Thursday, February 28, 2013

Video: Feiler: Nothing is top down; the best ideas win

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3032608/vp/50974159#50974159

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Source: http://forums.ferra.ru/index.php?showtopic=54695

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Analysis: Emerging deadly virus demands swift sleuth work

LONDON | Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:34am EST

LONDON (Reuters) - The emergence of a deadly virus previously unseen in humans that has already killed half those known to be infected requires speedy scientific detective work to figure out its potential.

Experts in virology and infectious diseases say that while they already have unprecedented detail about the genetics and capabilities of the novel coronavirus, or NCoV, what worries them more is what they don't know.

The virus, which belongs to the same family as viruses that cause the common cold and the one that caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), emerged in the Middle East last year and has so far killed seven of the 13 people it is known to have infected worldwide.

Of those, six have been in Saudi Arabia, two in Jordan, and others in Britain and Germany linked to travel in the Middle East or to family clusters.

"What we know really concerns me, but what we don't know really scares me," said Michael Osterholm, director of the U.S.-based Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and a professor at the University of Minnesota.

Less than a week after identifying NCoV in September last year in a Qatari patient at a London hospital, scientists at Britain's Health Protection Agency had sequenced part of its genome and mapped out a so-called "phylogenetic tree" - a kind of family tree - of its links.

Swiftly conducted scientific studies by teams in Switzerland, Germany and elsewhere have found that NCoV is well adapted to infecting humans and may be treatable medicines similar to the ones used for SARS, which emerged in China in 2002 and killed a tenth of the 8,000 people it infected.

"Partly because of the way the field has developed post-SARS, we've been able to get onto this virus very early," said Mike Skinner, an expert on coronaviruses from Imperial College London. "We know what it looks like, we know what family it's from and we have its complete gene sequence."

Yet there are many unanswered questions.

SPOTLIGHT ON SAUDI ARABIA, JORDAN

"At the moment we just don't know whether the virus might actually be quite widespread and it's just a tiny proportion of people who get really sick, or whether it's a brand new virus carrying a much greater virulence potential," said Wendy Barclay, a flu virologist, also at Imperial College London.

To have any success in answering those questions, scientists and health officials in affected countries such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan need to conduct swift and robust epidemiological studies to find out whether the virus is circulating more widely in people but causing milder symptoms.

This would help establish whether the 13 cases seen so far are the most severe and represent "the tip the iceberg", said Volker Thiel of the Institute of Immunobiology at Kantonal Hospital in Switzerland, who published research this month showing NCoV grows efficiently in human cells.

Scientists and health officials in the Middle East and Arab Peninsular also need to collaborate with colleagues in Europe, where some NCoV cases have been treated and where samples have gone to specialist labs, to try to pin down the virus' source.

"ONE BIG VIROLOGICAL BLENDER"

Initial scientific analysis by laboratory scientists at Britain's Health Protection Agency (HPA) - which helped identify the virus in a Qatari patient in September last year - found that NCoV's closest relatives are most probably bat viruses.

It is not unusual for viruses to jump from animals to humans and mutate in the process - high profile examples include the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS and the H1N1 swine flu which caused a pandemic in 2009 and 2010.

Yet further work by a research team at the Robert Koch Institute at Germany's University of Bonn now suggests it may have come through an intermediary - possibly goats.

In a detailed case study of a patient from Qatar who was infected with NCoV and treated in Germany, researchers said the man reported owning a camel and a goat farm on which several goats had been ill with fevers before he himself got sick.

Osterholm noted this, saying he would "feel more comfortable if we could trace back all the cases to an animal source".

If so, it would mean the infections are just occasional cross-overs from animals, he said - a little like the sporadic cases of bird flu that continue to pop up - and would suggest the virus has not yet established a reservoir in humans.

Yet recent evidence from a cluster of cases in a family in Britain strongly suggests NCoV can be passed from one person to another and may not always come from an animal source.

An infection in a British man who had recently travelled to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, reported on February 11, was swiftly followed by two more British cases in the same family in people who had no recent travel history in the Middle East.

The World Health Organization says the new cases show the virus is "persistent" and HPA scientists said the cluster provided "strong evidence" that NCoV, which like other coronaviruses probably spreads in airborne droplets, can pass from one human to another "in at least some circumstances".

Despite this, Ian Jones, a professor of virology at Britain's University of Reading, said he believes "the most likely outcome for the current infections is a dead end" - with the virus petering out and becoming extinct.

Others say they fear that is unlikely.

"There's nothing in the virology that tells us this thing is going to stop being transmitted," said Osterholm. "Today the world is one big virological blender. And if it's sustaining itself (in humans) in the Middle East then it will show up around the rest of the world. It's just a matter of time."

(Editing by Anna Willard)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/zKXXYeXAmCQ/us-coronavirus-idUSBRE91Q0MD20130227

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US urges Egypt opposition to take part in election (The Arizona Republic)

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Tinyview Debuts New iOS App To Be Your One Stop Shop For All Mobile Shopping

tinyviewTinyview, a startup that wants to be the "mobile browser" for product search and shopping, is expanding its functionality. Today the company has updated its iPhone app and adding a web presence for users.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/vFcRFWj3rAQ/

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Voters head to polls in ex-Rep. Jackson's district

FILE - In the Dec. 15, 2012, Illinois Democratic U.S. Congressional hopeful Debbie Halvorson speaks during a candidate presentation at the 2nd Congressional District slating meeting in South Holland, Ill. Candidates for former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.'s 2nd congressional seat made their final push for votes Monday Feb. 25, 2013, ahead of tomorrow's high-stakes primary. Turnout is expected to be paltry despite the lurid headlines surrounding the disgraced Chicago Democrat and millions in outside super PAC money driven largely by the guns debate. (AP Photo/John Smierciak, File)

FILE - In the Dec. 15, 2012, Illinois Democratic U.S. Congressional hopeful Debbie Halvorson speaks during a candidate presentation at the 2nd Congressional District slating meeting in South Holland, Ill. Candidates for former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.'s 2nd congressional seat made their final push for votes Monday Feb. 25, 2013, ahead of tomorrow's high-stakes primary. Turnout is expected to be paltry despite the lurid headlines surrounding the disgraced Chicago Democrat and millions in outside super PAC money driven largely by the guns debate. (AP Photo/John Smierciak, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 15, 2012 file photo, Illinois Democratic U.S. Congressional hopeful Robin Kelly speaks during a candidate presentation at the 2nd Congressional District Slating Meeting in South Holland, Ill. Candidates for former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.'s 2nd congressional seat made their final push for votes Monday Feb. 25, 2013, ahead of tomorrow's high-stakes primary. Turnout is expected to be paltry despite the lurid headlines surrounding the disgraced Chicago Democrat and millions in outside super PAC money driven largely by the guns debate. (AP Photo/John Smierciak, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2013 file photo, Illinois Democratic U.S. Congressional hopeful Anthony Beale, speaks at a news conference in Chicago. Candidates for former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.'s 2nd congressional seat made their final push for votes Monday Feb. 25, 2013, ahead of tomorrow's high-stakes primary. Turnout is expected to be paltry despite the lurid headlines surrounding the disgraced Chicago Democrat and millions in outside super PAC money driven largely by the guns debate. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

(AP) ? The primary contest to replace disgraced former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson was in the hands of Chicago-area voters Tuesday, just three months after his resignation and an intense period of campaigning by more than a dozen candidates.

The front-runners ? former state Rep. Robin Kelly, former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson and Chicago Alderman Anthony Beale ? planned Election Day stops at train stations and restaurants in the district that spans Chicago's South Side, south suburbs and some rural areas. They were among 14 Democrats and four Republicans in the special primary, but the Democratic winner was expected to sail through the April 9 general election because of the heavily-Democratic region.

Beale planned to vote at a school in Chicago, Halvorson was set to cast a ballot at a suburban community center and Kelly voted early.

Voters haven't seen an open primary since 1995, when Jackson first won office.

Turnout at the polls was expected to be low, and candidates and election officials braced for a possible winter storm that could dump up to six inches of snow on the region and complicate Tuesday's logistics. Election officials said they were in communication with streets and sanitation workers about making sure pathways to polls were kept clear.

In Chicago, fewer than 2,800 voters, or roughly 2 percent or registered voters in the district, cast early ballots. In suburban Cook County ? the bulk of the district's voting population ? it was nearly 2 percent. The last time the Chicago area had a special primary election for Congress was 2009 after Rahm Emanuel left his seat to take a job as White House chief of staff. Roughly 18 percent of registered voters in the district spanning North Side neighborhoods voted. In suburban Cook County, the percentage was far lower.

Guns and ethics were on the minds of voters, and both were main issues on the campaign trail, particularly as Jackson's legal saga played out in federal court. He pleaded guilty to illegally spending $750,000 in campaign money on personal items and faces prison time. The son of the civil rights leader is the third consecutive congressman from the district to leave office under an ethical or legal cloud.

Still, gun control became the top issue on the campaign trail, including at candidate forums and television ads.

Independence USA, the super PAC of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, poured more than $2 million into the race for anti-gun ads in support of Kelly and against Halvorson, a former state lawmaker and one-term congresswoman. Kelly supports a ban, but Halvorson does not.

"Gun control, we need it," said retiree Angela Craig, an undecided Chicago voter. She had supported Jackson in the past but didn't feel like she got enough time to weigh the candidates.

Jackson resigned in November after a months-long medical leave. He pleaded guilty early this month to charges that he misspent $750,000 in campaign money on lavish personal items, including a Rolex watch and furs. His departure created a rare opening in the district.

__

Sophia Tareen can be reached at http://twitter.com/sophiatareen

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-26-House-Jackson%20Seat/id-6604acf8d2ee4c339376a329912eae90

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Daytona's preliminary TV rating up from last year

Danica Patrick, center, prepares to get in her car before the start of the NASCAR Daytona 500 Sprint Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Danica Patrick, center, prepares to get in her car before the start of the NASCAR Daytona 500 Sprint Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Jimmie Johnson holds up his trophy next to his wife Chandra, right, after winning the Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

(AP) ? With Danica Patrick starting from the pole, the Daytona 500's preliminary television ratings were much higher than last year's.

Sunday afternoon's race earned a 10.0 overnight rating and 22 share on Fox, the network said Monday. That's up 30 percent from 2012, when rain pushed the event to a Monday night. It was the highest overnight rating since 2006.

Jimmie Johnson won the race while Patrick was eighth, the best finish by a woman at the Daytona 500.

The race had plenty of buildup: Patrick making history as the first woman to start a Sprint Cup race from the pole, the revamped cars, no more tandem drafting, and a frightening crash the day before in the second-tier Nationwide Series.

"I noticed something last night coming out of the track for dinner, just seemed to be a different vibe inside the infield," said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished second Sunday. "People seemed more excited about what was getting ready to happen. Even today, there seemed to be a whole lot more people here. Seemed to be a lot more excitement about the race.

"That really was the biggest motivator for me. I think we're headed in the right direction. ... For some reason, it just felt like we're on the right track as a sport. That's got me really excited."

Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned to a program. Shares represent the percentage of all homes with TVs in use at the time. Overnight ratings measure the country's largest markets.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-25-CAR-NASCAR-Daytona-500-Ratings/id-47f415f343754581900dc010f832c9fc

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Moments of spirituality can induce liberal attitudes, researchers find

Feb. 25, 2013 ? People become more politically liberal immediately after practising a spiritual exercise such as meditation, researchers at the University of Toronto have found.

"There's great overlap between religious beliefs and political orientations," says one of the study authors, Jordan Peterson of U of T's Department of Psychology. "We found that religious individuals tend to be more conservative and spiritual people tend to be more liberal. Inducing a spiritual experience through a guided meditation exercise led both liberals and conservatives to endorse more liberal political attitudes."

"While religiousness is characterized by devotion to a specific tradition, set of principles, or code of conduct, spirituality is associated with the direct experience of self-transcendence and the feeling that we're all connected," says lead author Jacob Hirsh of U of T's Rotman School of Management.

In three studies, the researchers -- Hirsh, Peterson and Megan Walberg, examined their participants' political views in relation to their religiousness and spirituality. In the first study, they asked 590 American participants whether they identified as Democrat or Republican. In the second study, they measured 703 participants' political orientations and support for the major American and Canadian political parties. The researchers confirmed that religiousness was associated with political conservatism, while spirituality was associated with political liberalism. These associations were in turn due to the common values underlying these orientations: conservatism and religiousness both emphasize the importance of tradition, while liberalism and spirituality both emphasize the importance of equality and social harmony.

In the third study, the researchers recruited 317 participants from the U.S. and asked half to complete a spiritual exercise consisting of a guided meditation video. Those who watched the video were asked to close their eyes and breathe deeply, imagining themselves in a natural setting and feeling connected to the environment. They were then asked about their political orientation and to rate how spiritual they felt. The researchers reported that, compared to those in the control group, participants who meditated felt significantly higher levels of spirituality and expressed more liberal political attitudes, including a reduced support for "tough on crime" policies and a preference for liberal political candidates.

"Spiritual experiences seem to make people feel more of a connection with others," says Hirsh. "The boundaries we normally maintain between ourselves and the world tend to dissolve during spiritual experiences. These feelings of self-transcendence make it easier to recognize that we are all part of the same system, promoting an inclusive and egalitarian mindset."

The researchers hope that these findings can not only advance our understanding of spirituality, but also help future political dialogue.

"The conservative part of religious belief has played an important role in holding cultures together and establishing common rules. The spiritual part, on the other hand, helps cultures renew themselves by adapting to changing circumstances," says Peterson. "Both right and left are necessary; it's not that either is correct, it's that the dialogue between them produces the best chance we have at getting the balance right. If people could understand that both sides have an important role to play in society, some of the unnecessary tension might be eliminated."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Toronto, via Newswise.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. J. B. Hirsh, M. D. Walberg, J. B. Peterson. Spiritual Liberals and Religious Conservatives. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2012; 4 (1): 14 DOI: 10.1177/1948550612444138

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/SRV_F2HHYyE/130225131532.htm

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Monday, February 25, 2013

Qualcomm announces Gobi chipset with LTE Advanced and Carrier Aggregation

Android Central

Android Central at Mobile World Congress

Qualcomm, well known for both its radio chipsets and processors, is announcing today that its latest Gobi chipsets -- the MDM9225 and MDM9625 -- are capable of LTE Advanced and Carrier Aggregation for higher data speeds. Carrier Aggregation (which isn't what you'd think) is a technology that allows the LTE radio in a device to pull down data across multiple bands of spectrum. This means that a device could simultaneously receive data over two (or more) different frequencies, combining it to give data speeds similar to what it would be over a larger chunk of a single frequency. For example, if a carrier has deployed 10MHz of spectrum in one frequency and 10MHz in another, the chip could combine those two and give users the same experience as if the carrier had deployed 20MHz of continuous spectrum in one band.

This is some nerdy radio stuff, but the end result is very important. There's a lot of spectrum out there, but it's not always allocated to each operator in the most efficient way. As networks transition between older 3G technologies and LTE, the spectrum may not be allocated in complete 20MHz blocks for use by a single network. These new Qualcomm chips let devices connect to these disjointed bands simultaneously.

These new MDM9x25 chips are manufactured using a 28nm (nanometer) process, and offer LTE Advanced with downlink speeds up to 150mbps on top of extensive 2G and 3G (including DC-HSPA+) support all in one chip. The process has already been shown off inside of a Sierra Wireless mobile hotspot, and Qualcomm says that OEM partners began sampling the chips in November of last year to make it into consumer products in late 2013.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/ihQa2SHRIYo/story01.htm

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Daniel Day-Lewis Thanks Abe Himself For Oscar Win

'Lincoln' star takes home award for Best Actor on Sunday.
By Drew Taylor


Daniel Day-Lewis at the 2013 Oscars
Photo: Christopher Polk/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702529/daniel-day-lewis-oscars-lincoln.jhtml

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Jason Kincaid On The Mythology Of TechCrunch | TechCrunch

Jason joined TechCrunch when it was still being run out of my house (before the city of Atherton kicked us out). Even after ?retiring? he?s still no. 11 on the all time tech writers list.

Jason broke a lot of big stories. But he also has the rare ability to write thought pieces that shape Silicon Valley culture and thinking. From the moment he joined he was part of the core backbone of TechCrunch. From the article I wrote when he resigned in 2012:

Jason also became, as he says in the interview, a counter voice to many of the editorial and other decisions we made internally. Jason is not the kind of person who would just go with the flow. If he disagreed with something he?d immediately speak up. We often changed plans based on his input.

Anyway, this interview is interesting because it talks about some of the things that happened early on, things that became part of the mythology of TechCrunch. It was great to see this.

Early Employees: Jason Kincaid & the Rise of TechCrunch

Jason Kincaid, early TechCrunch reporter (@jasonkincaid)

Q: When did you join TechCrunch and how did you originally get connected to the team?

A: I usually tell a sanitized version of this story, but what the hell.

It was March 2008, and I?d just graduated from UCLA with a B.S. in biology, a minor in ?society and genetics?, and zero sense as to what I wanted to do with my life. My good friend Ed McManus (now cofounder of Yardsale) invited me to a party being thrown by an investor in honor of Scribd?s (the ?YouTube for documents?) first birthday.

The party was unlike anything college had prepared me for ? and the likes of which I haven?t seen since. Caviar and vodka shots. Sculptures made of seafood. A basement that had been overhauled to resemble a vintage gas station. Waiters who walked around with endless glasses of champagne, deftly swooping in as soon as one hit empty. I?d had a few ? and sure, I sampled the vodka ? but the single stair, running the full length between the living room and a hallway, really should not have been there. It was too easy to forget about. I?d have remembered if there were, say, *two* stairs. But the one slipped my mind.

I tripped. My champagne glass fell, and the explosion ? louder than any that had come before it ? echoed through the halls. I bolted. Down the hallway, straight out the front door. I don?t even remember running, honestly. I stood there in the driveway, trying to catch my breath and staring at the mob of catering trucks, with a vague sense that I was now a Silicon Valley pariah ? which I could handle ? and that Eddie was going to kill me, which I felt badly about.

A few minutes passed and I reentered the house as stealthily as I could. No trace of the glass. Nobody was waiting to dole out further humiliation My heartbeat was still pounding in my ears. I sat on a couch in the now-deserted living room and considered how post-college life had really gotten off on the wrong foot.

Eventually a friendly guy I didn?t know named Mark Hendrickson came over and we started talking. He was a writer at TechCrunch, which I read sometimes, and I was waiting to hear back from The Economist about an internship I?d just interviewed for. He said to ping him if that fell through.

Two weeks later (?Bad news I?m afraid. You haven?t got it.?) I shot Mark an email. I had an interview with TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington and CEO Heather Harde that afternoon (my writing sample was my Letter of Introduction made out to The Economist). They said they?d try me out for a month and see how things went. As I left Mike told me to make myself irreplaceable. I sure tried.

Q: What phase was TC in at the time ? still at Mike?s house? Who had been hired already?

A: TechCrunch was already a major force in the Valley, but we were still in Mike?s rented house in Atherton and very much a startup ourselves. On any given day there were four to eight of us, plus or minus some interns. Our desks took up the living room (which contained Heather?s pseudo-office), the foyer, the hallways, and two bedrooms. The only space Mike kept for his own was the master bedroom.

My desk was just outside Mike?s bedroom door, which meant I was the first person he saw some mornings. He?d open the door, stand in the doorway ? groggily rubbing his tired eyes ? and I?d already be halfway through telling him about another embargo train-wreck. Sometimes he?d walk straight back into his bedroom and slam the door. I couldn?t blame him. I don?t know how he did it for so long ? I?d have gone bonkers.

I remember being excited that my checks said I was employee 0007 (MI6 has yet to call). I was less excited that my desk was near the ?office? bathroom.

The employees when I first joined: Michael Arrington (founder/editor), Heather Harde (CEO), Erick Schonfeld (co-editor, working from NYC), Mark Hendrickson (writer/developer), Henry Work (developer), Gene Teare (CrunchBase PM). I had a brief overlap with Mark McGranahan (developer), Sarah Ross (marketing), and Duncan Riley (writer); writer Nick Gonzalez left just before I started. There were a few folks working remotely on TC?s sister sites, including John Biggs (CrunchGear), Mike Butcher (TC UK), and Ouriel Ohayon (TC France).

Q: At what point did you realize the impact TC was having on the tech community?

A: It was a gradual process. First came the superficial, ?Wow, TechCrunch is a big deal? moments. Shortly after joining I wrote what would be the first of many posts criticizing Facebook for a privacy issue ? in this case, there was a notification box with some misleading wording. Facebook changed it a few days later.

I felt like a badass (my bar was pretty low). Then I published my amateurish follow-up post, which featured the most mundane headline to ever appear on TechCrunch: Facebook Rewords Mini-Feed Notification. The commenters dutifully tore me apart and my ego has yet to recover.

It wasn?t until months later, after meeting with dozens of entrepreneurs, that I better understood TechCrunch?s real impact. There are plenty of people who see TechCrunch as just another big press outlet, but there?s also a mystique to it. The founders I spoke to expressed it in different ways ? some got nervous, others overly-animated, still others had an anxious pleading ? but you could sense that their interest in appearing on TechCrunch wasn?t just about getting good press. It was about validation, it was part of the journey; in many cases, it helped inspire them to start a company in the first place. This is still true for many founders. I tried not to forget that.

Q: What was your most meaningful contribution(s) to TC?s success?

A: There were some big stories ? Apple?s blocking of Google Voice comes to mind, as does Facebook Fax (Facebook punked us by enabling a bizarre fax-this-photo feature just for TechCrunch employees. The following day I made my debut in the San Francisco Chronicle as the reporter who had covered a Facebook feature that ?Doesn?t Exactly Exist?).

But I?d like to think my most meaningful contribution was my approach to writing, which I believe rubbed off on some of my colleagues. TechCrunch had several strong voices, some of which dabbled in hyperbole from time to time. I?m guilty of some sensational stories myself, but in general I tried to take a more cautious and nuanced approach, and I think it helped balance things out.

I?m also pretty opinionated (fancy that, a tech blogger with opinions!) and wasn?t afraid of letting Mike and Heather know when I was concerned about something ? they always took the time to hear me out, which I appreciated. As a result, I helped with various decisions over the years.

Q: Did you have any traditions or rituals that helped define TC?s culture?

A: TechCrunch wasn?t big on traditions (the only one I can remember was Heather?s tradition of buying us cakes on our birthdays) but it?s possible the company culture wasn?t conducive to them. We had so much going on all the time ? from surprise guests, to weird stuff arriving in the mail, to Mike needing us to send him an article to verify a fact minutes before he was going to be on TV ? that the culture was more concerned with holding on for the ride than it was with establishing traditions. We ate a lot of Chipotle and enjoyed playing with Mike?s dogs, but I?m not sure those qualify.

For several years running I did try to make wearing a suit to the Crunchies a company-wide tradition (I like wearing suits), but didn?t have many takers.

Q: How did you find out that TC has been sold to AOL and what were your feelings?

A: The day is a blur. Om Malik broke the news in the middle of TechCrunch Disrupt, which is a frantic time for the writing staff. I remember sitting next to a few colleagues and re-reading that post about ten times. I had friends sending me lame jokes about AOL CDs before I knew what was going on. We got most of the details at an all-hands that evening.

There was a part of me that was happy ? I?d soon be getting a check that would make nearly any 25-year-old thrilled. But there was also a tinge of disappointment. I?d long thought that TechCrunch had gotten the ?hard stuff? right ? Mike, Heather, and Erick had built up a great writing team and somehow managed to get these strong personalities to work together as a happy-ish family. But the product side was problematic: we never had enough developers, and the ones we had were constantly putting out fires and couldn?t dedicate much time to actually improving the site. I thought there was a lot of upside to be had if we could get TechCrunch?s user experience to live up to (and maybe even enhance) its content.

That said, I don?t hold anything against Mike for selling. TechCrunch was his baby and he put everything he had into it, to the point that I grew seriously concerned about his health at times. The landscape for tech blogs and other ?new media? is tumultuous and unpredictable ? if selling seemed like the right call at the time, I can?t blame him.

Q: Today tech journalism is big business and there are multiple sites fighting for readers. Do you think TC is still the most influential ? why or why not?

A: The short version: yes, TechCrunch is still the most influential, though the competition is fierce.

When I first started at TechCrunch it was relatively unknown outside of tech circles ? I told people I worked at ?a tech news site?. These days, some people get mildly offended if I ask them if they?ve heard of it (?Uh? yeah, of course?). Hell, they?re running ads in NYC taxi cabs. So, in that regard it?s clearly grown in influence.

AOL?s foolish decision to force Mike out, followed by the loss of some great people, obviously left a mark that has taken time to recover from. Mike (and the rest of us ? but usually Mike) broke really big stories regularly. That?s hard to replace. And it takes time to establish new voices.

But they?ve been working hard, and, while there?s plenty left to do ? it?s paying off. Startups still go to great lengths to try to get on TechCrunch and I don?t think that?s going to change any time soon. Of course, I?m a little biased ? I?ve got my fingers crossed that I?ll see an ad for TechCrunch on a flight into space someday.

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/24/jason-kincaid-mythology-techcrunch/

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Video: Drafting for the NCAA tournament

February, 23, 2013

Feb 23

12:46

PM ET

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Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/77108/video-drafting-for-the-ncaa-tournament

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Applicants with Long Careers: Resume Techniques That Work ...

When you are writing a resume, a long career has many advantages in terms of skills, experience, successes, and a reputation for excellence in your field. But a long career also has two main disadvantages:

  • It shows your age.
  • The experience most relevant to your job search may be 15 or more years in the past.

At Robin?s Resumes?, we are skilled in professional resume writing techniques for gaining the benefits of a long career while avoiding the drawbacks.

Before we add information from 15 years ago, we assess whether it is still current and valuable. Your old computer skills might not be something to boast about in this age of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google. Similarly, years ago an employee who stayed put for decades was prized; now a higher value is placed on a variety of experience, with job changes every 4 to 5 years being the norm.

If your past experience is current and valuable, we might feature it in a Career Highlights section on the top of your resume. The section would contain all of your most relevant experience, regardless of dates.

Or we might add a Previous Experience section at the end of your resume where we do not detail dates, but list your title(s) and the company name(s) to show your career progression.

If you are applying for more senior positions, we might actually recommend showing more than 10 years of experience to emphasize the advantages of a long career.

We never downgrade your experience in hopes of qualifying you for a job. Would you hire someone to be your secretary if they had enough experience to be your boss?

Every job seeker?s situation is different. Part of my mandate as a professional resume writer is to help make your resume attractive to hiring managers. Contact me today.

Tags: long career, past experience, previous experience, professional resume writer, Robin's Resumes?

Source: http://robinresumes.com/2013/02/applicants-with-long-careers-resume-techniques-that-work/

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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Looks Like Google Is Working On A UDP Replacement Called QUIC

google logoFrancois Beaufort had a very good day yesterday. Not only did the leaked video of the Chromebook Pixel he discovered earlier this month turn out to be real, he also noticed that Google started work on a new web protocol in Chrome called QUIC. This protocol, it seems, aims to update the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), a core part of the Internet protocol suite that also includes TCP, for example. UDP is often used for applications that need real-time connectivity (video conferencing, games etc.).?It opens up a direct connection between two machines, which makes it perfect for real-time applications and streaming data where low latency is very important. In return, however, it lacks some of the reliability controls of other Internet protocols like the TCP protocol. QUIC also focuses on data streams, it seems, but with the extra benefit of adding a built-in encryption layer and some basic reliability?controls. It looks like the project was merged into Chrome just a few days ago, but work on the project seems to have started late last year. And while some people noticed it at the time, the project has mostly gone unnoticed. Now, however, it looks like it is becoming a core part of the Chromium project – the open source initiative behind Google’s Chrome browser. We contacted Google for a comment about this, but all we got from a spokesperson was the company’s usual non-denial that “the team is continuously testing new features. At this time, we have nothing new to announce.” With SPDY, of course, Google is currently working on a similar initiative for HTTP, and it looks like a lot of the work on SPDY may flow into the HTTP 2.0 standard. Google probably hopes to achieve something similar for UDP with QUIC. As it aims to make the web faster, more reliable and more secure, the company is clearly not content with just making its applications faster, but it has a vested interest in also pushing forward some of the low-level technologies that make today’s Internet work in the first place.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/hFyHNNZfrQg/

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Was Chelyabinsk meteor actually a meteor? Many Russians don't think so.

A recent newspaper poll found nearly half of its readers believe that the event could be anything from a divine message to UFOs to a US weapons test.

By Fred Weir,?Correspondent / February 22, 2013

In this frame grab made from dashboard camera video, a meteor streaks through the sky over Chelyabinsk, about 930 miles east of Moscow, last Friday.

AP

Enlarge

They say that Russia is the motherland of conspiracy theories, and public reaction to the sudden meteor strike a week ago that stunned people in the Ural mountains, and injured more than 1,200, seems to be proving that true.

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A survey published today by the fairly staid Moscow daily Noviye Izvestia found that barely half its readers believe the official report?that the blast was caused by a meteor.

According to the newspaper, the other half prefer to believe in an assortment of bizarre explanations, including that the blast was a secret US weapon test, an off-course ballistic missile, a message from God, a crashing alien spaceship, or even an extraterrestrial trojan horse carrying a deadly space virus to wipe out the Earth.

"Our people remember the Soviet past, when news of disasters was concealed or lied about," says Alexei Grazhdankin, deputy director of the Levada Center, an independent Moscow polling agency.

"We have no scientific polls on what people think about the Chelyabinsk event last week, but it's safe to assume the majority of Russians accept that it was a meteorite. However, our past surveys show that up to 25 percent of Russians do believe in UFOs. A lot of our people just prefer not to accept the safe explanations they were taught at school. Even when all necessary information is available, they don't want to believe it."

An echo of a century-old mystery

Scientists insist that they already know most key facts about 10,000-ton iron and stone meteorite ? now named Chebarkul, after a city nearest to where the largest fragments landed ? that exploded over the Urals city of Chelyabinsk a week ago in a dazzling fireball that released 500 kilotons, the power of 30 Hiroshima A-bombs, about 15 miles above the city.

It was the largest meteorite to make contact with Earth since the vastly more destructive 1908 Tunguskaya event, which involved an estimated 50 megaton blast that leveled an area of almost 800 square miles, and flattened 80-million trees, in a remote part of central Siberia.

The Tungus event remains shrouded in mystery, and subject to many longstanding offbeat theories, in part because scientists themselves cannot decide what actually happened. The Chebarkul meteorite has yielded plenty of fragments in just a week of searching, some of which are reportedly already being peddled on eBay. But after many decades of intensive investigations scientists have yet to find a single identifiable remnant of the huge object a that shattered a wide area of Siberia a century ago.

"We already know that the Chebarkul incident was an asteroidal type of meteorite, meaning it was composed of rock and iron, because we have a sufficient number of fragments in hand," says Oleg Ugolnikov, an expert with the official Space Research Institute in Moscow.

"But Tungus might have been a comet-type, composed of ice and snow, which was totally consumed in the explosion and that's why we don't find any pieces of it. But it remains controversial, and the search for fragments goes on," he says.

But back in 1946 a popular Soviet science-fiction writer named Alexander Kazantsev proposed an alternative explanation, which has taken hold and spawned generations of true believers in Russia. In a series of popular books and novels, Mr. Kazantsev suggested that the huge explosion was caused by the crash of an alien spaceship, a theory which has been developed by followers in a wide variety of colorful directions.

Others have theorized that the Tungus event was caused by an "antimatter" asteroid slamming into the atmosphere over Siberia or even a small black hole punching into the earth.

One of Kazantsev's contemporary followers is scientist Yury Lavbin, who heads the Tunguska Space Phenomenon public organization in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, which has staged several expeditions to the site of the Tungus blast. He says another UFO probably saved Chelyabinsk last week from total destruction by an asteroid.

"In Chelyabinsk last week we had a mini-Tungus," Mr. Lavbin says. "In both cases there were two objects, and a UFO knocked down the second object. In the Tungus case, the UFO was itself destroyed. We know this because we've been to Tungus and recovered metallic fragments that are impossible to produce on Earth ... If not for the intervention of the UFO in the Tungus event, the Earth could have been plunged into a second stone age. I think we were saved again last week," he says.

Believers in this explanation point to a video that purports to show the UFO actually destroying the meteorite, now making the rounds on YouTube.

If not a UFO, then what?

For those Russians not steeped in Tungus lore, or unprepared to believe in UFOs, a wide variety of other offbeat explanations are available for the Chelyabinsk event.

Russian ultranationalist parliamentarian Vladimir Zhirinovsky, with a nod to the currently strained relations between Russia and the US, has suggested that anti-Russian hardliners in the US staged a secret weapons test over Russia.

"Nothing will ever fall out there," from space, Mr. Zhirinovsky told journalists. "If something falls, it?s people doing that. People are the instigators of wars, the provocateurs."

About a third of Noviye Izvestia's readers said they thought the meteor was actually a Russian missile test gone awry, or perhaps a falling satellite, which was covered up with the official story of a meteorite.

Inevitably perhaps, at least one leading Russian cleric has insisted that the meteor was a message from God, to remind us all of the fragility of life on this world.

"From the Scriptures, we know that the Lord often sends people signs and warnings via natural forces," Feofan, the senior Orthodox bishop of Chelyabinsk, said in a statement.

And from the trade union newspaper, Trud, the cheery suggestion that the meteorite could be carrying deadly viruses from outer space, possibly the work of malevolent extraterrestrial forces.

"These kinds of events always spur mysticism and give rise to all sorts of speculations. The UFO believers are an old one," says Lidiya Rykhlova, an expert at the Institute of Applied Astronomy in Moscow.

"Unfortunately we stopped teaching astronomy in our schools long ago; people are not equipped, or inclined to see these things in a rational light. I read recently about a survey that found half the population of the world believes that the Sun revolves around the Earth. There you go," she says.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/t8Vj035jYUY/Was-Chelyabinsk-meteor-actually-a-meteor-Many-Russians-don-t-think-so

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Marvell Technology's upbeat forecast boosts shares

(Reuters) - Chipmaker Marvell Technology Group Ltd forecast results this quarter largely above analysts' expectations as it gained market share in hard-disk drive and flash storage businesses, sending its shares up 5 percent in trading after the bell.

Marvell, whose chips are used for reading and writing data on hard-disk drives, said it expected adjusted profit of 14 cents, plus or minus 2 cents, per share on revenue of $700 million to $740 million in the first quarter.

Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 13 cents per share on revenue of $710.8 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Marvell's forecast is in contrast with its rival LSI Corp, which last month forecast current-quarter revenue from continuing operations below analysts' estimates.

Santa Clara, California-based Marvell's shares were trading at $9.90 after closing at $9.47 on the Nasdaq on Thursday.

The company's major customers Western Digital Corp and Seagate Technology Plc last month posted results above analysts estimates.

Marvell's interim Chief Financial Officer Brad Feller said on a conference call with analysts that the company would benefit from the new Blackberry 10 smartphone, which uses Marvell chips.

The company, which makes communications and processor products used in mobile phones, said its results were helped by a "North American mobile customer" during the fourth quarter.

The company's net income fell to $50 million, or 9 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended February 2 from $81 million, or 13 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned 19 cents per share.

Revenue rose 4 percent to $775 million.

Analysts were expecting a profit of 13 cents per share on revenue of $720.9 million.

(Reporting by Neha Alawadhi in Bangalore; Editing by Don Sebastian)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/marvell-technologys-profit-falls-38-percent-211629442--sector.html

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Friday, February 22, 2013

New Googleplex First Look: A 1.1 Million-Square-Foot Monster Optimized By Nerds

Vanity Fair's got a nice look at the new Google headquarters, including a rendering of the mammoth 1.1 million-square-foot campus. The architects say the complex was designed with rectangular buildings so that no two employees would be more than a 2.5-minutes walk away. Wanna Talk to Sergey? Just wander over and voice your opinions! What could go wrong. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/vESXokzqdtI/new-googleplex-first-look-11-million+square+feet-of-speedwalking-of-nerds

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Ja Rule: Out of Prison in Gun Case! Back in Federal Custody in Tax Case!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/ja-rule-out-of-prison-in-gun-case-back-in-federal-custody-in-tax/

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Lakeland College Networking Reception

Location: Milwaukee, Wis. (Marquette University)

Please join us for an evening of networking
with students, alumni, faculty and staff from Lakeland College
as well as other Wisconsin private colleges and employers.

WorkForce Career & Internship Fair
Marquette University
Alumni Memorial Union
Thursday, February 21
3 to 7 p.m.

This is an excellent opportunity for ALL Wisconsin Private College alumni and
students seeking full-time employment to meet with regional and national
employers from business, communication, engineering, health sciences,
computer sciences, government, the arts and non-profit.

For additional details and a complete list of companies attending,
please visit www.wipccc.org. It is FREE to attend.

But the night doesn't end with the fair.
Please join us afterward for a private networking event.

Lakeland College Networking Reception
Sobelman's Pub 'N Grill

1900 W. St. Paul Ave.
Milwaukee
6 to 8 p.m.
Free hors d'oeuvres; cash bar

For questions, please contact Emily Rendall-Araujo '11,
assistant director of alumni relations, at 920-565-1224 or rendallaraujoec@lakeland.edu.


Information: 920-565-1224 rendallaraujoec@lakeland.edu

Source: http://lakeland.edu/alumni/Alumni_calendar.asp?event=9752

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Chesapeake probe finds no "intentional" CEO misconduct

(Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp said on Wednesday its internal investigation of the financial dealings of outgoing chief executive Aubrey McClendon found no "intentional" wrongdoing, but authorities and analysts said the issue was far from over.

The company's statement also said a review by its board of directors found Chesapeake "did not violate antitrust laws" as it acquired oil and gas rights in Michigan in 2010.

The company did not say how it reached its conclusions and did not release a full report of its investigation, and state and federal investigations of the company continue.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is examining McClendon's financial transactions, while the Department of Justice and the attorney general in Michigan are investigating whether Chesapeake violated antitrust laws.

"The importance of independent - rather than internal - investigations cannot be emphasized enough in a case involving antitrust bid-rigging allegations," said a spokeswoman for Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. "Our thorough, independent investigation into these serious allegations will continue."

A series of Reuters investigations last year triggered civil and criminal probes into the second-largest U.S. producer of natural gas. Big shareholders Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management took control of the board in June after McClendon was stripped of the chairmanship of the company he co-founded in 1989.

"A finding of 'no intentional misconduct' still does not mean there was no misconduct," said Mark Hanson, an oil and gas analyst at Morningstar Inc in Chicago. "I think just the appearance of impropriety should be avoided and I think that certainly wasn't the case for either McClendon or the former board."

A U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman confirmed late on Wednesday that the department's Antitrust Division still had an open investigation into "the possibility of anticompetitive practices in the purchase and lease of oil and gas properties."

Charles Elson, director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware said the company still faces shareholder litigation as well as government probes.

"Board investigations are only part of the process. I would not say this is the final word," said Elson.

Last month, Chesapeake said McClendon was stepping down as CEO. McClendon cited philosophical differences with the board as the reason for his departure. He will leave on April 1.

As the board tried to rein in capital spending and salary, McClendon resisted, a situation that created tension and eventually ended in the executive's departure, according to a source familiar with the board.

"I don't think that any of this was done intentionally to harm the company or shareholders," the source said. "There's probably an error in judgment that a lot of CEOs have."

Last June, Reuters reported that Chesapeake plotted with Encana Corp, its top competitor, to suppress land prices in the Collingwood shale formation in northern Michigan.

A Reuters investigation last April found McClendon arranged to personally borrow more than $1 billion from EIG Global Energy Partners, a firm that is a big investor in Chesapeake.

The loans, arranged through McClendon's personal shell companies, were secured by his interest in Chesapeake wells. Under the controversial Founders Well Participation Program (FWPP), McClendon is allowed to take up to a 2.5 percent stake in every well Chesapeake drills. The board has since set a termination date of June 2014 for the FWPP.

The Chesapeake probe was led by director V. Burns Hargis, president of Oklahoma State University and former vice chairman of Bank of Oklahoma and BOK Financial from 1997 to 2008.

More than 70 percent of Chesapeake shareholders voted to remove Hargis as a director at the company's annual meeting in June. The vote was non-binding and Chesapeake elected to keep him on pending completion of the investigation of McClendon.

It is unclear whether Hargis will step down now. His spokesman declined to comment.

The Chesapeake board did not disclose the total number of transactions included in its investigation, nor the names of the companies involved.

More than a million pages of documents were collected and reviewed and more than 50 interviews conducted, the company said, without providing specifics.

The shares of Chesapeake, which is due to report fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday, closed down almost 0.6 percent Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Anna Driver in Houston and Brian Grow in Atlanta; additional reporting by Joshua Schneyer in New York.; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Patricia Kranz, John Wallace, Matthew Lewis and Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chesapeake-says-board-probe-finds-no-ceo-misconduct-142038819--finance.html

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

Expert: US in cyber arms race with China, Russia

Rick Wilking / Reuters file

First Lt Michael Newman examines a server rack that is isolated from the Internet at the Air Force Space Command Network Operations & Security Center at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., in July 2010.

By Robert Windrem, Senior Investigative Producer, NBC News

The United States is locked in a tight race with China and Russia to build destructive cyberweapons capable of seriously damaging other nations? critical infrastructure, according to a leading expert on hostilities waged via the Internet.

Scott Borg, CEO of the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, a nonprofit institute that advises the U.S. government and businesses on cybersecurity, said all three nations have built arsenals of sophisticated computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses and other tools that place them atop the rest of the world in the ability to inflict serious damage on one another, or lesser powers.

Ranked just below the Big Three, he said, are four U.S. allies: Great Britain, Germany, Israel and perhaps Taiwan.


But in testament to the uncertain risk/reward ratio in cyberwarfare, Iran has used attacks on its nuclear program to bolster its offensive capabilities and is now developing its own "cyberarmy," Borg said.

usccu.us

Scott Borg says the U.S. possesses a 'formidable capability' to wage cyberwar.

Borg offered his assessment of the current state of cyberwar capabilities Tuesday in the wake of a report by the American computer security company Mandiant?linking hacking attacks and cyber espionage against the U.S. to a sophisticated Chinese group known as ?Peoples Liberation Army Unit 61398.

In today?s brave new interconnected world, hackers who can defeat security defenses are capable of disrupting an array of critical services, including delivery of water, electricity and heat, or bringing transportation to a grinding halt. U.S. senators last year received a closed-door briefing at which experts demonstrated how a power company employee could take down the New York City electrical grid by clicking on a single email attachment, the New York Times reported.

U.S. officials rarely discuss offensive capability when discussing cyberwar, though several privately told NBC News recently that the U.S. could "shut down" the electrical grid of a smaller nation -- Iran, for example ? if it chose to do so.

Borg echoed that assessment, saying the U.S. cyberwarriors, who work within the National Security Agency, are ?very good across the board. ? There is a formidable capability.?

?Stuxnet and Flame (malware used to disrupt and gather intelligence on Iran's nuclear program) are demonstrations of that,? he said. ?? (The U.S.) could shut down most critical infrastructure in potential adversaries relatively quickly.?

China, Russia have different priorities
Borg said China and Russia have similar capacity to cause mayhem, but have different priorities and skill sets.

?Russia is best at military espionage and operations,? he said. ?That's what they have focused on for a long time. China is looking for crucial business information and technology. China's main focus is stealing technology. These things quite separate. You use different tools on critical infrastructure than you use for military espionage and different tools again on stealing technology."

Borg said that each has its strong suit. "The Russians are technically advanced. The Chinese just have more people dedicated to the effort, by a wide margin,? he said. ?They are not as innovative or creative as the U.S. and Russia. China has the greatest quantity, if not quality."

Borg said the group featured in Mandiant?s report, the People?s Liberation Army Unit 61398, may be one of the most important groups working in China, but not necessarily the most important.

"There are at least two dozen groups carrying out aggressive operations against the U.S.,? he said. ?They get in each other?s way and trip over one another, but they are all operating with the tacit approval of the Chinese government.

"They're not cooperating with each other because they don?t share capabilities," he added. "One group has good programming, but is bad at access or targeting."?

The Chinese hacking efforts are so broad, Borg said, that the highest-ranking Chinese officials ?almost certainly do not know what all the groups are doing,? or the consequences. As a result, he added, they have been embarrassed by reports like the one in Tuesday?s New York Times, which first reported on the Mandiant assessment.

China is the most likely of the superpowers to leave a calling card, making their work the easiest to track. "China is very arrogant in its authorship of cyberweapons,? Borg said. ?It does little to conceal its identity."

That?s in sharp contrast to the Russians, who he noted are not above writing code in Chinese to throw off investigators.

While the U.S. could respond to ongoing cyberattacks from China and Russia?by shutting down the power grid of "any of its adversaries? and causing severe physical damage, Borg said it is encumbered by several factors.

One is its vulnerability to cyberwarfare as the world?s most networked nation, he said.

And from a geopolitical standpoint, Borg said, the U.S. would not want to badly damage the economy of either China or Russia. In fact, he said, the U.S. would almost certainly have to incorporate protections for critical systems like the power grid in any cyberattack.

Also, detecting the source of hostilities is not always easy, Borg said, as cybertracks are not as easy to follow as missile tracks. That means ?mutually assured destruction,? the main strategic tenet of the Cold War, is problematic at best when talking about cyberwar, he said.

"It might be difficult to determine proportionate response,? he said. ?It might not be simple to attack the attacker.?

For example, policymakers may think an attack has been carried out by the Chinese, when it was actually the work of the Russians or a rising power in the cyber world, like Iran. That is why intelligence -- getting insight into these operations -- is more important in a crisis than cyberforensics, which can take longer and not be as certain.

"There is no MAD in the Cold War sense," he said, "You can?t be 'assured' of attribution. The attack can be anonymous. It can be spoofed," or disguised as coming from another source.?

Iran developing 'serious capability'
The U.S. first began to develop its own offensive capabilities 20 years ago when several strategic thinkers, particularly at the Naval Post-Graduate School, began to see the possibilities. It was not so much a strategic priority, but more "people familiar with electronics and hackers exercising their imagination." (Borg says one of those thinkers, Winn Schwartau, used fiction to discuss the threat and the possibilities, in a 1991 book, "Terminal Compromise.")

While the U.S. has the means to respond and to defend itself, Borg notes that some countries have no recourse. He cited the Russian invasion of the Republic of Georgia in August 2008, when the Georgian government and media infrastructure was quickly compromised.

What was particularly interesting, Borg said, was that the Russian military and intelligence services weren?t directly involved.

"The first wave was carried by organized crime," he noted. "The second wave was carried out by a (hacker) group organized though social media.? He said Russian hackers could download the attack software from a variety of popular sites, including dating and gun-collecting websites.

In both cases, Borg concluded, the organizers apparently were tipped off early about the timing of Russian military operations, he said.

The attack on Georgia also illustrated another aspect of cyberwarfare, Borg said, noting that Georgia, Estonia and Lithuania afterward formed a cyberalliance, leaving them in a better position to deal with future assaults.

That also appears to be the case with Iran, which recently announced that it decided to establish cyber army and claimed to have 4,000 to 5,000 military personnel involved in defensive and offensive operations. That isn?t all bluster, Borg said, noting that when the U.S. leveled new sanctions on Iranian banks last year, U.S. banks suddenly came under attack.

"Iran is developing a serious capability," said Borg. ?It's exaggerating the present capabilities, but it?s working toward the future."

That?s especially troubling because the risk of smaller nations waging cyberwar against one other may be higher than with the online superpowers, he said.

He cited reports indicating that Iran may have been behind what he called one of the more serious cyberattacks to date -- an assault last August on the Saudi Aramco computer network that disabled more than 30,000 computers used to control the flow of Saudi oil. The Saudi Interior Ministry blamed "foreign countries" for the attack.

Borg said he believes the attack was an "Iranian fundamentalist attack ... at some point loosely the under auspices of Iran, and blessed by Iran. The fundamentalist group made a claim of responsibility. ... ?Based on technical analysis, the claim has credibility."

For that reason, Borg says he is less worried about the possibility of China or Russia launching a catastrophic attack against the U.S. than he is about the emerging cyberpowers.

?What I?m really concerned about isn?t Russia or China, but attacks from Iran or terrorist groups working with state actors,? he said.

More from Open Channel:

?Lights, cameras, reaction: Resistance builds to red-light cameras

Suburban Chicago cops allowed to work 'half drunk,' investigation shows

GAO: Climate change poses big financial risk to federal government

Follow Open Channel from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook?

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Source: http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/20/17022378-expert-us-in-cyberwar-arms-race-with-china-russia?lite

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President Obama To Give Commencement Address At Morehouse College

President Obama 17The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a?White House official says President Barack Obama will deliver the commencement address at all-male Morehouse College in Atlanta this spring.

The White House official declined to speak on the record because the schedule of President Obama?s commencement speeches has not been released.

Morehouse Colleges?s Commencement is scheduled for May 19.

Tags: Address > college > Commencement > Give > Morehouse > President Obama > TO

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Source: http://magicbaltimore.com/3365279/president-obama-to-give-commencement-address-at-morehouse-college/

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