7/30/2012

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is a 2009 crime drama film directed by Werner Herzog starring Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes.

The film premiered on September 9, 2009 at the 66th Venice International Film Festival where it won the Christopher D. Smithers Foundation Special Award for Herzog. It opened in general release in the United States on November 20, 2009.

The film takes its title from Abel Ferrara's 1992 film, Bad Lieutenant; however, according to Herzog, the film is neither a sequel nor a remake, but a rethought.

Plot: Terrence McDonagh is a New Orleans Police Sergeant. While cleaning out a locker after Hurricane Katrina, he notices that a prisoner may not have been transferred. When he finds the prisoner about to drown, he mocks him before eventually jumping in the water to save him. He is promoted to lieutenant and given a medal for his work, but has suffered a serious back injury because of the rescue. As a result, he is prescribed Vicodin which he will most likely need to take for the rest of his life to manage the pain.

The film moves ahead six months. McDonagh is now not only addicted to painkillers, but is habitually using several other drugs including cocaine and cannabis. He has convinced a person that works in the police department to bring him drugs sent to the evidence room. His girlfriend Frankie, a prostitute, also does cocaine and they often share drugs. He has also become estranged from his father, a recovering alcoholic who can only bring himself to attend to his Alcoholic Anonymous meetings and nothing else, and his alcoholic stepmother, Genevieve. Over the course of the film, he uses his position as an officer to bully people and steal more drugs.

Fair Game (Alpha & Omega, #3) by Patricia Briggs

Patricia Briggs, the #1 "New York Times" bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson novels, "always enchants her readers." (Lynn Viehl, "New York Times" bestselling author) Now her Alpha and Omega series-set in a world of shifting shapes, loyalty, and passion- brings werewolves out of the darkness and into a society where fear and prejudice could make the hunters prey...

They say opposites attract. And in the case of werewolves Anna Latham and Charles Cornick, they mate. The son-and enforcer-of the leader of the North American werewolves, Charles is a dominant alpha. While Anna, an omega, has the rare ability to calm others of her kind.

Now that the werewolves have revealed themselves to humans, they can't afford any bad publicity. Infractions that could have been overlooked in the past must now be punished, and the strain of doing his father's dirty work is taking a toll on Charles.

Nevertheless, Charles and Anna are sent to Boston, when the FBI requests the pack's help on a local serial killer case. They quickly realize that not only the last two victims were werewolves-all of them were. Someone is targeting their kind. And now Anna and Charles have put themselves right in the killer's sights...

eBay adding to fashion credentials with London initiative

Following hot on the heels of its recently announced eBay Holiday Collective designer teamup, the online auction site has been confirmed as the new sponsor of the British Fashion Council's Fashion Forward initiative.

The initiative, which helps designers develop and show their collections in London, is now in its sixth year and supports some of the British fashion capital's biggest names including Mary Katrantzou, Henry Holland and James Long.

The BFC announced July 25 that eBay will sponsor the initiative in a "multi-season" agreement from the launch of the Spring 2013 collections.

Activities planned include a fashion auction hosted by eBay and the BFC to benefit Save the Children. Running from September 13 - 23, it will coincide with London Fashion Week's Spring 2013 season, and will carry pieces from iconic British labels including Burberry and Alexander McQueen.

Meanwhile, head of eBay fashion brands Melanie Smallwood will sit on the panel to decide the next round of designers that Fashion Forward will support -- this will be announced in January.

This is the latest move by eBay to up its impact on the fashion world, with the company announcing earlier this month that it is teaming up with leading creators including Billy Reid, Ruffian and Tibi for the eBay Holiday Collective. Set to retail on eBay for the 2012 holiday season as of November 12, the limited edition Collective will comprise men's and women's apparel, jewelry, travel and electronics accessories and home décor.

Artist Photographs 252 U.S. Facebook Friends, Preps for World Travel


Sitting home alone on New Years Eve in 2010, Tanja Hollander was using Facebook to chat with her Jakarta, India-based friend Sandeep as she also hand wrote a letter to her other friend Jed, who was deployed in Afghanistan.

"I was thinking about how cool it is that I was at home in Maine, yet connecting with my faraway friends," Hollander told Mashable. "I started scrolling through my Facebook friends and realized that they were all over the world. As a photographer, I wondered if this this was photographical.'"

By February, her idea had actualized: She would photograph her 626 Facebook friends in their homes around the world. With just $50 in her bank account, Hollander quit the first of three part-time jobs and applied for a grant to begin what would become the largest undertaking in her career is a photographer, The Facebook Portrait Project.

A year and a half later, after quitting three part-time jobs, she's captured images of 252 friends in 15 U.S. states. You can see images of the "A" through "C" names in the below gallery and her complete work on Google+. She's covered most of the Eastern Seaboard, Texas and New Orleans. Her furthest trips from her home in Auburn, Maine took her to Los Angeles, Calif. and Las Vegas, Nev.

"The thing that's really exciting to me is the way social media can enhance our real life relationships," Hollander says. "I'm making much more of an effort to learn more about people. All these people have really interesting stories and do really interesting things."

Hollander had never met many of her Facebook friends before, so she was curious to see how their first real life encounters would go. "I thought people I hadn't met before in real life would be the hardest and they ended up being some great new friends -- that was so shocking," she says.

Much to her delight, her "non-friends" -- professional acquaintances and friends-of-friends -- have ended up being some of her favorite subjects to photograph. She recalls sharing gumbo in New Orleans with a friend of her parents' son, having keys to a professional contact's apartment given to her during a stay in Houston and connecting with another female photographer whose work she had long admired in Los Angeles.

Home-cooked meals, red wine, and heated arguments about politics and art -- all ingredients Hollander considers integral to friendship and community -- have pervaded throughout her visits with Facebook connections.

"People are really proud of their communities," Hollander observes, noting that she regularly receives tours of her Facebook friends' neighborhoods. Hollander had anticipated individual homes, rather than larger communities, would be the underlying theme of her photographs.

Source Yahoo News.

t’s High Time There Was A Tech IPO Market In London – Let’s Do This.


The recent results of Zygna, Groupon, and even the mighty Facebook on the public markets in the U.S. have served to highlight a couple of major issues for European startups. One is a little jealously: there remain few viable IPO markets in Europe for tech stocks, hence why you see so many moving to the US – usually NASDAQ – when they get big, as happened with Yandex and Qlik Technologies. The second is annoyance: many solid European tech companies are now at a point where they have solid, revenue generating businesses, built on a lot more than hype and user numbers alone. And in the last year we’ve seen these companies start to look for ways to break-out.

For example, there are rumours that both the incredibly successful Wonga and King.com are considering floating on New York’s NASDAQ exchange, while Mind Candy is also alleged to be considering a float for its Moshi Monsters game.

And the latest symptom of this is another rallying cry by entrepreneurs and VCs for a tech IPO market in London, the natural home for European startups to float in a global setting. Over the weekend the Index Ventures VC lit the touch-paper on a debate many in the ecosystem have been champing at the bit to have and one we’ll be tracking over the next few months and years no doubt. For we are acutely aware that a healthy tech sector requires funding at ALL stages, and with no European IPO market, startups in Europe will remain starved of capital in the long run.

Written by the highly respected and veteran investor and Index Ventures partner Robin Klein, the post points out both the “centrality of the Tech sector to economic growth” during the downturn, while at the same time the huge growth in its size over the last few years.

Index notes the “steady transformation” of real estate tenants in London’s business districts towards technology companies such as Bloomberg, Skype, Amazon, Expedia, and newer ones such as Moo.com, Moshi Monsters, Huddle and others. Some companies in the tech sector are seeing revenue growth of at least 30% per annum, and up to 100%.

However, says Index’s Klein, there “remains a disconnect between the economic vigor in the tech world and the dynamism of the City.” And there is the continuing problem that the “door to London’s IPO market is shut tight for tech companies” despite London’s place as a global financial centre

Further more, its just plain stupid. The UK’s Internet economy now accounts of over 8% of the country’s GDP, a higher figures than South Korea (7.3%), China (5.5%), Japan (4.7%) or the US (4.7%) according to the Economist Intelligence Unit and OECD.

And according to a recent BCG report online retail accounts for 13.5% of total UK retail sales, a higher percentage than in any other G20 country, while online advertising accounts for 28.9% of total advertising spend. By contrast, in Japan, only 21.6% of the advertising market is digital.

Original source here.

No LOL matter: Tween texting may lead to poor grammar skills



Text messaging may offer tweens a quick way to send notes to friends and family, but it could lead to declining language and grammar skills, according to researchers. Tweens who frequently use language adaptations -- techspeak -- when they text performed poorly on a grammar test, said Drew Cingel, a former undergraduate student in communications, Penn State, and currently a doctoral candidate in media, technology and society, Northwestern University.


When tweens write in techspeak, they often use shortcuts, such as homophones, omissions of non-essential letters and initials, to quickly and efficiently compose a text message.

"They may use a homophone, such as gr8 for great, or an initial, like, LOL for laugh out loud," said Cingel. "An example of an omission that tweens use when texting is spelling the word would, w-u-d."

Cingel, who worked with S. Shyam Sundar, Distinguished Professor of Communications and co-director of the Penn State's Media Effects Research Laboratory, said the use of these shortcuts may hinder a tween's ability to switch between techspeak and the normal rules of grammar.


Cingel gave middle school students in a central Pennsylvania school district a grammar assessment test. The researchers reviewed the test, which was based on a ninth-grade grammar review, to ensure that all the students in the study had been taught the concepts.


The researchers, who report their findings in the current issue of New Media & Society, then passed out a survey that asked students to detail their texting habits, such as how many texts they send and receive, as well as their opinion on the importance of texting. The researchers also asked participants to note the number of adaptations in their last three sent and received text messages. Of the 542 surveys distributed, students completed and returned 228, or 42.1 percent.

"Overall, there is evidence of a decline in grammar scores based on the number of adaptations in sent text messages, controlling for age and grade," Cingel said.

Not only did frequent texting negatively predict the test results, but both sending and receiving text adaptations were associated with how poorly they performed on the test, according to Sundar.

"In other words, if you send your kid a lot of texts with word adaptations, then he or she will probably imitate it," Sundar said. "These adaptations could affect their off-line language skills that are important to language development and grammar skills, as well."


Typical punctuation and sentence structure shortcuts that tweens use during texting, such as avoiding capital letters and not using periods at the end of sentences, did not seem to affect their ability to use correct capitalization and punctuation on the tests, according to Sundar.

The researchers suggested that the tweens' natural desire to imitate friends and family, as well as their inability to switch back to proper grammar, may combine to influence the poor grammar choices they make in more formal writing.

Sundar said that the technology itself influences the use of language short cuts. Tweens typically compose their messages on mobile devices, like phones, that have small screens and keyboards.

"There is no question that technology is allowing more self-expression, as well as different forms of expression," said Sundar. "Cultures built around new technology can also lead to compromises of expression and these restrictions can become the norm."

Cingel, who started the study as a student in the Shreyer Honors College at Penn State, said the idea to investigate the effect of texting on grammar skills began after receiving texts from his young nieces.

"I received text messages from my two younger nieces that, for me, were incomprehensible," Cingel said. "I had to call them and ask them, 'what are you trying to tell me.' "

Original source here.

GET TOUCHY-FEELY WITH OLYMPIC BEATBOX

CokeBeatbox
Friday night's elaborate opening ceremonies may have stolen the show as the London Summer Games officially kicked off, but another attraction also made its splashy Olympic debut



Coca-Cola's Beatbox of sound and light, a pavilion that responds to touch, opened yesterday to coincide with the opening ceremonies of the 33rd Olympiad.
Designed by Asif Khan and Pernilla Ohrstedt, the public installation combines experimental architecture and pioneering sound technology to create a multi-sensory experience.
Visitors are invited to get touchy-feely with the Coca-Cola Beatbox, as it's meant to be "played." Over 200 translucent, touch-sensitive air cushions make up the installation. Touching the sound-embedded architecture, allows visitors to create their own beat and remix sounds of the Olympic sports featured in Grammy award-winning producer and DJ Mark Ronson's Olympic anthem "Anywhere In The World."
Recorded sounds include squeaking shoes, heart beats and arrows hitting targets. But the installation isn't just candy for the eye and ear. Visitors can even climb to the top of the pavilion by way of a 656 foot ramp. Its summit offers stunning views over Olympic Park. The ramp then descends into the core of the pavilion and features an interactive light installation by Jason Bruges.
"We have sought out some of the most innovative engineers in the UK to work with us to realise our vision -- a building with a beat" Ohrstedt explained about the project developed with structural engineers AKT II. "The Coca-Cola Beatbox is a sensory experience that fuses design, music, sport and architecture. It is something that people have never seen or heard before!"

Microsoft Surface tablet launch date confirmed


Microsoft’s first tablet, called Surface, will launch on October 26 at the same time as the Windows 8 operating system.

Writing in its annual report, Microsoft confirmed, “The next version of our operating system, Windows 8, will be generally available on October 26, 2012. At that time, we will begin selling the Surface, a series of Microsoft-designed and manufactured hardware devices."
The announcement applies only to one version of the two Surface Microsoft will sell. The device, based on ARM processors rather than Intel's, is the first computer the Windows-maker has ever produced itself. The company warned that it, and the more powerful version that will use Intel chips and come early in 2013, may have an impact on profit margins.
The new Windows 8 operating system offers a mode that looks like Windows 7, called Desktop, and a new version that uses the same ‘Metro’ interface that is available already on Windows phone, making a tablet version's success particularly important.
Microsoft is hoping that its new hardware will allow users to replace their Apple iPads and Windows 7 laptops with new Windows 8 tablets.
Although no prices have yet been announced, Microsoft has claimed the devices will cost a “competitive” amount. Some specifications have already been released, including that the two devices will be 9.3mm and 13.5mm thick respectively, and both will feature 10.6” HD displays and a kickstand so they can stand up for users to, for instance, watch films. They will weigh 676g and 903g respectively, and also both come with a new case incorporating a thin keyboard. The Pro Version offer up to 128GB of memory, while the RT will come with either 32GB or 64GB.
Microsoft emphasises that the devices are fully fledged computers designed to be used for everything that a computer can offer.
Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg said “Microsoft felt they could not rely on others to deliver on their vision for Windows 8 in mobile computing.”
In its annual report, Microsoft claims Windows 8’s “success depends on a number of factors including the extent to which customers embrace its new user interface and functionality, successfully coordinating with our OEM partners in releasing a variety of hardware devices that take advantage of its features, and attracting developers at scale to ensure a competitive array of quality applications. We expect to incur substantial marketing costs in launching Window 8 and associated services and devices, which may reduce our operating margins."

Apple 'to release new iPhone and mini-iPad in September'


Apple plans to release a new iPhone and a mini iPad in September, it has been claimed.

According to Apple blog iMore, the company plans a special event for September 12 at which it will announce the new iPhone, a smaller iPad and an updated iPod touch. The new iPhone will be released on September 21, iMore claims.
"This information comes from sources who have proven accurate in the past," says iMore's Rene Ritchie.
On February 14, iMore correctly reported that the new iPad would be announced on March 7. That report was confirmed two weeks later when Apple issued invites to the event.
Rumours about the next iPhone have been appearing with increasing frequency in recent weeks. It has been reported that Apple will drop the familiar 30-pin dock connector from this new model, potentially making current accessories obsolete.
The new iPhone is also expected to be thinner and to have a larger screen.
The device is commonly referred to as the iPhone 5 because the previous model is the iPhone 4S but it's unlikely to have that name. The new model will be the sixth generation iPhone and it is thought that Apple will simply call it "iPhone", repeating what it did with the new iPad, which dropped the numbering system entirely.
Earlier this month the New York Times reported that Apple was working on a smaller iPad with a 7.85-inch screen, compared with the current 9.7-inch screen. The mini iPad will sell for less than the £320 iPad 2 and will challenge the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Google Nexus 7 for the market in smaller tablets.
The mini iPad is thought likely to launch in November, according to a source quoted by another Apple blog, iLounge. That blog also said Apple was planning a fourth-generation iPad that would be thinner than the current model and would have a rear microphone. It was not clear when Apple planned to release this new iPad.
Last month at its WWDC conference in San Francisco, Apple announced iOS 6, the next version of its iPhone operating system. The new version of the operating system is scheduled to be launched in the autumn and would likely arrive at the same time as the next iPhone.
The iPhone 4S was announced on October 4 last year and released 10 days later.

Samsung and Apple's patent clash heads to trial by jury


Samsung and Apple's patent battle heads to a court in California this Monday - one of the biggest trials of its kind.
The tech firms have accused each other of intellectual property infringement.
Billions of dollars of payments could be triggered from one business to the other and sales bans imposed if the jury finds one or both parties guilty.
Submitted documents and testimony are also likely to throw fresh light on decision making processes and deals made by the two tech firms with others.
Together the two companies account for more than half of all the world's smartphone sales.
Despite the fact that Apple buys many of its components from Samsung, the two have failed to agree cross-licencing deals even after the courts forced their bosses to meet for talks.
Phone patents
The case was prompted by a lawsuit from Apple in April last year. A countersuit by Samsung followed and the two actions were combined.
The iPhone maker is claiming a total of $2.5bn (£1.6bn) in damages - although the judge could triple that figure if she decides to punish Samsung for wilful misconduct.
Apple claims it is victim to seven patent breaches in addition to other trade violations.
It alleges these include copies of its designs for the bodies of the original iPhone and the iPad as well as user-interface elements such as the bounce-back response when a person scrolls beyond the end of a list, and tap-to-zoom.
Samsung graphicSamsung says its mock-ups demonstrate it did not "switch its design direction" after the iPhone
Samsung is demanding a "reasonable royalty rate" for five patents which it claims Apple has infringed.
Two of these relate to mobile phones' abilityto use 3G technology. These are called standard-essential patents since the innovations are necessary to offer a feature recognised as an industry-standard which must therefore be offered and licensed on "fair and reasonable terms".
The South Korean firm says that Apple rejected its original licence proposal, never made a counter-offer "and to this day has not paid Samsung a dime".
The Galaxy S3 maker's three other patent claims cover the integration of a mobile phone, digital camera and email into a single device; bookmarking a picture in an image gallery; and using an app while continuing to listen to music in the background.
Although Samsung's trial brief does not specify a sum that it thinks it is owed, Apple's filing suggests its rival is seeking a share of 2.4% of the sale price of its products for the standards-essential patents alone.
Apple says this would be the equivalent of "$14.40 per unit" based on the average selling price of an iPhone. It notes that is more than the cost of the chip it uses to provide 3G functionality.
Sony's influence
Apple says: "Samsung must play by the rules. It must invent its own stuff. Its flagrant copying and massive infringement must stop."
Samsung counters: "Apple's overreaching claim for damages is a natural extension of its attempts to monopolise the marketplace... It seeks to collect 'lost profits' despite the fact that no one buys phones because they have 'bounce back' feature or other manifestations of Apple's alleged inventions."
Samsung court filing of Apple designsThis filing by Samsung shows a concept design created by Apple in March 2006, which was inspired by Sony
Samsung's paperwork suggests it seeks to undermine Apple's accusations by showing it was already working on rounded rectangular handsets dominated by a screen and a single button months before the iPhone was revealed.
It also claims that Apple's ideas were not one-offs, but were instead heavily influenced by Sony.
It alleges that the US company changed direction after reading an interview with two of Sony's product designers and has submitted images of Apple-created concept designs featuring the Japanese company's logo to back up its claims.
Apple argues the models it created looked nothing like Sony's Walkman phones at the time and has asked the judge to exclude the evidence and stop it being presented to the jury.
Confused customers
The US company's filings suggest it will argue that Samsung brought to market products it knew were "confusingly similar" to Apple's.
In particular it highlights a Samsung survey that found that the most common reason for customers returning a Galaxy Tab 10.1 to the retailer Best Buy was because they had thought they had purchased an iPad.
It also says Samsung was warned by Google that its tablet designs were "too similar". The claim carries weight because the search giant designed the Android system which powers the South Korean firm's devices.
"The ferocity of the assorted Apple-Samsung legal battles reminds us that the courtroom has become perhaps just as important as the research lab for today's technology companies," commented Andrea Matwyshyn, assistant professor of legal studies and business ethics at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
"The factual details of the various Apple-Samsung suits highlight the fluidity of the design process in the smartphone and tablet space - with Apple alleging that Samsung copied its designs and Samsung alleging that Apple's intellectual property rights are subject to the prior art of Sony."
Apple drawing of man holding a tablet computerApple filed this drawing as part of its iPad design patent in March 2004
Unsealed deals
The jury will hear the evidence over at least four weeks. Florian Muller, a patent consultant who has blogged about the run-up to the trial, said it was likely to be a complicated case.
"No trial before this one has been about such a diversity of intellectual property rights - we have different kinds of patents and so-called trade dresses [packaging and appearance claims] in play," he told the BBC.
"The jury is probably going to be able to tell whether some of Samsung's products look similar to Apple's, but it will almost certainly be overtaxed as far as the highly technical patents are concerned."
Other tech firms may also find the coming weeks hard going.
Chip designer Qualcomm has already seen details of one of its licensing deals become common knowledge despite requesting that the details remain confidential.
Microsoft, Nokia and Google's Motorola unit have also asked that some portions of the evidence remain sealed, but the judge has said she would be guided by the rule that "public access must be respected unless truly unwarranted".
Whatever the outcome, the lawsuits are likely to continue.
Apple and Samsung are already scheduled to attend a separate US hearing on 20 August to discuss another patent dispute.

Colombia’s virtually vacant paradise


The walk from the Colombian town of Palomino to the beach took 15 minutes along a scorching hot dirt road. The anticipation of cooling off in the ocean kept my feet moving in the crippling heat, but the first sight of water temporarily stopped me in my tracks. It was not the miles of palm-fringed, white sand or the ludicrously blue sea that stunned me — the Caribbean is littered with beaches fit for postcards — it was the fact that there was virtually no development in any direction and hardly a soul in sight.
Fishing boats battered by years of storms, saltwater and sun were strewn about the beach like stranded jellyfish. Further down, where the beach breaks and the Caribbean meets the Palomino River at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range in northeastern Colombia, young boys were casting fishing nets to catch the night’s dinner. And white-clad, long-haired Kogi and Arhuaco Indian tribes — visiting from their villages in the Sierra Nevada — were searching for seashells to crush and mix with coca, which would activate the leaves’ stimulating properties.
The strong sea can be unforgiving at this meeting point, but deeper in the jungle the river is tranquil and provides excellent views of the Sierra Nevada, the world’s highest coastal mountain range. There is no sign of life other than birds swooping around the surrounding trees, and on a clear day you can see Colombia's highest peaks – the snow-capped Pico Cristóbal Colón and Pico Simón Bolívar, each more than 5,700m high.
Inner tubes can be hired in Palomino, and after an hour or two of floating, just before the cool river spits you into the warmer sea, there is a rope on the right side that you can use to do your best Tarzan flip into the water.
Palomino, a town of about 4,000 people — many of whom work as fisherman, farmers or craftsmen — is not much more than one road. There are a couple of guesthouses, a few places to hire a hammock, and there is little to do but relax and bask in the solitude, which is rarely interrupted, except on Sundays when smiling local families come out to enjoy a game of beach fútbol.
For dinner, cooking freshly caught fish and savouring it under the stars was more enjoyable than eating at the relatively pricey beachfront restaurants that cater to the area’s few tourists, but in town, there are also several less expensive restaurants that sell empanadas and roasted chicken dishes.
For a more cultural experience, check with the owners of La Sirena ecohostel or ask the locals about arranging a trip by horseback to stay in a traditional Kogi or Arhuaco village in the heart of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta national park. Learning about the ancient religious traditions they live by – such as the belief that they alone are the true guardians of the planet, responsible for maintaining the world's balance — is an opportunity few people get to experience. You can also arrange guided trips into Colombia’s most rugged region, La Guajira, a region of arid deserts and scrublands, snowy peaks and tropical rainforests that spans 8,000 square miles. The most popular destinations in La Guajira — which are still difficult to reach and far from other major destinations — are Punta Gallinas and Cabo de la Vela, beautiful, nearly deserted beaches populated by a variety of indigenous tribes.
About 25 km from Palomino, 30 minutes by bus, is the Quebrada Valencia park, where bamboo forests, enormous banyan trees and an impressive series of cascades provide shade from the oppressive heat. After a two to three kilometre walk along the path at the entrance of the park, a steep and slippery climb leads to several refreshing swimming holes and cliff-jumping opportunities. From here, you can head back to Palomino or catch a bus south to the livelier shores of Santa Marta or Taganga, 70km from Palomino and popular for sightseeing, scuba diving and partying.
Not long ago, Taganga was a sleepy fishing village -- a seaside retreat where in-the-know travellers could to tie up a hammock for a few days of tranquillity. But as tourism to the neighbouring city of Santa Marta increased, backpackers discovered Taganga, and soon the number of gringos began to compete with the number of locals, dive shops opened up all over town, and the sound of thumping reggaeton began drowning out the sound of waves crashing against the shore throughout night.
Palomino’s proximity to the unfriendly border with Venezuela and the town’s contentious past — caught in the middle of Colombia’s illegal drug trade and armed conflict between guerilla groups and paramilitaries — can probably claim some responsibility for keeping the town so vacant despite being so close to Santa Marta. But if the surge in tourism to Colombia’s Caribbean coast continues, it will not be long before developers discover Palomino and its unpopulated stretch of sand.

Olympic Games opening sparks betting flurry on filmmaker Boyle


LONDON: Bookmakers expect record gambling on the 2012 Olympics after the opening ceremony prompted a flood of bets on event mastermind Danny Boyle receiving a knighthood - and confusion over wagers laid on who would light the Olympic flame.
Since London won the Olympics in 2005 gamblers have forked out on the closely guarded secret of who would light the flame, with British five-times gold medalist, rower Steve Redgrave, the clear favorite.
But in the end, seven young athletes selected by seven British Olympians lit the flame in unison, causing divides in the bookmaking ranks over how to handle the bet.
Ladbrokes and Stan James decided to pay out on all seven of the British Olympians involved which included Redgrave, Daley Thompson and Kelly Holmes.
William Hill voided all bets and refunded about 50,000 pounds ($80,000) wagered on the event since 2005.
"It is a bit disappointing as we've been taking bets on this for years and in the end there is no winner. There is no way anyone could have predicted any one or all of the seven people chosen," William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said.
Stan James said it had voided all losing bets, meaning punters got their money refunded.
"It's a once in a lifetime occasion and we thought it appropriate to make this gesture after such an incredible start to the London Olympics," spokesman Rory Jiwani said.
Bookmakers said the success of the opening ceremony devised by Boyle, who won an Oscar for his movie "Slumdog Millionaire", had ignited a feelgood factor and already boosted gambling interest in the Olympics - and not just in the sports.
QUEEN ON FILM
Boyle, 55, is being tipped to be awarded a knighthood in the New Year Honours List by Queen Elizabeth, whom he somehow managed to persuade to take part in her first movie role.
During the opening ceremony, a film showed James Bond actor Daniel Craig arriving at Buckingham Palace and escorting the Queen to a helicopter. Minutes later a helicopter appeared over the stadium and released two parachutists. The Queen then walked into the stadium to huge cheers from the 60,000 crowd.
"Everyone was amazed and wowed at what Boyle did last night," Ladbroke's spokeswoman Jessica Bridge said. "Before this Danny Boyle was 2-1 to get a knighthood but due to the sheer volume of bets we have cut this to 5-4."
She said the largest bet so far was 5,000 pounds.
Coral spokesman David Stevens said they were running odds on Saturday of 6-4 that Boyle is knighted next year, having been 4-1 immediately after the opening ceremony.
Jirwani said the ceremony had boosted patriotic pride with odds of 4-5 that the British team will win more than 22 gold medals compared to 19 in Beijing which could push them above Russia to be third in medal table behind the United States and China.
Bookmakers are forecasting between 50-100 million pounds ($80-160 million) will be wagered on the London Games, which would be four to five times more than gambled at Beijing but still way short of other major sporting events.
They expected plenty of money on football and tennis with some interest in cycling after Bradley Wiggins' Tour de France victory.
The men's 100 meters race, a highlight of the Olympics, was not seen as a great draw for gamblers.
Mark Maydon, commercial director of the Sporting Index Group, said the odds were against Jamaica's Usain Bolt setting a new world record at this event after stunning the world with his 9.69 second win at Beijing. Bolt cut this to 9.58 a year later.
He predicted the 100 meters would be run in 9.71 seconds with only half of the 8-strong field running under 10 seconds.
Sharpe said gamblers were not enthusiastic about the race.
"It really is a two-horse race between Bolt and (fellow Jamaican) Yohan Blake and gamblers like to have a bit more competition than that," he said. (Reuters)

Hackers topple Huawei routers

Hackers at an infamous Def Con gathering were shown how to easily slip into computer networks.

They showed it through some routers made by Chinese electronics colossus Huawei Technologies."For the 20th anniversary of Def Con the gift is China," Recurity Labs chief Felix "FX" Lindner said as he opened his presentation.

"Nobody needs a back door; this is plausible deniability," he quipped as he detailed weaknesses in three small Huawei routers that could be exploited using basic hacking techniques. "You get what you pay for. Sorry. "Huawei routers, equipment that connects networks to the Internet, are widely used in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and the company has been striving to gain ground in US and European markets, according to Germany-based Recurity. Lindner and his teammate Gregor Kopf were particularly troubled that Huawei has not issued any security advisories about its routers to warn users to take precautions.
"These machines have serious security issues," Kopf told AFP. "In my eyes, the greatest danger is that you don t know how vulnerable it is; you re left in the dark."Kopf referred to the routers studied by Recurity as having technology reminiscent of the 1990s and said that once attackers slipped in they could potentially run amok in networks.

"It looks pretty bad," Kopf said. "To be fair, we only looked at three routers. But based on this sample, chances are other equipment they offer is very vulnerable. "Recurity did not examine "big boxes," large routers Huawei makes for businesses and telecom networks. Huawei, founded by a former People s Liberation Army engineer, has established itself as a major force in the global telecoms industry where its technology is widely used to build mobile phone networks.

Huawei is battling an image problem in the broader technology market due to its perceived close ties with the Chinese military and government. It was recently blocked from bidding for contracts on Australia s ambitious national broadband project, reportedly due to concerns about cyber-security.

The company has in the past also run afoul of US regulators and lawmakers because of worries over its links with the Chinese military and Beijing -- fears that Huawei has dismissed."It doesn t really matter how much intention is behind the quality that we see," said Lindner. "If you can take over people s routers you can get into their stuff. People need to verify what they are dealing with before they buy."


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On the issue of apparent fake passport in Pakistan a British news paper has criticized a lot, but no one seems to speak on serious scandal citing that 59 percent of Indians who pose them as students entering in England are not real students.

This has been revealed in report by Migration Watch, a British group, which comprises statistics of Home Ministry. The figure says that in year 2011 about 63000 fake students entered England.

The group has also issued names of other countries which include Burma with the highest 62% of fake students, Bangladesh and Nigerian with 59% fake students entered to England for educational purposes.

Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migration Watch UK, said the proofs are present of misusing student passport and measures are needed to be taken.

We now have clear evidence of abuse on a major scale. Bogus students come here to work illegally and thus take jobs from British workers. If it is clear from the circumstances that a student is unlikely to go home, the visa should not be granted in the first place. After all, many of the advantages claimed for foreign students depend on their going home after their studies.

“These half measures simply will not do. The government have bottled out on bogus students. If they are serious about immigration they must face down the self interested demands of the Higher Education sector and pursue the public interest.”

Referring to the letter to the Sunday Times signed by 37 business leaders calling for students to be taken out of net migration, Sir Andrew Green said:

“It is, in fact, impossible to take students out of net migration because, unlike the US and Australia, we still have no exit checks so nobody knows how many who came as students have actually left the UK. It seems that business leaders are clueless about immigration policy and will sign whatever is put in front of them.”

Good Social Customer Conversations: Start by Listening

Whatever the customer says, never hit delete," said Mark Mitchell, the social media director for My Social Agency. "A negative situation can be turned into a much more powerful positive outcome by listening to customer concerns and addressing and resolving [them] live on the page." Handling customer complaints well, in other words, can actually transform complaining customers into loyal ones.

Social media sites are all about having conversations, and that's true for businesses as well as individuals. The trick for businesses is knowing how and when to engage in these conversations -- and how to keep up with them.
Like any conversation, listening is important, and it's one way that businesses can begin to engage their customers.
"A good overall strategy for any business online, especially when it comes to social media sites, is to begin with listening," Roy Morejon, president of Command Partners, told CRM Buyer. "I've seen it many times where companies use social media as just another place to push their agenda."

Not Just a Brand

The unique thing about social media is that it gives people an opportunity to engage with companies on a personal level.
"People want to talk to people, not a brand," social media consultant Deborah Smith told CRM Buyer.

Putting Out Fires

Sometimes, social media conversations turn to customer complaints and problems, which can be tricky to handle. Businesses must have a strategy in place so they know how to respond to them effectively.
"Each customer complaint is different, including the social media channel it's on, so your actions will vary," said Morejon. "Many times a response isn't needed, [and] other times it's best to take it offline. When it is appropriate to respond to the complaint, make sure you empower them to become a 'brand cheerleader.'"


Apple says 'Purple' iPhone concept predates Sony's art



Sony has been dragged into Apple's bitter patent dispute with Samsung, but the iPhone maker wants to stop that.
Samsung recently charged Apple with copying Sony smartphone and Walkman designs with its iPhone. That alleged copying, the company argues, should prove "the invalidity of Apple's designs."

However, Apple yesterday filed a motion with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, saying that Samsung's claims should be thrown out. And to back up its point, it provided to the court an iPhone concept design it developed in 2005, called "Purple." The white iPhone-looking device comes with a thin body, prominent screen on the front, and "menu" button.
For Apple, the device's design is not nearly as important as when it was developed. According to the company, Purple was developed in August 2005. Sony's so-called Nishibori Design, named for its designer, was developed in March 2006, Apple claims.
"Apple requests that the Court enforce Judge Grewal's Order by excluding evidence that Apple's designs were derived from Sony's design language, from Mr. Nishibori's exercise in applying Sony-style design details to the iPhone, or from Sony handsets of the time," Apple attorney Michael A. Jacobs writes in the motion. "Because this evidence is not admissible to prove the invalidity of Apple's patents, it should not come in for any purpose."
Apple and Samsung's back-and-forth is part of the companies' bitter patent disputes being battled around the world. Apple argues that Samsung has violated its patents, and Samsung has said the same about Apple's devices. The companies are heading to trial in the U.S. today. If Apple wins its case, the company could be awarded $2.5 billion in damages and bar from sale any Samsung products that infringe its patents. Samsung is also seeking cash in the trial.
Both companies' court filings have been a treasure trove of goodies for reporters, featuring everything from images of Apple's first tablet prototype to details on how Apple's products were developed. Just yesterday, All Things Digital combed through the filings and found dozens of sketches and prototypes Apple has included in court documents of past iPhone designs. The concepts boast everything from iPhone-like finishes to some decidedly odd designs.


Dell's Increasingly Excellent Linux Adventures

"I think it's great that a prominent OEM like Dell is releasing a Linux based laptop," said Google+ blogger Linux Rants. "I think they all should, and they shouldmarket those computers to the general population." The average consumer would surely be interested in Linux's many advantages "if only they knew about them."


The weather outside may be frightful, to adapt a phrase for the scorched and overheated world here in the Northern hemisphere, but there's no denying that July is turning out to be delightful for our favorite operating system.
Not only did Linux get a heaping helping of recognition in the big Higgs Boson announcement recently, but we also saw MeeGo make an exciting new comeback in the mobile world.

'Project Sputnik'

First there was Project Sputnik, which was launched as a pilot project in May but just recently graduated and became a real,working product plan.
The result: Coming from Dell this fall will be a developer-oriented laptop preloaded with Ubuntu Linux "Precise Pangolin."

'I Think It's Great'

"It's nice to see Dell trying, again," opined Hyperlogos blogger Martin Espinoza. "With the average user spending most of their time in Chrome, which is now the supported source of flash on Linux, there's less reason than ever before to avoid it."

'Marketing Could Be the Tipping Point'

The average consumer would surely be interested in Linux's many advantages "if only they knew about them," Linux Rants said.

'Dell Has to Compete'

Actually, Dell never stopped shipping GNU/Linux PCs, blogger Robert Pogson told Linux Girl.
"They are selling in 1K+ retail stores in China and India," he noted. "In Brazil, in Walmart, where Dell sells only one PC with '7,' Positivo, a Brazilian company, sells 21 PCs with GNU/Linux.