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Saturday, October 16, 2010

Google TV Event Shows Off Android-Loaded Logitech Revue Components - eWeek



by Clint Boulton


The crowd awaits the start of the event.


Junien Labrousse, executive vice president of products for Logitech, introduces the crowd to Google TV with the slogan: "If you can think it, you can watch it." We don't know what that means, but it sounds fun.


This is the Google TV setup Logitech used to show off the service. Note Chrome as a Web app option on the monitor. Chrome is the Web browser for Google TV.


Revue comprises this companion box and keyboard controller, which the company is selling for $299 now.


The Keyboard Controller is much like a computer keyboard, with a directional pad and touch pad on the right. Buttons on the top of the keyboard control users' TVs, receivers and DVR boxes.


The companion box is designed to easily connect to users' TVs. Moreover, it's infused with Harmony Link, Logitech's universal remote control technology to let users switch seamlessly between TV and Web content.


The Revue box-keyboard combo isn't the only way to access Google TV. Users may also buy a mini controller or use their iPhone or Android smartphones.


Logitech is also offering this TV Cam for an additional $149.99 to let users make 720p video calls from their TV sets to other users of the Logitech Vid HD software.


Logitech TV product manager Kevin Simon takes the stage to show off Google TV on Logitech products.


Simon likes Top Gear—a lot. He shows off his list of saved Top Gear episodes. For users connecting to Google TV through the Dish Network, DVR recording will be available.


Simon checks out Top Gear on YouTube.


Simon taps a few buttons and calls up the Top Gear Website while watching Top Gear. Note the Top Gear program in the lower right-hand corner of the screen in the Google TV dual view.


Simon did all of this with this Keyboard Controller.


Simon also displayed the mini controller, which does everything the Keyboard Controller does, but is about the size of a large cell phone or PDA.


Simon accesses his Logitech Revue controls from his phone, flinging a video from the phone to the TV. Users may also do voice searches and call up TV and application content by speaking into their phone.


Logitech's TV Cam and Vid HD software can be used to conduct video calls between Google TV users.


Here is what the connection looks like between the TV Cam and Logitech Vid HD software. Note the upper right-hand corner, which shows the media in the room where the call originated from via Google TV.


Check out Simon's most visited apps on Google TV.


Logitech summarizes Revue and its peripherals and apps for Google TV.


The price for the Logitech Google TV package of $299 for the box and controller may seem steep to some looking at Apple TV and its $99 price tag. But from what eWEEK has seen, the extra dough may be well worth it. Stay tuned for testing!


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Cassidy: Facebook s Mark Zuckerberg could build the education network - San Jose Mercury News

Print   Email   Font ResizeBy Mike Cassidy

Mercury News Columnist

Posted: 10/07/2010 12:16:35 PM PDTUpdated: 10/07/2010 02:28:16 PM PDT
So, I'm sitting in a dimly lit theater in Palo Alto waiting for Superman.

Not the one who wears a red cape. The one who wears a blue hoodie. Silicon Valley boy wonder, Mark Zuckerberg, star of stage, screen, "The Simpsons," Facebook and the universe in general, has invited a few of his 500 million friends to a special movie screening.

No. Not that movie. "The Social Network," Alan Sorkin's fictionalized account of the rise of Facebook and the guy who either invented it or stole it, is not what this night is about. This night is about education and "Waiting for Superman," a documentary that those looking to save our schools hope will do for the education disaster what "An Inconvenient Truth" has done

for the global warming disaster.

And Zuckerberg? He has a chance to become the education CEO, the guy who lubricates the national conversation with star power and tons of cash. He's a billionaire at 26, which gets people's attention -- even in Silicon Valley, where an army of entrepreneurs has made money nearly as fast as they've made progress.

Last month -- on Oprah, no less -- Zuckerberg dropped $100 million on the Newark, N.J., school system. The nationally televised largesse coincided with the run-up to the unflattering portrayal of Zuckerberg in "The Social Network," which opened to rave reviews and box-office supremacy. Naturally, cynics questioned the coincidence. Could it be that the man they call Zuck was trying to counter

the bad vibes from the Facebook blockbuster with a sudden spasm of philanthropy?

A lot to think about in a dimly lit theater as we wait for superman, who does stroll in (sans hoodie) and does exactly the right thing. He picks up a microphone to welcome the educators, community leaders, journalists, friends -- and he makes a joke.

"I'm not really inviting a lot of people to go to the movies right about now," Zuckerberg says, "but I thought this one was pretty important."

The crack filled the theater with laughter and cleared the air over whether Zuckerberg was going to spend much time worrying about those who question his motives. Not that it hasn't been a concern at Facebook HQ.

Larry Yu, Facebook's corporate communications director, told me before the Wednesday screening that the company's public relations staff didn't think announcing Zuckerberg's big gift just as the bothersome biopic was being released was such a hot idea.

"We recommended against the timing," Yu says, "because we thought it would be construed as an obvious ploy."

Which is pretty much how it was construed. But the time was right for New Jersey and two of its prominent politicians -- Gov. Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker -- who teamed up to join forces with Zuckerberg on the education initiative.

And so, it seems Facebook watchers (which is pretty much all of us, right?) are left with a choice: We can see Zuckerberg as a cynical and manipulative billionaire working overtime to spin public opinion. Or we can see him as an incredibly young and fabulously rich man who decided he would start giving away his money much earlier in life than some of those who have gone before him.

Alternatively, you can adopt my take, which is: Who cares? Who cares what motivates a guy to give millions to K-12 education? If you do care, I've got two words for you: Bill Gates. In the late 1990s, when Gates started paring his staggering wealth through philanthropy, he was blistered. The billionaire monopolist was simply buying his way into heaven, critics cried. His generosity was just a way to take the heat off Microsoft, which was being skewered in public opinion and the courts for being anti-competitive.

And maybe it was pure PR. But who cares? Gates just kept giving, and I'd like to hear a coherent argument now that the man doesn't believe in what he's doing, which is helping run the world's largest charitable foundation.

Zuckerberg is young. He's connected. He has a platform to encourage other moguls to follow his lead.

Yu says he doesn't know whether his boss has decided to make K-12 education his signature philanthropic cause. But in the dimly lit theater, Zuckerberg talks about how he wants his $100 million to spur innovations and initiatives that can be replicated across the country.

Here's hope then that Superman's help could be coming to a school district near you.

Contact Mike Cassidy at mcassidy@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5536. Follow him at Twitter.com/mikecassidy.

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3 share Nobel Prize in chemistry for finding new ways to bond carbon atoms - Washington Post

An American and two Japanese scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for finding new ways to bond carbon atoms together, methods now widely used to make medicines and in agriculture and electronics.

Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki were honored for their development in the 1960s and '70s of one of the most sophisticated tools available to chemists today, called palladium-catalyzed cross coupling.

It lets chemists join carbon atoms together, a key step in the process of building complex molecules. Their methods are used worldwide in commercial production of pharmaceuticals, including potential cancer drugs, and molecules used in the electronics industry, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

The method invented by Heck is used in herbicide production, the academy said.

Heck, 79, a professor emeritus at the University of Delaware, now lives in the Philippines. Negishi, 75, is a chemistry professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., and Suzuki, 80, is a retired professor from Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan.

The techniques developed by the three scientists have been used to artificially produce cancer-killing substances first found in marine sponges, the academy said in its citation. It is not yet clear whether the artificial substances will turn out to be useful drugs.

The techniques are also being used to create new antibiotics that work on resistant bacteria and a number of commercially available drugs, including the anti-inflammatory naproxen, prize committee member Claes Gustafsson said.

"There have been calculations that no less than 25 percent of all chemical reactions in the pharmaceutical industry are actually based on these methods," he said.

Palladium-catalyzed cross coupling is also used by the electronics industry in the coating of electronic circuits and as a tool to develop thinner computer screens in the future, said prize committee member Jan Erling Backvall.

Heck started experimenting with using palladium as a catalyst while working for an American chemical company in Delaware in the 1960s. In 1977, Negishi developed a variant of the method, and two years later, Suzuki developed another.

Heck was the only American among the Nobel science winners this year. There had been at least two U.S. scientists among the medicine, physics and chemistry laureates since 1991, when there was none.

- Associated Press


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US Senate leader calls for Nevada foreclosure halt - Reuters

* Reid letter sent to largest mortgage servicers

* Call comes as Obama sends back foreclosure-friendly bill

* Reid in tough race for re-election, Nevada hard-hit (Adds comments from Reid, background on foreclosure problems)

By Corbett B. Daly

WASHINGTON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has called for the largest mortgage servicers to suspend foreclosures in hard-hit Nevada.

"I write to request that your mortgage-servicing division suspend foreclosures on Nevada homeowners until systems are in place to ensure Nevadans are not being improperly directed into foreclosure proceedings," Reid, a Nevada Democrat, wrote in a letter to the companies, which he did not specifically name.

So far, Ally Financial Inc's GMAC Mortgage, JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N and Bank of America (BAC.N) have announced that they are suspending some of their foreclosures to review whether they have been conducting them properly.

Reid released his letter on Thursday, shortly after President Barack Obama announced his opposition to a bill passed by Congress that could have made it more difficult for homeowners to challenge unjustified foreclosure actions. Obama said he would send the measure back to the House of Representatives in a procedure called a "pocket veto."

The bill, which passed the Senate unanimously, would have required courts to accept all out-of-state notarizations, including those stamped en masse by computers in a practice that critics say has been improperly used to expedite foreclosure orders.

False notarizations figured in disclosures that Ally Financial, JPMorgan and other big mortgage processors filed false affidavits in thousands of cases, part of the the wave of foreclosures that followed the financial crisis.

Reid is in tough race for re-election in Nevada, which holds the nation's record in jobless and foreclosure rates.

Reid noted that some servicers have halted foreclosure in the 23 states that have judicial foreclosure proceedings.

"While Nevada is not among those states, suspending foreclosures on Nevadans is also justified because the reports of shoddy and defective affidavit preparation suggest that servicers might not be reviewing a home owner's loan documents with the requisite care," Reid said in his statement. (Reporting by Corbett Daly; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)


Presently Senator Reid is posturing, to suddenly represent the enigma of bank fraud and foreclosures. We must however look to the immediate future and the damage Reid and his cohorts can do to our fragile economy.In the new session of Congress–Lame Duck or not–Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) will focus the Senate to enacting Sen. Robert Menendez,( D-NJ).law; a crippling blow to the 15 million out of work Americans by passing immigration Reform Package. If he has adequate votes this Liberal Senator clothed as a Democrat, will crack his whip and bring to the table another Amnesty by any other name. Stealthily hidden in the bill will not–ONLY–contain the Dream Act, but Agjobs attachment law for more Guest Workers for farms, by giving some structure of mass Amnesty. Since the 1986 Amnesty at least 3-4 million low income workers got their legal immigration papers and then determined that they could bring in immediate family members under Family Unification laws. As legal residents they could sponsor family members as long as the affidavit of financial support was signed. In many cases this became a game of fraud, as soon after this obligation was dropped and family members ended up in the welfare line.

Chain Migration refers to the unceasing and often-snowballing chains of foreign nationals who are permitted to immigrate because the law allows citizens and lawful permanent residents to bring in their absolute, non-nuclear family members. According to FAIRS quote “In 2001, the United States admitted 1,064,318 immigrants–enough people to create a major city the size of Chicago” In 1986 between 1.34 and 2.66 million illegal immigrants in the country who could qualify for immediate legality. Philip Martin, a professor at the University of California at Davis and one of the leading experts on the IRCA program, described the 1986 bill as “rife with fraud.”5 In total, nearly 1.1 million illegal’s received amnesty under SAW, even though there were only an estimated 400,000 eligible. This implies 700,000 fraudulent legalizations. Somewhere between 4 and 5 million people gained entry under this bill.

If we believe the numbers of foreign nationals domiciled in the US by government mouthpieces–there are 11 million and shrinking? In a previous count the Census Bureau has also developed estimates of its own. There assessment at the time of the 2000 Census suggests that the illegal immigration population was about 8 million. We are now Ten years ahead-so how can the administration estimate only 12 million? Create some kind of estimate yourself and give a conservative figure of family members brought here through family unification? Do we really want to be overpopulated? Our highways cannot handle the traffic now. Water shortages, energy disruption and loss of environment open land. Farmland disappearing. Even now water is in short supply in California and other border states. How will we keep up with supplying food to this sized population?

In Nov. 6, 1986 Because of their low education levels, illegal immigrants have a poverty rate that is roughly twice that of native-born Americans and therefore the majority will become public charges. The Immigration Reform and Control Act were passed by Congress in order to stop illegal immigration from Mexico, seen as a threat to the economy. Many members of Congress felt immigration was “out of control” because legal and illegal immigration had come to account for approximately thirty to fifty percent of U.S. population growth. The 1986 bill criminalizes the act of knowingly hiring an undocumented worker (in an unsuccessful attempt to reduce illegal immigration) as Businesses ignored the law and the government’s failure to enforce the laws so the numbers have grown all out of proportion..

Many foreigners are competing with Citizens and legal residents as cheap labor exploited by farms, businesses, the construction industry, factories, services and entertainment commerce. Millions have now materialized in the blue and white collar jobs that should be in the hands of the jobless Americans. Thousands of contractors have sewed their own demise by using cheap labor, dropping wages and the quality of work. Isn’t it time we decide who will push the overall public agenda for a decent future for our families and grandchildren, and not seek to gain votes in future elections by pandering to the major minority population as the Liberals are? One problem being legal households also gives refuge to an illegal alien family member and there are thousands of fraudulent cases of a legal brother loaning his Social Security number to an uncle or Aunt. Even a child given instant citizenship under the 14th Amendment Social Security number is not sacred, as the card is utilized by another in the family circle.

The Democratic leadership including Sen. Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer, and Speaker Pelosi do not seem to understand the relative difference in an individual who came to America legally and followed the processing as real immigrants do, if they wish to settle in this great country of ours? The new Tea Party candidates for Congress believe in the “Rule of Law” and understand you cannot cut corners to reside here in the US, and that changing the laws is pandering to millions of illegal aliens who ignored the laws and thought nothing in sliding past the border guards or lying about their true intentions when hoping on a plane. Only the Liberal extremists and the majority of Democrats see this as not a contravention of our laws and are willing to overlook, what to them is a minor civil infraction. Why have Democrats and a few in the GOP gutted the real border fence? Why has ICE director John Holder not arresting every illegal alien to be deported or imprisoned?

Why is California’s Sen. Boxer voted–YES–to supplying funds to Sanctuary Cities or not limiting welfare to illegal aliens? Both politicians are responsible for pressing –ONE-for ENGLISH. Why did Sen. Harry Reid try to table E-Verify, giving fewer accesses of jobs to legitimate US workers and only make the law to extract illegal workers voluntary? Choose who you vote for very cautiously, because returning Sen. Reid, Boxer, Pelosi, Napolitano to Washington. ALL INCUMBENTS MUST GO. ANTICIPATE IN STATES WITH A CLOSE RACE, DEMOCRAT ORIENTED LIBERAL modus operandi:have been known to overlook illegal aliens voting for their Pride and Joy? ABSENTEE BALLOTS SHOULD BE A CAUSE FOR CONCERN. Any new Lib-Dem will certainly bring down another giant amnesty that is like a tree, with very costly hidden roots; that will be digging into your payroll check for extra taxes.Billions of dollars could easily turn into a trillion in public welfare? The Tea Party is extremely conscious that neither party can be trusted in most instances to serve the American people. Democrats are looking for potential future votes and Republicans are looking out for a continuous pipeline of discount labor.

Tea Party activists have their own agenda, to suppress the plans in Washington of both parties. To shrink government and return dignity to the middle class and good paying jobs to all Americans. Tea party candidates are not beholden to Sen. Reid or Minority speaker John Boehner and any associates and will not bend to the will of Washington elites. Both parties must be held accountable and those who ignore the new course for the people will be removed from office as many incumbents will be this November. Give Tea Party candidates a chance to prove their worth and not listen to the same old, tired rhetoric of the usual, entrenched politicians. Even new Tea Party candidates must abide by the rules of the American people, as they are not immune from losing their seat.

Brittanicus Report As Abusive

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Senate report blasts Pentagon for handling of security contractors - CNN International

Senate report: Failure to keep track of private security contractors puts troops at riskSen. Carl Levin: "We must shut off the spigot of U.S. dollars" to Afghan warlordsCommittee staff: 125 security contracts cost the U.S. more than $100 millionReport cites nonexistent training, violent incidents, warlord affiliations

Washington (CNN) -- A Senate report released Thursday rips into the Pentagon for failing to keep track of tens of thousands of private security contractors in Afghanistan, a failure that places both the mission and U.S. troops at grave risk.

"The report describes a number of private security contractors funneling U.S. taxpayer dollars to Afghan warlords and strongmen who are linked to murder, kidnapping, bribery, pro-Talilban and anti-coalition activities," Armed Services Committee Carl Levin said at a briefing.

"We must shut off the spigot of U.S. dollars flowing into the pockets of power brokers and warlords who act contrary to our interests and who contribute to the corruption that weakens the support of the Afghan people for their government and for our effort," said Levin, D-Michigan.

The committee spent the past year investigating more than 125 Defense Department security contracts that cost the U.S. well in excess of $100 million, according to committee staff. Levin travelled to Afghanistan in July to meet with U.S. military leaders about risks in employing some 26,000 armed contractors.

Levin said some contractors are necessary to provide security, for instance guarding the perimeter of U.S. installations. But too many of them are poorly vetted prior to hiring, and aren't trained or provided with weapons and other equipment.

The report details one incident in February in which Afghanistan contractor guards fired on U.S. Marines who were shouting to identify themselves and using signal flares. The guards shot and killed a Marine. The Marines later detained the guards and found they were high on opium and had been given no training in how to fire their rifles.

Another contractor, according to the report and U.S. military e-mails obtained by the committee, "used rocks to simulate personnel" guarding observation posts.

Another section of the report focuses on guards hired by ArmorGroup as an example of how U.S. and United Nations contracts benefit Afghan warlords.

"The succession of warlords and the guards affiliated with them were implicated in murder, revenge attacks, bribery and anti-coalition activities," the report said. "One of those warlords, known as Mr. White-Two, was holding a Taliban meeting at his home when it was raided by U.S. and Afghan forces." ArmorGroup managers, according to the Senate report, gave the Afghanistan warlords nicknames based on the 1992 crime movie "Reservoir Dogs."

"Those warlords were variously implicated in murder and bribery," Levin said at his briefing. "As a matter of fact, Mr. Pink killed Mr. White-One. They were found to possess landmines, large amounts of ammunition and they were determined by the U.S. military to be in league with the Taliban."

A spokesperson for ArmorGroup's parent company, G4S in London, did not respond to a request for comment.

The Senate report blasted the Defense Department for lack of oversight, saying too much attention was devoted to giving out contracts and too little to keeping them accountable.

"Their workload required them to devote all their efforts to awarding contracts, and as a result they could not provide contract oversight," the Senate report said.

The Senate committee has briefed the Pentagon on their findings. Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote Levin Tuesday saying the department had set up task forces to review the issue, had tripled the number of auditors in the warzone and revamped their hiring, training and deployment.

Gates said the Senate report has helped the Defense Department understand the problems.

"Through the new programs we have implemented, I believe, DoD has taken significant steps to benefit our forces on the ground while not providing aid to our enemies.," Gates said in his letter.

Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus also has warned of over-reliance on contractors, telling military leaders to consider who benefits and the impact on their operations.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai cracked down on private contracts at the end of last month.

"In order to protect Afghan life and property, avoid corruption, security irregularities and the misuse of military weapons, ammunition and uniforms by the private security companies which have caused tragic incidents, and after the required assessment, I approve shutting down all private security companies within four months, including both domestic and foreign," the Afghanistan government's decree said.

The heavy dependence on contractors creates multiple problems for the United States. Efforts to build up the Afghan police and security forces are undercut when people can make more money working for private companies. Warlords can siphon off funds and not provide promised manpower.

Levin admitted that in some circumstances there are only risky, difficult choices.

"The decision as to whether or not to utilize a strongman or a warlord, or whatever you want to call them, has to be made at the highest level, it cannot be made casually by someone lower down in the chain of command that takes the easy way out, who says we will use this guy because he can provide protection," Levin said.

Levin said that despite efforts by the Pentagon and Congress, problems remain.

"There are contracts that are being implemented today with contractors who have shown to be sloppy, reckless or negligent in terms of implementing those contracts," Levin said. "So the risks exist today."


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