John Kerry 'Campaigning' for Hillary's Job

Click here to view this email as a web page Insider Report from Newsmax.com Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories): 1. John Kerry ‘Campaigning’ for Hillary’s Job 2. Microsoft Targets Google for Antitrust Probe 3. ‘Fiscal Disaster’ Looms for Medicaid Under Obamacare 4. Report: Afghan Army Can’t Function Alone 5. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood: Buy a Japanese Car 6. Texas Schools to Make Arabic Mandatory 1. John Kerry ‘Campaigning’ for Hillary’s Job Sen. John Kerry has been a leading voice in Washington on the crisis in Egypt, raising speculation that he could be in line for a post in the Obama Cabinet — including the one now held by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Massachusetts Democrat is “well informed on national and international issues and he knows the leaders,” former Rep. Martin Meehan, now chancellor at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, told the Boston Herald. “He would be on the top of any president’s list, regardless of the party they are in.” Time magazine’s political blog called Kerry a “diplomatic utility man” and said he has been “unofficially campaigning” to succeed Clinton for months. Massachusetts State Treasurer Steven Grossman, a longtime friend of Hillary, said she remains committed to the secretary of state job. But he added, “Should the president ever find himself with the need to name a new secretary of state, Sen. Kerry, with his experience with all issues relating to foreign relations, would make an outstanding candidate.” Kerry spokeswoman Jodi Seth dismissed the speculation, telling the Herald: “John Kerry loves his job as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and as the senior senator from Massachusetts. Doing your job well doesn’t mean you’re auditioning for another job.” But if Kerry were to take a Cabinet post, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick could appoint an interim senator, as he did following the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy. That would give Massachusetts Democrats another seat to target, instead of running against incumbent Republican Sen. Scott Brown. Meehan said Kerry’s seat would be widely sought after: “I’m sure a lot of people would take a look at it.” Editor's Note: Alert: Controversial Book Predicts End of American Empire 2015 2. Microsoft Targets Google for Antitrust Probe An alliance of tech firms and Washington lobbyists is calling for an antitrust investigation of Internet search giant Google — and Google says rival Microsoft is masterminding the campaign. It could be called payback. In the 1990s, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, then an executive at Sun Microsystems and later Novell, provided evidence in the government’s antitrust case against Microsoft. The restrictions imposed on Microsoft as a result of the case helped Google rise to its current position atop the Web, and now “some of Microsoft’s allies are saying it’s time for the search giant to get its comeuppance,” Politico reported. Pamela Jones Harbour, a former Federal Trade Commission member and now a consultant for Microsoft, asserts that Google has a monopoly. “There are also increasing calls from some Silicon Valley competitors and Washington-based public interest groups for the Justice Department to launch a sweeping probe of Google,” according to Politico. Google asserts that Microsoft — which is spending about $7 million a year on lobbying — is behind the anti-Google efforts. “Microsoft and our large competitors have invested a lot in D.C. to stoke scrutiny of us,” Google spokesman Adam Kovacevich said. “But our goal is to make sure that we can continue creating cool new things for consumers.” Microsoft attorney Charles “Rick” Rule wrote in a September Op-Ed piece for The Wall Street Journal that Google is a monopoly and should be investigated. And he noted, “What goes around, comes around.” Google processes more than 1 billion search requests each day, and had revenue of $23.6 billion in 2009. Editor's Note: Special: Losing Weight After Age 50 — Six Tips to Shed Pounds 3. ‘Fiscal Disaster’ Looms for Medicaid Under Obamacare The healthcare reform bill signed by President Barack Obama will impose burdens on financially strapped state governments’ ability to pay for Medicaid and could result in “a human and fiscal disaster.” That’s the view of Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office and president of the American Action Forum, and Paul Howard, director of the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Medical Progress. Writing in City Journal, they outline the devastating effect Obamacare will have on Medicaid, the joint federal-state program for low-income, uninsured Americans. Even before Obamacare goes fully into effect, the program is beset with difficulties. Medicaid often pays just 70 percent of what Medicare pays doctors, which itself is 20 percent below private rates. As a result, more than half of primary-care physicians and 35 percent of specialists either limit the number of Medicaid patients they see, or refuse to accept new ones, the authors disclose. That means recipients must often wait before receiving a diagnosis or treatment, which can have deadly consequences. Another problem: Medicaid currently consumes about 20 percent of state budgets, and the federal payout boosts the deficit. Federal and state governments will spend an estimated $466 billion this year on Medicaid, and under Obamacare “Medicaid will spend an additional $443 billion by 2019 — hardly evidence of the cost control that Obama promised for healthcare reform,” Holtz-Eakin and Howard observe. Obamacare defenders point out that the federal government will pay 100 percent of the new costs for several years after 2014. But that will leave states liable for $21 billion in new costs by 2020, not including up to $12 billion in additional administrative costs. Yet another problem: There are 11 million uninsured Americans who are eligible for Medicaid but have not signed up. The individual mandate requiring everyone to carry insurance or pay a penalty will likely push these people into Medicaid. And these enrollees would not be covered under the federal matching rate dictated by Obamacare, but under the pre-Obamacare rate, which “varies by state but is much more onerous” for the states, the City Journal article notes. The authors propose several reforms they say would help free states from “Medicaid’s ruinous funding scheme.” For one, states could be given more power to control Medicaid costs without losing federal matching dollars. “Washington would remove all strings from the program, so states could try different approaches in covering the low-income uninsured,” the authors say. Another proposal is to let people eligible for Medicaid use their funding to purchase private health insurance. And the United States could move to an interstate market system in which people could purchase healthcare coverage from any state. Editor's Note: An Ordinary Man Reveals His Millionaire Secret 4. Report: Afghan Army Can’t Function Alone A new report from the Government Accountability Office delivers a devastating blow to U.S. hopes of turning over security operations in Afghanistan to that nation’s military forces. The report, released on Jan. 27 and based on assessments by NATO’s international force, discloses that not one Afghan army unit was able to operate independent of American-led coalition forces as of September 2010. President Barack Obama has said U.S. troops will begin withdrawing from Afghanistan in July 2011, and he wants Afghan forces to take the lead on security operations by the end of 2014. According to the GAO, the United States has spent $20 billion since 2002 developing the Afghan army, and another $7.5 billion is to be spent in fiscal 2011. The report states that “as of September 2010, no ANA [Afghan National Army] unit was assessed” by the international coalition and American command “as capable of conducting its mission independent of coalition assistance.” A unit is rated as being able to operate independently when it is “capable of planning, executing, and sustaining the full spectrum of its missions without assistance from coalition forces,” the GAO observes. According to the GAO disclosures, there are many challenges that NATO and U.S.-led Afghan training missions face: 86 percent of Afghan army recruits are illiterate, and literacy training must be provided to enable units to achieve the technical skills required to operate independently. As of October 2010, about one-quarter of non-commissioned officer positions in Afghan combat units were unfilled. In any given month from January to September 2010, more than one-quarter of Afghan soldiers were absent from duty. Editor's Note: Is Your Prostate Keeping You Up at Night? 5. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood: Buy a Japanese Car Back in December, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that the Department of Transportation was launching a “Buy America” website to encourage the purchase of American-made products. But this past week, LaHood admitted that he had told his daughter to buy a Japanese car — a Toyota Sienna — and that she had done just that, CNS News reported. On Dec. 16 of last year, LaHood said when announcing the Buy American site, “The Obama administration is making historic investments in America’s infrastructure — investments that lay the foundation for our long-term economic health while creating good-paying jobs right now.” And a DOT press release stated: “Through Buy America, the Department of Transportation supports an entire supply chain of American companies and their employees.” On Wednesday, LaHood announced the results of a 10-month DOT study that sought to determine if electronic systems could have been responsible for reports of sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles that compelled the carmaker to recall nearly 8 million vehicles in the United States. The study determined that electronic systems were not responsible. In announcing the study results, LaHood said: “I told my daughter that she should buy the Toyota Sienna, which she did. So I think that illustrates that we feel that Toyota vehicles are safe to drive.” Fox News called his statement a “ridiculous gaffe.” Editor's Note: Special: Stand for Secure Borders, Wear the Cap! 6. Texas Schools to Make Arabic Mandatory Officials with the Mansfield, Texas, school district plan to make it mandatory for students to study Arabic language and culture. Arabic classes would be required at Cross Timbers Intermediate School and Kenneth Davis Elementary School as part of a five-year, $1.3 million grant awarded to the school district by the U.S. Department of Education. The classes would be optional for students at two other schools in Mansfield, a city of about 42,000 south of Dallas-Ft. Worth. The Department of Education has identified Arabic as a “language of the future.” Some parents are upset that the school district disclosed plans to require the classes without any prior warning to parents. There are also concerns about religion. “The school district doesn’t teach Christianity, so I don’t want them teaching Islam,” parent Baron Kane told a local CBS News affiliate. But Kheirieh Hannun, who was born in the Middle East and raised in the United States, said she hoped the classes would broaden the minds of parents as well as students. Editor's Note: Chocolate Heals the Heart, Stops Cancer Editor's Notes: Alert: Controversial Book Predicts End of American Empire 2015 Special: Losing Weight After Age 50 — Six Tips to Shed Pounds An Ordinary Man Reveals His Millionaire Secret Is Your Prostate Keeping You Up at Night? Special: Stand for Secure Borders, Wear the Cap! Chocolate Heals the Heart, Stops Cancer This e-mail is never sent unsolicited. You have received this Newsmax e-mail because you subscribed to it or someone forwarded it to you. To opt out, see the links below. TO ADVERTISE For information on advertising, please contact Newsmax Advertising Sales via e-mail. TO SUBSCRIBE If this e-mail has been forwarded to you and you would like to sign up, please click here. Remove your e-mail address from our list or modify your profile. We respect your right to privacy. View our policy. This e-mail was sent by: Newsmax.com 4152 West Blue Heron Blvd., Ste. 1114 Riviera Beach, FL 33404 USA 1072325 BA80-1

Newser Daily Digest - Ron Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll, Again

Ron Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll, Again

(Newser) - Ron Paul remains the darling of CPAC. The GOP congressman won the annual straw poll at the conservative convention for the second year in a row with 30% of the vote, reports Human Events . Mitt Romney finished second at 23%, and nobody else cracked 6%. Chris Christie and former New... More  »

Newser located this story for you on Sunday, February 13, 2011 7:03 AM. The story matched your section(s) Politics.

 

Sarah Palin's Latest Hire Suggests White House Run

(Newser) - Someone forgot to tell Politico and CNN this is supposed be a month free of Sarah Palin news . They're both reporting that Palin has hired a veteran operative to be her chief of staff, a development Politico reads as "one of the biggest indicators yet" she's serious about a... More  »

Newser located this story for you on Sunday, February 13, 2011 7:03 AM. The story matched your section(s) Politics.

 

Busted Rep's Wife Stands By Her Man

(Newser) - In sickness and health, sure, but nobody said anything about when your husband gets caught trying to pick up women on Craigslist with the worst frat-astic cell-phone pic ever. Nevertheless, Michele Lee is "crushed," but standing by former Rep. Chris Lee, who a friend says "was supposed... More  »

Newser located this story for you on Sunday, February 13, 2011 7:03 AM. The story matched your section(s) Politics.

 

Unsubscribe or change your alert settings.

Newser, LLC
222 N. Columbus Dr.
Unit D
Chicago, IL 60601

Suggestions and feedback are welcome at feedback@newser.com

© 2011 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved  |  Privacy Policy

Become a Worry Free Millionaire In 3 Years or Less

Dear Newsmax Reader: Please find below a special message from our sponsoring advertiser, Scott Neptune. They have important information to share with you. Thank you. Newsmax.com Dear Friend: Shouldn't you get paid now while you are still young enough to enjoy your money-and your life? Wouldn't it be nice to kick your day job to the curb? (Remember that old song, 'Take This Job and Shove it'?) I am going to show you how you will no longer need to worry about "the market," next quarter's earnings, interest rates, economic growth, the unemployment rate, housing starts--or any of that nonsense--EVER AGAIN. Because the truth is, it doesn' matter. The Stock Market presents opportunities every single day. Nice guys like you can finish first. Isn't it time to kick those Wall St. Jerks to the curb and capture the kind of life-changing wealth you've always dreamed of. They are no better or smarter than you are. Don't fall prey to the commonly-held notion that you need a secret handshake to be in the club either -- that's just nonsense. I will, however, tell you exactly what you DO need... There is one group of investors that have already done it. Not Wall St. guys, real, regular guys. People like you and me. ...and the best part of what I am telling you today is that I have an offer that can literally change your life now, and give you the secure, comfortable future you deserve. Pay your bills? Yes. Pay off your home? Yes. Help your children pay for college or buy a home? Yes. I have a way for you to see this, in action, and test it for yourself. Many of these investors simply followed my step-by-step compound trading plan, and checked on it once a week. Most of their money was made while they were out spending time with their spouse, playing golf, or fishing by the lake. They slept well at night knowing they had peace-of-mind profits compounding week after week. This small group of investors many and former buy-and-hold investors whom were burned by the market crash of 2007-09 and quietly turned just $10,000 into $81,191.37 in just 44 weeks using the miracle of what I call "compound trading". I was with them every step of the way and today I am going to show you how you can become a millionaire in three years or less using this same simple plan. You'll find everything you need in my free special report "How to Become a Worry-Free Millionaire in 3 Years or Less." Click here to access your copy right now. It's time to start enjoying your money now. To Your Success, Scott Neptune P.S. - If I wasn't so confident in my goal to bring you almost unimaginable wealth, I wouldn't show you every little secret I used to bring a 712% return to my inner circle over this 44 week stretch. YOLO Publishing, LLC. 118 East 28th Street, Suite 207 New York, NY 10016 This e-mail is never sent unsolicited. You have received this Newsmax e-mail because you subscribed to it or someone forwarded it to you. To opt out, see the links below. TO ADVERTISE For information on advertising, please contact Newsmax Advertising Sales via e-mail. TO SUBSCRIBE If this e-mail has been forwarded to you and you would like to sign up, please click here. Remove your e-mail address from our list or modify your profile. We respect your right to privacy. View our policy. This e-mail was sent by: Newsmax.com 4152 West Blue Heron Blvd., Ste. 1114 Riviera Beach, FL 33404 USA 1072418

[Slashdot] Stories for 2011-02-13

======================================================================
15 petabytes of new information are generated every day.
And 80% of it is unstructured data. Don't let it get in the
way of your decision-making. Read more!
http://p.sf.net/sfu/ibm-sdnewsfeb
======================================================================

Slashdot Daily Newsletter

In this issue:
* Ebooks Finally Included On the NYT BestSeller List
* Japanese Build Robot Toddlers
* After MS-Nokia Pact, Many Nokia Workers Walk Out In Protest
* Looking Back At Microsoft's Rocky History In Storage Tech
* <em>Crysis 2</em> Leaked Over a Month Before Launch
* NASA Finds Over 2,000 Young Star Candidates In North American Nebula
* Kinect Revolutionizing Robotics
* Microsoft To Work With Windows Phone 7 Jailbreakers
* MPEG Continues With Royalty-free MPEG Video Codec Plans
* White House Wants Phone Records Without Oversight
* Tech-Unfriendly Cafes Say No Kindles Allowed
* How Major Film Studios Manipulate YouTube Users
* Microsoft Offers H.264 Plug-in For Google Chrome
* The Sum Total of the World's Knowledge: 250 Exabytes
* Send Kinect Gesture Recognition Data Over Infrared
* DailyMotion Now Streaming Live News
* NESBot: Tool Assisted Speedrun On Real Hardware
* BlackBerry Devices May Run Android Apps

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ebooks Finally Included On the NYT BestSeller List
| from the say-hank-have-you-see-the-intern's-kindle? dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday February 11, @19:01 (Books)
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/02/11/2333241/Ebooks-Finally-Included-On-the-NYT-BestSeller-List?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

destinyland writes "The New York Times' site just published [0]their
first best-seller list which includes ebooks. 'To give the fullest and
most accurate possible snapshot of what books are being read at a given
moment you have to include as many different formats as possible,' a book
editor explained in November, 'and e-books have really grown, there's no
question about it.' Interestingly, [1]the rankings of the top 7
best-selling ebooks are unchanged if you also include their print sales."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/02/11/2333241/Ebooks-Finally-Included-On-the-NYT-BestSeller-List?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/overview.html
1. http://www.beyond-black-friday.com/2011/02/11/new-york-times-announces-the-best-selling-ebooks/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Japanese Build Robot Toddlers
| from the soft-spot-is-not-the-reset-hole dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday February 11, @19:52 (Japan)
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/0011239/Japanese-Build-Robot-Toddlers?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

kgeiger writes "The Japanese birth dearth may be crashing their
population and rendering kids a rarity, but never fear! Robotics
researchers at Osaka University are [0]building robot babies to learn how
people are supposed to interact with young children. For anyone who has
raised real kids, cyberkiddies would seem a cheat unless they come with
"why? Why? WHY?" and "No!" infinite loops and no OFF switch."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/0011239/Japanese-Build-Robot-Toddlers?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/meet-affetto

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| After MS-Nokia Pact, Many Nokia Workers Walk Out In Protest
| from the let's-enjoy-the-brisk-finnish-air dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday February 11, @23:00 (Businesses)
| https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/0028257/After-MS-Nokia-Pact-Many-Nokia-Workers-Walk-Out-In-Protest?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. McGibby writes "After the announcement of the partnership between
Nokia and Microsoft this morning workers voiced their concern with the
deal by [0]walking out of Nokia facilities. It is believed that as many
as a thousand workers marched out today (or took the day off using flex
time) so that the company would know that they don't believe the
partnership is in their best interest, even after CEO' Stephen Elop's
startlingly frank 'burning platform' memo earlier this week."
[0] Looks like [1]many investors felt the same way.

Discuss this story at:
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/0028257/After-MS-Nokia-Pact-Many-Nokia-Workers-Walk-Out-In-Protest?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/nokia-workers-walk-out-in-protest-20110211/
1. http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:NOK

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Looking Back At Microsoft's Rocky History In Storage Tech
| from the would-you-like-to-buy-some-stones? dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday February 12, @02:03 (Data Storage)
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/0310249/Looking-Back-At-Microsofts-Rocky-History-In-Storage-Tech?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

nk497 writes "Following the [0]demise of Windows Home Server's Drive
Extender, Jon Honeyball looks back on Microsoft's long, long list of
[1]storage disasters, from the dodgy DriveSpace to the Cairo Object File
System, and on to the debacle that was WinFS."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/0310249/Looking-Back-At-Microsofts-Rocky-History-In-Storage-Tech?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2010/11/24/yet-another-microsoft-storage-disaster/
1. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/realworld/365221/microsoft-storage-a-litany-of-failure

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| <em>Crysis 2</em> Leaked Over a Month Before Launch
| from the airtight-security-there-boys dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday February 12, @03:23 (First Person Shooters (Games))
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/0610213/Crysis-2-Leaked-Over-a-Month-Before-Launch?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

iviv66 writes with this excerpt from Rock, Paper, Shotgun: "According to
a thread on the Facepunch forums, a developer build of Crysis 2
[0]containing the full game, multiplayer and the master key for the
online authentication has been leaked, and is currently freely available
from all sorts of astonishingly illegal websites. This sounds like it
might be a serious tragedy for Crytek. Crysis 2 was scheduled for release
on the 22nd of March, so the leaked build could be dangerously close to
finished." EA and Crytek have [1]responded to the leak, saying that the
illicit copy is incomplete and unfinished, and that "Piracy continues to
damage the PC packaged goods market and the PC development community."

Discuss this story at:
https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/0610213/Crysis-2-Leaked-Over-a-Month-Before-Launch?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/02/11/an-actual-crisis-crysis-2-leaked/
1. http://www.ea.com/crysis-2/blog/crysis-leak

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| NASA Finds Over 2,000 Young Star Candidates In North American Nebula
| from the we're-gonna-need-a-bigger-casting-couch dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday February 12, @05:11 (Space)
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/027248/NASA-Finds-Over-2000-Young-Star-Candidates-In-North-American-Nebula?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "A NASA team has identified about [0]2,100
young star candidates in a region called the North American Nebula. The
nebula is named after its resemblance to the North American continent in
visible light. There were only about 200 young stars known before. NASA's
Spitzer Space Telescope has taken images of the new stars at all stages
of development, from dusty little tots to young adults."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/027248/NASA-Finds-Over-2000-Young-Star-Candidates-In-North-American-Nebula?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/111460/20110211/nasa-north-american-nebula-pelican-spitzer-stars.htm

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Kinect Revolutionizing Robotics
| from the can-it-serve-as-an-emergency-floatation-device dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday February 12, @06:29 (Robotics)
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/063211/Kinect-Revolutionizing-Robotics?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HizookRobotics writes "The [0]Bilibot Project, an open-source robot
platform based on Microsoft's Kinect, was just announced by MIT
researcher Garratt Gallagher on Hizook.com. Bilibot is just the first in
[1]what will likely be a torrent of robots (both hobbyist and
professional) utilizing the Kinect. This sentiment was echoed in an
[2]essay by Fred Nikgohar, CEO of RoboDynamics, who believes we've
reached a watershed moment in robotics enabled by cheap 3D sensing. While
much of the attention for the Kinect has focused on video gaming, perhaps
robotics will be its greatest beneficiary."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/063211/Kinect-Revolutionizing-Robotics?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.bilibot.com/
1. http://www.hizook.com/blog/2011/02/10/bilibot-project-low-cost-robot-platform-irobot-create-kinect-and-rosified-computer
2. http://www.hizook.com/blog/2011/01/09/need-low-cost-sensors-robotics-holiday-edition

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Microsoft To Work With Windows Phone 7 Jailbreakers
| from the working-against-expectations dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday February 12, @08:14 (Cellphones)
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/0141254/Microsoft-To-Work-With-Windows-Phone-7-Jailbreakers?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

markass530 writes "[0]Microsoft had a sit down with the first people to
jailbreak their Windows Phone 7. Seems like good progress was made. This
seems like a good approach to me. It would be great if Sony, Apple,
Microsoft, and several Android phone makers would implement a simple
development switch in their phones ��� these would obviously void the
warranty, but it would give hackers the opportunity to actually own their
devices without fear of having to jailbreak all over again whenever an
update arrives."

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/0141254/Microsoft-To-Work-With-Windows-Phone-7-Jailbreakers?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.osnews.com/story/24326/Microsoft_To_Work_with_Jailbreakers_on_Windows_Phone_7

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| MPEG Continues With Royalty-free MPEG Video Codec Plans
| from the until-my-couch-can-play-movies-unassisted dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday February 12, @09:16 (Graphics)
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/145257/MPEG-Continues-With-Royalty-free-MPEG-Video-Codec-Plans?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

yuhong writes "From the press release: 'In recognition of the growing
importance that the Internet plays in the generation and consumption of
video content, MPEG [0]intends to develop a new video compression
standard in line with the expected usage models of the Internet. The new
standard is intended to achieve substantially better compression
performance than that offered by MPEG-2 and possibly comparable to that
offered by the AVC Baseline Profile. MPEG will issue a call for proposals
on video compression technology at the end of its upcoming meeting in
March 2011 that is expected to lead to a standard falling under ISO/IEC
"Type-1 licensing", i.e. intended to be "royalty free."'"

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/145257/MPEG-Continues-With-Royalty-free-MPEG-Video-Codec-Plans?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.robglidden.com/2011/02/mpeg-envisages-royalty-free-mpeg-video-coding-standard/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| White House Wants Phone Records Without Oversight
| from the our-right-as-elected-americans dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday February 12, @10:20 (Privacy)
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/1516259/White-House-Wants-Phone-Records-Without-Oversight?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "The Obama administration's Justice Department
has asserted that the FBI can obtain telephone records of international
calls made from the US [0]without any formal legal process or court
oversight, according to a document obtained by McClatchy."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/1516259/White-House-Wants-Phone-Records-Without-Oversight?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/02/11/108562/obama-assertion-fbi-can-get-phone.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Tech-Unfriendly Cafes Say No Kindles Allowed
| from the and-no-coffee-either dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday February 12, @11:27 (Books)
| https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/1625221/Tech-Unfriendly-Cafes-Say-No-Kindles-Allowed?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

theodp writes "At the risk of [0]pulling-a-Groupon, I have a dream that
one day my children will not be judged by their [1]e-readers, but by the
content of their character. The NY Times' Virginia Heffernan complains
that [2]many indie New York City cafes now heavily restrict, or ban
outright, the use of Kindles, Nooks and iPads. Evidently, she says, too
many coffee shops have had their ambience wrecked when itinerant word
processors with laptops turn the tables into office space. Full-dress
computers are one thing, says Heffernan, but banning devices the size of
books is going too far, and it's anathema to the character and history of
cafes. By contrast, Starbucks offers free, one-click, unlimited wireless
service to their patrons, making it in Heffernan's eyes 'a flawed
franchise that is squarely in the public good.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/1625221/Tech-Unfriendly-Cafes-Say-No-Kindles-Allowed?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Conan--115642119.html
1. http://www.pcworld.com/article/219335/the_pitfalls_of_ebook_buying_what_to_look_out_for_before_you_purchase.html
2. http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/magazine/13FOB-Medium-t.html&OQ=_rQ3D4&OP=7c7f64c4Q2FyHQ2FQ7Cym_gce__XQ3EyQ3ElQ5CQ5CylQ3EyQ5CQ7EydNVNQ3DQ2B6Q2FyQ5CQ7EkQ22t!rQ2FmQ2Bqd!XfQ5DXd@

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| How Major Film Studios Manipulate YouTube Users
| from the velvet-glove-cast-in-iron dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday February 12, @12:35 (Movies)
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/1734258/How-Major-Film-Studios-Manipulate-YouTube-Users?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "A year before the major movie companies were
offered the chance by YouTube to 'block, monetize or track' uploaded
copyrighted material, studios such as Disney were already commissioning
PR companies to create bogus YouTube users ��� complete with authentically
'trendy' semi-literate user-profiles, on accounts that appeared to be set
up by young and 'edgy' teenagers. These faux 'users' were able to post
high-definition videos from copyrighted movies without being penalised or
impeded by YouTube's Content ID algorithms, and their posts, deliberately
crammed with piracy-related search terms and timed (even to the day, in
one case) to coincide with related DVD and Blu-ray releases, sometimes
accrue a million and a half hits or more, whilst those of genuine YouTube
uploaders fall at the site's Content ID firewall. This article looks at
[0]how the major studios have reacted to YouTube in the last four years,
and also examines in-depth three such examples of apparent 'astroturfing'
involving the theatrical or disc releases of Toy Story 2, Speed Racer and
Spider-Man 3."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/1734258/How-Major-Film-Studios-Manipulate-YouTube-Users?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.shadowlocked.com/201102111470/opinion-features/youtube-and-the-major-film-studios.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Microsoft Offers H.264 Plug-in For Google Chrome
| from the windows-users-hearken dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday February 12, @13:30 (Chrome)
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/1827205/Microsoft-Offers-H264-Plug-in-For-Google-Chrome?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apparently [0]Firefox was just the beginning: Pigskin-Referee writes
"Microsoft has released a [1]Windows Media Player HTML5 Extension for
Chrome so as to enable H.264-encoded video on HTML5 by using built-in
capabilities available on Windows 7. As you may recall, less than two
months ago, Microsoft released the HTML5 Extension for Windows Media
Player Firefox Plug-in with the same goal in mind. Even though Firefox
and Chrome are big competitors to Microsoft's own Internet Explorer, the
software giant has decided Windows 7 users should be able to play back
H.264 video even if they aren't using IE9. Here's the current state of
HTML5 video: Microsoft and Apple are betting on H.264, while Firefox,
Chrome, and Opera are rooting for WebM. Google was actually in favor of
both H.264 and WebM up until earlier this month, when the search giant
decided to drop H.264 support completely, even though the former is
widely used and the latter is not. The company also announced that it
would release WebM plugins for Internet Explorer 9 and Safari. Although
IE9 supports H.264, excluding all other codecs, Microsoft is making an
exception for WebM, as long as the user installs the corresponding codec,
and is helping Google ensure the plug-in works properly."

Discuss this story at:
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/1827205/Microsoft-Offers-H264-Plug-in-For-Google-Chrome?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/12/16/223237/Microsoft-Is-Releasing-an-H264-Plugin-For-Firefox
1. http://www.techspot.com/news/42249-microsoft-offers-h264-plugin-for-google-chrome-too.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| The Sum Total of the World's Knowledge: 250 Exabytes
| from the well-250-exabytes-and-this-article dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday February 12, @14:37 (Data Storage)
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/1934244/The-Sum-Total-of-the-Worlds-Knowledge-250-Exabytes?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

arkenian writes "The BBC reports on an article in Science about
scientists who calculate that the [0]sum of all the world's stored data
is 250 exabytes. Perhaps more interestingly, the total amount of data
broadcast is 2 zetabytes (1000 exabytes) annually. In theory this means
that the sum of the world's knowledge is broadcast 8 times a year, but I
bet mostly that's just a lot of American Idol reruns."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/1934244/The-Sum-Total-of-the-Worlds-Knowledge-250-Exabytes?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12419672

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Send Kinect Gesture Recognition Data Over Infrared
| from the but-that's-barely-a-kinection-at-all dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday February 12, @15:38 (Hardware Hacking)
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/1955254/Send-Kinect-Gesture-Recognition-Data-Over-Infrared?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes with this snippet from Kinect Hacks: "Being
able to send gestural data captured from your Kinect to another device
via your computer of IR is incredible. You can send gesture recognition
data [0]to any piece of hardware that uses IR signals, such as your
television, receiver, cable box or X10 extenders. Anything that reads IR
signals can now be controlled by simply using gestures to control the
devices. Absolutely amazing. The developer wrote custom code that works
with his Kinect sensor plugged into his Mac Mini. The code is integrated
with OpenNI which detects the user's skeleton and has specific gestures
pre-programmed to control his TV in order to turn it off and on along
with changing the volume on his digital receiver. Other gestures include
the ability to change to the next and previous channel."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/1955254/Send-Kinect-Gesture-Recognition-Data-Over-Infrared?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.kinect-hacks.com/kinect-hacks/2011/02/12/send-kinect-gesture-recognition-data-over-infrared-using-usb-uirt

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| DailyMotion Now Streaming Live News
| from the avec-vergence dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday February 12, @16:40 (Media)
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/2136230/DailyMotion-Now-Streaming-Live-News?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "Beet.TV reports that [0]DailyMotion has
[1]begun streaming live news from Al Jazeera, BBC, and France 24 among
others. They write, 'Paris-based DailyMotion, the world's second biggest
online video site, has integrated with London-based live news portal
[2]Livestation to provide a number of live streaming television news
networks including Al Jezeera, Bloomberg, the BBC, France 24, and sources
from other nations as well as from oganizations including the United
Nations and NASA.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/2136230/DailyMotion-Now-Streaming-Live-News?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.dailymotion.com/us
1. http://www.beet.tv/2011/01/breaking-dailymotion-launches-live-video-news-platform-with-livestation-integration.html
2. http://www.livestation.com/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| NESBot: Tool Assisted Speedrun On Real Hardware
| from the take-that-game-genie dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday February 12, @17:43 (NES (Games))
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/2136205/NESBot-Tool-Assisted-Speedrun-On-Real-Hardware?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xistic writes "For many years [0]tool assisted speedruns were purely
theoretical and the domain of emulators. No longer! Using an [1]Arduino
Duemilanove microcontroller to drive an actual Nintendo console, pjgat09
plays back [2]prerecorded input to [3]beat Super Mario Bros. in record
time. The selection of possible games is limited: 'If the game relies on
any uninitialized memory for randomness, or if it is heavily based on
console timing, it may not work. In the case of Super Mario Bros however,
as long as the button presses start play back at the right time, the
movie will play back correctly.' The author includes complete
instructions on how to setup the device."

Discuss this story at:
https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/2136205/NESBot-Tool-Assisted-Speedrun-On-Real-Hardware?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://tasvideos.org/
1. http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardDuemilanove
2. http://tasvideos.org/2964S.html
3. http://www.instructables.com/id/NESBot-Arduino-Powered-Robot-beating-Super-Mario-/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| BlackBerry Devices May Run Android Apps
| from the western-civilization-would-be-a-good-idea dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday February 12, @18:50 (Android)
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/2350224/BlackBerry-Devices-May-Run-Android-Apps?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

crankyspice writes "RIM is allegedly prepping the QNX-based operating
system running their forthcoming PlayBook tablet [0]to run Android
applications, according to a Bloomberg article. As RIM has stated that
the QNX platform [1]will run at least some of its upcoming smartphones as
well, this could cinch Android's status as the lingua franca of
smartphone application environments, especially with [2]BlackBerry's
current market leadership and [3]Android's explosive marketshare growth."

Discuss this story at:
https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/02/12/2350224/BlackBerry-Devices-May-Run-Android-Apps?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-11/rim-said-to-plan-playbook-software-to-run-google-android-apps.html
1. http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/07/rims-mike-lazaridis-qnx-coming-to-blackberry-phones-when-dual/
2. http://www.wirelessandmobilenews.com/2011/02/nokia-iphone-blackberry-samsung-htc-top-smartphone-makers-says-htc.html
3. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/01/android-beats-nokia-apple-rim-in-2010-but-firm-warns-about-2011.ars

Copyright 1997-2010, Geeknet, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

======================================================================

You have received this message because you subscribed to it
on Slashdot. To stop receiving this and other
messages from Slashdot, or to add more messages
or change your preferences, please go to your user page.

http://slashdot.org/prefs/messages

You can log in and change your preferences from there.

Ron Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll; Huckabee, Romney Top Fox Poll

Breaking News from Newsmax.com Rep. Ron Paul has won the CPAC straw poll as favored candidate for president in 2012. Fox News Poll: Huckabee, Romney Top GOP Field Special: Dick Morris Sees Massive Obama Inflation Wave, Senator Warns of Meltdown More links: Discover the Healing Powers of Vinegar Obama Hates Fox News, Get the Inside Story This e-mail is never sent unsolicited. You have received this Newsmax e-mail because you subscribed to it or someone forwarded it to you. To opt out, see the links below. TO ADVERTISE For information on advertising, please contact Newsmax Advertising Sales via e-mail. TO SUBSCRIBE If this e-mail has been forwarded to you and you would like to sign up, please click here. Remove your e-mail address from our list or modify your profile. We respect your right to privacy. View our policy. This e-mail was sent by: Newsmax.com 4152 West Blue Heron Blvd., Ste. 1114 Riviera Beach, FL 33404 USA 1072977 BA93-1