Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.
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10/01/2012
Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.
Dresses that hid Frida Kahlo's pain come to light decades on
Curators of the Kahlo's "Blue House" in Mexico City discovered a trove of 300 dresses, bathing suits, accessories and photographs in 2004 and are now ready to show the public 22 items from the unique wardrobe that turned her into a fashion muse.
The exhibit explores Kahlo's fascination with Mexico's indigenous women and her penchant for richly embroidered ethnic frocks, flowery headpieces and ornate silver jewelry that earned her a photo shoot with Vogue magazine in 1937.
It also reveals how she chose clothes to hide her disfigurement after a bout of childhood polio that left one leg thinner than the other and a devastating bus accident that broke her spine in three places and left her in constant pain and scarred from subsequent surgeries.
"We must remember that Frida - like Diego - wanted the colors, the dress, the culture of Mexican women to be public and known," said Carlos Phillips, head of the museums that exhibit Kahlo and Rivera's work.
"They were attempting to rescue a people which had been abandoned. Mexican society dressed like Europeans. Those types of clothes weren't appreciated as much anymore," he said.
Kahlo and Rivera are two of Mexico's most celebrated figures, and their on-off stormy marriage was among the most prominent of the 20th century art world.
Kahlo, who died from pneumonia in 1954 at age 47, led a troubled life fraught with illness and tumultuous love affairs. A member of the Mexican Communist Party, she was a fierce supporter of the country's traditional culture.
"Frida Kahlo without a doubt is a very important icon in the fashion scene," said Kelly Talamas, editor of Vogue magazine for Mexico and Latin America.
"She had more of a dark side, and also had her side in which she was inspired by the colors and the textures and the people and the culture here in Mexico," she said. "I think that's what's most inspiring to designers, that the pieces that she wore create a story."
Vogue has commissioned contemporary Frida-inspired pieces from several designers to display alongside the originals.
PAIN AND DISFIGUREMENT
Kahlo began painting as a teenager while convalescing from the crash in 1925 and her work and the numerous self-portraits for which she is best known reflect the searing pain she lived with until her death.
The museum had respected Rivera's request to keep Frida's clothing under lock and key for half a century after she died in 1954. Rivera had wanted to preserve the items and protect them from people who might not take care of them properly.
When they did start examining the items, they were thrilled to find the exact outfit worn in the 1937 Vogue shoot.
Seen by Reuters, it features a European-inspired green, ruffled blouse with high neck and long sleeves, with small buttons down the back, and a voluminous, ivory-colored silk taffeta skirt with a floral print and lace hem. A magenta shawl wrapped around the shoulders completed the look. The blouse now has some stains from Kahlo's oil paints.
"She didn't just choose any dress. This particular dress ... symbolizes a strong woman," said Circe Henestrosa, the exhibit's curator.
"It's also a dress that projected her political beliefs and her desire to promote her Mexican identity. As far as her disability, it's a dress that allowed her to hide her physical imperfections," she said.
(Writing by Bernd Debusmann Junior and Louise Egan; Editing by Simon Gardner)
Thousands attend NYC concert highlighting poverty
Dubbed the Global Citizen Festival, the concert also featured K'naan, John Legend and Band of Horses, with Young's performance capping off the evening. Video of the event was streamed worldwide as about 60,000 music fans crowded the park's Great Lawn, the midtown Manhattan skyline twinkling behind them.
Legend made a surprise appearance, playing one song "Imagine" at a piano on stage, a short walk from where the song's author, John Lennon, once lived. The five-hour show was a mix of tight sets from the bands, roughly an hour each, mixed with videos and information from guest speakers about global poverty-related problems like infant mortality and polio.
"Feels good to be here," Foo Fighters lead singer Dave Grohl told the crowd during a break between hits like "Learn to Fly," ''Best of You" and "My Hero." Grohl, members of the Black Keys and others joined Young on stage for the finale, his anthem "Rockin' in the Free World."
The concert was scheduled around the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this month and organizers used an innovative approach to ticket distribution so that many concert-goers were forced to learn about an array of global problems in order to get a ticket.
Anyone wanting free tickets had to register at globalcitizen.org, which then required users to watch videos or read information about poverty-related issues. Each time material was consumed, users could earn points toward a drawing for tickets. Points were also accumulated by sharing information by way of Twitter or Facebook.
"Our social media campaign has been off the charts," said Hugh Evans, CEO and co-founder of the Global Poverty Project. The approach demonstrates a new model for harnessing digital tools that might be repeated for other big events with political or social messages.
Organizers said more than 71,000 people had signed up online, resulting in more than 3.5 million page views. On average, they spent just over six minutes consuming content or sharing information. Nearly 200,000 pieces of information were shared on Facebook, and just a bit more than that on Twitter. About 170,000 people signed petitions via the site, and there were 98,000 videos viewed to completion.
Evans said the project achieved its goals, set out last year, of getting more than 100,000 people to take action related to extreme poverty while telling a new story about the challenges. To that end, the site conveys information in detailed, documentary-like accounts and uses an array of video, graphics and stories that are friendly for mobile and digital consumption.
Financially, he said, the project also achieved its yearlong goal — working with an array of organizations like the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, the Earth Institute and Rotary International — of garnering $500 million in commitments to help fight poverty.
So now what?
Evans said that he's hoping the audience, built online and at the concert, will continue efforts by tweeting President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney to halve extreme poverty by 2015, which is the key U.N. anti-poverty goal. And Evans is working on an announcement in October or November about "a major rock band" getting involved with the anti-poverty efforts.
Hotel Transylvania (2012)
The film tells a story of Dracula, the owner of Hotel Transylvania, where the world's monsters can take a rest from human civilization. Dracula invites some of the most famous monsters, including Frankenstein's monster, Mummy, a Werewolf family, and the Invisible Man, to celebrate the 118th birthday of his daughter Mavis. When the hotel is unexpectedly visited by an ordinary young traveler named Jonathan, Dracula must protect Mavis from falling in love with him before it is too late.
Released on September 28, 2012, the film was met with mixed critical reception, while the audience received it very favourably. Despite mixed reviews, Hotel Transylvania set a new record for the highest-grossing September opening weekend, and earned a total of $51.1 million on a budget of $85 million.
Givenchy's Dark Romance
Trends Correspondent, SAM Daily Times
The spring 2013 collection presented Sunday night, Sept. 30, was no different. The threads of religion, romance, gothic imagery and female power run through all his collections.
His staging showed the different directions in which he is swayed: a church organist in an elegant wooden scaffold at one end of the Paris high school interior courtyard where the show was staged, a rocking DJ duo at the other.
Just like the soundtrack, the clothes competed for attention. Tisci went back to the house's archive, and discovered some striking new moon shape tailoring - seen to great effect in stiff silk tops and theatrical cocoon jackets.
His women varied from the rapacious to the devout: a Catherine de Medici calico blouse one second, then a simmering femme fatale in a tunic of white jacquard, the sort of fabric a cardinal would wear. And as the church organist hit some super moody chords, a posse of sexy nun models paraded around the musician.
Most looks were finished with tough chic metal chokers, mini shoulder straps, bracelets and heels - adding punch to the ensembles.
"They came from Carlo Molino, but from his furniture not his work," said Tisci backstage, as a mob of fans showered him with compliments.
It's been quite a season for Molino, the fantastical Italian architect and photographer of the faintly perverse, seeing as Consuelo Castiglioni at Marni in Milan cited him last week as an influence on her new geometric fashion.
There was little geometric about this Givenchy show, whose finale featured floor-length white chiffon blouses, with one side cut out to reveal tuxedo pants underneath. Every second look was trimmed and completed with a fluttering ruffle, a romantic touch to the dynamic yet fervent style.
However, though thoroughly accomplished, the show did not quite reach the heights of recent Givenchy outings. There were no special bookings or visiting super models like Gisele Bundchen or Natalia Vodianova, one of the highlights of Givenchy shows. Moreover, the trip to the archive, while intriguing, meant the collection broke less ground than one is used to with Tisci.
That said, even a couple of points off his A-game, a Givenchy show by Tisci is always a truly compelling affair.
The Nicaraguan tourist board
Trends Correspondent, SAM Daily Times
There are only 21 flights per week from Europe to the country.
Just what does Nicaragua offer? This year has seen Nicaragua host a cultural series, aimed at highlighting the beauty, traditions and natural appeal of the country. Nicaragua boasts coastlines with golden beaches both on the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. The country is proud of the natural beauty of volcanoes and rainforests. People who live here are extremely warm and friendly people.
How does the tourist board intend to boost figures? In an attempt to copy neighboring Costa Rica, hotels are being built in rainforests so that visitors can experience the beauty right in front of them. In terms of culture, Nicaragua has plenty to offer. The tourism board has been offering cultural tour packages to Diriamba, the home of the national folk-dance El Gueguense. The Nicaraguan folk ballet performed this dance for over 5000 people in the USA. Now they are inviting spectators to their own country. There is also the fiesta San Sebastain, a colourful and theatrical performance symbolising the arrival of Spaniards to the country. This event takes place during the 3rd week in January.
Headline Oct2,2012 / ''The Sleaze Hotline!''
''THE SLEAZE HOTLINE!''
Divorce proceedings, just as always, turn into sleaze slinging matches with lawyers and private Detective Agencies providing the evidence and the propulsion. And the Academics aren't so sure about anything.
Anastasia de Waal, director of family and education at the Think Tank Civitas called these multimillion pound settlements ''Freak'' occurrences. ''In the majority of cases, the woman becomes poorer after the divorce,'' she said.
So why are men so Gun shy? Actually,they are not, claimed de Waal. In a survey conducted by Civitas, almost three quarters of young adults, -aged 20 to 35- confessed to a desire to tie the knot someday, and men were even a bit keener than women. The No 1 reason for wanting to marry -among both sexes- is simply the desire to make a formal commitment, which Civitas views as good news as a vote of confidence in the Institution, despite the recent fall in marriage rates.
''In the past, the people had to marry,'' said de Waal. The fact that men and women tell pollsters that they want to marry, even in the absence of social pressures to do so, means that the marriage is far from dead.Only two percent of respondents felt that marriage was a patriarchal concept, one that endangers gender equality, and men were more highly represented in that two percent than woman.
The longevity of the tradition of men proposing marriage also indicates that there are some of you out there who are entering into legal commitment somewhat voluntarily. Wide scale studies consistently show that married men live longer and enjoy better mental health than their unattached brethren. Although that could simply be the benefits of an ever present woman to administer her husband's blood-pressure medications. Hahaha!
Then how to explain the deep and steep decline in the number of marrying couples? Certainly the astronomical cost of a wedding is a factor. Most weddings run to pound 10,000 or more -thats almost 49 per cent of the average UK salary. These massive weddings in OK magazine put a lot of people off. With the influence of Media, brides have a lot of extremely high expectations.
Interestingly, Civitas Data indicates that middle-class grooms are turned off by the price of wedding parties and engagement rings, while lower-class men worry about scraping together the funds for a down payment on a marital home.
Many thanks to !WOW!
Good Night and God Bless.
SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless
Panasonic-sponsored Tokai University team wins Sasol Solar Challenge South Africa 2012
The Japanese university team extended its dominance in the world’s longest-distance solar car race as they won all three races held since the inception of the biennial event in 2008.
The team’s victory this year followed its win in the 2011 World Solar Challenge held in Australia last year, when Panasonic, as a sponsor, provided the team with its HIT solar cells boasting the world’s highest-level conversion efficiency as well as high-capacity lithium-ion batteries.
Anime-themed car navigation system
TOKYO —
Tired of listening to the same, soulless car navigation systems while you drive? Wouldn’t you rather listen to someone a little cuter while you’re trying to track down your nearest Guns ‘n’ Ammo store? Wouldn’t it be fun if your favorite animated high-school girls could be the voice of sense and direction!?
If you’re a K-On! fan, you’re in luck a new portable car navigation system has just arrived in stores, ready to drive you home and everyone else up the wall.
K-On!, or Kei-On! (literally light music), is an animated TV series based on the original four-panel comic of the same name. The story follows five female high schoolers who join their school’s hokago (after school) light music club band, only to find that there are no other members. Needless to say, adventure and hilarity follow.
Designed to look like a rather awesome old-school cassette-tape, the navigation system, or navi as they’re known here in Japan, sits snugly in a packaged plastic stand that can be affixed to the car’s dashboard. Before it’s activated, the unit’s main screen displays the cassette-tape’s spindles and label, complete with the band’s name, After-School Tea-Time, written in faux handwriting.
The unit’s box itself is well-made and resembles, appropriately, a box of teabags. Before it’s even connected up, this product is sure to win over K-On! fans and window-shoppers alike.
Naturally, this being a Japanese-made product, the girls make a point of warning the driver not to play around with or focus too much attention on the screen while operating a vehicle.
But what’s the use of a portable navigation system in Tokyo, where the vast majority of the population would rather take out a second mortgage on their home than deal with the hassle of owning a car and finding a place to keep it? The girls have got you covered; the unit also comes with an “on-foot” mode, so you can join the masses of people walking around the city not looking where they’re going.
The K-On! portable navigation unit is available to buy now, costing around 39,800 yen.
Toshiba, GE to collaborate on cycle power generation systems
Toshiba and GE have cooperated in gas turbines since 1982, including collaboration since last September of an advanced 50Hz combined cycle system integrating GE’s 9FB gas turbines sales in Japan and other key Asian markets. Building on this, the companies have now agreed to explore project collaborations for sales of an advanced 60Hz combined cycle system integrating GE’s advanced 7F 7-series gas turbine.
Combined cycle systems typically combine gas and steam turbines to generate electricity. First stage generation in the gas turbine produces exhaust steam that drives the second stage turbines and generates more electricity. Combined cycle systems are more efficient and release less CO2 into the environment than conventional thermal power systems.
Sharp begins production of 5-inch full-HD LCD panels
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OSAKA —Sharp Corp said it has started production of 5-inch full-HD (1,080 x 1,920 pixels) LCD panels for smartphones with a pixel density among the highest in the world. Production began at the end of September at Mie Plant No. 3 and full-scale production will begin this week.
This LCD panel employs CG-Silicon technology, a new pixel design, and an innovative production process to achieve the same number of pixels in a smartphone-size screen as there are in a full-HD LCD TV. The panel, which has approximately 1.3 times the pixel density of conventional LCD panels, can display crisp text, super-clear maps, and amazingly real HD images.
By providing ultra-detailed LCD panels to support the growing worldwide demand for smartphones, Sharp will contribute to smartphones with increasingly higher quality images.
Microsoft takes unusual approach to tackle shortage of computer science graduates in US
That teacher, Steven Edouard, knows a few things about the subject. When he is not volunteering as a computer science instructor four days a week, Edouard works at Microsoft. He is one of 110 engineers from high-tech companies who are part of a Microsoft program aimed at getting high school students hooked on computer science, so they go on to pursue careers in the field.
Microsoft is taking an unusual approach to tackling a shortage of computer science graduates one of the most serious issues facing the technology industry, and a broader challenge for the nation's economy.
There are likely to be 150,000 computing jobs opening up each year through 2020, according to an analysis of federal forecasts by the Association for Computing Machinery, a professional society for computing researchers. But despite the hoopla around startup celebrities like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, fewer than 14,000 U.S. students received undergraduate degrees in computer science last year, the Computing Research Association estimates. And the wider job market remains weak.
Big technology companies have complained for years about a dearth of technical talent, a problem they have tried to solve by lobbying for looser immigration rules to accommodate more foreign engineers and sponsoring tech competitions to encourage student interest in the industry.
Google, for one, holds a programming summer camp for incoming ninth-graders and underwrites an effort called CS4HS, in which high school teachers sharpen their computer science skills in workshops at local universities.
But Microsoft is sending its employees to the front lines, encouraging them to commit to teaching a high school computer science class for a full school year. Its engineers, who earn a small stipend for their classroom time, are in at least two hourlong classes a week and sometimes as many as five. Schools arrange the classes for first thing in the day to avoid interfering with the schedules of the engineers, who often do not arrive at Microsoft until the late morning.
The program started as a grass-roots effort by Kevin Wang, a Microsoft engineer with a master's degree in education from Harvard. In 2009, he began volunteering as a computer science teacher at a Seattle public high school on his way to work. After executives at Microsoft caught wind of what he was doing, they put financial support behind the effort which is known as Technology Education and Literacy in Schools, or TEALS and let Wang run it full time.
HP ElitePad 900 Windows 8 tablet announced, features unique 'smart jackets'
Last month, HP previewed its upcoming Windows 8 all-in-ones in the form of the HP Spectre One, HP Envy 23, HP Envy 20 TouchSmart and the HP Pavilion 20 which are set to launch this fall . now th
e company has announced the HP ElitePad 900, a tablet for enterprise users.The 10.1-inch tablet features an IPS HD display with a Gorilla Glass coating atop. It weighs 1.5 pounds and sports a thin 9.2mm aluminium exterior, with a black plastic band running along the top edge that suggests wireless radios and NFC. The tablet comes with an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1080p front-facing camera as well.
On the inside, the HP ElitePad 900 is powered by an an Intel Clover Trail processor buffering 2GB RAM. Storage options include 32GB, 64GB or SSD storage. Connectivity wise, users can also opt for 3G/4G with hotspot support, amongst Wi-Fi and Bluetooth options too.
There is a microSD slot but there are no USB ports on the tablet, which may attract the attention of critics. HP, however, is bundling in a USB adapter with the tablet. The tablet also packs an accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, and a light sensor and is also responsive to finger, stylus or voice input. What makes this tablet unique is the HP Smart Jackets and additional accessories designed specifically for the ElitePad 900, that claim to expand the tablet's potential for business users.
While the HP ElitePad Productivity Jacket includes an integrated keyboard, connectivity ports, SD card reader and adjustable viewing angles, the Expansion Jacket adds USB, HDMI and other connectivity to get more done on the go. It further enhances battery life when bundled with the optional HP ElitePad Jacket battery.
Other accessories like the ElitePad Rugged Case provides military-grade reliability and enhances the stylish profile of the ElitePad. The Docking Station promises to deliver an enterprise-class desktop experience with an added keyboard and monitor and also charges the tablet. users can enjoy multitasking by using the tablet as a secondary screen.
The HP Executive Tablet Pen lets customers write messages and notes in their natural handwriting directly on screen and then save or convert to typed text for use in other applications.
Additional user-experience software includes the CyberLink Media suite, which enables users to manage and create audio and video content as seen on other HP business PCs. Users can also record and listen to audio with a stereo microphone and headset jack SRS Audio.
The HP ElitePad 900 is expected to be available in the US in January 2013. Pricing information will be announced closer to availability.
India Wins The Big Match
India reignited their World Twenty20 campaign with a comprehensive eight-wicket Super Eights victory over their bitter rivals Pakistan in Colombo.
Thrashed by Australia on Friday and in danger of going out of the competition, India skittled Pakistan for 128.
India lost Gautam Gambhir in the first over, but the composed Virat Kohli took the lead in a well-timed run chase.
Kohli made 78 not out as India won with 18 balls in hand to take the group to the final round of matches.
India play South Africa on Tuesday and group leaders Australia take on Pakistan, with all four teams still in with a chance of reaching the semi-finals.
The 2007 World T20 champions have now beaten Pakistan in every World Cup match between the teams, whether in 50-over or 20-over formats.
Their latest triumph owed a great deal to the decision to replace spinners Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla with seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji and opener Virender Sehwag.
Balaji took three wickets as he strangled the Pakistan scoring by varying his pace and bemusing the batsmen with the occasional fast off-spinner.
For his part, Sehwag took fewer risks than usual as he helped India recover from the early loss of Gambhir - caught and bowled by Raza Hasan - in a partnership of 74 with man-of-the-match Kohli.
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Education Department Report Shows More Borrowers Defaulting on Student Loans
The percentage of borrowers who defaulted on federal education loans within the first three years of payments rose to an average of 13.4 percent last year — 22.7 percent for those who attended for-profit colleges — according to statistics released on Friday by the Department of Education.
With tuition rising steadily, and family income falling, the number of borrowers with federally guaranteed student loans has increased by about a third in the last five years, to more than 37 million. The number of borrowers in default has risen to about 5.9 million, and together they owe a total of $76 billion on loans.
“We continue to be concerned about default rates and want to ensure that all borrowers have the tools to manage their debt,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan. “In addition to helping borrowers, we will also hold schools accountable for ensuring their students are not saddled with unmanageable student loan debt.”
The rate of students defaulting on federal loans within two years, also released on Friday, increased to 9.1 percent, the highest level in more than a decade.
- nytimes.com
Most of Canada's wasted food dumped from homes
The "Cut Waste, Grow Profit" draft report from the Ontario-based Value Chain Management Centre (VCMC) suggests that more than half (51 per cent) of the estimated $27 billion of food wasted nationwide ends up as unwanted leftovers dropped into household trash bins.
Expectations for larger portion sizes, confusion about safe consumption and sell-by dates, and the low cost to households of over-purchasing and wasting food were among factors blamed for the wasteful behaviour.
"The food waste that occurs in Canada is largely a symptom of current processes and attitudes, primarily of abundance and affluence," the unpublished paper states.
The VCMC is an extension of the independent agri-products think-tank the George Morris Centre, and provides annual research about food waste.
Food waste, as defined by the draft report, is the loss and disposal of food that's perfectly fit for human consumption. The group released the paper ahead of the forthcoming Cut Waste, Grow Profit forum on Nov. 19 in Mississauga, Ont.
The chart provided in the background document points out that the second-worst area of food waste is via packaging and processing (blamed for 18 per cent of lost food), followed by retail stores (11 per cent), the farming stage (nine per cent), the food service industry (eight per cent) and transport and distribution (three per cent).
Last month, the U.S. Natural Resources Defence Council estimated that nearly 40 per cent of food in the States ends up in the trash ever year. The figures are roughly in line with recent estimates of how much Canadians throw away.
The average Canadian wasted about 291 kg of edible food in 2009, according to Statistics Canada. That's the equivalent of the weight of three empty refrigerators. The breakdown for what and how much we tossed out was as follows:
202 kg of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables.
8 kg of dairy products.
36 kg of meat, poultry and fish.
45 kg of oils, fats and sugar.
Globally, nearly one-third of all food is lost. That amounts to about 1.3-billion metric tonnes of food per year — enough to feed an estimated 860 million people who are malnourished, the draft paper says.
It also provided examples of British, American and Canadian food waste-reduction initiatives. In Canada, for example, the Montreal Urban Community Sustainment group's Zero Food Waste Network picks up "surplus food" from local businesses and passes it on to local food banks.
- CBC News
Children's TV Exposure Reaches 'Startling' Levels, Study Finds
Research measuring direct, foreground television exposure suggests that between birth and age 6, the average child in the U.S. watches nearly an-hour-and-a-half per day. But the new study, published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics, is the first to quantify kids' indirect exposure to TV.
Jessica Taylor Piotrowski, an assistant professor with the Amsterdam School of Communication Research at the University of Amsterdam, told The Huffington Post that "the sheer amount of exposure is startling" and that the "background TV exposure has been linked to lower attention when kids are playing and weaker parent-child interactions,"
Researchers conducted a telephone survey of more than 1,450 parents or caregivers in the U.S. who have a child between 8 months and 8 years old. They were asked to fill out a diary about their child's typical day, noting when the child ate, slept and traveled from place to place. For each activity, parents were asked if there was a TV on in the background.
Overall, kids were exposed to nearly four hours of background TV on a typical day, and children under the age of 2 had even greater exposure, at 5.5 hours of background TV per day. Older children were in a room with a TV on for around two hours and 45 minutes per day. Children living in single-parent homes had more exposure, as did children in the poorest households and those with televisions in their room.
Ravi Borgaonkar Says Android Phones Vulnerable To Wipeout Attack
Opening a link to a website or a mobile application embedded with malicious code can trigger an attack capable of destroying the memory card in Android-equipped handsets made by Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Sony Ericsson, rendering the devices useless, computer security researcher Ravi Borgaonkar wrote in a blog post Friday. Another code that can erase a user's data by performing a factory reset of the device appears to target only the newly released and top selling Galaxy S III and other Samsung phones, he wrote.
Borgaonkar informed Google of the vulnerability in June, he said. A fix was issued quickly, he said, but it wasn't publicized, leaving smartphone owners largely unaware that the problem existed and how they could fix it.
Google declined to comment. Android debuted in 2008 and now dominates the smartphone market. Nearly 198 million smartphones using Android were sold in the first six months of 2012, according to the research firm IDC. About 243 million Android-equipped phones were sold in 2011, IDC said.
California Driver's Licenses For Undocumented Immigrants Bill Signed Into Law By Gov. Jerry Brown
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Some illegal immigrants could get California drivers licenses under a bill that Gov. Jerry Brown announced he signed into law late Sunday.
AB2189 by Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, will let the Department of Motor Vehicles issue licenses to illegal immigrants eligible for work permits under a new Obama administration policy. The bill requires the department to accept as proof of legal residence whatever document the federal government provides to participants in its deferred action program.
Cedillo said his bill will make roads safer while letting young immigrants drive to school and to work. His reasoning drew support from several Republican lawmakers, while other Republicans argued the state should leave immigration issues to the federal government.
"It is a victory for those who were brought here through no choice of their own, played by the rules, and are only asking to be included in and contribute to American society," Cedillo said in a statement.
He said California is the first state to grant drivers' licenses to the group singled out under the Obama administration's policy. Cedillo praised Brown for choosing "public safety over politics" by signing the bill.
"President Obama has recognized the unique status of these students, and making them eligible to apply for driver's licenses is an obvious next step," Brown spokesman Gil Duran said.
- AP
U.S. Says Many Apartments Violate Law on Disabled
For 20 years, residential developers have complied with a city law requiring them to ensure that all the apartments they build are accessible to disabled tenants. Considered path-breaking legislation when it was enacted in 1988, the city law essentially meets the federal requirements of the Fair Housing Act, developers and city officials say.
But the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan has sent letters to about a dozen of the city’s most prominent landlords and their architects saying that some of their buildings were “not accessible to persons with disabilities,” which would constitute discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. The recipients included Related Companies, the Durst Organization, Rose Associates, Rockrose Development and Silverstein Properties.
The letters said that doors were not wide enough, and that kitchens and bathrooms were not big enough to allow someone in a wheelchair to maneuver. Also, the letters said, tenants could not install “grab bars” to lift themselves in or out of a tub, because the walls had not been reinforced.
The federal prosecutor’s office, which began sending the letters in January, has asked owners for meetings, building inspections and all the records of the design and layout of the apartments in specific buildings. Until recently, the real estate industry had hoped that the matter would quietly go away.
But last week, the United States attorney’s office filed a lawsuit against one of the recipients, AvalonBay Communities, and its architects, charging them with discrimination against disabled people by failing to provide sufficient access at Avalon Chrystie Place, a building on the Lower East Side with 361 apartments.
Article by "Mr.Charles V.Bagli"
The Long Hard Ride of Damian Lopez Alfonso
WITH only the tips of his elbows touching his bicycle's upturned handlebars, Damian Lopez Alfonso pedaled along the Hudson River bike path on a cool March day. His balancing act elicited stares from disbelieving pedestrians and curious double-takes from fellow cyclists.Because not only does Mr. Alfonso ride his bike without forearms, lost in a devastating childhood accident, but he also rides it very, very fast.
Tracy Lea first witnessed his unorthodox cycling method during a race outside Havana nearly eight years ago.
Ms. Lea, a former elite racer from Maryland, found herself in a ragtag pack of riders on a highway pocked with ''car eating'' potholes outside the Cuban capital. ''I'm worried about these guys in tight, fast conditions,'' she remembered thinking, ''and all of a sudden, I'm racing next to a guy with no arms!''
She watched as he powered through the course, lifting his body to shift gears with the nubs of his elbows or press down on the brakes. ''Then I realized he had more control than most of the people in the race,'' she said.
Despite his disadvantages, Mr. Alfonso, 34, has won local competitions at home in Cuba and he races nearly every weekend against able-bodied cyclists in informal events. But the alterations to his bike that allow him to do so -- turning the handlebars nearly 180 degrees upward, so the brakes and gear shifters face him -- have also kept him out of officially sanctioned international competitions, which have strict equipment rules.
But not for much longer.
In July, Mr. Alfonso is scheduled to race in Canada, the first event on his road to qualifying for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. If all goes well, it will be the culmination of a nearly decade-long journey for Mr. Alfonso, a story of sudden tragedy, grim determination and a little help from a lot of perfect strangers in a bicycling community thousands of miles away.
Article by "Mr.J. David Goodman"
Quake Victims in Recovery
Sacrificial Magic (Downside Ghosts, #4) by Stacia Kane
When Chess Putnam is ordered by an infamous crime boss—who also happens to be her drug dealer—to use her powers as a witch to solve a grisly murder involving dark magic, she knows she must rise to the challenge. Adding to the intensity: Chess’s boyfriend, Terrible, doesn’t trust her, and Lex, the son of a rival crime lord, is trying to reignite the sparks between him and Chess.
Plus there’s the little matter of Chess’s real job as a ghost hunter for the Church of Real Truth, investigating reports of a haunting at a school in the heart of Downside. Someone seems to be taking a crash course in summoning the dead—and if Chess doesn’t watch her back, she may soon be joining their ranks.
As Chess is drawn into a shadowy world of twisted secrets and dark violence, it soon becomes clear that she’s not going to emerge from its depths without making the ultimate sacrifice.
Schwarzenegger calls affair with housekeeper "stupidest thing"
In a "60 Minutes" interview with reporter Leslie Stahl due to air on September 30, Schwarzenegger admitted that he lied to Shriver about the affair. CBS released a clip of the interview on Friday.
"I think it was the stupidest thing I've done in the whole relationship. It was terrible. I inflicted tremendous pain on Maria and unbelievable pain on the kids," Schwarzenegger said.
Schwarzenegger, 65, had been quiet in public about his affair with their housekeeper Mildred Baena. He and Baena had a son, Joseph, who grew up not knowing Schwarzenegger was his father until the scandal made headlines last year.
After the revelations, Shriver and Schwarzenegger began proceedings to end their 25-year marriage. They have four children together.
The interview coincides with the October 1 release of Austrian-born Schwarzenegger's autobiography, "Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life." He told Stahl that he was determined to write a book that included his "failures" as well as his successes in bodybuilding, film and politics.
Since his term as Republican governor ended, Schwarzenegger has returned to movies with "The Expendables 2" last August, and he has five more films in the pipeline. He also inaugurated a global policy think tank in his name at the University of Southern California's Los Angeles campus.
Apple CEO sorry for maps shortcomings
NEW YORK —
Apple apologized Friday for its glitch-ridden maps application in the
new operating system used by the iPhone 5 and urged customers to use
rival programs while improvements are made.“At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment,” chief executive Tim Cook said in an open letter.
“We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.”
Apple developed its own mapping program included in its new mobile iOS 6 operating system, and in doing so booted off Google Maps, which had been the default program for Apple devices.
But the new Apple program immediately drew scorn for omitting key landmarks and cities, failing to identify correct locations and distorting views from its images.
Cook encouraged customers to use alternatives, including Google, as Apple works out its bugs.
“The more our customers use our Maps, the better it will get, and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you,” he said.
“While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their Web app.”
Although the maps application does not generate revenues directly, it often links to searches, and keeps users in the company’s “ecosystem,” which can be important over the long term.
The apology came as Apple was launching its new iPhone in 22 additional countries, a week after a rollout in nine. The device, which sold more than five million in its launch weekend, is set to be available in 100 countries by year’s end.
The new iOS 6 operating system according to Apple, has been downloaded for more than 100 million devices, including previous versions of the iPhone and the iPad tablet,
But the maps glitches have tarnished the reputation of the iconic US firm, and some analysts have suggested the problems could drive customers away from the iPhone.
Google has been silent so far on whether it will produce a new maps app for iOS 6, but the Google Maps program can be accessed through Web browsers on Apple devices.
Forrester Research analyst Kerry Bodine said the foul-up suggests Apple is steering away from the tradition imposed by the late co-founder Steve Jobs of ensuring quality even when it hurts the bottom line.
“Jobs always put the customer experience first,” she said.
“If he were alive today, I’m positive he would have made the tough decision to prioritize the user experience over the urgency to include Apple Maps in iOS 6.
“The decision to move forward with a not-ready-for-primetime mapping app has the potential to erode the trust that Jobs built, and the Apple brand right along with it.”
Roger Kay, analyst with Endpoint Technologies Associates, offered a similar view.
“Apple’s own maps app, clearly inferior now, will likely improve over time, reducing the current irritant,” Kay said. “But this is the first time that I can recall when Apple made a decision to sacrifice user experience for competitive positioning.”
Many of the map miscues were highlighted on social media sites, including a Tumblr page titled “Those Amazing iOS 6 Maps.”
One user posted an image from the maps program, saying, “The Helsinki Central Railway Station has magically turned into a park.”
Another posting said, “Apparently Belgrade, Serbia has no rivers.”
Canada has withdrawn from the UNWTO
The Canadian foreign minister, John Baird said that the UN tourism office correspondence in which the body's secretary general on Tuesday reportedly praised President Sata of Zambia and President Mugabe for their role in tourism at Victoria Falls was the 'last straw' in Canadian participation at the UN body.
Joseph Lavoie, Baird's spokesman said that after the foreign minister heard that Mugabe had been invited to this global leaders group and was honored at an event, he immediately signed the order in council, the mechanism needed to formalize Canada's notice period for withdrawal.
He further added that by enlisting Mugabe to promote tourism, they were legitimizing him.
Canada's reasoning was disputed by the UNWTO which pointed out that Mugabe had not been given any special title or even appointed as a special ambassador for tourism as it is being claimed.
The UN body in a statement said that it does not have an ambassadorial program and that the Victoria falls event was held for the purpose of signing an agreement between Zambia,Zimbabwe and the UNWTO in order to permit the holding of next year's general assembly at the Victoria falls which stretches along the borders of both countries.
The body further added that the letter sent to President Mugabe had also been sent to other world leaders as part of the body's 'global leaders for tourism campaign' which is aimed at raising awareness of the potential of tourism for economic growth, job creation and development.
The 88 year old Mugabe is under a US and EU travel ban for his alleged human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. Walter Mzembi, Zimbabwe's tourism minister was quoted brushing off Canada's snub of the UN body and terming it as an inconsequential move by a 'small player' in the global tourism industry.
Mzembi further added that Canada was not a player in the sector and only wanted to use the Mugabe brand to put them in the global map. The tourism minister was quoted on newzimbabwe.com as saying that if Canada wanted to withdraw, they should go ahead.
Girl Scout Cookie boxes get design makeover
The new design will showcase five entrepreneurial skills that the $790 million business teaches girls, the Girl Scouts said in a statement.
"We have more than 50 million cookie customers across the country, and the cookie box is the most tangible and powerful way for us to communicate directly with consumers," said Girl Scouts of the USA Chief Executive Anna Maria Chávez.
The skills that will be displayed are goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics.
The new boxes feature the group's trefoil emblem and they show girls kayaking, working in a park and speaking at scout events, among other activities.
The new look is part of a Girl Scouts brand renewal as the 3.2 million-member organization marks its 100th birthday. The last cookie package makeover was in 1999.
Anthem Worldwide, a unit of marketer Schawk Inc, did the redesign. David Hume Kennerly, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, took pictures of Girl Scouts from the New York area for the boxes.
The Girl Scout Cookie Program starts in October and runs through May, with sales peaking in late January or early February.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Gary Hill)
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