Friday, December 30, 2011

Lawmakers Question Cost Of Vernon's Legal Bills ? CBS Los Angeles

VERNON (CBS)?? Lawmakers are questioning the cost of legal bills for the city of Vernon, which is under investigation for its financial dealings.

Vernon paid a law firm nearly $7 million this year, while more than $2 million went to other lawyers and lobbyists defending the city, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Former Attorney General and Vernon ethics adviser Jon Van De Kamp says the legal fees are too high.

Three ex-city officials have already been convicted of misusing public funds.

Source: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/12/28/lawmakers-question-cost-of-vernons-legal-bills/

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This Guy Spent $16,000 On a Virtual Sword Before The Game Is Released [Virtual Worlds]

This man is holding an image of a sword that doesn't exist in real life. In fact, it doesn't even really exist yet on a virtual world—he paid $16,000 for a game sword that he can't play yet. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/V-t3PLm0-XU/this-guy-spent-16000-in-a-virtual-sword-before-the-game-is-released

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Major highlights of oil and gas sector of Caspian region in 2011

Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 29 / Trend /

The interest in the Caspian region and its hydrocarbon resources has rather expanded for the last 20 years. The development of Caspian oil and gas reserves and their delivery to the international markets can make a big contribution to the economy of many regions and play a role in getting the world economy out of a prolonged crisis. It would be interesting to recall some important developments in this part of the world that occurred in 2011.

January

Azerbaijan and the EU signed the Declaration on the Southern Energy Corridor in Baku. Both parties agreed to encourage the process of distributing available gas reserves within the Shah Deniz 2 project and other fields in Azerbaijan. The total goal is to create and rapidly put the Southern Gas Corridor on to an operational level, as well as to determine Azerbaijan as being the main gas supplier for this project. In the joint declaration both parties stated that the strategic corridor complements the EU existing gas corridors by transporting gas from Azerbaijani fields. By creating a route from the Caspian region to the European market, it meets the strategic objectives of both the EU and Azerbaijan to diversify gas supply routes and establish direct energy and transportation ties.

The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) signed an agreement in Baku for long term supplies of Azerbaijani gas to Iran. Under the contract, which runs for five years, Azerbaijan will supply one billion cubic metres of gas to Iran in 2011 and the volume will increase in the coming years.

The Azerbaijani and Ukrainian governments also signed an agreement on measures to promote cooperation in the field of oil transportation through Ukraine.
The contract will see delivery of two billion cubic metres of liquefied gas in 2014, and five billion cubic metres of liquefied natural gas from Azerbaijan in 2015.
Transportation of Azerbaijani oil through Ukraine can be carried out via the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline.

July

A 52-million ton capacity load per year for Kazakh oil is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2015. Expansion is planned in three phases with full completion in 2014. The CPC expansion project sees the construction of 10 additional oil pumping stations (two - in Kazakhstan, eight - in Russia), six crude oil storage tanks in Novorossiysk and a third mooring facility at the CPC Sea Terminal, as well as replacement of 88 kilometres of the pipeline in Kazakhstan. The cost of the expansion will reach $5.4 billion. The main financing source will be CPC's own funds.

The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic ( SOCAR ) has obtained a portion of British BP shares in the development of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) offshore fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea for $585 million.

The increasing equity of SOCAR affiliate AzACG Limited Company in the ACG is up by 1.6461 per cent - 11.6461 per cent, occurred due to an acquisition from Devon's shares.
SOCAR has acquired part of the Devon stake from British BP, earlier obtained by BP from Devon.

Currently the proportional share of operator BP in Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli is 35.83 per cent, Chevron - 11.27 per cent, Inpex - 10.96 per cent, AzACG - 11.16 per cent, Statoil - 8.56 per cent, Exxon - 8 per cent, TPAO - 6.75 per cent, Itocu - 4.3 per cent, and Hess - 2.72 per cent.

September

Total announced the discovery of large reserves of natural gas and condensate on the Absheron field in the Azerbaijani sector of Caspian Sea.

The Absheron PSA shareholders are SOCAR (40 per cent) France's Total (40 per cent) and Gaz De France Suez (20 per cent).

The field's potential reserves are estimated at 350 billion cubic metres of gas and 45 million tons of condensate.

The Absheron block is located at a depth of 500 metres in the Caspian Sea, 100 km from Baku.

Uzbekneftegaz, South African Sasol Synfuels International (Pty) (Sasol) and Petronas International Corporation (Petronas) signed a trilateral investment and project agreement to build a synthetic liquid fuel plant on the basis of the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex (Kashkadarya) in September 2011. The plant will process 3.5 billion cubic metres of gas and produce 672,000 tons of diesel oil, 278,000 tons of air fuel, 361,000 tons of naphtha and 63,000 tons of liquefied gas. The GTL plant with a preliminary cost worth 2.739 billion is planned to be constructed in 2017.

October

All three pipeline projects, aimed at transporting Azerbaijani gas to Europe under the second phase of the project on development of the Shah Deniz gas-condensate field submitted final proposals to the Azerbaijani side, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) told Trend on Monday.

Pipeline projects Nabucco, ITGI and TAP have submitted their proposals to the Shah Deniz-2 consortium.

The Azerbaijani side is going to deliver 10 billion cubic metres of gas per year to Europe under the Shah Deniz-2 project through the chosen pipeline.
The Shah Deniz-2 consortium will review proposals submitted in accordance with previously announced criteria, including commercial attractiveness, ability for project realisation from the technical and financial point of view, engineering and design work, management, coordination and transparency and the possibility of a phased scale-up and other criteria.

Moreover, the Shah Deniz project team is considing the fourth possible variant of export proposed by BP. It is one of the Shah Deniz major shareholders. The decision on the route will be taken during the second quarter of 2012.

The Shah Deniz field's gas reserves are estimated at 1.2 billion cubic metres.
The contract to develop the offshore Shah Deniz field was signed on June 4, 1996. Partners to the agreement are: BP (operator) - 25.5 per cent, Statoil - 25.5 per cent, NICO - 10 per cent, Total - 10 per cent, LukAgip - 10 per cent, TPAO - 9 per cent and SOCAR-10 per cent.

The independent British auditor Gaffney, Cline & Associates said that the Galkynysh gas field (South Yolotan - Osman) in Turkmenistan ranks second in the world. The maximum estimate of its reserves will reach 21.2 trillion cubic metres of gas, average - 16.4 trillion, minimal - 13.1 trillion.

Uztransgaz, a division of the Uzbekneftegaz National Holding Company which controls the movement of gas transportation and supply in Uzbekistan and the PetroChina International Company, a division of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed a contract to supply Uzbek gas to China. The contract was signed on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement on the principles of the construction and operation of the Uzbekistan-China gas pipeline and the agreement of the basic conditions of the contract of purchase and sale of natural gas between Uzbekneftegaz and CNPC, signed this year.

The terms or volume of natural gas supplies envisaged by the export contract were not indicated.

Initially, natural gas from Uzbekistan will be supplied through the second branch of the gas pipeline. After the third branch is constructed, the technical possibilities for the export of Uzbek gas will significantly increase.

In accordance with the framework of the agreement, China plans to buy 10 billion cubic metres of natural gas in Uzbekistan annually.

Turkey and Azerbaijan signed a package of gas agreements including the cost of Azerbaijani gas for Turkey from the Shah Deniz-2 and gas supplies to Turkey from this field after 2017 and an agreement on Azerbaijani gas transit via Turkey. The transit agreement is required to implement Azerbaijani gas transportation projects to Europe within the Southern Gas Corridor.

November

As a result of Bulgarian President's visit to Baku, a deal was concluded to sell one billion cubic metres of Azerbaijani gas to the country by 2015.

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) signed agreement with Exxon Mobil over acquisition of its Swiss division, Esso Schweiz GmbH.

Following the acquisition of Esso Switzerland, SOCAR has taken over a retail network consisting of 170 filling stations, a division specialising in fuel marketing for industry and wholesale clients (this division is responsible for household fuel and balloon gas sale to independent suppliers throughout Switzerland), the gas filling station Wangen-Olten, filling stations, joint ventures specialising in aircraft fuel at Geneva and Zurich airports and the Swiss Provision and Supply Company that controls joint ventures managing terminals and pipelines.

After talks between Turkmenistan and Pakistan, a joint declaration on the sale of gas via the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project was signed in Islamabad.

The implementation of the largest regional gas project TAPI and putting it into operation is a key factor for economic growth in Pakistan whose industrial and infrastructural development is directly dependent on energy supplies. The basic document for the promotion of TAPI is the inter-state agreement on the start of TAPI, signed in Ashgabat on a high level in December 2010.

Turkmenistan and China signed the agreement on additional gas supplies via the Turkmenistan- China pipeline. The contract sees an increase in gas supplies by 25 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year. This will bring the total volume up to 65 billion cubic metres of gas per year taking into account the previous agreement.

December

The Kazakh government and shareholders of the Karachaganak oil and gas project signed an agreement to transfer a 10 per cent share in the project to Kazakhstan. The project participants sold part of their shares in proportionately.

In addition, taking into account Kazakhstan's joining the project as a participant, the country agreed to allocate an additional quota to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) to the sum of 0.5 million tons per year with a further increase up to two million tons per year.

Karachaganak with reserves of 1.2 billion tons of oil and condensate and more than 1.35 trillion cubic metres of gas is one of the major oil and gas fields in the world. About 49 per cent of all gas and 18 per cent of all oil production are extracted from this field.
The oil and gas field being developed is the Consortium Karachaganak Petroleum Operating BV. The Consortium members are the British BG and Italian Eni (each having 32.5 per cent in the project), another 20 per cent is owned by the U.S. company Chevron and 15 per cent - Russian Lukoil.

Gazprom intends to increase its purchase of Azerbaijani gas by 1.5 times - up to three billion cubic metres compared to the planned two billion cubic metres for 2011.
A corresponding agreement was reached at a working meeting of Gazprom Board Chairman Alexei Miller and President of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) Rovnag Abdullayev.

Uzbekistan and China have commenced constructing the third branch of the Central Asia- China gas pipeline. The length of the Uzbek sector will reach 529 kilometres. The design capacity of the third branch is 25 billion cubic metres of gas a year with the project cost standing at $ 2.2 billion.

Gas deliveries are expected to begin through the third part in January 2014 and reaching the planned capacity in December 2015. The project will be financed by loans from the Chinese State Development Bank, as well as direct investments of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

Turkey and Azerbaijan signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a consortium which will construct a gas pipeline to transport gas from Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field to Europe through Turkey.

The construction of Trans Anadolu gas pipeline (TANAP) is required for the export of most of the 50 billion cubic metres of gas that Azerbaijan intends to produce in 2025.
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), Turkey's state-owned pipeline operator Botas Boru Hatlari Ile Petrol Tasima AS and oil company Turkiye Petrolleri A.O. will be founders of the consortium, with more international oil and gas companies becoming involved in the future.

Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az

Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5675539290

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Tanier: Brees already among the greats

Saints QB under the radar, but he's Hall of Famer even if he quits today

Image: BreesGetty Images

Everyone seems to overlook Drew Brees as being a product of today's pass-happy game, but he's a legitimate Hall of Famer, NBCSports.com contributor Mike Tanier writes.

ANALYSIS

updated 11:58 p.m. ET Dec. 26, 2011

Mike Tanier

If you have felt underappreciated during the holiday season, remember that it could be worse. You could be Drew Brees.

Brees broke Dan Marino?s single-season passing record of 5,084 yards ??with his final pass on Monday night's win against the Falcons. Ho-hum, you say: Passing records fall every season. Except that Marino?s standard has held for 27 years, and only one other quarterback has ever surpassed 5,000 yards: None other than Brees, who threw for 5,069 yards in 2008.

Brees? pursuit of Marino?s milestone has gotten the ?oh, by the way? treatment from some outlets, while a few analysts cared just enough to give Bress the Roger Maris brush-off. ?Brees' record will be severely watered down. So much so, that it almost deserves an asterisk," wrote Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com, alluding to today?s liberal passing rules and strategies.

Last week, Brees became the 13th quarterback in NFL history to surpass 40,000 career passing yards. You might have missed the fanfare and the parade: The story got buried in the stats ?n? notes section of most sports sections outside of Louisiana. Brees will pass Johnny Unitas on the all-time yardage list before breaking Marino?s record, and he could also pass Joe Montana by season?s end. It?s not clear what punctuation marks he must use as apologies for passing those legends: Maybe an ampersand and a pound sign, harsh symbols for our ?severely watered down? times.

When not cruising past Marino, Unitas, and Montana, Brees is being a solid citizen about his contract situation. He becomes a free agent in March, but negotiations on a new deal have been tabled until the offseason. Saints president Mickey Loomis has praised Brees for not letting the slow/nonexistent negotiations become a distraction, but Loomis has not exactly sped things along, either. Apparently, things have become so severely watered down 32-year-old all-time record holders just grow on trees.

Granted, Brees is getting some props: He is often mentioned as this year?s ?runner-up MVP,? and the Saints are quietly 12-3, in the playoffs, and in good position to wrap up the second seed in the NFC. But Brees deserves to be seen as more than a runner-up. He deserves a heck of a lot better than the asterisk treatment. Brees is a future Hall of Famer, and he should be acknowledged as one of the best quarterbacks, not just of this generation, but of any generation.

In good company
Yes, Brees is a Hall of Famer. He?s not a Hall of Famer if he wins another Super Bowl, or if he has three more good years, or if he breaks the right combination of records. He is a Hall of Famer even if he announces before kickoff Monday that he is giving up football for tiddlywinks. Brees is not ?on his way.? He is there.

Brees is about to be named to his sixth Pro Bowl and has led his team to a Super Bowl victory. Every eligible quarterback in history with six Pro Bowls and a ring has made the Hall of Fame. In fact, the only quarterback in history with six Pro Bowl selections who is not in the Hall of Fame is John Hadl, the Chargers legend who earned much of his all-star notice in the wild-and-woolly days of the early AFL. Brees? record blows away top Hall of Fame argument starters such as Ken Stabler (four Pro Bowls, one ring) and Ken Anderson (four Pro Bowls, zero rings). Brees fits much more comfortably among second-tier Hall members such as Dan Fouts (six Pro Bowls, zero rings) and Bobby Layne (five Pro Bowls, two rings), well above the Joe Namath-George Blanda class of quarterbacks who made the cut for other contributions. You can argue that multiple Pro Bowl appearances were harder for old-time quarterbacks to achieve, because careers were shorter, but Brees is only 32, and we are giving him zero credit for what he might accomplish in the next decade.

Counting Super Bowls and all-star appearances is a rather simple-minded way of ranking quarterbacks. But we cannot use statistics, because Brees blows the field away. He has the highest career completion percentage in history of any quarterback with over 3,000 pass attempts. He just passed Montana for 10th on the all-time touchdown list. Brees, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are carving the record book up in unequal thirds, or at least all the parts of the record book that Favre didn?t shred by trying to play until the sun went nova. Give Brees five more modest seasons in the 3,000-yard, 20-touchdown range (and account for Brady's having similar production), and Brees will retire among the top five quarterbacks in every meaningful category.

And despite our ?watered-down? times, Brees? totals will stick -- other than Brady, other quarterbacks in Brees? age group (Tony Romo, Eli Manning, and the like) are thousands of yards and many touchdowns behind.

Brees lacks an MVP award, but he has a shelf full of everything else: the Bert Bell Award, Offensive Player of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Super Bowl MVP and the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which acknowledges community service as well as on-field success. This is not the r?sum? of a borderline Hall of Fame candidate; it is overwhelming evidence of greatness, a slam dunk that is only going to rattle backboards even harder after a few more seasons like the past five.


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Brees surpasses Marino

??Drew Brees set the NFL record for yards passing in a season, breaking a mark that Dan Marino had held since 1984, and the New Orleans Saints clinched the NFC South title with a 45-16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45768359/ns/sports-nfl/

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

GadgetTrak launches CameraTrace: Photo thieves beware (Digital Trends)

camertracerYou may remember hearing about photographer John Heller?s ordeal recovering his $9,000 worth of camera gear this summer. The thieves unwittingly uploaded photos taken with the stolen equipment, including a Nikon D3, to sites popular photo sharing platforms?which is just what GadgetTrak wanted.

The site was then testing a beta application that would scan photo-sharing sites like Flickr and 500px for images uploaded from potentially stolen equipment. The meta-data on these images reveals camera serial numbers, so owners missing their gear can easily identify if it?s theirs or not.

It was a dream come true for Heller, and now GadgetTrak is releasing the technology to consumers. Called CameraTrace, the service basically creates an identity for your camera so that in the cause it?s taken it can easily search the worldwide Web for any image taken with the device. Users pay a one-time $10 fee per camera, which comes with a lost-and-found tag that good Samaritans can use to trace back to owners who have merely misplaced their cameras.

In the case your device has been stolen, however, you will use the system to file a police report. GadgetTrak will even take up your case and speak with local enforcement if you choose. Basically you?ll have a helping hand through the painstaking process of getting your equipment back.

According to GadgetTrak, the CPUsage platform behind CameraTrace is able to thoroughly asses where your device has gone via uploaded images. It?s also allegedly able to identify more than 300 different ?high-end camera models? from various brand names.

Serious photographers will get an added benefit from using CameraTrace. The site also protects your copyrighted photos via its image monitoring service, which scans social sites to see if anyone out there is using your work without permissions?and pointing you in their direction.

Compared to how much photographers are willing to shell out on their gear, $10 is chump change. And given the popularity of the photo-sharing sites, this could be a very effective form of insurance.?

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

More from Digital Trends

Kodak sells its sensor business ? what now?

What you need to know about micro four thirds: The cool kids of the camera world

Concept cameras: Digital photography?s craziest pipe dreams

Pixable adds Twitter, videos to its photo-curator application

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111227/tc_digitaltrends/gadgettraklaunchescameratracephotothievesbeware

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Rasmussen College to offer CPR classes

Rasmussen College recently announced their partnership with In-Pulse CPR to offer CPR classes for the public at the college?s five Florida campus locations.

In-Pulse CPR is an American Heart Association-authorized provider of CPR and ECC courses. The one-day, 4-hour classes will held throughout the next four months at Rasmussen?s Florida college campus locations in Ft. Myers, New Port Richey, Land O? Lakes, Ocala, and Tampa/Brandon.

The first CPR Classes will start this January and are open to both Rasmussen College Students and the general public.

Recommended as an invaluable skill for any adult, CPR training is required in many jobs such as early childhood education professionals, nursing home workers, and dental or medical office staff. In-Pulse CPR?s classes qualify students for the American Heart Association Heartsaver / BLS Healthcare CPR certification, good for two years.

In-Pulse CPR classes use the latest equipment including Laerdal and Prestan mannequins and a large selection of AED trainer models. All instructors are either EMT workers or nurses, and all are certified by the American Heart Association.

Course cost is $45, and no prior first aid knowledge is needed.

For course times and directions to the nearest Rasmussen campus go to www.inpulsecpr.com/florida.

For more information on Rasmussen College Florida campus locations, visit: http://www.rasmussen.edu/locations/florida/.

Source: http://fairgrounds.wtsp.com/news/health/96642-rasmussen-college-offer-cpr-classes

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Pakistani president warns top court in scandal

Pakistani president warns top court in scandal

ASIF SHAHZAD
Associated Press
Image
A Pakistan Air Force cadet is silhouetted while he stands guard during a change of guard ceremony to mark the 135th anniversary of the birth of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, at the Jinnah mausoleum in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

ISLAMABAD ? Pakistan's president on Tuesday warned the Supreme Court not to take action in violation of the constitution, referring to a judicial hearing into a secret memo seeking to rein in the powerful military, a scandal that threatens the Pakistani leader.

The political crisis revolves around a memo that was allegedly sent to Washington with President Asif Ali Zardari's support in May asking for help in stopping a supposed army coup following the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Zardari has denied any connection to the memo.

Also Tuesday, gunmen killed a senior official from the government's Intelligence Bureau in the northwestern city of Peshawar, said police officer Imtiaz Khan.

No group has claimed responsibility, but the Pakistani Taliban have killed many government officials and security personnel in the last few years.

There is long-standing tension between Pakistan's civilian government and the army because the military has staged a series of coups and ruled the country for much of its 64-year history.

The government has opposed the Supreme Court's decision to open a hearing into the scandal about a week ago, saying a judicial investigation was unnecessary because parliament was already looking into the matter. The powerful army, which has denied it intended to carry out a coup and was enraged by the memo, supports the investigation.

The Supreme Court opened its hearing after receiving a petition to do so from a handful of opposition politicians ? a common practice in Pakistan.

Zardari warned Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to respect the constitution, an indication he may be worried the judge will team up with the president's opponents to topple the government. Zardari has clashed with both Chaudhry and the army since he was elected in 2008.

"Anyone casting a bad eye intending to break up my federation, I will not let it break," Zardari told thousands of flag-waving supporters in southern Pakistan in a speech marking the fourth anniversary of the assassination of his wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Zardari did not say exactly what he meant by the Supreme Court respecting the constitution, or what he fears might be the result of the inquiry. Many analysts agree the president enjoys immunity from prosecution while in office

Zardari said earlier in the day that Pakistanis should pay tribute to his slain wife by guarding against anti-democratic conspiracies, an apparent reference to tensions over the memo scandal. He said his wife's death was also a conspiracy against Pakistani democracy.

"I therefore urge all the democratic forces and the patriotic Pakistanis to foil all conspiracies against democracy and democratic institutions," said Zardari in a statement sent to reporters.

The army-backed Supreme Court hearing sparked Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to say last week that a conspiracy was under way to topple the government. He did not specifically point to the military, but said the army must be answerable to the parliament and could not act as a "state within a state."

Gilani eventually backed away from his comments after army chief Gen. Pervez Ashfaq Kayani denied any intention to stage a coup and promised to support democracy. The prime minister on Monday denied reports he would replace Kayani or the army's intelligence chief, Lt. Gen. Shuja Pasha, to neutralize the threat to his government.

Former Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., Husain Haqqani, allegedly crafted the memo sent to Washington, which promised to replace Pakistan's national security hierarchy with people favorable to the U.S. in exchange for help in reining in the military. Haqqani has denied any connection to the memo but resigned in the wake of the scandal.

The bin Laden operation angered Pakistani officials because they weren't told about it beforehand and humiliated the army because it was not able to stop the nighttime raid near Pakistan's equivalent of West Point.

The political crisis comes at a time when Pakistan is struggling with a violent Taliban insurgency, a stuttering economy and troubled relations with its most important ally, the United States.

????

Associated Press writers Sebastian Abbot in Islamabad and Riaz Khan in Peshawar contributed to this report.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

?

Source: http://ap.brainerddispatch.com/pstories/world/20111227/933785553.shtml

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Asia stocks mixed after weak US economy indicators (AP)

BANGKOK ? Asian stock markets were mixed in holiday-thinned trading Monday after weak U.S. indicators dulled optimism about prospects for the world's biggest economy.

Several markets were closed including Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and New Zealand. Oil traders were also on holiday. Wall Street and European stock markets are closed Monday because Christmas fell on a Sunday this year.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index finished up 1 percent at 8,479.34 after being closed for a public holiday Friday while South Korea's Kospi fell 0.6 percent to 1,856.70.

China's Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.7 percent to 2,190.11. Markets in India and the Philippines gained while benchmarks inTaiwan and Thailand fell.

Figures showing that U.S. consumer spending and personal income rose by a modest 0.1 percent in November were below market expectations. The headline 3.8 percent increase in durable goods orders last month masked a decline in a crucial investment measure, benefiting from big orders for Boeing aircraft.

The data offset some of the optimism in markets about the U.S. economy following a run of largely positive indicators. Since Thursday, investors have taken heart from figures showing that the number of initial jobless claims in the U.S. unexpectedly fell 4,000 last week to 364,000, the lowest level since April 2008.

While the U.S. economy has been the dominant driver in markets the past few days, Europe's debt crisis is likely to remain the key market focus next year.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 124.35 points, or 1 percent, to 12,294 on Friday in quiet pre-holiday trade. The Nasdaq composite index gained 19.19 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,618.64. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 11.33 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,265.33.

In currencies, the euro was up 0.1 percent at $1.3068. The dollar was down 0.1 percent at 77.96 yen.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111226/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets

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Class of 2015: Us against the world - 2011 Vanderbilt Football

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Monday, December 26, 2011

Video: Sunbathers run over by car miraculously survive

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45789979#45789979

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edwinkort: @merijnd neem eens een goede telefoon. Een Sony Ericsson met Android bijv.

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'Alice In Wonderland' By Salvador Dali, 1969

Retronaut:

'ALICE IN WONDERLAND' BY SALVADOR DALI, 1969

Read the whole story: Retronaut

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/26/alice-in-wonderland-by-sa_n_1169707.html

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pocketnowtweets: Microsoft Sends Out Windows Phone Chocolate Tile Greetings: http://t.co/sQwLtRIS

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

This Week's Top Downloads [Download Roundup]

Dec 24, 2011 5:00 PM 7,509 0
  • DeSopa for Firefox Bypasses SOPA DNS Blocking (Firefox) DeSopa is the latest Firefox add-on that can counter the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)'s DNS blocking if the bill passes. The extension gets you through sites censored by DNS and lets you browse them by IP address.
  • Better Explorer Brings a Windows 8-Style Explorer to Windows 7, Ribbon and All (Windows) If you like the look of Windows 8's new version of Windows Explorer, but don't want to use the developer preview, free app Better Explorer brings some of the perks to your Windows 7 desktop.
  • MiLocker Brings MIUI's Gorgeous Lock Screens to Any Android Device, Even Non-Rooted Ones (Android) If you've ever had the luxury of using the MIUI ROM on your Android device, you already understand how good it looks and how customizable it is. We love it too, but if you want a taste of what MIUI offers without having to root your device, back it up, install a new ROM, and restore your data, you can try MiLocker, a lockscreen utility that brings MIUI's customizable lock screens to any Android device, including stock devices that haven't been rooted.
  • WhoAreYou Brings Visual Caller ID to Android (Android) WhoAreYou is a free app designed to bring true caller ID (caller ID without needing the contact in your phone book) to your mobile phone. It visually displays who's calling, so you can decide to answer, send to voicemail, or "ditch" the caller.
  • Photo Police Sniffs Out Photoshopped Images, Highlights How They Were Changed (Mac) We've discussed how a keen eye can help you detect if an image has been photoshopped, but if you need an app to help you determine if that photo is a fake, Photo Police is a utility for the Mac that can help. If it does detect that an image has been modified, it will show you what's been changed so you can get an idea of what the original may have looked like.
  • Visual Hashing Makes Sure You Never Mistype Your Passwords (Chrome/Firefox) If you regularly mistype your password because you're in a rush, Visual Hashing will turn your password into a colored hash to you can immediately see whether you've typed it correctly or not.
  • Kindle Fire Utility Easily Roots, Updates, and Hacks Your Kindle Fire (Windows) Several Kindle Fire hacks have surfaced since its release, but now you can get them all in one handy utility. The aptly named Kindle Fire Utility will root and update your device as well as repair permissions, install the TWRP recovery app, and more.
  • MyUnity Fixes Annoyances in Ubuntu's Unity Interface (Ubuntu) If you're using the newest versions of Ubuntu, you probably have an annoyance or two with the Unity interface. MyUnity is a system tweaker based around changing Unity's behavior and appearance.
  • To-Do Manager Astrid Updates Android and iOS Apps with a New UI and Featured Lists (iOS/Android) Popular mobile to-do manager Astrid took the wraps off of its new Android and iPhone apps recently, completely overhauling the interface to make it easier to get right to the items you're working on, see all of the related information around a specific item, and featured lists from some of the developers' favorite sites to help you add some fun and time-saving projects to your list.
  • Password Security Scanner Audits the Passwords Stored in Windows Programs (Windows) Password Security Scanner from NirSoft is a program that does what its name suggests: Scans the passwords in Windows applications (Microsoft Outlook, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and more) and displays security information about the passwords-without actually showing you the passwords.
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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/cJS09k5YMXo/this-weeks-top-downloads

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Google becomes the Clark Griswold of the internet with 'Jingle Bells' doodle

Having conquered so many aspects of the software world, it's time for Google to take the next logical step in its evolution: becoming that annoying neighbor who always goes a bit overboard each year with the Christmas display. This time out, Google's doodle lets you play five notes of "Jingle Bells" manually, bringing down the lights and finishing up the song with a full-on holiday light show. Check it out, but don't blame us if your computer blows a fuse.

Google becomes the Clark Griswold of the internet with 'Jingle Bells' doodle originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Dec 2011 14:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Mel Gibson and Wife Finalize Divorce After 30-Year Marriage (omg!)

A Superior Court judge finalized Mel Gibson's divorce on Friday from Robyn Moore, his wife of 30 years, The Associated Press reports.

Almost all details of the split were kept confidential, but reports say Moore stands to get a big pay-off from the divorce. Because there was no prenuptial agreement, it was ruled that Moore is entitled to half of everything the actor earned during their three-decade-long marriage, according to Entertainment Tonight. Gibson's fortune was once estimated by the Los Angeles Business Journal to be worth approximately $850 million.

Robert Downey Jr. to Hollywood: Forgive Mel Gibson

Moore filed for divorce in April 2009, but Gibson alleged they had been living apart since 2006. That was the year Gibson was famously arrested for a DUI in Malibu and made anti-Semitic and misogynistic remarks to his arresting officers.

The Braveheart actor, 55, and Moore were married in 1980 and have seven children together, but their 12-year-old son is the sole minor and, therefore, the only one subject to a custody agreement.

Mel Gibson in first public interview since released tapes: "It's one terribly awful moment in time"

Moore defended her estranged husband last year when he was engaged in an ugly custody battle with Gibson's girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, with whom he has a 2-year-old daughter, Lucia. Grigorieva accused Gibson of domestic violence after recordings were leaked of him allegedly yelling at her and ?threatening her. He pleaded no contest ? but admitted no fault ? to a misdemeanor battery count in March. Moore filed a brief declaration in the case stating that Gibson had never physically abused her or their children.

Related Articles on TVGuide.com

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Friday, December 23, 2011

Accused Penn State rioters opt to go straight to trial (Reuters)

HARRISBURG, Pa (Reuters) ? Five Penn State University students decided on Wednesday to go straight to trial on charges they rioted over the firing of football coach Joe Paterno after his assistant coach's arrest for child sex abuse.

The students, who were among six facing the most serious charges in the unrest that inflicted $190,000 in damages, waived their right to a preliminary hearing in Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte.

It was the same courthouse where former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky last week waived the same right, sending his case directly to trial sometime next year. He is charged with 52 counts of sexual abuse involving 10 boys, many whom he met through a charity he founded for troubled youth.

Fallout over Sandusky's arrest resulted in the firing last month of the popular Paterno, who turned 85 on Wednesday and had been head coach for 46 years. His dismissal triggered a wave of outrage among some students, and in protest about 1,000 of them poured into the streets around campus on November 9.

Angry chants of "Hell no, Joe won't go" dissolved into vandalism, including the upending of a television news van.

A total of 40 students were charged, police said.

The six facing the most serious charge of felony riot, all from Pennsylvania, were accused of tipping over the TV van, which reportedly accounted for most of the $190,000 in damages.

Five of them waived their preliminary hearing on Wednesday, and their was set for March 22. The sixth student has a preliminary hearing set for January 4.

The explosive allegations surrounding Sandusky also forced the university to fire president Graham Spanier, put athletic director Tim Curley on administrative leave and accept the retirement of former top finance official Gary Schultz.

Curley and Schultz have been charged with lying to a grand jury and failing to report a crime.

Sandusky, Curley, and Schultz have maintained their innocence and are free on bail as they await their trials.

(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Greg McCune)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111221/us_nm/us_crime_coach_pennstate

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'Dark Knight Rises' Trailer Strikes Back

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and "Prometheus" are dropping their very first trailers this week, sending the pre-holiday news cycle out on a high note. Helping the cause is the already released "Dark Knight Rises" theatrical trailer, which blazed online yesterday in a fury of earthquake devices, Catwoman threats, unintelligible Bane quotes and more.

Instant [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/12/20/dark-knight-rises-trailer-strikes-back/

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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Watch a life-size Mobile Suit Gundam robot statue get assembled in time-lapse footage (Yahoo! News)

First erected in 2009, a giant scale model of a robot from the classic Japanese anime?Mobile Suit Gundam has returned to Tokyo. More of an enormous model than a traditional statue, the 59-foot-tall goliath has to actually be put together from hundreds of intricately detailed parts. It's a time-consuming process, but thankfully one?YouTube user has captured it?in time-lapse video.

The robot stands on?Odaiba, an artificial island in Tokyo Bay. It originally stood for only one month, in July 2009, and attracted more than four million visitors before being disassembled and moved south to?Shizuoka City, home to many of Japan's scale model making companies. It resided there for nine months before returning ? in pieces ? to Tokyo as part of charity efforts towards relief for the?Great Eastern Japan Earthquake.

Construction of the mighty but sadly inanimate mechanoid takes several weeks, and begins with its steel skeleton. It's a fascinating process to watch ... and kind of makes you wish that the bot would actually spring to life at the end!

Anime News Network via?Geekosystem

This article was written by Randy Nelson and originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

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Friday, December 16, 2011

appleweblog: Kinectimals: el primer juego de Microsoft que llega al App Store http://t.co/oRnvlIh8

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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Contrite Boeheim commits to child abuse awareness

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim reacts after apologizing for statements he made earlier about the Bernie Fine sexual abuse case after Syracuse defeated Florida 72-68 in an NCAA college basketball game in Syracuse, N.Y., Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim reacts after apologizing for statements he made earlier about the Bernie Fine sexual abuse case after Syracuse defeated Florida 72-68 in an NCAA college basketball game in Syracuse, N.Y., Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim reacts after apologizing for statements he made earlier about the Bernie Fine sexual abuse case after Syracuse defeated Florida 72-68 in an NCAA college basketball game in Syracuse, N.Y., Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim reacts after apologizing for statements he made earlier about the Bernie Fine sexual abuse case after Syracuse defeated Florida 72-68 in an NCAA college basketball game in Syracuse, N.Y., Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim apologizes for statements he made previously about the Bernie Fine sexual abuse case after Syracuse defeated Florida 72-68 in an NCAA college basketball game in Syracuse, N.Y., Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)

(AP) ? Two weeks after vilifying two former ballboys who accused his longtime assistant of child molestation, Syracuse men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim said Saturday he'll campaign against child abuse even though he knows his motives will be questioned.

"We believed in helping kids long before this. I'm sure people are always going to question why you do something, but we're going to do this and continue to do it," Boeheim said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. "We don't do it for what people might say."

The comments came a day after a postgame press conference in which a drawn-looking Boeheim apologized in a halting voice for initially disparaging the men who accused Bernie Fine of molesting them as minors. Fine has denied the allegations.

A few people had called on Boeheim to resign or be fired when the accusations first surfaced, and he was criticized as callous for saying the accusations were lies motivated by money.

Boeheim first softened his stance earlier this week. After Fine was fired Sunday, Boeheim released a statement saying he regretted any statements he made that might have been "insensitive to victims of abuse." Then on Tuesday, Boeheim apologized but said again he didn't regret defending his old friend based on the information he had at the time and said he had never worried about his job status in 36 years.

By Friday, he was far more contrite.

"I believe I misspoke very badly in my response to the allegations that have been made," said Boeheim, who paused frequently during a postgame press conference. "I shouldn't have questioned what the accusers expressed or their motives. I am really sorry that I did that, and I regret any harm that I caused."

Boeheim and his wife, Juli, spent time Thursday at the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center in Syracuse. He said they want to raise awareness about the pervasiveness of child abuse.

"We're going to try to do this because it's our community, and that's what we're going to continue to do," Boeheim told the AP.

He insists the marked shift in his public statements over two weeks is real and not being scripted by the university's chancellor or other outside forces.

"I think in some ways it definitely is genuine," said Nick Caneo, a 19-year-old sophomore studying economics, said of the center visit. "But on top of it, it definitely is a PR thing,"

Mark Grimm, an adjunct media professor at Siena College, said he was shocked by how unprepared Boeheim was Tuesday night.

"Clearly, he took a radical turn between the Tuesday and Friday press conferences. There's no question. He was in over his head there for a while," Grimm said. "They give him a standing ovation when he walks in the Carrier Dome, but remember, these are hard-core Syracuse fans. The whole other community ? many of them are appalled."

University spokesman Kevin Quinn declined comment.

Boeheim is easily the most recognized person in this upstate New York city of 145,000 and the public face of Syracuse University. Forbes magazine puts the worth of Boeheim's squad at $17 million, eighth best in the NCAA, while the industry research group SportsOneSourceGroup says the team probably accounts for $40 million a year in merchandise sales.

And in a city where the economy has faltered along with the rest of the Rust Belt, and where headlines often involve the words, "record-setting snow," there's another reason to support the coach: Basketball is a balm.

Not anymore.

That changed Nov. 17, when the allegations against Fine were made public.

One of Fine's accusers, Bobby Davis, now 39, told ESPN that Fine molested him beginning in 1984 and that the sexual contact continued until he was around 27. A ball boy for six years, Davis said the abuse occurred at Fine's home, at Syracuse basketball facilities and on team road trips, including the 1987 Final Four. Davis' stepbrother, Mike Lang, 45, who also was a ball boy, told ESPN that Fine began molesting him while he was in the fifth or sixth grade.

A third accuser, 23-year-old Zach Tomaselli of Lewiston, Maine, came forward last Sunday. He said he told police that Fine molested him in 2002 in a Pittsburgh hotel room after a game. He said Fine touched him "multiple" times in that one incident.

The allegations have rattled the Syracuse community, especially so soon after the Penn State child sex abuse case in which former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is accused in a grand jury indictment of sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year period.

Chancellor Nancy Cantor immediately made it clear in an e-mail to the Syracuse community that the school would not tolerate abuse: "We know that many question whether or not a university in today's world can shine a harsh light on its athletics programs. We are aware that many wonder if university administrations are willing to turn a blind eye to wrongdoing that may disrupt a successful sports program. I can assure you I am not, and my fellow administrators are not. We hold everyone in our community to high standards and we don't tolerate illegal, abusive or unethical behavior ?no matter who you are."

Boeheim, who's paid a salary around $1.5 million, is a lifer.

Born and raised in nearby Lyons, Boeheim enrolled at Syracuse in 1962, was a walk-on with the basketball team that year, and by his senior season was a team captain along with Dave Bing. After graduating, Boeheim played pro ball in Scranton, Pa., then returned to Syracuse as a graduate assistant in 1969. He's been there ever since.

For the city and the university, there are plenty of reasons to protect Boeheim's reputation and the basketball program:

? The Syracuse Convention and Tourism estimates the university pumps $179 million in travel-related spending into the region every year.

? Just two NCAA teams, Syracuse and Kentucky, have drawn an average of more than 20,000 fans per game in each of the past 10 seasons.

? In his 36th season, there have been eight Big East titles, 28 NCAA Tournament appearances, three title games and a national championship in 2003.

Now, Boeheim's trying to shift the focus from his program to child abuse awareness.

Although he and his wife previously raised money for the McMahon/Ryan center, Boeheim said they want to raise awareness.

"We started working with them last summer," he said Saturday. "We met with them the other day, not just to be fundraisers but to bring more awareness to people in this area. In our area there's not as much awareness as there needs to be."

Julie Cecile, director of the McMahon/Ryan Center, said Boeheim spent about an hour at the facility Thursday.

"He was really sincere. He really was," Cecile said. "He's been with us since last year, and I think it's an ongoing education. We just have to really use this as a teachable moment, make people realize that there is a problem, and I think that he's going to be able to do that."

The center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending child abuse through intervention and education.

Boeheim said he was surprised to learn how many child abuse victims don't come forward.

"I don't think people realize how much abuse there is and how much work needs to be done," Boeheim said. "That's what I think I learned from talking to people at McMahon/Ryan house; people don't realize the magnitude of this problem. I really don't, and it's something that needs to be addressed in this community. We have started to now realize we need to do more than ever."

___

AP Basketball Writer Jim O'Connell in New York and AP Writers John Kekis, Meghan Barr and Ben Dobbin in Syracuse contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-03-Syracuse-Fine%20Investigation-Boeheim/id-ef7b0e78a4e54724a4886518315ad59f

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South Korea's net nirvana spawns good, bad and ugly results (Reuters)

SEOUL (Reuters) ? On a single, dimly-lit floor in the towering central Seoul headquarters of Korea's National Police Agency, dozens of hard drives and mobile phones sit on shelves awaiting dissection.

Officials flit between cubicles, comparing notes, as above their heads massive LCD screens churn out graphs and charts for experts to interpret as all-clear signals or dire warnings.

It may lack the chaos of a physical battlefield, but the agency's Cyber Terror Response Center is the front line in South Korea's growing struggle against computer and Internet-related crime.

Established more than a decade ago, the response center now commands a network of 1,000 officials nationwide who monitor computer systems for viruses, hacking and related attacks and who conduct post-mortem investigations into those systems that have been compromised.

In one of the world's most wired countries, the center has no shortage of work.

South Korea, with its near-ubiquitous Internet access and lightning-fast broadband connections, was ranked by the United Nations Telecommunication Union recently as the world's most advanced nation in terms of information and communication technology usage.

The country is also known as the home of such technology giants as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.

Unfortunately, the country also holds less laudable titles. Data from U.S.-based Internet security research firm Team Cymru indicates South Korea is, by far, Asia-Pacific's leading host of peer-to-peer "botnets," compromised, Internet-connected computers typically used for illegal activities and usually without the owner's knowledge.

Steve Santorelli, Team Cymru's director of global outreach, says this represents the downside of being "one of the most connected places on the planet."

"Peer-to-peer based botnets are virtually impossible to kill...(the number in South Korea) is deeply disturbing," he said.

Computer security firm Symantec ranked South Korea seventh worldwide in terms of malicious online activity last year, up two notches from 2009 and trailing only far larger China and India in Asia.

"The cybercrime problem is constantly increasing," sighed Jung Suk-hwa, the Cyber Terror Response Center's soft-spoken investigation director. "Basically, Korea is a good place for it."

CYBERCRIME EPIDEMIC

A series of high-profile attacks this year have highlighted vulnerabilities in South Korea's cherished communications infrastructure and thrust cybercrime squarely into the public spotlight.

In late November a hacking attack that targeted Korea-founded, Japan-based online gaming firm Nexon Co exposed the personal information of more than 13 million subscribers to one of its popular titles, casting a pall over its up to $1.3 billion Tokyo IPO.

That followed a data breach of record scope in July at Nate and Cyworld, popular social networking sites operated by SK Communications. The incident affected the accounts of some 35 million users, equivalent to around 70 percent of the country's entire population.

In April hackers managed to access data on 23 percent of the 1.8 million customers of Hyundai Capital, a joint venture of GE Capital and Hyundai Motor.

The Nexon and SK Communications cases are still being investigated with the trail in the latter leading to China, where most attacks against Korean firms appear to originate, according to Jung.

Cybercrime has also rocked the political and national security spheres.

Police are currently investigating a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack that crippled the National Election Commission's website during October by-elections, which the opposition alleges was the work of ruling party officials. And authorities in South Korea have linked North Korea to a series of hacks affecting financial, government and military websites.

Hacking and data theft have been issues for some time in South Korea's highly wired society, but "this is the first time we're seeing crimes of this magnitude," Jung says.

The local operations of global firms have not been immune. An August attack on a hosting provider temporarily brought down the local website and online banking operations of HSBC, while the same month an intrusion into Epson's Korea website exposed the personal details of around 350,000 customers, according to a company spokesman.

REAL NAME CONTROVERSY

The spike in personal data leaks this year has fueled the debate over the country's real name verification rules, which have been controversial since their introduction in 2005 in an attempt to moderate online discussions during election periods.

These require websites with more than 100,000 visitors daily to collect the names and personal details of users before the users can upload content or post comments.

By amassing private data, usually national resident registration numbers, on hundreds of thousands of people, South Korean websites create a tempting target for cybercriminals, says Park Kyung-sin, a professor of law at Korea University.

While the real name rules do not specifically require companies to store personal data, according to Park they are left with little choice in practice.

"If websites require identification each time people log on, people won't use them," Park said. "This makes it economically impractical for them to use one-time identification. The rules practically require the accumulation of personal data and also make it enormously profitable for companies to retain it."

Politicians such as Kim Sung-hoon, head of the digital policy committee of Korea's ruling Grand National Party (GNP), have campaigned for real name verification to be revoked.

In addition to restricting freedom of expression, the rules leave "no company safe at the moment, and we have to take fundamental action by abolishing them immediately," he said.

The country's Internet regulator, the Korea Communications Commission, is sticking to its guns. The agency acknowledges "questions over the effectiveness and suitability" of the rules and is "investigating every single step toward their improvement," said Oh Jung-taek, chief of the KCC's Network Ethics Department.

But real name verification is needed to discourage the online dissemination of defamatory remarks or rumors, particularly concerning North Korea, which "could give rise to serious trouble or social turmoil," Oh said.

"Given the special situation we have, it's inappropriate to talk about revoking the rules just a few years after they were implemented."

TAKING MATTERS INTO THEIR HANDS

With the rules unlikely to disappear anytime soon, many companies are developing their own responses. Epson Korea no longer collects resident registration numbers, the company spokesman said. Hyundai Capital has established a separate information security unit and now assigns more than 10 percent of its IT budget to security, according to spokeswoman Fiona Bae.

Some companies have moved to bypass the rules altogether. Google, for example, has prevented users from uploading content or posting comments to the South Korean version of YouTube, stating that real name verification rules do not "fall in line with Google's principles."

The fight against cybercrime has seen some successes. In October the suspected hacker in the Hyundai Capital incident was apprehended in the Philippines. Incidents of online harassment, illegal website operations and piracy have dropped sharply over the last couple of years.

Authorities are trying to help companies shore up their online defenses, with both the KCC and Cyber Terror Response Center offering information security training. The center also plans to boost manpower and cooperation with international authorities such as the Chinese police and Interpol, the National Police Agency's Jung says.

But with the number of hacking cases continuing to climb, Jung admits agencies like his lack the resources to turn a rising tide.

Critics of the real name requirements say their abolishment would do more to bolster the country's online security than any new software or hiring spree.

"No matter how much we invest in security to prevent cybercrime, it'll make no economic sense," says the GNP's Kim. "We'd do better to revoke the real name rules."

(Additional reporting by Seongbin Kang; Editing by David Chance and Matt Driskill)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111206/wr_nm/us_korea_cybercrime

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Monday, December 5, 2011

Genevieve Larson commented on Megan Calhoun's event 'The Help Twitter Party'

The #1 New York Times best seller by Kathryn Stockett comes to vivid life through the powerful performances of a phenomenal ensemble cast. "The Help" is an inspirational, courageous and empowering story about very different, extraordinary women in the 1960s South who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project ? one that breaks society?s rules and puts them all at risk. Filled with poignancy, humor and hope ? and complete with compelling, never-before-seen bonus features ? "The Help" is a timeless, universal and triumphant story about the ability to create change.

Join us Tuesday, December 6, for a Twitter party celebrating the home entertainment release of ?The Help,? co-hosted by Lee Ann Flemming, chef and on-set food stylist for the film and author of "Recipes and Remembrances" and Weekly cooking column in the Greenwood Commonwealth newspaper. We?ll be chatting about southern hospitality, cooking, and more! ?We hope you can join us -- by participating, you?ll have a chance to win a copy of ?The Help? 2-Disc Blu-ray? Combo Pack, so don?t miss out on the fun! Please be sure you follow @socialmoms and our sponsor @helpmovie before the party!

Click to Tweet an invite to your followers for a chance to win!

Date: Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Time: 4-5pm PST (7-8pm EST)
Hashtag: #TheHelpRelease
Host: @socialmoms

Sponsor: @helpmovie
Questions: alysha@socialmoms.com

Prizes
We are giving away 20 Disney?"The Help" Blu-ray/DVD combo packs to our random winners. ?Ten prizes will be awarded to participants tweeting an invitation to their followers before the party using the #TheHelpRelease hashtag, and 10 will be awarded to participants tweeting with the #TheHelpRelease hashtag during the party. (Please see pre-party official rules and Twitter party official rules.)

Random drawing winners will be notified within 24 hours of the event via DM or @reply on Twitter.?

Source: http://www.socialmoms.net/xn/detail/2291408%3AComment%3A1812683?xg_source=activity

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