley was in the way of a huge historical turnaround. On that November day in 1994, Republicans captured a majority of House seats, Senate seats and governorships in the South for the first time since the Reconstruction era. The GOP has held the upper hand in all three categories ever since.

Foley himself would have preferred to be remembered as a leader for the institution of Congress. He saw the speaker as "the leader of the whole House," not just the majority party. He had hoped that better times in the 1990s would allow greater cooperation between the parties, much as there had been in his salad days as a junior member on the Agriculture Committee.

He had also hoped that aggressive challengers on the GOP side, such as Gingrich, would grow impatient and move on, leaving the House to more conventional and traditional Republicans like Bob Michel of Illinois.

Instead, in the wake of the House Bank fracas and the rise of Bill Clinton, Gingrich was thrust to the forefront of his party. And when Foley met his downfall, Gingrich and not Michel became the first Republican speaker in 40 years.

Today of course, we look back on such wars as being all but ancient history. But Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, looking back on recent weeks, may see a distant mirror for his own 2013 House. He has surely reflected on how internal struggles among Democrats weakened Foley's hand two decades ago and ultimately cost him his majority.

After losing his place in Congress, Foley served six years as President Clinton's ambassador to Japan. Foley died Friday at his home in Washington, D.C., following a stroke and a bout with pneumonia. He was 84.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/10/18/237226522/tom-foley-a-house-speaker-who-embraced-compromise-and-comity?ft=1&f=1003
Tags: furlough   Mayweather vs Canelo results   Nsync Vma   dairy queen   greg oden  

Today's special: Apoplectic over Apple, lax at LinkedIn, bearish on Ballmer

Credit: cogal

It's been a while since I've taken a dip into the reader mailbag. There's certainly been a ton of things to talk about -- from the future of Apple and Steve Ballmer's impending retirement to LinkedIn's turn toward spam and our nation's turn toward Big Brother. Let's dive in, shall we?

In "Stick a fork in Apple, it's done," I took a few roundhouse swipes at the Kings of Cupertino, arguing that Samsung has emerged as the technology thought leader now that the Steve Jobs reality distortion field has been powered down. As you can imagine, that didn't sit well with some readers. More than 90 comments later, people are still ticked off about it. Some of them found their way to my inbox.

[ For a humorous take on the tech industry's shenanigans, subscribe to Robert X. Cringely's Notes from the Underground newsletter and follow Cringely on Twitter. | Check out InfoWorld TechBrief, your source for quick, smart views on the news you'll be talking about -- subscribe today. ]

M. C. tells me he's glad I'm "a hater":

Apple is not Betamax. And with the cash hoard they have, they can acquire what they need to stay in their wheelhouse. What Earth-shattering product has Samsung brought out that changed the way we live, like iTunes did for changing the way music is distributed and listened to?

Cat got your tongue????

Don't bring a knife to a gun fight unless everyone is out of bullets!

How would you feel if I brought a cat to a tongue fight? Tweaking Apple fanboys is so much fun I don't know why I don't do it more often. (Look for more of that next week as the next Apple not-so-special event arrives.)

Endorse this!
I got a lot of feedback on my story about LinkedIn ("LinkedIn lawsuit exposes amateur moves of 'professional' network"), nearly all of it in agreement with my scathing assessment of the business network's aggressive tactics. For example, L. D. writes:

I find that the initial goal of this organization has been completely lost, and the acts they perform to increase registrations of new members harkens back to a time when magazine publishers would give away millions of unread magazines so they could tout their inflated readership numbers and raise the prices of their advertising space.

I see or at least surmise that LinkedIn is up to the same trick. There is no intention to verify skills and create an actual "professional" network, but merely to [go] after advertising revenue, with little or no concern about their members' privacy.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/cringely/todays-special-apoplectic-over-apple-lax-linkedin-bearish-ballmer-229094?source=rss_infoworld_blogs
Related Topics: Toy Story of Terror   mlb   elton john   engadget   labor day  

UFC 166 weigh-in video

At the UFC 166 weigh-ins, all 26 fighters taking part in Saturday night's UFC 166 fights will step on the scale Friday evening, and we'll have the live video here at MMAFighting.com.

In the main event, UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos will have to make the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds.

The UFC 166 weigh-in takes place at 5 p.m. ET at the Toyota Center in Houston, and the video is above.

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2013/10/18/4848428/ufc-166-weigh-in-video
Tags: Tropical Storm Karen   nhl   The Goldbergs   houston texans   Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 10  

Stenographer Credits 'Holy Spirit' for Rant Against Congress (ABC News)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/334755841?client_source=feed&format=rss
Tags: Wojciech Braszczok   Ronan Farrow   nhl   Harry Styles   big brother spoilers  

Deadspin French Fry Shapes, Ranked | io9 These images show just how differently cats and humans see

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://j-smith.kinja.com/deadspin-french-fry-shapes-ranked-io9-these-images-s-1445869291/@gmanaugh
Similar Articles: Ronan Farrow   Scott Eastwood   denver post   Miley Cyrus VMA   usher  

After Shutdown Dust Clears, Where Does Boehner Stand?

Weeks after vowing that House Republicans would not capitulate to President Obama's demands for "clean" bills reopening the government and raising the debt ceiling, Speaker John Boehner led his caucus in doing exactly that. Only about a third of Republicans voted "yes" on the bill with Boehner, but Boehner's standing among Tea Party conservatives in his caucus may have actually improved.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/10/18/236697001/after-shutdown-dust-clears-where-does-boehner-stand?ft=1&f=1006
Similar Articles: Ink Master   Scott Eastwood   Washington Navy Yard   Romain Dauriac   FXX  

The Alice Game

• 
  
  Reputation:
  Words written:
  Words per post:
  Joined:
  Last visit:
  Location:
  Website:
  
  

  
  

"The alice game is an idea by Rozen to find the doll who is worthy enough to become "the perfect girl", Alice. It is said that whoever becomes Alice is loved most by Father and will be able to personally meet him.

Owner:

Game Masters:

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, “The Alice Game”. 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.

First post:
•
1 post
• Page 1 of 1

This is the auto-generated OOC topic for the roleplay "The Alice Game"

You may edit this first post as you see fit.

Sonicx00

Member for 1 years

---

---

First post:
•
1 post
• Page 1 of 1

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.

Our Sponsors

RolePlayGateway is proudly powered by obscene amounts of caffeine, duct tape, and support from people like you. It operates under a "don't like it, suggest an improvement" platform, and we gladly take suggestions for improvements or changes.

The custom-built "roleplay" system was designed and implemented by Eric Martindale as of July 2009. All attempts to replicate or otherwise emulate this system and its method of organizing roleplay are strictly prohibited without his express written and contractual permission; violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

© RolePlayGateway, LLC | with the support of LocalSense

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/iB0FZN26jik/viewtopic.php
Related Topics: Marquez vs Bradley   kris jenner   Geno Smith   aaron hernandez   Rae Dawn Chong  

Vote to end shutdown could linger in 2014

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks to reporters waiting outside a closed-door meeting of Senate Republicans as news emerged that leaders reached a last-minute agreement to avert a threatened Treasury default and reopen the government after a partial, 16-day shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013. Cruz said he would not try to block the agreement. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks to reporters waiting outside a closed-door meeting of Senate Republicans as news emerged that leaders reached a last-minute agreement to avert a threatened Treasury default and reopen the government after a partial, 16-day shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013. Cruz said he would not try to block the agreement. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of House Republicans planning Senate campaigns next year took different bets on a bill in Congress ending a government shutdown and avoiding a default. For some, a general election loomed large while for others, the vote was a matter of competing for conservative primary voters.

The high-profile vote Wednesday night to end the 16-day partial government shutdown and stave off a national default divided Republicans in the House and Senate and could turn into a noteworthy issue in next year's midterm elections.

In the Senate, Republicans need to pick up six seats to recapture the majority during President Barack Obama's final two years. Republican outside groups paid close attention to the vote, with organizations like the Club for Growth and Heritage Action urging lawmakers to vote against the measure, while business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it was necessary to avoid an economic calamity.

For House Republicans with Senate ambitions, the vote offered a window into their political standing. By voting for the bill, Republicans were insulated to a certain degree against Democrats' accusations that they would have allowed the government to default. By opposing it, they sided with conservatives who despise Obama's health care law and spending record.

Four lawmakers who may seek the GOP presidential nomination in 2016 — Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin — voted against the bill.

In the House, Reps. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Steve Daines of Montana supported the bill. All three are well-positioned to win the Republican nomination for Senate seats currently controlled by Democrats.

Cotton is challenging vulnerable Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., the son of the state's former senator and governor. Cotton said supporting the bill gave Congress time to "stop Washington's out-of-control spending," but his vote put him at odds with the Club for Growth. The group has supported Cotton and been airing ads in Arkansas criticizing Pryor's connection to Obama's health care law.

Barney Keller, a club spokesman, said the group strongly supported Cotton, but "we simply disagree with him on this vote."

Capito said the government needed to be reopened, and it was "clearly not in our country's best interests to default on our debts." Daines cited frustration that the measure was temporary and Congress could face another debt crisis in months.

The vote could affect at least two Republican incumbents in the Senate.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., helped negotiate the deal with Democratic leaders and his role quickly drew opposition from tea party-backed primary challenger Matt Bevin, who said McConnell had sold out conservatives. Democrats are waiting in the wings with Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky's secretary of state, hoping a difficult primary could weaken the powerful GOP leader in the general election.

In Mississippi, the Club for Growth and the Senate Conservatives Fund, which have played formidable roles in Republican primaries, endorsed Chris McDaniel, a state senator who announced his campaign Thursday to unseat GOP Sen. Thad Cochran. Cochran, who voted for the bill, has not said whether he'll seek re-election next year.

"The lamps of liberty are going out across the Republic. Millions of people feel like strangers in the land," McDaniel said Thursday in Ellisville, Miss.

For House Republicans facing crowded Senate fields, the calculation was different. With many conservatives furious with the nation's new health insurance program, siding with Obama and establishment Republicans could hurt them in primaries fueled by tea party activists. Many lawmakers still remember the fate of former Utah Sen. Bob Bennett, who supported the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry in 2008 and later lost the Republican nomination to now Sen. Mike Lee.

In Louisiana, Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy opposed the bill, potentially helping his cause in a primary field in which some have questioned his conservative bona fides. The winner will face Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.

In Georgia, where GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss is retiring, three House Republicans — Reps. Jack Kingston, Paul Broun and Phil Gingrey — voted against the bill. The congressional trio joins former secretary of state Karen Handel and businessman David Perdue in a crowded primary field. Democrats have recruited Michelle Nunn, the daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn.

Yes vote or not, Democrats intend to make the shutdown a major theme against Republicans next year.

"They could have voted for a nearly identical deal weeks ago and spared their constituents a lot pain, but they put their own politics ahead of what's best for their state," said Matt Canter, deputy executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

___

Associated Press writers Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Ark., and Emily Wagster Pettus in Ellisville, Miss., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Ken Thomas on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-10-17-Shutdown-Politics/id-1d3ad877c59e4d65b0361cb900251dab
Related Topics: how i met your mother   obama   Eydie Gorme   Lavabit   aubrey plaza  

Sony Alpha 3000

Have you grown out of your point-and-shoot, but can't spend a fortune on an interchangeable lens camera? Sony's Alpha 3000 ($399.99 direct with 18-55m lens) is the least expensive mirrorless camera you can buy. Sony made some compromises to deliver the 20-megapixel APS-C model at this price point, but image quality isn't one of them. We're impressed with the quality of its images, and the fact that it includes an eye-level electronic viewfinder at this price. On the other hand, the low-resolution rear LCD and limited burst-shooting capability are a bit of a letdown. If you have a bit more money to spend, consider a more refined mirrorless camera like our Editors' Choice, the Samsung NX300 or Sony's own NEX-6. But if you're on a tight budget and want the the ability to change lenses along with the image quality that a big image sensor delivers, the Alpha 3000 is worth a serious look.

Design and Features
Most entry-level mirrorless cameras are designed to resemble beefed-up compact cameras. The Alpha 3000 takes the opposite approach, looking more like a scaled-down SLR. This is the same aesthetic that Panasonic chose for its G and GH bodies, including the top-end GH3. The A3000 measures 2.3 by 4 by 1.5 inches (HWD) and weighs in at 9.9 ounces with no lens attached. Adding the kit lens increases the depth by about two inches and ups the total weight to just over a pound. Compare this to Sony's smallest interchangeable lens camera, the NEX-3N, which measures 2.3 by 4.4 by 1.4 inches and weighs 9.5 ounces; its collapsible kit lens increases the depth to about 2.8 inches and the weight to 13.6 ounces.

The SLR body style means that the camera has a deep, comfortable handgrip that's absent from many mirrorless cameras. There's some sacrifice in compactness here, but it's a worthy trade-off, especially when you pair the camera with a telezoom like the 55-210mm E-mount lens. A pop-up flash is built into the body, as is an eye-level EVF, and there's a multi-function hot shoe so that you can attach an external flash or another accessory as needed.

The control layout is a little sparse when compared to an SLR, but is on par with other E-mount bodies. Up top you'll find the Finder/LCD button (there's no eye sensor, so you have to toggle between the two manually), a mode dial, the image playback button, and a power switch that surrounds the shutter release. On the rear there's the movie button, two programmable function buttons, and a control wheel that doubles a four-way joystick with a center select button. By default the bottom button is set to bring up an in-camera guide that explains some photographic concepts and provides shooting tips. If you're comfortable behind the lens you'll want to reprogram this to activate a feature you'll use more often, like Sony's Auto Object Framing, which works to improve the composition of images, or the Clear Image Zoom function, which can effectively double the reach of your lens.

The tile-based menu system is familiar to experienced NEX shooters, but if you're moving up from a compact camera it will take getting used to. When you enter the main menu you'll be greeted by five icons: Camera, Image Size, Brightness/Color, Playback, and Setup. There are a ton of features that can be customized, but menu organization is sometimes unintuitive. For example, you'll need to go into Image Size to control the direction in which you move the camera to grab a panoramic photo; but make sure you're in Panorama mode, or that option will be grayed out.

The 3-inch rear LCD boasts a wide 16:9 ratio, just like the displays on other Sony mirrorless cameras like the NEX-5T. But it only packs a 230k-dot resolution, and looks noticeably pixelated. It can't match the 460k-dot display that Olympus packs into its entry-level PEN Mini E-PM2, and it doesn't incorporate the touch control that both the E-PM2 and NEX-5T offer.

The 0.5-inch, 768k-dot EVF is the best one you'll find in a $400 mirrorless camera, but that's because it's the only EVF you'll find in a $400 mirrorless camera. Compared with other offerings it's not very sharp, and gives you a bit of a tunnel vision effect when peering into it. There's a diopter, so you can tune it to match your eyesight, and it will get the job done when it's too bright to use the rear LCD for image framing.

The Alpha 3000 does support peaking as a manual focus aid; that system outlines in-focus parts of an image in red, yellow, or white to make manual focus quicker and more precise. But if you're serious about using the EVF, you'll be better suited with one that is a bit sharper—especially if you plan on using third-party manual focus lenses. The NEX-6 has a built-in OLED EVF, and the Panasonic G6 has an LCD EVF. You buy an add-on EVF for the Sony NEX-5T, and all Olympus PEN models support the VF-4. Since the Alpha 3000 is a budget-priced camera, it's not surprising that its EVF isn't top-quality.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/s160ezJ-Ivk/0,2817,2425433,00.asp
Tags: atlanta falcons   thursday night football   Ozymandias   amc   queen elizabeth  

Nobel winner Higgs plans to retire

15 October 2013
Last updated at 13:01 ET

Prof Higgs does not see himself as being comparable to Einstein

Prof Peter Higgs, the joint winner of this year's Nobel Prize for Physics, has promised to retire - once he turns 85.

In a BBC Scotland interview, he also revealed that he turned down the offer of a knighthood because he did not want "that sort of title".

Prof Higgs said he feels uncomfortable being likened to other Nobel winners.

The 84-year-old said this was because his work on the particle which carries his name only took a very short time.

He said: "I'm getting the prize for something which took me two or three weeks in 1964. It's a very small amount of my life.

"If you take Einstein for the example, his achievements were several orders of magnitude greater."

Landmark research

Prof Higgs was born in Newcastle, but developed his theory while working at the University of Edinburgh.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

As you know I've recently become a Companion of Honour but that's rather discreet”

End Quote
Prof Peter Higgs

His landmark research defined what was to become known as the Higgs boson.

Discovering the particle became one of the most sought-after goals in science, and the team of scientists from the European nuclear research facility Cern, who were behind the $10bn Large Hadron Collider (LHC), made proving its existence a key priority.

In July 2012, physicists at Cern confirmed the discovery of a particle consistent with the Higgs boson.

Prof Higgs said he was offered a knighthood in 1999 by Prime Minister Tony Blair but refused the honour.

'Rather discreet'

"I thought anything of that sort was premature," he explained, "and anyway, I didn't want that sort of title thank you."

"As you know I've recently become a Companion of Honour but that's rather discreet. It's a couple of letters after your name."

The physicist retired from full-time teaching 17 years ago but has remained active in sharing his knowledge with other scientists.

He now intends to retire "properly" after his 85th birthday.

"I'm proposing to retire at the age of 85, next year," he confirmed.

"But flying around the world giving lectures is a fairly recent phenomenon because of the build up to this discovery at Cern."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-24540510#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Related Topics: Gta 5 Online Not Working   How To Close Apps On Ios7   taylor swift   Lee Thompson Young   kim zolciak  

Hans Zimmer to Discuss 'Rush' at Billboard-THR Film & TV Music Conference

Composer Hans Zimmer and his colleagues on Rush -- Peter Asher and Lorne Balfe -- will discuss the music in the Ron Howard-directed hit film at the Billboard & Hollywood Reporter Film and TV Music Conference.

"Case Study: The Music of Rush" will explore Zimmer’s composing methods and recording techniques on the film about the Formula 1 race car drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt. ASCAP is sponsoring the Oct. 29 panel at the W Hotel in Hollywood

Rush is the latest film score from Zimmer, whose music has graced more than 100 movies that have grossed more than $22 billion at the worldwide box office. Honored with the ASCAP Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement, he has also received an Academy Award, two Golden Globes and four Grammy Awards.

Among his films are The Lion King, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Gore Verbinski’s Pirates of the Caribbean series; Christopher Nolan’s three Batman films, Howard’s The Da Vinci Code and Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave.

PHOTOS: 'Rush': Exclusive Photos of Ron Howard, Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl

Joining Zimmer will be Asher, the film’s music consultant and producer, and Balfe, a composer. Besides Rush, Asher produced the music for Zimmer’s scores to Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Sherlock Holmes 2, Madagascar 3 and Man of Steel.

Asher, one half of the pop duo Peter & Gordon, became head of A&R for Apple Records in 1968 and in 1971, founded Peter Asher Management, representing James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Randy Newman and others.

A producer as well, in 1977 and 1989 he received the Grammy for Producer of the Year and most recently produced Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s album Love Has Come For You. He also just completed a project for Elton John with current artists singing songs from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the album.

VIDEO: Hans Zimmer Conducts 12 Drummers for the 'Man of Steel' Soundtrack

Balfe, a composer from Inverness, Scotland, most recently scored Shane Salerno’s feature documentary Salinger. Known for his work on video games, his credits include Assassin’s Creed III and Beyond: Two Souls.

This year's Film and TV Music Conference's programming highlights include: Singer-songwriter and composer Randy Newman, who will deliver a keynote Q&A conducted by his son, Amos Newman, the head of Music for Visual Media at William Morris Endeavor; T Bone Burnett, who will be honored with the Maestro Award for his seminal work in film and television music, most recently as executive music producer of the Coen Brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis; a keynote Q&A by music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas, whose credits include Scandal, Carrie Diaries, and the upcoming film The Hunger Games: Catching Fire; director David O. Russell and music supervisor Sue Jacobs who will discuss their work on the highly anticipated film American Hustle and last year’s award-winning Silver Linings Playbook; and the expansion of one-on-one meetings and single topic roundtables with industry experts.

Please visit www.FilmandTVMusicConference.com for more information.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/film/~3/OSkvUNXo5K8/story01.htm
Category: Red Sox Score   snl   NSYNC VMA 2013   will smith   alexander skarsgard  

Will Ferrell leads USC band as Tommy Trojan

Celebs

Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
TODAY

7 hours ago

Now that's Old School. Will Ferrell, a 1990 graduate of the University of Southern California, showed his school pride on Monday when he led the school's marching band, the Spirit of Troy, dressed in full Trojan regalia.

Ferrell showed off his legs in a gladiator-style skirt and sandals, wore a breastplate, cape, and a warrior helmet with enormous plume. He carried a shiny sword, which at one point he staked into the stage, drawing tremendous cheers. When the band broke into USC's famed "Fight On!", Ferrell sang along, and began spinning his sword like a baton twirler. He finally marched off stage in step with the band.

Ferrell's appearance was part of a charity event hoping to raise money for Cancer for College, a group started by Ferrell's college friend and fraternity brother Craig Pollard, who learned he had cancer at just 15. Ferrell and Pollard spoke to USC students Monday night in a lecture titled, "A Will-Powered Friendship."

On Saturday, Ferrell supported another West Coast football program, making an appearance in the locker room of the University of Washington Huskies.

Ferrell's next film, "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues," comes out Dec. 20.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/will-ferrell-leads-usc-marching-band-while-dressed-tommy-trojan-8C11406532
Category: Charlie Manuel   mila kunis   Betty Pino  

Obama Is Coming for Immigration Next

WASHINGTON — As the fiscal fight roiling Washington nears its end, the White House is already signaling that it plans to use the political momentum it has gained during the shutdown fight to charge back into the immigration debate. And this time, Democratic pollsters and advocates say, they could actually win.

The final chapter of the current crisis hasn’t been written yet, but Democrats in Washington are privately confident that they’ll emerge with the upper hand over the conservatives in Congress who forced a government shutdown. And sources say the administration plans to use its victory to resurrect an issue that was always intended to be a top priority of Obama’s second-term agenda.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2013/10/16/obama_is_coming_for_immigration_next_318004.html
Category: Miley Cyrus Pregnant   Dumb and Dumber 2   nbc   North West   msft  

Hard numbers, chilling facts: What the government does with your data

I admit it -- I'm suffering from Snowden fatigue. The sheer volume of revelations about how the surveillance industrial complex digs its blue latex-gloved fingers into every nook and cranny of our lives has me exhausted. And there seems to be no end in sight.

Take, for example, this week's revelation that the NSA routinely scrapes address books from popular Webmail services, looking for connections. Per IDG News:

On a typical day, the NSA collects about 500,000 buddy lists and inboxes (which seems to refer to address books), according to the documents. But the number is also sometimes higher. On one representative day mentioned in the documents, the NSA gathered 444,743 Yahoo address books, 105,068 Hotmail contact lists and 82,857 address books from Facebook, 33,697 from Gmail and 22,881 from other providers for a total of 689,246.

[ For a humorous take on the tech industry's shenanigans, subscribe to Robert X. Cringely's Notes from the Underground newsletter and follow Cringely on Twitter. | Check out InfoWorld TechBrief, your source for quick, smart views on the news you'll be talking about -- subscribe today. ]

Or the revelations about Microsoft building backdoors into Skype for the spooks. Or the efforts to coerce encrypted email services into violating the privacy of hundreds of thousands of customers. I cannot articulate the differences between EgotisticalGoat, Erroneous Identity, or Epicfail, let alone the dozens of other perversely named spy programs.

The NSA nightmare -- told through pictures
Fortunately, someone has built a life raft for those of us drowning in the tsunami of data about NSA spying. Last week the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan think tank and advocacy group, published a remarkably clear breakdown called "What the Government Does with Americans' Data." It should be required reading for anyone who cares about what's left of our Constitution, once the buffoons in our nation's capital have stopped using it as confetti. There's an 88-page report, a summary of the conclusions, chilling numbers to consider, and a handful of amazingly concise infographics. Start with the latter to get the gist, then go to the intro.

The tl;dr version: The NSA gathers a massive amount of information on people who are not in any way connected with any terrorist activity, then holds onto it for at least five years and often much longer. It also shares this information with 10 different federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and the FDA.

As one infographic explains, if the NSA happens to hoover up a U.S. citizen's data along with that of suspected foreign evil doers, it will hold onto it for up to six years to analyze whether it contains "significant foreign intelligence information" or "evidence of a crime that has been, is being, or is about to be committed."

In other words, if you get caught in a digital dragnet, the spooks will sift your data to see if you've been naughty. If you have, they send that information to the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/cringely/hard-numbers-chilling-facts-what-the-government-does-your-data-228908?source=rss_infoworld_blogs
Related Topics: Susan Bennett   amanda knox   emmy winners   rosh hashanah   Iams Recall