Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Good news or Bad news?

Osama bin Laden's death helps clear the way for a political settlement in Afghanistan by making it easier for the Taliban to sever ties with al Qaeda.

But many other obstacles remain in reaching a negotiated end to the Afghan war, including regional rivalry and competing demands of different groups inside Afghanistan.

"Things are falling into their correct place," said one Pakistani official, who declined to be named. "Osama bin Laden's killing may lead us toward an end-game."

"I do think that this opens the door to push for a political settlement; that depends, however, on President (Barack) Obama choosing to take the opportunity," said Joshua Foust at the American Security Project in Washington.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in February that Washington wanted "to move this conflict toward a political outcome that shatters the alliance between the Taliban and al Qaeda, ends the insurgency," and stabilizes Afghanistan.

The U.S. wants the Taliban to break with al Qaeda, as well as renouncing violence and respecting the Afghan constitution.

"These are not pre-conditions, these are end-conditions," said a western official. "We are getting out the message. We can't do this too often. Come in and talk."

Official sources have said Washington has already begun talks with the Taliban, an effort which is matched, some Afghan analysts say, by a willingness on the part of the Islamist movement to break ties with al Qaeda.

But it has been unclear how the Taliban would be expected to make this break -- a public renunciation would be one thing; actively turning over former allies to the United States would be much harder.

Bin Laden's death may have helped resolve that problem.

"...it will be easier for the Taliban to distance itself from al Qaeda after bin Laden's death," Gilles Dorronsoro wrote in a post at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

In a report which has acquired new relevance after bin Laden's death, international experts at The Century Foundation said in March one way to make the break would be for the Taliban to declare an end to the more than 30 years of jihad in Afghanistan which began with the Soviet invasion in 1979.

In a post on The Century Foundation website, foreign policy specialist Jeffrey Laurenti said the death of bin Laden, with whom Mullah Omar had shared personal ties, made that easier.

"The Taliban inner circle has long debated the wisdom of the movement's alignment with al Qaeda, but the high esteem in which the Taliban 'commander of the faithful', Mullah Mohammed Omar, was said to hold bin Laden as a pious Muslim warrior has long been decisive in squelching any talk of a divorce," he said.

"We cannot know if Mullah Omar's determination not to betray bin Laden will prove as fierce for any successor."

U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman, speaking after a meeting in Islamabad with officials from both countries, also stressed the need to follow up Clinton's call in February for a political settlement.

"Today, our discussion focused on how we can make Afghan reconciliation successful," he said.

REGIONAL RIVALRY

However, while the United States launched its military campaign in 2001 to hunt down al Qaeda, it is far from clear that the decapitation of the Islamist group and its likely subsequent disarray is enough now to stabilize Afghanistan.

There is as yet no evidence the Taliban could act as counter-party to a settlement which allowed for power-sharing between insurgents and those now in power in Afghanistan.

Western officials say they do not enjoy enough broad support in Afghanistan to be treated as the kind of representative nationalist insurgency with whom a deal could be struck.

And so far, there are no signs the Taliban would be ready to strike a deal which gave them less than their demands for a withdrawal of foreign troops and imposition of sharia law.

"There are lots of feelers out there, but none of them have yet developed into anything authoritative," said one western official, speaking before the news of bin Laden's death.

The insurgency itself is fragmented, both within the original Taliban movement and between them and other groups like fighters led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and the Haqqani network.

So far, the Americans are talking only to representatives of the original Taliban movement, and based on what little has been said about these talks, substantive progress remains elusive.

Western officials and many analysts also say Afghanistan, with a weak central government and big problems of governance, cannot be stabilized easily, even if a political settlement were to be reached. And that leaves it exposed to competing regional powers -- including Pakistan and India.

Islamabad insists it is not aiming to install a Taliban government in Kabul, seeking instead an end to the instability which has spilled over into Pakistan itself.

Pakistani sources have said repeatedly over the past year that it wants a stable Afghanistan -- neither one hostile to its interests, nor a client state run by the Taliban and Pakistan-friendly Pashtuns.

After so many bombings, Pakistan has had what one western official described as an "epiphany" in its attitude to Islamist militants.

But Pakistan has yet to convince many in India.

India has renewed peace talks with Pakistan broken off after the 2008 attack on Mumbai by Pakistan-based militants.

Bin Laden's death, however, raised worries that it would allow the United States to make a quick exit from Afghanistan.

"Washington will seek plausible reassurances that after it leaves, Afghanistan will not play host to terrorists targeting the United States," said Nitin Pai, founder of Takshashila Institution, an Indian thinktank.

"It might retain some troops and drones in Afghanistan just in case it needs to use a stick. That apart, it will accede to Pakistani demands that Kabul be made over to a pro-Pakistani regime."

Sony admits to second data loss

EMBATTLED GAMING OUTFIT Sony has confessed that personal details belonging to nearly 25m of its online entertainment users might have been stolen by hackers.
Last week the firm reported that the number of affected online gaming users could have been as high as 77m, but according to Sony a third more could be involved.
A further 12,000 individuals might also have had their data compromised in the hack attack, as the company said that an 'outdated' database had also been penetrated. Sony added that the attack most likely happened on April 16 or 17, which was almost two weeks ago.
"This information, which was discovered by engineers and security consultants reviewing SOE systems, showed that personal information from approximately 24.6 million, SOE (Sony Online Entertainment) accounts may have been stolen, as well as certain information from an outdated database from 2007," it said.
"The information from the outdated database that may have been stolen includes approximately 12,700 non-U.S. credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates (but not credit card security codes), and about 10,700 direct debit records of certain customers in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Spain."
The majority of information should be safe, Sony said that while they were not encrypted they were 'hashed', but the 10,700 old users may have had their bank account details, including personal data, stolen. All users are advised to change their personal log-in information, the firm added.
Sony has suspended all SOE services for now.
Maybe our internet is not SAFE as our thinking abount.

Latest hack apology from Sony

Below is the full text of Sony's statement regarding the security breach on the Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) system.
Dear Valued Sony Online Entertainment Customer,
Our ongoing investigation of illegal intrusions into Sony Online Entertainment systems has discovered that hackers may have obtained personal customer information from SOE systems. We are today advising you that the personal information you provided us in connection with your SOE account may have been stolen in a cyber-attack. Stolen information includes, to the extent you provided it to us, the following: name, address (city, state, zip, country), email address, gender, birthdate, phone number, login name and hashed password.
Customers outside the United States should be advised that we further discovered evidence that information from an outdated database from 2007 containing approximately 12,700 non-US customer credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates (but not credit card security codes) and about 10,700 direct debit records listing bank account numbers of certain customers in Germany, Austria, Netherlands and Spain may have also been obtained. We will be notifying each of those customers promptly.
There is no evidence that our main credit card database was compromised. It is in a completely separate and secured environment.
We had previously believed that SOE customer data had not been obtained in the cyber-attacks on the company, but on May 1st we concluded that SOE account information may have been stolen and we are notifying you as soon as possible.
We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the attack and as a result, we have:
1) Temporarily turned off all SOE game services;
2) Engaged an outside, recognized security firm to conduct a full and complete investigation into what happened; and
3) Quickly taken steps to enhance security and strengthen our network infrastructure to provide you with greater protection of your personal information.
We greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill as we do whatever it takes to resolve these issues as quickly and efficiently as practicable.
For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When SOE's services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your Station or SOE game account name or password for other unrelated services or accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them, as well.
To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we encourage you to remain vigilant, to review your account statements and to monitor your credit reports. We are providing the following information for those who wish to consider it:
U.S. residents are entitled under U.S. law to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit bureaus. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free (877) 322-8228.
We have also provided names and contact information for the three major U.S. credit bureaus below. At no charge, U.S. residents can have these credit bureaus place a "fraud alert" on your file that alerts creditors to take additional steps to verify your identity prior to granting credit in your name. This service can make it more difficult for someone to get credit in your name. Note, however, that because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you, it also may delay your ability to obtain credit while the agency verifies your identity. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts on your file. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, or should you have any questions regarding your credit report, please contact any one of the agencies listed below.
Experian: 888-397-3742; www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
Equifax: 800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
TransUnion: 800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790
You may wish to visit the web site of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission at www.consumer.gov/idtheft or reach the FTC at 1-877-382-4357 or 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580 for further information about how to protect yourself from identity theft. Your state Attorney General may also have advice on preventing identity theft, and you should report instances of known or suspected identity theft to law enforcement, your State Attorney General, and the FTC. For North Carolina residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; telephone (877) 566-7226; or www.ncdoj.gov. For Maryland residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; telephone: (888) 743-0023; or www.oag.state.md.us.
We are committed to helping our customers protect their personal data and we will provide a complimentary offering to assist users in enrolling in identity theft protection services and/or similar programs. The implementation will be at a local level and further details will be made available shortly in regions in which such programs are commonly utilized.
We thank you for your patience as we complete our investigation of this incident, and we regret any inconvenience. Our teams are working around the clock on this, and services will be restored as soon as possible. Sony takes information protection very seriously and will continue to work to ensure that additional measures are taken to protect personally identifiable information. Providing quality and secure entertainment services to our customers is our utmost priority. Please contact us at 1 (866) 436-6698 should you have any additional questions.
Sincerely,
Sony Online Entertainment LLC

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

How the iPhone 3GS Makes AT&T Look Better Than It Should!

This morning AT&T revealed its first-quarter earnings, and things certainly smell like they're coming up roses for the carrier. That's probably expected considering it's destined to soon become the nation's largest wireless provider thanks to its recent move to acquire T-Mobile. But there was one part of the company's results that was a bit surprising: the debut of the Verizon iPhone appeared to have little effect on AT&T's iPhone subscriber base. Were there really that few people switching when AT&T finally lost its exclusive grip on the device?

AT&T said it activated 3.6 million iPhones last quarter, the first quarter the Verizon iPhone was available. It also said iPhone subscriber "churn," or the number of iPhone owners ditching AT&T for another carrier, was unchanged from the same period last year. During a call this morning, company executives said the impact was, "significantly less than many in the financial community and the media expected and, frankly, they were less than we expected."

After a close look at the numbers, an X factor becomes apparent: the iPhone 3GS. In January, AT&T reduced the price of the 8GB iPhone 3GS from $99 to $49, and it's been pushing the discounted phone hard. The 3GS is a very capable smartphone (disclosure: I'm an iPhone 3GS user and AT&T subscriber) and looks extremely cheap next to the iPhone 4, which starts at about $200 on both Verizon and AT&T. Of course, Verizon doesn't offer the iPhone 3GS, so any iPhone cravers not willing to pony up a couple of C notes will be going to the AT&T store.

Tellingly, the numbers AT&T provided don't break down how many of those iPhone activations were iPhone 4s or iPhone 3GSes. Even if iPhone subscribers—both new and existing—are flocking to Verizon, the losses to AT&T's overall iPhone subscriber base would be mitigated by thrify customers snapping up the now ultra-cheap iPhone 3GS.

None of this is to suggest that AT&T is being deceptive here. In fact, the company should be congratulated on employing an effective tactic to keep iPhone subscriber numbers healthy in the wake of losing exclusivity on the device to a strong competitor. After all, a customer is a customer, and a two-year contract is a two-year contract, regardless of which iPhone they're using.

But price-slashing the previous model won't be an effective long-term strategy. When the iPhone 5 debuts (whenever that happens), both carriers will have warehouses full of iPhone 4s ripe for a discount. Add to that the iPhone owners who are simply holding out for the next model before they switch, and I suspect that in a couple of quarters, AT&T's iPhone churn numbers will start to see an uptick (more disclosure: one of them will probably be me).

The first clue will come tomorrow morning, when Verizon releases its first-quarter earnings. If the company's iPhone sales numbers truly are its "best in history"—and if many of those customers are new subscribers—it's probably an indicator that the impact of the Verizon iPhone was more than AT&T would like to believe. Then, with a little luck, AT&T might realize it actually has to come up with something better than a price cut to compete effectively for iPhone customers' hearts and minds. How about fewer dropped calls, for starters?

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Report - Total shipments of new Apple TV top 2 million sold last quarter.

Shipments of the second-generation Apple TV continue to be strong, reaching more than 2 million estimated units since the device launched late last year, according to a new report.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of Concord Securities revealed the results of his survey of Apple suppliers on Tuesday. The numbers show that sales of the Apple TV have held relatively steady since the device first went on sale last October.

Sales of the streaming-centric iOS-powered Apple TV topped 1 million just before Christmas of last year, and within three months of its launch. That pace showed strong sales had continued after a breakout start of 250,000 units in its first six weeks.

Apple has famously referred to its set top box product as a "hobby," but with AirPlay instant wireless streaming of audio and video from iOS devices now available for third-party applications, the Apple TV could become a more integral part of the Apple ecosystem. And while the Apple TV remains a "hobby," steady shipments of the $99 device have bolstered its status.

Kuo estimates that Apple sold 820,000 units of the Apple TV in its second quarter of fiscal 2011, which ran from January through March. Apple will announce its quarterly earnings after the market closes on Wednesday, though the company frequently does not mention the Apple TV, focusing instead on more popular products like the iPhone and iPad.

As the new second-generation Apple TV gains a foothold in the market, Apple is rumored to be exploring other options to bring AirPlay to the masses. In March, Bloomberg reported that Apple is considering a plan to license AirPlay to third-party HDTV makers, allowing users to stream video directly from an iPhone or iPad to their TV set without the need for an Apple TV set top box.

There are also persistent rumors that Apple is developing its own full-fledged television set. One analyst said earlier this month that there are signs that Apple could release an Internet-connected television by the end of this year.

It is said by Analysts that China will be the largest PC market exceeing the United States within two years.

Some analysts predict that China will soon surpass the U.S. PC shipments, the specific time will be this year or next year. This will once again demonstrate the power of China's 1.3 billion population purchasing power.

The rapid growth of China's PC market will also have an impact on U.S. companies, especially Microsoft. Microsoft technical officials responsible for public affairs, Stuart McKee (Stuart McKee) on Monday in the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing said that at present 95% of China's PC market running Windows, and more than 80% of companies PC installed with Microsoft Office software.

Mackey pointed out that China will soon become the world's largest PC market, but the Chinese market, business software piracy rate of 80% to Microsoft's software piracy rate in terms of higher. He calls upon the Commission to develop strategies to address the piracy problem.

IDC and Gartner are predicting that China will in the near future in PC shipments over the United States. Gartner's data show that in 2010, the United States in the global PC market share of 20.4%, PC shipments of 71.7 million units. China's market share of 19.3%, PC shipments of 67.8 million units. Gartner believes that if the Chinese market grew by 12%, then China's PC shipments will surpass the U.S. this year.

IDC believes that China's PC shipments in 2012 surpassed the United States. IDC expects China's PC shipments this year, an increase of 10.8%, 4.7% higher than the United States. The company estimates that the United States and China last year, PC shipments were 7,500 million and 63.8 million units.

However, the United States Pace University School of Computer Science and Information Systems Expert Jonathan Hill pointed out that analysts and tech enthusiasts pay more attention to mobile devices, including tablet PCs and smart mobile phones, rather than the traditional notebook and desktop computers. Therefore, China's PC shipments will surpass the United States does not cause too much of American psychology.

Hill also believes that China is still not an operating system to replace Microsoft Windows, this may be because Chinese companies pay more attention to mobile devices. He pointed out that Baidu is currently developing a mobile operating system may be out of this consideration.

Currently, the U.S. PC makers have put most of China PC manufacturing activities. Therefore, U.S. companies in the industry on the development of hardware and software is still in the leading question.

Pace University Marketing and International Business Professor Robert G. Vambery said the next 10 to 20 years, China will lead in terms of hardware and software development. He said: "In the U.S. universities and R&D center, China's engineers and scientists have been and continue to receive the best training."

Enderle Group analyst Rob Enderle said that China's growth in PC shipments was huge, and This is one of several trends that China is replacing the U.S. as the world's most with the strength of the country.

The Taboo About Programmers' salary.

Salary is an interesting topic. Each person has their own idea of this topic. It is also at work among people with a unique taboo. Although the completion of university studies, into the working environment of the programmer is only a month or so, I could not help my classmates start asking about their access to first job in the starting salary is how much. I first discovered it is not natural for everyone to face this issue, many companies have evaded the issue. Such as Microsoft, very clear requirements recruits must maintain confidentiality of their salary jobs.

From a company like Microsoft to consider the position, they practice this kind of thing is entirely understandable. They want all the information confidential as possible. If they offer you the treatment you well, and you told your friend, your friend is likely to produce an unreasonable expectation. If they give you a bad treatment, and you told your friend, then you discover that the treatment is very low, you will therefore unhappy. So, to keep the staff it is clear that taboos related to each company's best interests. However, despite this, for you, does not mean you need to comply with this taboo.

From a personal point of view, open your salary information is a good idea. Sharing salary information with colleagues that you can know how the company is an excellent way to repay. And eventually it will become your future bargaining with the company in salary effective tool. Of course, the treatment is difficult to make accurate comparisons good or bad, because different regions have different standards, but the direction, after all, is a start!

To make my proposal more valuable these proposals, the following is my collected four technology companies in the unofficial starting salary for new employees situation. If I play the drums, while his public salary information is not shared by the available information would make it very hypocritical! In each of the following companies, I refer to at least three in the company of people working full-time information, so the data close to the actual situation (especially for those who have not graduated from college students.)

Google: The Mountain View office and other large-scale office in the United States, the annual salary is about thousands of dollars, but where they will live in accordance with a number of indicators of confidentiality increase or decrease this figure. They also provide the equivalent of 40,005 to 70,001 thousands of dollars thousands of dollars (more recent than the latter) the retention period of 4 years the stock value of Google's other benefits about 40,005 thousands of US dollars per year, or even more.
Amazon: about $80,007 annual salary of thousands of dollars, they will not be known in the bargain with you on a starting salary. They usually will provide a roughly from 40,000 to 50,000 U.S. dollars the value of the different 4-year retention period of the stock (you will be the longer in the company, get more.)
Microsoft: average about $90,000 per year, but I heard only 8 million. Usually add about 5 million worth of four-year stock.
Facebook: each year $80,005 to $90,000 U.S. dollars between. Their stock structure is complex, but I guess the value is usually $1000 to $10,000 U.S. dollars 8 four-year retention period for the stock, if you believe the secondary market prices, these stocks already more than 20 million U.S. dollars in value, equivalent to each Shares 28 dollars.

Apple Moves to Dismiss FairPlay Antitrust Lawsuit!

Apple has asked a Federal Court judge to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit that claims the company manipulated the FairPlay copy protection in iTunes Store music to intentionally block RealNetworks from loading music onto iPods. The lawsuit was filed in 2005, and just last month Apple CEO Steve Jobs was ordered to provide a deposition in the case.

The consumer-initiated lawsuit followed a change in Apple’s software that came only days after RealNetworks introduced its Harmony application that could load music that was purchased from its own service onto an iPod, bypassing the iTunes Store. At the time, music purchased from Apple included FairPlay digital rights management copy protection that was supported only by the iPod.

When Apple updated its FairPlay DRM, Harmony couldn’t load music onto iPods.

Now that Mr. Jobs’s deposition is complete, Apple’s legal team is asking the court to dismiss the case, according to Bloomberg. The company claims it made the change to its software to ensure that customers received the best possible user experience.

“Apple’s view is that iPods work better when consumers use the iTunes jukebox rather than third party software that can cause corruption or other problems,” Apple attorney Robert Mittelstaedt told the court.

The decision to change the software followed 58 complaints Apple received from customers having issues downloading music from other services.

U.S. District Court Judge James Ware, who is hearing the case, said he will issue a ruling on Apples motion to dismiss in May. Apple hasn’t commented on the lawsuit.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Apple Sues Samsung for 'Copying' iPhone, iPad Design!

Apple has filed suit against Samsung for copying the design of its iPad and iPhone with its smartphones and tablets.

In a suit filed April 15, Apple said "Rather than innovate and develop its own technology and a unique Samsung style for its smart phone products and computer tablets, Samsung chose to copy Apple's technology, user interface and innovative style in these infringing products," according to the Wall Street Journal.

The suit covers Samsung's Galaxy S phones and tablets, the Epic 4G, and the Nexus S.

Apple said Samsung imitated the look and feel of its products with everything from apps to packaging. "This kind of blatant copying is wrong," an Apple spokeswoman told the Journal.

"Samsung's development of core technologies and strengthening our intellectual property portfolio are keys to our continued success," Samsung said in a statement. "Samsung will respond actively to this legal action taken against us through appropriate legal measures to protect our intellectual property."

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Samsung is just the latest phone maker to feel Apple's wrath. In March 2010, Apple sued HTC for 20 instances of patent infringement, all dealing with various elements of the iPhone.

"We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it," Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, said at the time. "We've decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."

HTC later said that it disagreed with Apple and intends to "fully defend itself."

In October, Apple also filed suit against Motorola, saying that its multi-touch smartphones use Apple-owned intellectual property.

Apple is also battling Amazon and Microsoft over the use of "app store."

Xbox 360 still the No. 1 console in the U.S.

Xbox 360 was the highest-selling video game console in March, according to NPD Group, an independent market research firm. Xbox 360 has been the number one selling console in the United States for nine out of the last 10 months.

Xbox 360’s success last month and over the last several months was driven by strong console and software sales, as well as ongoing consumer demand for Kinect, the fastest selling consumer electronics device, according to Guinness World Records.

March highlights from NPD Group include:

• Xbox 360 sold 430,000 units in March, maintaining the number one console spot for the third month in a row.

• Xbox 360 console sales were up 28 percent year over year, the largest growth of any current generation console on the market.

• Total retail spend on Xbox 360 platform (hardware, software and accessories) reached $457 million, still the highest among current generation consoles.

• During the month of March, four of the top ten console game titles were for Xbox 360 including: “Homefront,” “Dragon Age II,” “Crysis 2,”and “Call of Duty: Black Ops.”

Microsoft expects this momentum to continue throughout 2011. In the coming months, Xbox 360 owners can look forward to the arrival of Kinect-enabled Netflix and Hulu Plus as well as a diverse catalog of new games.

Apple Incorporated!


Apple, the oracular Silicon Valley company that became an icon of personal computing, has risen to its greatest heights in the years since Steven P. Jobs returned to its helm and opened horizons beyond the desktop.

With its coveted gadgets, Apple has cast something of a spell on both consumers and investors. The iPod and the iPhone have been major forces in the music and smartphone industries, respectively.

As measured by the value of its stock, Apple shot past Microsoft, the computer software giant, in May 2010 to become the world's most valuable technology company. The changing of the guard caps one of the most stunning turnarounds in business history for Apple, which had been given up for dead only a decade earlier, and Mr. Jobs. The rapidly rising value attached to Apple by investors also heralded an important cultural shift: consumer tastes have overtaken the needs of business as the leading force shaping technology.

But even as the company began 2011 with strong sales across its product lines, a significant question was raised by Mr. Jobs's announcement in January that he was taking a medical leave of absence — his third — a year and a half after his return from a liver transplant.

Mr. Jobs, who recovered from pancreatic cancer after surgery in 2004, had looked increasingly frail in the weeks before the announcement. He also took a leave of several months in 2009, when he left Timothy D. Cook, the chief operating officer, in charge. Mr. Cook is widely believed to be the most likely candidate to permanently replace Mr. Jobs.

In March 2011, Mr. Jobs made a surprise public appearance to introduce the iPad 2, which he described as a faster, lighter version that would sell for the same price as the original.

Mr. Cook, who took over day-to-day operations, joined Apple nearly 13 years ago and is otherwise responsible for the company’s worldwide sales and operations. He kept the development of products like the iPhone 4 and the iPad on track, increased Macintosh computer sales and improved Apple’s financial performance during an economic downturn. A day after the announcement of Mr. Jobs’ medical leave, Apple reported record sales and profits for the last three months of 2010 that far exceeded analysts’ bullish forecasts.

The 2010 holidays were really good to Apple. Consumers around the world snapped up iPhones and iPads at a dizzying rate and also bought millions of laptops, especially the new ultralight MacBook Air.

Apple said its net income in the last three months of 2010 rose 78 percent from a year earlier to a record $6 billion, or $6.43 a share, from $3.4 billion, or $3.67 a share. Revenue soared more than 70 percent to $26.74 billion, from $ 15.68 billion in 2009.

The iPhone 4 became Apple’s most successful phone introduction yet, and with Apple expected to bring the iPhone to Verizon early in 2011 the sales growth may well accelerate.

But for all its success in the phone business, Apple suddenly has a real fight on its hands. Americans now are buying more Android phones than iPhones, and analysts say that by late 2011, Android will have erased the iPhone’s once enormous lead in the high end of the smartphone market.

The company's iPad tablet computer — an idea that has flopped before — also drew enormous attention; the device, with a 10-inch multi-touch screen, is intended to fill a gap between laptops and smartphones.

Apple’s profit margins are the envy of the consumer electronics industry, but buried among quarterly results that any company would be more than happy to emulate was a decline in gross profit margins. The problem was that the company’s newest products ware not as profitable as its computers and iPod music players. Strong sales of lower-margin products — the iPad among them — caused the decline, according to Apple executives.

A New Role for Apple

As one success follows another, the company finds itself in a bewildering position. As the tech industry's perennial underdog, Apple was frequently scorned and dismissed by larger and more successful competitors like Microsoft or Dell. Now, with growing frequency, the company is seen by competitors and other industry players as a bully.

Companies like Google and Adobe have accused Apple of unfairly using its clout to exclude their technologies from the iPhone and iPad. And some application developers are fretting under Apple's tight control of those devices.

Perhaps the loudest complaints came after Apple barred some third-party programming tools from the iPad, including Adobe's Flash software, which is widely used to create online videos and Web applications.

The decision led to a very public war of words between Adobe and Mr. Jobs. It also prompted the Federal Trade Commission to begin asking questions about the effect of Apple's decision on competition.

Then in June 2010, Apple appeared to make the switch from excluded to excluder in the mobile ad market. New policies for the iPhone 4 bar Google and AdMob from selling ads on the device, resulting in a complaint to the FTC from Google, which was in the unusual position of playing victim.

The FTC inquiry is not the only one concerning potentially anticompetitive behavior by Apple. The Justice Department recently began a preliminary investigation into whether Apple pressured music labels to exclude Amazon.com, its rival in digital music distribution, from certain licensing agreements. And Apple is one of many Silicon Valley companies whose hiring practices are being examined by the department.

The latest inquiry from the commission has raised eyebrows among some antitrust experts, in part because Apple currently controls less than a third of the smartphone market in the United States.

Apple likes to maintain tight control over what programs can appear on the iPhone — a task that became a little bit harder on July 26, 2010, when the Library of Congress, which has the power to define exceptions to an important copyright law, said that it was legal to bypass a phone's controls on what software it will run to get "lawfully obtained" programs to work.

The issue has been a topic of debate between Apple, which says it has the right to control the software on its devices, and technically adept users who want to customize their phones as they see fit.

Apple also said that altering the phones encouraged the pirating of applications, exposed iPhones to security risks and taxed the company's customer support staff. But iPhone hobbyists say they simply want to have free range to use certain features and programs on their phones that Apple has limited or failed to offer.

The Early Years

Founded in 1976 by Mr. Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Apple came of age as one of a wave of firms — including Atari, Radio Shack and Texas Instruments — that were looking for ways to transform the digital computer into a home appliance. Of that first personal computing generation, it is Apple and the charismatic Mr. Jobs that have consistently found a way to touch the zeitgeist. Apple's microprocessor-based consumer products have found expanding consumer markets around the world, beginning with the Apple II computer, widely adopted in education during the 1970s.

In 1979, Mr. Jobs made a legendary visit to Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, where he saw a prototype personal computer called the Alto. He took away a range of ideas about computer design and graphical user interface and developed two families of computers, the Lisa and the Macintosh. Aiming to make Apple's products "insanely great," Mr. Jobs was convinced that they could change the world.

Although the Lisa failed commercially, the Macintosh succeeded, reshaping the computer industry over the next decade. Its success, however, came at great cost to Mr. Jobs, who was forced out of the company in 1985 by his handpicked chief executive, John Sculley, a recruit from Pepsi.

Apple initially prospered under Mr. Sculley, and the Macintosh briefly reached a market share of more than 15 percent of the personal computer industry, but the company foundered as Microsoft's Windows operating system became the desktop computing standard.

The company began to unravel when Mr. Sculley placed a large bet on the arrival of the hand-held computing market. When Apple's Newton failed commercially, he was forced out in 1993.

In 1997, Apple's current era dawned as Mr. Jobs returned after more than a decade in exile. At the time, many analysts gave him little chance of resurrecting the company, which had largely been written off by the computer industry. Michael S. Dell, who built his own PC empire, was even quoted as suggesting that Apple's smartest move would be to "shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders." Starting with the title of interim chief executive, however, Mr. Jobs systematically rebuilt the company's Macintosh franchise by adding an operating system he had developed at Next Inc.

The Beginning of a Revolution

In 2001, Mr. Jobs introduced the iPod music player, setting the company on its current course as a major force in consumer electronics. The iTunes Music Store, created to enable users to fill the device with audio, has made Apple an important force in the music industry as well. Over 10 billion songs from the store have been downloaded since the site went active in April 2003.

In 2007 Apple introduced the iPhone, a convergence of entertainment, computing and communications that has roiled the cellular phone industry. Its Apple TV set-top box has had less impact, but signals a continuing interest in the living room.

For now at least, Apple appears to have a comfortable lead in the simmering smartphone battle. Since 2007 it has sold tens of millions of iPhones and the similar-looking iPod Touches, and the devices have become its most profitable product category.

In April 2010, Apple announced that it had sold more than 300,000 iPads on the device's first day on the market, a figure that included preorders. That met the expectations of financial analysts who were keeping tabs on the release of the company's highly anticipated tablet computer. Apple also said iPad users had downloaded more than one million apps from the company's App Store and more than 250,000 electronic books from its iBookstore.

Wall Street warmly greeted the news in May 2010, of Apple's dominance over Microsoft, calling it the end of an era and the beginning of the next one. Microsoft, with its Windows and Office software franchises, has dominated the relationship most people had with their computers for almost two decades, and that was reflected in its stock market capitalization. But the click-clack of the keyboard has ceded ground to the swipe of a finger across a smartphone's touch screen.

And Apple is in the right place at the right time. Although it still sells computers, twice as much revenue is coming from hand-held devices and music. Over all, the technology industry sold about 172 million smartphones in 2009, compared with 306 million PCs, but smartphone sales grew at a pace five times faster.

The Android Challenge

Apple already competes with Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry. And the iPhone will soon have one more powerful and familiar foe: Microsoft. That company’s well-reviewed Windows Phone 7 software will appear in as many as nine new smartphones beginning in November 2010. Others like Nokia cannot be counted out.

That leaves little room for error at Apple. The company must continue to create hit products, as a single misstep could give Android and other rivals an opportunity to make inroads.

Also, as the number of people with Android phones grows, Android will grow more attractive for app developers. For now, Apple’s App Store, with more than 250,000 applications, enjoys a large advantage over the Android Market, which has about 80,000. And those numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Apps made for the iPhone tend to be of better quality, are more frequently downloaded and on average are more profitable for developers.

But that edge may not last, especially as many developers fret about Apple’s tight control over the App Store.

For now, the smartphone market is growing so rapidly that the rise of Android has not necessarily been at the expense of the iPhone. That will change as the market matures.

iTunes Update Addresses iPad, iPhone Sync Issues.


Apple released iTunes 10.2.2 on Monday with fixes for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad syncing issues. iTunes is Apple’s music, video and iOS app management application for Mac OS X and Windows.

The 10.2.2 update addressed an issue where iTunes could become unresponsive when syncing an iPad, and fixed a problem where photo syncing could take far longer than it should. It also fixed an issue that could cause video previews to skip when viewed in the iTunes application, and fixed other stability and performance issues.

Along with the syncing and performance issue fixes, the update also patched a security flaw for Windows users where a man-in-the-middle attack when browsing the iTunes Store could lead to application crashes and unauthorized code execution.

The iTunes 10.2.2 update is free and available via Apple’s Software Update application, or as a downloadable installer at the Apple Web site.

Is iPhone Murdering Point-and-Shoots? Not Really!!


Here’s a clue how popular smartphones have become as cameras: Apple’s iPhone 4 is quickly approaching the No. 1 spot to become the most-used camera on Flickr.

Nikon’s D90 DSLR camera is still Flickr king, but the iPhone isn’t far behind. The chart below (which includes only the cameras with the biggest shares) suggests the iPhone should surpass the D90 pretty soon. TechCrunch’s MG Siegler was first to make this observation.

That’s not to say general-purpose devices are killing the camera market. Worldwide still-camera sales increased 10 percent to 141 million units last year, according to research from IDC. Canon remains the world’s largest camera maker, and Sony is in a close second.

One thing contributing to the growth of handheld cameras is the advent of mirror-less cameras with bigger sensors and better, sometimes interchangeable, lenses — aka EVIL cameras. These cameras are still a relatively small part of the camera market, though.

The explanation is probably even simpler: Most dedicated cameras still have quality superior to most smartphone cameras, and people want their photos to look good. Plus, these cameras have things that a smartphone doesn’t, like a zoom lens and more-complex controls to change the appearance of photos.

The Flickr data more directly suggests that people aren’t carrying around cameras as much as they do their iPhones — which shouldn’t be a surprise, because which device would you rather keep in your pocket everywhere you go?

The smartphone’s impact on the video world is a bit more interesting. The iPhone has driven massive growth in mobile uploads on YouTube. When the iPhone 3GS released in 2009, YouTube saw mobile uploads jump exponentially each day.

Incidentally, Cisco just killed the Flip camcorder division last week. A few argue that Cisco made this decision solely because it no longer wanted to focus on consumer products. However, that’s a bit difficult to believe when you consider that smartphones shoot video that’s just as good, if not better, than a Flip. Plus, they have an internet connection to send videos straight to the web.

In the case of the Flip, Cisco didn’t adapt to the changing, increasingly interconnected world where people want to share videos and photos as fast as they create them. That left an opening that smartphone vendors are happy to fill.

However, camera vendors are making the right moves by focusing on quality images and a wider range of features to keep still cameras alive and well.

See also:

White iPhone 4 Release April 26: Hope iPhone 5 Isn’t Delayed This Long!
White iPhone 4 may be released by end of April



Sunday, April 17, 2011

How To Boost Employee Motivation With Better Leadership?

It is an astonishing fact - repeatedly shown in numerous surveys - that two-thirds of the workforce are not engaged in their work. Imagine the magnitude of lost productivity and innovation this represents! It also lies at the heart of much workplace strife and it denies workers any chance of true satisfaction from their working life. It begs the question - what causes this lack of employee motivation?

No doubt the responsibility is shared - the workers may have limited vision and aspiration. They also inherit decades of conditioning which implies that work is something that has to be endured and that effort should be limited to the minimum. It's no accident that there are many more negative terms for work than positive ones.

But a good deal of the shared responsibility lies with those in authority. Much of what passes as leadership is ego-driven and rooted in self-interest. Much is small-minded, lukewarm or insipid.

When individuals are made leaders simply by position and title, they inherit authority rather than earn it. Often they are driven to protect their own position and spend more effort in preserving the status quo than in making genuine moves to advance the fortunes of the organization or the people working in it.

Meanwhile natural leaders of the future stay in the shadows. They either hold themselves back feeling they can't compete with the cultural bias or they are kept in the margins by the established power base.

The result is a shortage of true leaders - the leadership vacuum. The clear conclusion is that to win greater engagement and to transform levels of employee motivation, we need a leap in the standards of leadership.

This is where you could make a real difference. It means stepping forward, prepared to be visible. This takes courage and persistence. But most of all it takes the willingness to break with conformity. If you remain entirely within convention then the results you get will simply perpetuate all the faults and the lost engagement that are already familiar.

You have a rebellious side - if you don't believe me cast your mind back to your teenage years. It's likely that this was really active then - the part that does not want to conform; the idealist that refuses to compromise. Back then holding a principle was more important than expediency, and being sensible was akin to surrender.

Your rebel side is still alive now - it might just need awakening. Speaker and author David Whyte argues strongly for the outlaw - like a sort of Robin Hood - that lies within each of us:

"To preserve a sense of freedom even in the midst of rules and regulations is to preserve a part of our identities …to live happily within outer laws, we must have a part that goes its own way, that is blessedly outlaw no matter what the outward conditions"

It is from your outlaw that the passion can come to break with conformity enough to be a genuine leader and take your people with you.

I need thinking. this is a real trouble for me too, how to improve it? what is the effective way?


White iPhone 4 Release April 26: Hope iPhone 5 Isn’t Delayed This Long!

Good news come one by one, this is a excited day.

There’s been rumblings for months and months now that Apple is finally ready to release the sought after White iPhone 4. We once thought it was dead up until some news popped up that it will release last week of April. Apple finally confirmed the report:

“The new version will be available from AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless by the end of April, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. The release was stalled as Apple resolved manufacturing challenges, including paint that peeled under heat, one person said.”

Macrumors via iPhoneItalia is reporting that the magic date is April 26 citing multiple resources. The White iPhone 4 was first announced last year at WWDC supposedly to release with the black version.

Apple had problems with getting the right “paint” and thus the multiple delays. On April 26, the wait is finally over. With the iPhone 5 also “delayed”, let’s sure hope it doesn’t take this freaking long. Will you buy a White iPhone 4 knowing iPhone 5 isn’t coming anytime soon?

That's a dream for me to have a iPhone, maybe this winter I will save enough money to buy it.
I will pay attention to Apple this year continue.

White iPhone 4 may be released by end of April

(CNN) - Bloomberg BusinessWeek has reported that a white iPhone 4 is expected to be released by the end of April.

Rumors of such a release have been swirling for some time.

Bloomberg said it got its information from three sources with "knowledge of the plans."

The industry insiders told Bloomberg that the phone will be available to customers of both AT&T and Verizon.

The black iPhone 4 was released in June. Apple has blamed production problems for the delayed release of a white version.

Apple is a greate company.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

‘Singing Woman’ by Ada Jack Carver

Our story today is called "Singing Woman." It was written by Ada Jack Carver. She won an O. Henry Award for the story.

"Singing Woman" is about an old professional mourner in the southern state of Louisiana. She lives on Isle Brevelle, a community of French-speaking people of mixed race. They are part black, part white. Now, here is Mary Tillotson with the story.

MARY TILLOTSON: Little by little, Isle Brevelle was changing and the old ways were disappearing. People did not even die as they used to in any beds with time to receive the sacrament and be pardoned for their sins. They died just anywhere, everywhere killed by trains or the growing number of automobiles that raced by on the big new roads.

No wondered the buryings were often poor, hurried affairs without even a singing woman. Henriette and her close friend, fat old Josephine Remon, were the only singing women left on Isle Brevelle.

There was a time when a singing woman was as necessary as a priest. No one who amounted to anything would be buried without a professional mourner.

Nowadays, people seemed to have lost the fear, the dignity of death. They did not care how they died or were born. They just came into and went out of the world, any old way.

All this troubled Henriette. She sat in her corner and mumbled and grumbled to God about it -- "Look liking ain't nothing right, not what it used to be."

It had been nearly ten years no since Henriette had wailed for a funeral. Her friend Josephine had had the last one. That was six years ago, when Madame Rivet died. That made ninety-eight for Josephine and ninety-nine for herself. She was one funeral ahead of her friend.

How proud Henriette was of her record! She, Henriette, had sung for more buryings than any singing woman in the parish. Of course, Old Josephine was a mighty close second.

Henriette kept a record of her own and Josephine's funerals, in a little black book locked up in a safe place. On one page was here own name, Henriette, and underneath it ninety-nine crosses in neat little rows of five. On the opposite page was Josephine's name, and beneath it ninety-eight crosses, in neat little rows of five. Well, they had served death long and loyally, she and Josephine.

There was a time when, as a special treat, Henriette would take out her funeral book and name the crosses: "This one was Marie Lombard, and this one Celeste, her daughter. Here was Henri, who died the time the cholera came, in eighteen-sixty.

Sometimes, Henriette wondered sadly if she would ever wail again. There was on Isle Brevelle only one person left who, if he died, would want a wailing woman. This was Toni Philbert, the only soul on Isle Brevelle older than Henriette.

Toni and Henriette and Josephine had been young folks together. Now it became a sort of game between the two women – who would get Toni when he died.

"If I get Toni," Henriette would say, "me, I'll have two more crosses than you. I'll have a hundred." And Josephine, sitting fat in her chair, would laugh – "mais non, and if I get him," we'll be even, Etta, my friend."

Toni himself, an old, old man was pleased with the fuss they made over him. Sometimes he would joke with them when he met them at church. "Well, well, old ‘uns. I'm here yet. Ha! Ha! I'll outlive both you girls. Just wait – me, I show you!"

Sometimes when the weather was fine, and the sun not too hot or too bright, old Henriette would take her stick and hobble down to Josephine's house to talk of old times.

What grand living and dying there used to be, back in steamboat days! It was like remembering a wedding festival or a Mardi Gras to look back to the yellow-fever scare of eighteen-ninety. A funeral every day, and sometimes two. She and Josephine had had their hands full...Shucks! The land was too healthy now, what with draining the swamps and such. The people were getting too uppity, outwitting death like that. Good thing after all that the automobiles bumped some of them off, else they would never quit the earth.

Sometimes, Henriette and Josephine would make wild little jokes, slapping at the flies with their untiring fans. "I seen Toni Last week, at the church. He's looking weak. Mai non!" And both would laugh. "He ain't here too long."

But old Toni, who for almost twenty years has had one foot in the grave, looked like he meant to hang on to the earth forever and ever, amen. He has always been like that, a lover of life and living. Heylaw! What a lad old Toni used to be...What a way with the girls!

It was on a terribly hot August day that Toni Philbert had a stroke. Henriette's grandson came in and told her about it. Henriette was excited. So Toni was sick, very low! She gulped down some coffee and got her stick and was off to Josephine's house. She was so heavy with news she could hardly breathe. Ah, well, poor old Toni was dying! Which one would he want to sing for him, herself or old Josephine?

A week went by, and another, and it began to look as if old Toni did not mean to die after all. It was just like Toni to keep death waiting, to play with death like that.

Every night Henriette got out her funeral book. Ninety-nine crosses for herself. A record any singing woman might be proud of! If only she could get one more, to complete her final five! If only she could get Toni. How she would crow over Josephine then..."Me, I got one hundred crosses. One hundred funerals I've sung for."

Then, one night in late September, Toni died and his son came to ask Henriette to the funeral. "Papa, he told us to get you. The funeral is tomorrow at ten."

In the morning, when Henriette awakened, she found that something terrible had happened to her voice. It was gone. She could not speak...too much excitement, and she let herself get wet outside. Her grandchildren put warm things on her throat and gave her a rum toddy. But it did no good. Her throat hurt when she opened her mouth. She sounded like a frog. She had to stay in bed.

In the evening the family returned from the burying. But they said nothing about the funeral and how nice Josephine had sung and carried on.

When Henriette thought no one was looking, she took out her funeral book from under her pillow and made a crossmark under Josephine's name. Now they were even! Each had ninety-nine crosses. Her old hands shook and one tear rolled out of one eye.

The next day, when Henriette awoke, she heard much excitement around the house. She sat up against her pillow. Her grandchildren crowed around her bed and told her that Josephine had gotten sick in the night and passed away early this morning.

"How do you feel, Granny?" Is your throat all right? Josephine asked for you in the night, to come and sing for her funeral...Well, le bon Dieu loves you."

All day, the children made preparations to take Henriette to Josephine's funeral. They said, "You stay in bed and rest, Mammy, so your voice will be good tomorrow."

The next morning they came in to help her. When she was dressed and ready to go, they brought her the funeral book. "Now, Mammy, look! Mark it down – one hundred funerals. You have sung for more buryings than anyone in the parish."

But Henriette brushed them away. "Don't interfere," she cackled. "You wait till I come home from Josephine's burial."

She was unsteady on her feet as they started out. She was so little, so little and thin. In the mourning veil she looked like a little black bride. She hobbled painfully, slowly along the road. There was not much strength left in her. A loneliness passed over her...a loneliness and heartache..."Josie," she called... "Josie...I'm coming."

She reached the turn of the road where the willows grew and had to stop. She could go no further. She became dizzy...weaker...sick with fear. She turned her face toward Josephine's house and whispered – "Josie."

Everything around her seemed less clear...a darkness took hold of her – "Josie...Josie...I believe, my friend that...after all...you and me will quit even."

(MUSIC)

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: You have heard the story called, "Singing Woman." I was written by Ada Jack Carver. It was edited and adapted for Special English by Harold Berman. Your narrator was Mary Tillotson. Listen again next week at the same time for another Special English program of AMERICAN STORIES. This is Shirley Griffith.

Apple Employees Make 'It Gets Better' Video

Apple has joined the "It Gets Better" campaign with a video that features words of encouragement from its gay, lesbian, and transgendered employees.

"To finally be open and honest with who I am and what I want out of life. To my surprise, it was probably one of the best things that I had ever done," one man says.

"You feel every sense of freedom and every sense of 'this is what life is all about,'" says another.

The "It Gets Better Campaign" got started last year after college student Tyler Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge after his roommate used a Webcam to broadcast Clementi's sexual encounter with another man. Unfortunately, Clementi was just one of several teens who took their own lives recently after being bullied for their sexual orientation.

In the wake of these deaths, "Savage Love" columnist Dan Savage started the "It Gets Better Project," a YouTube video archive of testimonials from celebrities, politicians, and everyday people telling their own stories or offering to support those who are suffering. Savage won a $500 award from the Sidney Hillman Foundation for his efforts, which he donated to the Trevor Project, which has also supported the "It Gets Better" project on its Web site.

"The bullies seem like the powerful people, but the secret of the real world is they're at the peak of their power at 15 and 16, and there will come a time when the bullies are not successful and the people they bullied are, and you just have to out-survive them," another Apple employee said in the video.

"And sometimes I still shake my head, think I'm dreaming, because it got so much better than I ever thought it would be possible," said another.

"There's no way anyone can really, really explain it to you until you really feel it, but if you're not around, you won't," a woman concludes.

Apple is not the only tech company to join the effort. Google, which is also a corporate sponsor of the Trevor Project, along with AT&T, Levi Strauss & Co., and Wells Fargo, released a similar video of its employees in October. President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have also made videos.

Apple Faces Lawsuit Over App Purchases, 'Child Exploitation'

A lawsuit filed against Apple alleges that the company does not do enough to prevent unauthorized purchases of applications by children and claims such lack of action makes for "unlawful exploitation" of children.

The lead plaintiff in the class action lawsuit is Garen Meguerian of Phoenixville, Penn., who says application purchasing policies not only exploit children, but parents' wallets, allowing the company to rake in millions of dollars in extra gains.

Megurian claims the current policy allows children to makes purchases on their parents' accounts without permission. Now he's suing Apple for a number of things, including unjust enrichment and breach of contract.

This isn't the first time someone has raised an eyebrow about Apple's purchasing policy. Congress began pressuring the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the policy last year after a story was released about an 8-year-old girl who purchased $1,400 in applications.

FBI shuts down Internet poker sites

A thriving online poker industry catering to Americans but operating from abroad to evade U.S. gambling laws could be wiped out by criminal charges against top executives in the business.

Eleven people, including the founders of the three largest poker sites open to U.S. players, were charged by a federal grand jury with bank fraud, money laundering and violating gambling laws. The government also is seeking to recover $3 billion from the companies.

The FBI had shut down two of the sites, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, by Friday evening and were working to do the same with the third, Absolute Poker. Online visitors were greeted with a message saying, "This domain name has been seized by the F.B.I. pursuant to an Arrest Warrant," and an enumeration of federal anti-gambling statutes and penalties.

An estimated 8 million to 10 million Americans play poker online for money; thousands of them earn their living on the sites, according to a players advocacy group.

Congress tried to shut down the industry by enacting an anti-gambling law in 2006, but most sites found ways to work around the vaguely worded measure. Since then other members of Congress have proposed bills to legalize Internet gambling, but they have failed to reach a floor of either chamber.

In the community of players, news of the indictments unsealed Friday in federal court in Manhattan landed like a bombshell.

"Everyone's in panic," said David Tuthill, a 22-year-old in Las Vegas who makes his living playing online and in casinos. "Everyone sort of knew in the back of their minds that a day like this was possible — and maybe even inevitable — but it's really just shocking now that it's here."

Two of the 11 defendants were arrested Friday morning in Utah and Nevada. Federal agents were said to be working with Interpol to capture defendants located overseas.

None of the companies responded to requests for comment.

Prosecutors alleged that after the 2006 law was passed the sites disguised deposits from their customers by describing them as payments to fictional online merchants.

After banks started to crack down on this practice, some of the companies turned to other institutions, including small, struggling American banks, to process payments, the indictment says.

"These defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continued flow of billions in illegal gambling profits," Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement.

The 2006 law did not directly outlaw online poker sites, but instead barred businesses from taking payments for "unlawful" online gambling, leaving the definition of what is unlawful to others.

After the law was passed, the largest site used by American players, PartyPoker.com, shut down its U.S. operations. But other companies thought they would be able to navigate the law by arguing, among other things, that poker is a game of skill and consequently could not be categorized as gambling.

There also was a widespread belief that by moving operations outside the United States, they would escape the eye of American authorities.

Full Tilt Poker, which was founded in Los Angeles, moved to Ireland after the law was passed.

"They thought — and for five years they were right — that no one would go to the trouble of going overseas to try to bring them back to this country," said Chuck Humphrey, a Colorado lawyer specializing in online gambling.

PokerStars, the largest of the three companies, is located in Britain's Isle of Man. Humphrey, who has done legal work for PokerStars, estimated that the company makes $500 million a year from its American customers. Absolute Poker, the smallest of the three, is based in Costa Rica.

In March, Wynn Resorts and Caesars Entertainment made moves into the online poker space, with Wynn pairing up with PokerStars to back federal legislation to regulate and tax online gambling. Last month, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Rep. John Campbell (R-Irvine) introduced a new attempt at federal regulation of online gaming.

A number of states also have taken up the issue and last year a ban on Internet poker in the state of Washington was upheld by courts.

I. Nelson Rose, a Whittier Law School professor and expert in gambling law, said states have been struggling to reconcile the legal gambling that is available at casinos in many states with the illegality of gambling online.

"Gambling has become a part of everyday life," Rose said. "Nearly every state has commercial gambling, most have casinos and nearly all have lotteries. But the laws are trailing behind."

Anthony Cabot, a Las Vegas lawyer who works with online gambling sites, said that the companies are likely to aggressively fight the charges on many of the same grounds that they have been fighting in state courts.

"This is the opening shot — but I think they without exception have their legal arguments in hand," Cabot said. "This is really just an opportunity to finally vet the question as to whether their operations have been compliant."

For the millions of poker players, the most immediate concern has been what will happen with all the millions of dollars they have in their online accounts — and the time they spent playing online.

"Now, I'll be playing more darts, I guess," said Scott Harker, 43, a technical writer in Ohio who has been playing since the late 1990s.

"It's really sad to see it go," he said. "But I think it'll come back eventually."

Friday, April 15, 2011

Apple releases IOS 4.3.2 to fix Comodo SSL breach

SOFTWARE DEVELOPER Apple has released IOS 4.3.2 for the Iphone 3GS, Iphone 4, Ipads and third and fourth generation Ipod Touch devices.

Apple made a number of fixes with IOS 4.3.2 including fixing blank or frozen Facetime calls and international 3G connections on the Ipad, but most of the update addresses security issues. Top of Apple's list was to issue a fix that mitigates the Comodo SSL vulnerability that occurred last month.

One of Comodo's affiliate registration authorities was compromised, resulting in the fraudulent issuance of SSL certificates. Apple's IOS 4.3.2 blacklists those certificates that were fraudently issued. A similar security update for Mac OS X users was also released by Apple at the same time.

Apple issued two updates to Webkit, the rendering engine behind its Safari web browser, to stop hackers from running code if the user visits a maliciously crafted website. A similar security hole has been patched in the libxslt library and an update to Quicklook will protect against dodgy Microsoft Office files that might try to use the software to execute code without the user's knowledge.

At this point Apple has yet to release IOS 4.3.2 for its CDMA Iphone 4, but it will be surprising if Apple waits too long to issue some sort of update to at least blacklist dodgy Comodo SSL certificates.

Although the list of features and fixes might sound a tad sparse, Apple's IOS 4.3.2 weighs in at 666MB, so the devil must be in the details.

Apple poaches Microsoft cloud computing guru

Macworld UK - Apple is planning to expand its data center infrastructure and has poached a leading Microsoft executive to help it achieve this aim, according to reports.

According to the Data Center Knowledge website, Kevin Timmons - previously Microsoft's general manager of Datacenter Services - will take up a leadership position at Apple in the coming weeks.

Microsoft has confirmed Timmons' departure from the company, saying he "has decided to pursue other career opportunities and is no longer working at Microsoft".

Microsoft did not specifically mention what these "career opportunities" entailed. But Dave Ohara, who has worked in data centers at Apple and Microsoft, stated that Timmons was going to move to Microsoft.

However, Ohara said that Timmons was not going to replace the late Oliver Sanche, who was Apple's top data center executive but died suddenly last year.

Though it is unclear what position Timmons will take at Apple if the reports are correct, speculation about Apple's cloud computing plans is already in full swing. Last week Macworld reported that Apple had bought up 12 petabytes of storage from Isilon Systems.

According to an insider at Isilon, Apple plans to use this storage space to manage the video downloads of its iTunes customers. This is not the first time that Apple's ambitions to move into the video-streaming space have been rumoured - last month a Morgan Stanley analyst claimed that the company was working on a Smart TV prototype.

Data Center Knowledge also points out that Apple is planning to build more data centers in Europe and the U.S. Timmons has experience building data centers in Chicago and Dublin for Microsoft, reportedly delivering the projects on time and on budget.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Lebanon - Tripoli - Golden




This is a old gold street having thousand years of history, do not look casually hung windows, that are all genuine hard currency - gold, you walk into a store, the clerk will give you a small tray which like a domestic bakery, and then you have to do is take down your favorite ornaments on his tray, over the last election, said the pay is the weight on the electronic, haha, Chinese seems to be calculated on the g In my view that the Arab women with a black veil that buy up only by the number of pounds to calculate it!

Official Biography of Steve Jobs to Be Available in 2012


Soon we will be able to know more about the biography of Steve Jobs. It turned out that his official biography will be published in early 2012.

The book has the title of iSteve: The Book of Jobs. It is written by Walter Isaacson, who is known to be famous biographer as well as the managing editor of Times and former CEO of CNN. Although we do not know much about the book’s contents, Isaacson managed to get access to the family of Steve Jobs, Apple as well as Steve Jobs, himself. The book will be published as well as distributed by Simon & Schuster.

It will be the fourth biography of Isaacson, which follows Einstein: His Life and Universe, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, as well as A Biography.

No doubts it will be a landmark books about the greatest innovators of the world. Like with Benjamin Franklin as well as Einstein, Walter Isaacson is revealing a story about revolutionary genius.

Steve Jobs is very secretive especially when it comes to his personal life. But still some of the details about his past were disclosed in unauthorized biographies, like The Second Coming of Steve Jobs as well as iCon: Steve Jobs. But both failed to paint a complete picture. It is hoped that we will be able to get concrete answers to questions that remained unresolved about the life of Steve Jobs. Moreover, it is hoped that we will get even new insights into how the Apple’s CEO runs such a valuable technology company.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

How to Pan-Roast Garlic

Pan-roasting garlic can be accomplished using crushed garlic or garlic cloves, depending on your taste preference and how quickly you want the garlic to cook. Crushed garlic can take about 20 minutes to roast on a stove top, while garlic cloves will cook in about five; however, the cloves will also be boiled and softened before going into the pan. While the crushed garlic recipe can be used as a base for a dressing, the clove recipe can be served alongside main dishes and as a spread.

Instructions

things you'll need:

  • 10 garlic cloves or 4 whole garlic bulbs
  • Garlic press
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
Pan-Roasted Crushed Garlic
  • Peel and crush 10 garlic cloves using a garlic press. Remove any stray bits of skin and manually chop any large clumps of garlic.
  • Put the crushed garlic into a small skillet. Add 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil, stirring to make sure the ingredients are well mixed.
  • Cook the mixture over low heat for about 20 minutes. Keep close watch over the garlic and stir frequently, as cooking times vary. The garlic is caramelized when it is browned and soft.

Pan-Roasted Garlic Cloves

  • Remove the garlic cloves from the 4 garlic bulbs. Do not peel. Place in a large saucepan with 6 cups of water.
  • Place the saucepan on a burner set to high heat. Bring the water to boiling. Reduce the heat to low and cover the saucepan. Simmer until the garlic cloves are tender, approximately 15 minutes.
  • Drain the water from the saucepan. Rinse the garlic with cold water and drain again.
  • Peel the garlic cloves. Combine them with the vegetable oil, sugar and salt in a large skillet over medium high heat until glazed and golden brown, about five minutes.