Pebble smartwatch review

More Info

• Pebble smartwatch hands-on
• Pebble smartwatch unboxing
• Pebble smartwatch raises $100,000 in two hours

What is Kickstarter? The answer you'll hear, as long-winded as it may be, will likely touch on Pebble. If it doesn't, you'll probably want to ask someone else -- with more than $10 million pledged, the people's smartwatch catapulted past the crowdfunding site's records and the startup's own expectations. It achieved a $100,000 funding goal in two hours, and it was clearly a favorite among our readers. Of course, there were doubts that Eric Migicovsky, the company's founder, would deliver such an appealing and seemingly powerful product for $125, but following our first look during the company's CES press conference, that dream became real.

So, what is Pebble? It's not a smartphone for your wrist, as we've seen attempted before. In fact, it's far less sophisticated than you might expect -- the lightweight device reads out basic text, lets you skip through music tracks and, of course, displays the time. It's hardly the greatest achievement of our generation, or even the device of the year. It's become incredibly popular, sure, but despite the hype, you certainly don't need to own one. Yet, somehow, even the most technologically inept people in our lives have heard it mentioned on morning talk shows, FM radio stations or from pre-teens anxious to impress their friends. Having a smartphone alone isn't enough anymore. Or is it?

Gallery: Pebble smartwatch review

Hardware

We tested a black Pebble, which is the first color to ship. The face is slightly glossier than renders implied, but otherwise the production device looks nearly identical to early prototypes. There's a 22mm rubber strap for mounting the device to your wrist -- you'll likely be able to swap in your own band with matching dimensions. It's a fairly attractive combination, though regardless of the strap you choose, you'll probably want to leave Pebble behind during formal events, or walks down the runway.

Pebble feels very comfortable when fastened on the wrist -- it's relatively lightweight, and the smooth edges maintain their distance from sensitive skin. Still, it feels solid enough for regular use, and thanks to waterproofing down to 50 meters (164 feet), it can stay on your wrist during laps in the pool (or in the ocean), and it'll work just fine in the shower as well. There are two exposed metal connectors, used to pair up with the proprietary magnetic USB charging cable (the only accessory that ships in the box), but the housing appears to be properly sealed.

The secret to Pebble's weeklong battery life and daylight readability is a technology similar to what's penetrated the lives of bookworms young and old: an e-paper display. The 114 x 168 black-and-white screen sports nearly 20,000 pixels, letting you view emails and a time readout in several fonts, along with watch faces and other indicators. The display looks great both indoors and out, though we did notice some odd black spotting while viewing the panel in direct sunlight -- adjusting the angle eradicates the issue.

There's a simple backlight that illuminates the panel briefly at night, automatically when you receive a notification or manually when you activate any of the four side-mounted buttons. It's fairly dim, enabling you to avoid disturbing fellow moviegoers or that patient significant other sharing your bed, but still bright enough for you to catch every detail. Pebble will reflect even a small amount of ambient light, however, so your backlight usage is likely to be fairly minimal.

Pebble doesn't offer much functionality without a smartphone. You'll need one (and an accompanying app) to get started, and although you'll be able to display the time while disconnected (in Airplane Mode, for example), software updates, feature additions and notifications all require a Bluetooth connection. Fortunately, there's Bluetooth 4.0 support, which offers speedy performance with reduced energy consumption. This also contributes to Pebble's weeklong battery life, and a reported five to 10 percent hit to your smartphone's longevity.

We'll detail the user interface more in the section below, but since there's no touch functionality here, you'll need to navigate using the four side-mounted buttons. There's a home (or back) button on the top left side, which brings you back to Pebble's main configuration page. Positioned to the right of the e-paper panel: a top button scrolls up, a smaller center button makes selections and the control on the bottom scrolls down -- through messages, menus or tracks while controlling music playback. All of these buttons require a firm press, rather than a tap, and while you won't accidentally activate the controls, registering input can take a bit of effort.

Software

Pebble's two apps -- one for Android 2.3 or later and the second for Apple devices running iOS 5 or later -- enable everything from initial setup to push notifications. There's no user manual in the box, so you'll need to download your respective app to get started. Pairing takes a few seconds, and then you're good to go. The smartwatch will automatically adopt the local time on your smartphone, and you can select from a few default watch faces, ranging from Text Watch, which you're probably already familiar with, to Classic Analog.

To take full advantage of the device's functionality, you'll need to head back over to the smartphone app, where you can push additional watch faces (there are currently just five to download, including TicTockToe). Eventually, this custom app store will include third-party apps, such as the bike computer and golf rangefinder that the company pitched on its Kickstarter page, though they're not available now.

The app's Settings page is where you'll select notifications to push. Based on the apps installed on our Galaxy Note II, we were able to choose from incoming call alerts, text messages, calendar reminders, email previews, Google Talk messages, Google Voice messages and Facebook messages. Each option has a checkbox, so if you want to use your Pebble for caller ID but don't want to be bothered with Facebook messages, that's perfectly OK. With each notification, the watch will vibrate once, the backlight will flip on (for a few seconds) and the message will pop up.

Theoretically, you can simply shake your wrist to dismiss the notification, though we were only able to accomplish this by pressing one of the buttons. You can choose from large and small fonts for notifications, but regardless of the size, you can scroll to see more using the up and down buttons. You'll need to hop over to your smartphone to read the full message or send a response. Similarly, when you receive a call, your only option on the watch is to dismiss the notification, but doing so won't send your caller to voicemail.

Unless you're looking at your watch every few seconds, there will likely come a time when your inbox contains multiple messages. Unfortunately, Pebble will only display the very last notification received, so it won't completely eliminate a need to check your smartphone. Also, it's not currently able to display certain languages -- a message we received with Chinese characters rendered as several lines of rectangles on the display.

At this point, all of the interactions between Pebble and a connected smartphone go in one direction -- from your handset to the watch -- with one exception. The wristwatch's music player controls playback on your Android or iOS device, including play / pause and track skipping. There's no volume control, which seems reasonable given the limited number of buttons. With our Android phone, the watch was able to identify and control music from the native app, but not third-party services, such as Spotify.

The competition

Although it may seem to be the case given the excitement surrounding this launch, Pebble is not the only smartwatch on the market. Sony and now Toshiba are two of the giants behind similar tech, and the former company's SmartWatch is even reasonably priced, at $149. Allerta, the company behind Pebble, released its own wearable several years ago, called inPulse, but smartphone compatibility was limited to BlackBerry models and certain Android-powered handsets, and the device uses an OLED display. Similarly, WIMM Labs' WIMM One was made available to developers, but is no longer in production.

Pebble's success stems from the promise of third-party apps and the practical e-paper display, along with the marketing power of Kickstarter. Functionality remains somewhat limited, but this is a first-generation device from a small manufacturer that's currently only in the hands of a very limited number of lucky backers. If consumer interest is any indication, developers will likely soon be hard at work on a variety of unique applications, if they aren't already. The platform is incredibly young, and the best is yet to come.

Wrap-up

We've really enjoyed our time with Pebble so far -- it's not a fashion statement, necessarily, but we wouldn't be surprised to see it pop up on many wrists in the weeks and months to come. Functionality is still quite limited at this point, and considering how fresh the device is, that's to be expected. The features that are already available work well, and the smartwatch has been a pleasure to use.

Taking price into account, Pebble is an excellent value, especially for lucky Kickstarter backers who were able to take advantage of $99, $115 and $125 pre-orders. We're very optimistic for the device's future -- our chief concern relates not to the hardware, but how it will affect behavior: If you thought that friend who glances at his smartphone every few minutes was rude, just wait until they own a Pebble.

Update: Pebble's fearless leader, Eric Migicovsky, responded with the answers to a few of our questions. He confirmed that the goal is to fulfill all Kickstarter orders within the next 6-8 weeks, with preorders following. The device may eventually end up in retail stores, but there's no firm timeline there. Pebble is powered by an ARM Cortex-M3 processor, with a 140mAh battery keeping you up and running for up to a week with occasional use, or five days with frequent notifications and backlight activation. On the cosmetic front, the dark spots we saw in sunlight was likely a "Mura Effect" from the lens -- it's possible that other users will notice this as well. Finally, English is the only language currently supported (which explains why our Chinese characters rendered as rectangles), but others will soon follow.

Update 2: Apps that support the Audio / Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP) should be compatible with Pebble's audio controls. Spotify, however, does not include this support.

Filed under: Wearables, Mobile

Comments

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

pope joan strikeforce tate vs rousey strawberry festival knicks the monkees ciaa love actually

Fears grow that Libya is incubator of turmoil

FILE - In this Tuesday Feb. 14, 2012 file photo, Libyan militias from towns throughout the country's west parade through Tripoli, Libya. Libya's upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali's war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya's instability. There is a growing fear that post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and Islamic jihadi militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad. (AP Photo/ Abdel Magid Al Fergany, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday Feb. 14, 2012 file photo, Libyan militias from towns throughout the country's west parade through Tripoli, Libya. Libya's upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali's war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya's instability. There is a growing fear that post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and Islamic jihadi militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad. (AP Photo/ Abdel Magid Al Fergany, File)

FILE -- In this Friday, Sept. 14, 2012 file photo, a Libyan follower of Ansar al-Shariah Brigades chants as he carries the Brigades flag, with Arabic writing that reads, "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger, Ansar al-Shariah," during a protest in front of the Tibesti Hotel, in Benghazi, Libya. Libya's upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali's war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya's instability. There is a growing fear that post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and Islamic jihadi militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)

FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 14, 2012 file photo, Libyan military guards check one of the U.S. Consulate's burnt out buildings during a visit by Libyan President Mohammed el-Megarif, not shown, to the U.S. Consulate to express sympathy for the death of the American ambassador, Chris Stevens and his colleagues in the deadly attack on the Consulate last Tuesday, September 11, in Benghazi, Libya. Libya's upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali's war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya's instability. There is a growing fear that post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and Islamic jihadi militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad.(AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)

FILE --In this Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012 file photo, graffiti on one of the city walls calls on people to stop random firing of weapons making the point that when a bullet goes up it also comes down and can injure or kill people, in Benghazi, Libya. Libya's upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali's war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya's instability. There is a growing fear that post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and Islamic jihadi militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)

FILE -- In this Friday, Sept. 21, 2012 file photo, Libyan civilians watch fires in the Ansar al-Shariah Brigades compound, after hundreds of Libyans, Libyan Military, and Police raided the Brigades base, in Benghazi, Libya. Libya's upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali's war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya's instability. There is a growing fear that post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and Islamic jihadi militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)

Libya's upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali's war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya's instability. Fears are growing that post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and Islamic jihadi militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad.

The possibility of a Mali backlash was underlined the past week when several European governments evacuated their citizens from Libya's second largest city, Benghazi, fearing attacks in retaliation for the French-led military assault against al-Qaida-linked extremists in northern Mali.

More worrisome is the possibility that Islamic militants inspired by ? or linked to ? al-Qaida can establish a strong enough foothold in Libya to spread instability across a swath of North Africa where long, porous desert borders have little meaning, governments are weak, and tribal and ethnic networks stretch from country to country. The Associated Press examined the dangers in recent interviews with officials, tribal leaders and jihadis in various parts of Libya.

Already, Libya's turmoil echoes around the region and in the Middle East. The large numbers of weapons brought into Libya or seized from government caches during the 2011 civil war against Gadhafi are now smuggled freely to Mali, Egypt and its Sinai Peninsula, the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad. Jihadis in Libya are believed to have operational links with fellow militant groups in the same swath, Libyan fighters have joined rebels in Syria and are believed to operate in other countries as well.

Libyan officials, activists and experts are increasingly raising alarm over how Islamic militants have taken advantage of the oil-rich country's weakness to grow in strength. During his more than four-decade rule Gadhafi stripped the country of national institutions, and after his fall the central government has little authority beyond the capital, Tripoli. Militias established to fight Gadhafi remain dominant, and tribes and regions are sharply divided.

In the eastern city of Benghazi, birthplace of the revolt that led to the ouster and killing of Gadhafi, militias espousing an al-Qaida ideology and including veteran fighters are prevalent, even ostensibly serving as security forces on behalf of the government since the police and military are so weak and poorly armed. One such militia, Ansar al-Shariah, is believed to have been behind the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in the city that killed four Americans, including the ambassador. Since then, militants have been blamed for a wave of assassinations of security officers and government officials.

Earlier this month, former Libyan leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil warned the militant threat extends to efforts to establish a state that can enforce rule of law.

"Libya will not see stability except by facing them," he told a gathering videotaped by activists and aired on Libyan TV. "It is time to either hold dialogue or confront them." He listed 30 officials and police officers assassinated in Benghazi the past year.

The Mali drama illustrates how the threat bounces back and forth across the borders drawn in the Sahel, the region stretching across the Sahara Desert. Libya and Mali are separated by Algeria, but the two countries had deep ties under Gadhafi. Thousands of Tuaregs moved from Mali to Libya beginning in the 1970s, and many joined special divisions of Gadhafi's military where they earned higher salaries than they would have at home.

As Gadhafi was falling in 2011, thousands of heavily armed Tuareg fighters in southern Libya fled to northern Mali. The Tuareg are an indigenous ethnic group living throughout the Sahel, from Mali to Chad and into Libya and Algeria.

The fighters, led by commander Mohammed Ag Najem, broke the Mali government's hold over the north and declared their long-held dream of a Tuareg homeland, Azawad. But they in turn were defeated by Islamic militants, some linked to al-Qaida's branch in North Africa, who took over the territory and imposed rule under an extreme version of Shariah, or Islamic law. This month, as militants moved south, France launched its military intervention to rescue the Mali government, conducting airstrikes against militants.

In retaliation, militants seized an oil complex in eastern Algeria, prompting a siege by Algerian forces that killed dozens of Western hostages and militants.

The militant group that carried out the Algeria hostage taking, in turn, had help from Libyan extremists in the form of smuggled weapons and "organizational ties," the group's leader, Moktar Belmoktar said.

"Their ideological and organizational connection to us is not an accusation against a Muslim but a source of pride and honor to us and to them," Belmoktar, the one-eyed Algerian founder of the Masked Brigade, said of the Libyans in an interview with The Mauritanian newspaper in mid-December. "Jihadists in al-Qaida and in general were the biggest beneficiaries of the Arab world uprisings, because these uprisings have broken the chains of fear ... that the agent regimes of the West imposed."

He urged Libyan militants not to submit to calls by the Tripoli government to hand over their weapons, saying their arms are "the source of their dignity and their guarantee of security."

With pressure building on Mali's Islamists, Libya provides a possible alternative haven for jihadis, said Scott Stewart of the global intelligence group Stratfor.

"It is a very good place to operate if you are an extremist," he said. "There are fault lines and divisions ... The central government has very little authority outside Tripoli. This is very conducive environment for Jihad to thrive."

They already have a free rein in Benghazi.

"Libya became a heaven for them," Col. Salah Bouhalqa, a leading military commander in Benghazi, said of al-Qaida. "The Westerners are fearful that what happened in Algeria will take place in Libya. And here, just like Mali and Egypt and Iraq, these groups have extensions."

Some extremists say they are determined to shape the new Libya. Youssef Jihani, a member of Ansar Shariah in Benghazi, vowed that he and other jihadis would not accept a return to the days when they were jailed and executed under Gadhafi's rule. He told the AP in Benghazi late last year that the toppling of Gadhafi would not have been possible without the strength of jihadi fighters who he said joined the uprising to ensure an "Islamic state of Libya, where Shariah rule is implemented."

The bearded young man said he lay down his weapons last year. But he said he would take arms up again if Libya's next constitution doesn't make a clear reference to rule by Islamic law or if secular politicians hold power and try to rein in jihadis.

Jihani proudly said he believes in al-Qaida and supports its slain leader Osama bin Laden and Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar. He said that during Libya's civil war in 2011, he killed a captured soldier from Gadhafi's army after discovering 11 video clips on his mobile phone showing soldiers raping women and men. Jihani said he ordered the soldier to dig his own grave, then severed his head with a knife.

"I wish I could behead him 11 times," he said. His story could not be independently confirmed.

Stewart, of Stratfor, also pointed to a concern that al-Qaida could make inroads among Libya's impoverished and alienated Tuareg.

Living in mud-brick slums or camps in the deserts of southwestern Libya, most Tuaregs were never given citizenship under Gadhafi's rule, though he used their fighters as mercenaries, and now they suffer not only from poverty but from the disdain of Libyans who see them as Gadhafi loyalists.

For centuries, Tuareg ran caravan routes across the Sahara, carrying gold and other valuables. Now they're known for smuggling weapons and drugs. In slums around the towns of Sabha and Owbari, they sleep next to livestock in shacks with corrugated metal roofs, with webs of electric cables dangling from poles overhead and garbage-filled streets.

Libya's new leadership has largely shunned them. The Tuareg's four members in parliament were removed because of ties to Gadhafi's regime, leaving them without a political voice. The Tuareg contend they were exploited by Gadhafi, along with all other Libyans.

"Gadhafi's rule left behind a breeding ground for terrorism by depriving people of their rights and education .... After all the promises, we thought we will live in heaven, but kids here die from scorpion bites," said Suleiman Naaim, a Tuareg rights activist, told the AP in Owbari.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-26-ML-Libya-Turmoil-Central/id-24b860b55ef34a54b0ac51383e3a569b

ups Aj Mccarron Girlfriend linkedin linkedin CES 2013 joe budden notre dame

Lesniak: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is "Clueless" About Online ...

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

Source: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2013/01/lesniak-new-jersey-gov-chris-christie-is-clueless-14210.htm

Olympics Live Mens Gymnastics Allison Schmitt Olympic Schedule Kyla Ross Ryan Lochte Montenegro

JCPenney Just Went Through One Of The Craziest Years A Retailer ...

">Aimee Groth, Business Insider

?

On January 25, 2012, JCPenney CEO Ron Johnson took a stage in front of a throng of anxious investors, analysts, and reporters.

He announced his plan to turn things around at the struggling department store.

Johnson was JCPenney's white knight. He had joined the retailer in late 2011, leaving his high-profile job as the retail chief at Apple.?

The brilliant mind behind the magnificent success of the Apple Store was supposed to be the century-old chain's savior.?

It's not nearly over yet ? his plan called for a few years of transition. But now, it has been one year since Johnson gave that presentation.?

JCPenney's stock is down 53 percent since then.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/jcpenney-year-under-ron-johnson-2013-1

Christmas Story after christmas sales case mccoy case mccoy UFC 155 Jack Klugman weather channel

Court says Obama appointments violate constitution

Richard Cordray stands left as President Barack Obama announces in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, that he will re-nominate Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a role that he has held for the last year under a recess appointment, and nominate Mary Joe White to lead the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Richard Cordray stands left as President Barack Obama announces in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, that he will re-nominate Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a role that he has held for the last year under a recess appointment, and nominate Mary Joe White to lead the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama violated the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate last year to appoint three members of the National Labor Relations Board, a federal appeals court ruled Friday in a far-reaching decision that could severely limit a chief executive's powers to make recess appointments.

The decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit marked a victory for Republicans and business groups critical of the labor board. If it stands, it could invalidate hundreds of board decisions over the past year, including some that make it easier for unions to organize.

When Obama filled the vacancies on Jan. 4, 2012, Congress was on an extended holiday break. But GOP lawmakers gaveled in for a few minutes every three days just to prevent Obama from making recess appointments. The White House argued that the pro forma sessions ? some lasting less than a minute ? were a sham.

The court rejected that argument, but went even further, finding that under the Constitution, a recess occurs only during the breaks between formal year-long sessions of Congress, not just any informal break when lawmakers leave town. It also held that presidents can bypass the Senate only when administration vacancies occur during a recess.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said the administration strongly disagrees with the decision and that the labor board would continue to conduct business as usual, despite calls by some Republicans for the board members to resign.

"The decision is novel and unprecedented," Carney said. "It contradicts 150 years of practice by Democratic and Republican administrations."

Under the court's decision, 285 recess appointments made by presidents between 1867 and 2004 would be invalid.

The Justice Department hinted that the administration would ask the Supreme Court to overturn the decision, which was rendered by three conservative judges appointed by Republican presidents. "We disagree with the court's ruling and believe that the president's recess appointments are constitutionally sound," the statement said.

The court acknowledged that the ruling conflicts with what some other federal appeals courts have held about when recess appointments are valid, which only added to the likelihood of an appeal to the high court.

"I think this is a very important decision about the separation of powers," said Carl Tobias, a constitutional law professor at Virginia's University of Richmond. "The court's reading has limited the president's ability to counter the obstruction of appointments by a minority in the Senate that has been pretty egregious in the Obama administration."

The ruling also threw into question the legitimacy of Obama's recess appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Cordray's appointment, made on the same date, has been challenged in a separate case.

Carney insisted the court's ruling affects only a single case before the labor board and would have no bearing on Cordray's appointment. Obama on Thursday renominated Cordray for the job.

The case challenging the recess appointments was brought by Noel Canning, a Washington state bottling company that claimed an NLRB decision against it was not valid because the board members were not properly appointed. The D.C. Circuit panel agreed.

Obama made the recess appointments after Senate Republicans blocked his choices for an agency they contended was biased in favor of unions. Obama claims he acted properly because the Senate was away for the holidays on a 20-day recess. The Constitution allows for such appointments without Senate approval when Congress is in recess.

But during that time, GOP lawmakers argued, the Senate technically had stayed in session because it was gaveled in and out every few days for so-called pro forma sessions.

GOP lawmakers used the tactic ? as Democrats had done in the past ? specifically to prevent the president from using his recess power to install members to the labor board and the consumer board. They had also vigorously opposed the nomination of Cordray.

The three-judge panel flatly rejected arguments from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, which claimed that the president has discretion to decide that the Senate is unavailable to perform its advice and consent function.

"Allowing the president to define the scope of his own appointment power would eviscerate the Constitution's separation of powers," Chief Judge David Sentelle wrote in the 46-page ruling. He was appointed by President Ronald Reagan.

The court ruled that during one of those pro forma sessions on Jan. 3, 2012, the Senate officially convened its second session of the 112th Congress, as required by the Constitution.

Sentelle's opinion was joined by Judge Thomas Griffith, appointed to the court by President George W. Bush, and Karen LeCraft Henderson, who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush.

"With this ruling, the D.C. Circuit has soundly rejected the Obama administration's flimsy interpretation of the law, and (it) will go a long way toward restoring the constitutional separation of powers," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

GOP House Speaker John Boehner welcomed the ruling as "a victory for accountability in government."

If the ruling stands, it would invalidate more than 600 board decisions issued over the past year. It also would leave the five-member labor board with just one validly appointed member, effectively shutting it down. The board is allowed to issue decisions only when it has at least three sitting members.

Obama used the recess appointment to install Deputy Labor Secretary Sharon Block, union lawyer Richard Griffin and NLRB counsel Terence Flynn to fill vacancies on the labor board, giving it a full contingent for the first time in more than a year. Block and Griffin are Democrats, while Flynn is a Republican. Flynn stepped down from the board last year.

All three vacancies on the labor board had been open for months before Obama acted to fill them.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa called the ruling "a radical departure from precedent" and argued that Obama had no choice but to act.

"Throughout his presidency, Republicans have employed unprecedented partisan delay tactics and filibusters to prevent confirmation of nominees to lead the NLRB, thus crippling the board's legal authority to act," Harkin said.

If Obama's recess appointment of Cordray to the newly created consumer board is eventually ruled invalid, it could nullify all the regulations the consumer board has issued, many of which affect the mortgage business.

___

Follow Sam Hananel on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SamHananelAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-25-Obama-Recess%20Appointments/id-0ddef8e066f84e06a514d7849005ce9d

anencephaly tesla model x lou gehrig toby mac blue ivy carter photos purple squirrel blade runner

Envoy: SKorea's Park open to dialogue with NKorea

In this Jan. 24, 2013 photo, students walk toward Pothong River in Pothong District, Pyongyang, North Korea with the Ryugyong Hotel seen in the background, second right. The banner calls on the people to build a country into an economic power using the spirit of the scientists who sent a satellite into space. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)

In this Jan. 24, 2013 photo, students walk toward Pothong River in Pothong District, Pyongyang, North Korea with the Ryugyong Hotel seen in the background, second right. The banner calls on the people to build a country into an economic power using the spirit of the scientists who sent a satellite into space. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)

FILE - In this Dec. 21, 2012 file image made from video, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks at a banquet for rocket scientists in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea's top governing body warned Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013 that the regime will conduct its third nuclear test in defiance of U.N. punishment, and made clear that its long-range rockets are designed to carry not only satellites but also warheads aimed at striking the United States. The National Defense Commission, headed by the country's young leader, rejected Tuesday's U.N. Security Council resolution condemning North Korea's long-range rocket launch in December as a banned missile activity and expanding sanctions against the regime. (AP Photo/KRT via AP Video, File) NORTH KOREA OUT

FILE - In this Dec. 12, 2012 file image made from video, North Korea's Unha-3 rocket lifts off from the Sohae launching station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea. North Korea's top governing body warned Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013 that the regime will conduct its third nuclear test in defiance of U.N. punishment, and made clear that its long-range rockets are designed to carry not only satellites but also warheads aimed at striking the United States. (AP Photo/KRT via AP Video, File)

U.S. envoy to North Korea Glyn Davies speaks after meeting with South Korea's nuclear envoy Lim Sung-nam, unseen, at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. The North Korean military commission led by leader Kim Jong Un warned Thursday that the regime is poised to conduct a nuclear test in defiance of U.N. punishment, and made clear that its long-range rockets are designed to carry not only satellites but also warheads aimed at striking the United States. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

U.S. envoy to North Korea Glyn Davies, right, speaks after meeting with South Korea's nuclear envoy Lim Sung-nam at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. The North Korean military commission led by leader Kim Jong Un warned Thursday that the regime is poised to conduct a nuclear test in defiance of U.N. punishment, and made clear that its long-range rockets are designed to carry not only satellites but also warheads aimed at striking the United States. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? South Korea's new president will not tolerate North Korean provocations but will continue to push for dialogue with Pyongyang, a special envoy to President-elect Park Geun-hye said just hours after the North's top governing body declared it would continue atomic tests and rocket launches.

Park is strongly urging North Korea to refrain from conducting a nuclear test that could only worsen the tensions on the Korean Peninsula in the wake of a provocative long-range rocket launch in December, envoy Rhee In-je told The Associated Press and selected news outlets in Davos, Switzerland.

"President-elect Park makes it clear that North Korea's nuclear ambitions and further provocations against the South will not be tolerated," Rhee said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Thursday. "In particular, she strongly urges North Korea to refrain from further worsening the situation by conducting a third nuclear test."

North Korea responded Friday by warning South Korea of "strong physical countermeasures" if Seoul takes part in U.N. sanctions aimed at punishing Pyongyang for the rocket launch.

"Sanctions mean war and a declaration of war against us," the Committee for Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland said in a statement carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency.

The latest warning comes in the wake of a U.N. Security Council decision Tuesday to condemn North Korea's Dec. 12 rocket launch as a violation of a ban against missile activity. The council, including Pyongyang ally China, also expanded sanctions against the regime.

North Korea's National Defense Commission responded by declaring that the regime is prepared to conduct a nuclear test in defiance of U.N. punishment, and it made clear that its long-range rockets are designed to carry not only satellites but also warheads aimed at striking the United States.

The commission, North Korea's top governing body led by leader Kim Jong Un, pledged Thursday to keep launching satellites and rockets and to conduct a nuclear test as part of a "new phase" of combat with the United States, which it blames for leading the U.N. bid to punish Pyongyang. It said a nuclear test was part of "upcoming" action but did not say exactly when or where it would take place.

"We do not hide that a variety of satellites and long-range rockets which will be launched by the DPRK one after another and a nuclear test of higher level which will be carried out by it in the upcoming all-out action, a new phase of the anti-U.S. struggle that has lasted century after century, will target against the U.S., the sworn enemy of the Korean people," the commission said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he has seen no outward sign that North Korea will follow through soon on its plan to conduct a test. But that doesn't mean preparations aren't taking place.

"They have the capability, frankly, to conduct these tests in a way that make it very difficult to determine whether or not they are doing it," Panetta told reporters in Washington.

North Korea claims the right to build nuclear weapons as a defense against the United States, its Korean War foe.

Their bitter three-year war ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953, and left the Korean Peninsula divided by the world's most heavily fortified demilitarized zone. The U.S. leads the U.N. Command that governs the truce and stations more than 28,000 troops in ally South Korea, a presence that North Korea cites as a key reason for its drive to build nuclear weapons.

North Korea is estimated to have stored up enough weaponized plutonium for four to eight bombs, according to scientist Siegfried Hecker, who visited the North's Nyongbyon nuclear complex in 2010.

In October, an unidentified spokesman at the National Defense Commission claimed that the U.S. mainland was within missile range. And at a military parade last April, North Korea showed off what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile.

In 2009, Pyongyang declared that it would begin enriching uranium, which would give North Korea a second way to make atomic weapons.

The National Defense Commission's allusion to a "higher level" nuclear test most likely refers to a device made from highly enriched uranium, said Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea. Experts say North Korea must keep testing its atomic devices so it can make them small enough to mount as nuclear warheads onto long-range missiles.

North Korea tested atomic devices in 2006 and 2009 after receiving U.N. condemnation for launching long-range rockets.

The U.S. envoy on North Korean issues, Glyn Davies, urged Pyongyang not to explode an atomic device.

"Whether North Korea tests or not, it's up to North Korea. We hope they don't do it. We call on them not to do it," he told reporters in Seoul after meeting Thursday with South Korean officials. "It will be a mistake and a missed opportunity if they were to do it."

White House spokesman Jay Carney on Thursday said North Korea's aggressive stance is unnecessary and warned against any further testing.

"North Korea's statement is needlessly provocative and a test would be a significant violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions," he said. "Further provocation would only increase Pyongyang's isolation, and its continued focus on its nuclear and missile program is doing nothing to help the North Korean people."

He said the recent U.N. resolution is a "strong message of the international community's opposition to North Korean provocations and these tightened sanctions will impede the growth of weapons of mass destruction programs in North Korea and the United States will be taking additional steps in that regard."

Carney did not elaborate on what those steps might be.

Despite her firm stand, Park, who takes office next month, wants to leave the window open to constructive dialogue with Pyongyang and will continue to provide food and medical aid as part of a "trust-building" policy for the two Koreas, envoy Rhee said.

"It is a gradual process based on mutual trust and respect, which can begin with keeping promises," he said.

She also advocates returning to the six-nation disarmament negotiations, Rhee said. North Korea walked away from those talks in 2009 and has said future disarmament talks are out off the table.

___

Associated Press writers Sandy MacIntyre in Davos, Switzerland; Jean H. Lee in Seoul and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report. Follow AP's Korea bureau chief at www.twitter.com/newsjean.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-25-NKorea-Nuclear/id-30223e11f4ef47a3ac853e979ed8eb17

leap day michigan primary results olympia snowe davey jones dead monsanto boston weather dr seuss birthday

Biome Technologies eyes synthetic biology market, still mulling ...

Biome Technologies () is mulling a move into the emerging area of bio-based materials through the use of synthetic biology.

The bioplastics group has been developing new applications for its intellectual property following the sale of its half of its Biotec joint venture in October.

Biome said it has a small number of early stage collaborations with both academic and industrial partners in the bio-based materials area. It has applied for government funding to accelerate this in 2013.

Overall, Biome said its financial performance in 2012 was in line with expectations.

Development of a high performance single-use food service product is progressing well and was market tested in the fourth quarter of 2012 with a full launch now underway with some 40 tonnes delivered already. A multi-layer sealing film for single-use coffee capsules has also been launched.

"While the expected growth trajectories of both of these applications are potentially strong, their actual performance will be clearer by the second half of 2013," Biome said.

Stanelco RF Technologies had a slightly subdued end to 2012 as a number of optical fibre furnace deliveries were delayed due to some turbulence in the Chinese fibre market. Good progress continues on the Durapipe project and delivery timing for ten pre-production units is being finalised.

Following the Biotec sale, Biome had net cash of ?6.3 mln at the end of December and the company said it is still considering returning excess funds to shareholders. This would require a re-organisation of capital, given the large accumulated losses and substantial share premium accounts.

The company said it would give an update on this with the preliminary results.

Source: http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/52759/biome-technologies-eyes-synthetic-biology-market-still-mulling-hand-out-52759.html

Sam Mikulak London 2012 diving Tim Berners-Lee Olympics 2012 Schedule Kenneth Branagh Lupe Ontiveros London 2012 China

Matsutake mushroom creates food for thought - Concordia University

Address by noted anthropologist looks at economics of luxury delicacy growing in devastated landscapes

Anthropologist Anna Tsing will deliver a talk on her current project, titled "Living in Ruins," which examines the extraordinary matsutake mushroom, which thrives in North American clearcuts and is highly valued as a delicacy in Japan.

The February 1 lecture, titled ?Capitalism after progress: salvage accumulation on blighted landscapes,? is co-sponsored by the Loyola College for Sustainability, the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre, and the McGill University Anthropology Department.

A professor of anthropology at the University of Californina Santa Cruz, Tsing heads up the Matsutake Worlds Research Group, which is ?interested in matsutake cultures and ecologies as multispecies worlds where life continues in the midst of great disturbances.?

The mushroom?s unique place in the ecological and economic landscape provides the research group with a clear view of what Tsing refers to as the ?riches of global heterogeneity, both terrible and sweet.?

Her work with the matsutake mushroom is a natural extension of Tsing?s earlier scholarly work which questioned the accepted inevitability of globalization, while examining its often ravaging effects on local communities and ecosystems.

?Dr. Tsing is someone I?ve known for a while, and someone whose work I?ve been following and respecting for a long, long time,? says Kregg Hetherington, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, one of the organizers of the talk.

When Tsing accepted to come and speak at Concordia, Hetherington immediately contacted the new Loyola Sustainability Research Centre, which is housed in the newly renamed Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability (formerly Loyola International College). ?I knew she would be someone of interest to them,? he said. He was right, and the centre immediately threw its support behind the talk.

?Dr. Tsing?s work exemplifies the interdisciplinary approach that we?re trying to take or promote with the creation of this centre,? says Peter Stoett, professor of political science and the centre?s director. ?As academics we need to put more serious thought into the linkages between the local and the global and how that gets manifested in various changes in society. That?s sort of where most of her work goes.?

The talk represents the first official event to receive the centre?s backing, and Stoett is hoping it will help generate interest around its mission, both inside the university and among the larger scholarly community. ?Events like this talk serve the purpose of bringing people together and informing them, but also, you can get a sense from the audience of what people are interested in doing.?

Kregg, who arrived at Concordia from Dalhousie University less than a year ago, says knowing that work was underway to create the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre was one of the reasons he came to Montreal.

?The centre gives us the opportunity to create new ways of thinking between our disciplines, and to hopefully generate new research projects that involve people looking at problems such as climate change from different angles.?

Singling out the place of the matsutake mushroom on the global landscape is certainly a unique angle for examining the relationship between local and global economic forces, local communities and the environment.

?What would the world look like if we examined it without expectations of progress?? Tsing asks. ?A charismatic wild mushroom helps me view the world through disturbed forests and displaced rural people ? that is, through humans and non-humans negotiating progress?s ruins.?

What: Lecture by Anna Tsing: ?Capitalism after progress: salvage accumulation on blighted landscapes?
When: Friday, February 1 at 4 p.m.
Where: Room H-415, Henry F. Hall Building (1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.), Sir George Williams Campus

Related links:
???? Loyola Sustainability Research Centre
???? Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability
???? Anna Tsing lecture poster

?

Source: http://www.concordia.ca/now/what-we-do/research/20130124/matsutake-mushroom-creates-food-for-thought.php

case mccoy UFC 155 Jack Klugman weather channel weather forecast merry Christmas a christmas story

Celebs gather to promote arts education _ and eat

WASHINGTON (AP) ? For all the talk about fewer celebrities making it to Washington this time for the inauguration, you would have had a hard time not bumping into one ? literally ? at a packed downtown restaurant Sunday evening.

Munching on traditional Russian food at the "night before" dinner party thrown by the Creative Coalition, a high-profile arts advocacy group with an emphasis on arts education, were Paula Abdul, David Arquette, Tim Daly, Alfre Woodard, Giancarlo Esposito, John Leguizamo, Taraji P. Henson, Lynn Whitfield, Melissa Leo, Richard Kind, Marlon Wayans and others ? even Newman from "Seinfeld," Wayne Knight.

As they sampled beef stroganoff, blini with salmon roe, pickled vegetables and vodka infused with flavors like horseradish, pineapple and honey, many guests discussed how excited they were to be in Washington for President Barack Obama's second inauguration.

"It's my first time ? because I wasn't invited last year," quipped film actor Leguizamo. "So I'm really thrilled."

An ardent supporter of Barack Obama, Leguizamo said he was also thrilled that the president won re-election. "I wasn't sure it would happen," he said. "There was that first debate, and then Romney's numbers went up, and it was terrifying. But now the president has the chance to do so many things, and he's going to do them: gun control, raising taxes on the rich, regulating Wall Street."

Like other guests, Leguizamo said he had a particular interest in keeping the arts alive for young people ? "the arts saved me," he said ? a key mission of the Creative Coalition, a non-partisan group that held major fundraisers at both conventions over the summer.

The group's president, actor Tim Daly, said the goal is "to get people in positions of power to start recognizing the importance of the arts ? particularly arts education." He said the president was a promoter of the arts, "but we want him to use his bully pulpit more."

Most of the 200 people packed into the Mari Vanna eatery seemed to be planning to attend the president's swearing-in Monday, no matter the weather. "I was here four years ago and it was an exhilarating experience," said Esposito, of the new series "Revolution." ''I have mixed-race children, so we had the feeling that the world was changing not just for us, but for them."

This year, he said, it's natural that there's a different feeling. "There's only one first," he said, referring to the historic nature of the 2009 inauguration, with the swearing-in of the first black president. "But we can't fall into complacency. We can't lose hope." He joked that he still supported Obama even though "I'm in his tax-bracket target, and I have four kids!"

The dinner was just the beginning of the festivities. The coalition is hosting a ball on Monday night, featuring even more celebrities and a performance by the Goo Goo Dolls.

"Hollywood is the greatest messenger," said the coalition's CEO, Robin Bronk. "We're harnessing the power of celebrity here."

But before the ball, Leguizamo had to worry about Monday's weather. He said he hadn't heard of, or prepared for, the expected lowering of temperatures in the capital.

"Yikes, I only have, like, this suit," he said. "I'm gonna have to wear a lot of extra T-shirts."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/celebs-gather-promote-arts-education-eat-044414215.html

brad pitt and angelina jolie brad and angelina herniated disc luke scott tom benson royals nicole richie

Obama Renews Oath for Second Term (WSJ)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/278505468?client_source=feed&format=rss

mike kelly kristen bell colbert super pac colbert super pac sloth birth control pill recall ground hog day

The bride's Jenny Packham wedding dress is gorgeous! Are you wearing a beaded dr...

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

Source: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=522943421060401&set=a.190515714303175.42633.115293181825429&type=1

sheree whitfield weather dallas pat summitt real housewives of atlanta colton bo ryan the last waltz

Swartz' death fuels debate over computer crime

NEW YORK (AP) ? Internet freedom activist Aaron Swartz, who was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment Friday, struggled for years against a legal system that he felt had not caught up to the information age. Federal prosecutors had tried unsuccessfully to mount a case against him for publishing reams of court documents that normally cost a fee to download. He helped lead the campaign to defeat a law that would have made it easier to shut down websites accused of violating copyright protections.

In the end, Swartz's family said, that same system helped cause his death by branding as a felon a talented young activist who was more interested in spreading academic information than in the fraud federal prosecutors had charged him with.

The death by suicide of Swartz, 26, was "the product of a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach," his family said in a statement Saturday.

Swartz was only the latest face of a decades-old movement in the computer science world to push more information into the public domain. His case highlights society's uncertain, evolving view of how to treat people who break into computer systems and share data not to enrich themselves, but to make it available to others.

"There's a battle going on right now, a battle to define everything that happens on the Internet in terms of traditional things that the law understands," Swartz said in a 2012 speech about his role in defeating the Internet copyright law known as SOPA. Under the law, he said, "new technology, instead of bringing us greater freedom, would have snuffed out fundamental rights we'd always taken for granted."

Swartz faced years in prison after federal prosecutors alleged that he illegally gained access to millions of academic articles through the academic database JSTOR. He allegedly hid a computer in a computer utility closet at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and downloaded the articles before being caught by campus and local police in 2011.

"The government used the same laws intended to go after digital bank robbers to go after this 26-year-old genius," said Chris Soghoian, a technologist and policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union's speech, privacy and technology project.

Existing laws don't recognize the distinction between two types of computer crimes, Soghoian said: Malicious crimes committed for profit, such as the large-scale theft of bank data or corporate secrets; and cases where hackers break into systems to prove their skillfulness or spread information that they think should be available to the public.

Swartz was an early advocate of freer access to data. He helped create Creative Commons, a system used by Wikipedia and others to encourage information sharing by helping people to set limits about how their work can be shared. He also helped create the website Reddit and RSS, the technology behind blogs, podcasts and other web-based subscription services.

That work put Swartz at the forefront of a vocal, influential community in the computer science field that believes advocates like him should be protected from the full force of laws used to prosecute thieves and gangsters, said Kelly Caine, a professor at Clemson University who studies people's attitudes toward technology and privacy.

"He was doing this not to hurt anybody, not for personal gain, but because he believed that information should be free and open, and he felt it would help a lot of people," she said.

Plenty of people and companies hold an opposing view: That data theft is as harmful as theft of physical property and should always carry the same punishment, said Theodore Claypoole, an attorney who has been involved with Internet and data issues for 25 years and often represent big companies

"There are commercial reasons, and military and governmental reasons" why prosecutors feel they need tools to go after hackers, Claypoole said. He said Swartz's case raises the question of, "Where is the line? What is too much protection for moneyed interests and the holders of intellectual property?"

Elliot Peters, Swartz's attorney, told The Associated Press on Sunday that the case "was horribly overblown" because JSTOR itself believed that Swartz had "the right" to download from the site. Swartz was not formally affiliated with MIT, but was a fellow at nearby Harvard University. MIT maintains an open campus and open computer network, Peters said. He said that made Swartz's accessing the network legal.

JSTOR's attorney, Mary Jo White ? formerly the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan ? had called the lead Boston prosecutor in the case and asked him to drop it, said Peters, also a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan who is now based in California.

Reached at home, the prosecutor, Stephen Heymann, referred all questions to the spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston, Christina Dilorio-Sterling. She did not immediately respond to an email and phone message seeking comment.

Swartz's trial was set to begin in April, with an early hearing scheduled for later this month. He was charged with two sets of crimes: fraud, for downloading the articles illegally from JSTOR; and hacking into MIT's computer network without authorization, Peters said.

Peters said Swartz "obviously was not committing fraud" because "it was public research that should be freely available;" and that Swartz had the right to download from JSTOR, so he could not have gained unauthorized access.

As of Wednesday, the government took the position that any guilty plea by Swartz must include guilty pleas for all 13 charges and the possibility of jail time, Peters said. Otherwise the government would take the case to trial and seek a sentence of at least seven years.

JSTOR, one alleged victim, agreed with Peters that those terms were excessive, Peters said. JSTOR came over to Swartz's side after "he gave the stuff back to JSTOR, paid them to compensate for any inconveniences and apologized," Peters said.

MIT, the other party that Swartz allegedly wronged, was slower to react. The university eventually took a neutral stance on the prosecution, Peters said. But he said MIT got federal law enforcement authorities involved in the case early and began releasing information to them voluntarily, without being issued a subpoena that would have forced it to do so.

Swartz's father, Bob, is an intellectual property consultant to MIT's computer lab, Peters said. He said the elder Swartz was outraged by the university's handling of the matter, believing that it deviated from MIT's usual procedures.

In a statement emailed to the university community Sunday, MIT President L. Rafael Reif said he had appointed a professor to review the university's involvement in Swartz's case.

"Now is a time for everyone involved to reflect on their actions, and that includes all of us at MIT," Reif said in the letter.

Claypoole, the legal expert, said there will always be people like Swartz who believe in the free flow of information and are willing to "put their thumb in the eye of the powers that be."

"We've been fighting this battle for many years now and we're going to continue to fight it for a long time," he said.

For Swartz's family, the matter was clearer-cut, said Peters, his lawyer.

"Our consistent response was, this case should be resolved in a way that doesn't destroy Aaron's life and takes into account who he really is, and what he was doing."

___

Wagner reported from Washington.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/swartz-death-fuels-debate-over-computer-crime-012813164--finance.html

ncaa football irs CES russell wilson Pokemon downton abbey nhl

Amateur Radio Community Honors Special Member

The local amateur radio community cames together to honor a special member.

The Western Reserve Amateur Radio Club hosted its annual post-holiday dinner meeting in Canfield Sunday.

The meeting had another purpose, to present Mike Austin of Warren with long range ham equipment that speaks.

Austin?is visually impaired and just passed his test to be a general class operator.

Unfortunately,?he was sick but the club had nothing but good things to say about his contributions.

"He's a very very key radio operator here in the Valley because he's, for someone whose visually impaired, he's the Network Control Operator, he is there and he's available and this piece of equipment that we want to present him with today would extend his reach beyond just the Valley," said Vice President of the Western Reserve Amateur Radio Club, Robert Webster.

The club spent about a year raising the money to buy the equipment.

Source: http://www.wytv.com/content/news/local/story/Amateur-Radio-Community-Honors-Special-Member/PIZ4IHe4K02eZOwOnW5N_g.cspx?rss=3107

will ferrell double fine adventure turbo tax katharine mcphee cold mountain valentines day ideas the villages florida

Stocks end mixed on Wall Street; Apple slides

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks are ending mixed on Wall Street as investors wait for more earnings reports to come in. Apple dropped on concern that demand for the iPhone 5 is waning.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 19 points at 13,507 Monday. It fell as much as 29 points at the start of the day.

The Standard & Poor's 500 lost a point to end at 1,470. The Nasdaq composite index fell eight points to 3,117.

The S&P and Nasdaq were dragged down by Apple, the biggest component of both indexes. Apple fell 4 percent following a report that the company has cut its orders for iPhone 5 components due to weak demand.

Falling stocks outnumbered rising ones on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was light at 2.9 billion shares.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-end-mixed-wall-street-apple-slides-210648686--finance.html

internet blackout jessica capshaw seattle times seattle times walker recall censor pipa and sopa

Samsung launched their Galaxy S III mini a while back, and now the company has a...

VR-Zone
Samsung launched their Galaxy S III mini a while back, and now the company has announced that they will be making the device available in a range of four new colors, the handset is available in white and blue at the moment. http://is.gd/L9SJBi ? with Roshane Somera, Arpan Assasin Ganguly, Anasuya Ganguli, Arpan Ganguli and Jeanine Abaigar.Album:Timeline PhotosShared with:PublicView LargerDownloadMake Profile PictureDone CroppingReport/Remove Tag

Source: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151336624798010&set=a.10150129751268010.300304.7320808009&type=1

florida state meghan mccain wilson chandler bristol motor speedway prometheus grand canyon skywalk tonga