Wed Jan 16 '13 Announcement from CommBadge: Star Trek-Style Communicator for iPhone and Android

A special message to our dearest early Funders and Supporters;

We have great news for you! As you already know, CommBadge is an entirely new category of device, and getting the word out is of the upmost importance. After that, the next hurdle is getting the public to understand the product?s concept. This takes time! So, at our request, and because of some website issues, the Indiegogo Team has taken the unusual step and extended our campaign by 30 days. These website issues prevented some important Updates from reaching you, which is an integral part of any campaign. According to the Indiegogo Team, whom are fantastic by the way, the problems have been corrected.

More good news, and some not so good news. We have found a new supplier (in China) that has enabled us to reduce our upfront costs. Therefore, we have reduced our funding goal from $100,000 to $85,000. With thirty more days, a reduced goal, and your help we know we can succeed! In addition, this unique manufacturing technique has allowed us to shave some thickness off of CommBadge, making it even thinner. Stay tuned for more details! One note however, because of this design change the fulfillment times for all Perks have been setback by about 30 days.

We hope you understand, we only want to give CommBadge the best possible fighting chance for success. Again, thanks everyone for your patience, support, cheerleading, and funding! Together, we

WILL
make CommBadge a reality!

The CommBadge Team

Source: http://www.indiegogo.com/CommBadge?c=activity

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Grand Rapids, Mich., native selected to participate in Presidential Inaugural Parade

WASHINGTON ? Sgt. Major Timothy Huesgen, a member of the United States Army Band ?Pershing?s Own,? has been selected to participate in the 57th presidential inaugural parade, which is scheduled to take place Jan. 21, 2013.

Huesgen, a Grand Rapids, Mich., native plays percussion with the band.

The United States Army Band ?Pershing?s Own? was founded in 1922 by Army Chief of Staff, General John J. ?Black Jack? Pershing. Its mission is to provide music for official ceremonies and special events throughout the National Capital Region. The U.S. Army Band ?Pershing?s Own? is the premier band of the U.S. Army, the nation?s most senior service. Many of its classically trained members have earned advance degrees from the nation?s most prestigious music schools and conservatories. Since the inauguration of Calvin Coolidge in 1925, ?Pershing?s Own? has been part of the official escort to the president in each inaugural parade.

Assembled for special, major presidential events, such as inaugurals and state funerals, the 99-member band is comprised of members of the U.S. Army Ceremonial Band, the U.S. Army Concert Band, and the U.S. Army Blues. The band is led by Leader and Commander Col. Thomas H. Palmatier of Ballston Spa, N.Y., and the Drum Major is Master Sgt. Scott A. Little, of Marshfield, Md.

The U.S. Armed Forces have participated in the inauguration of the president of the United States since April 30, 1789, when members of the U.S. Army, local militia units and Revolutionary War veterans escorted George Washington to his first inauguration ceremony at Federal Hall in New York City. Participation by the armed forces traditionally includes musical units, marching bands, color guards, salute batteries and honor cordons. More than 220 years later, the participation of soldiers, Marines, sailors, airmen and Coast Guardsmen continues to honor our commander in chief, recognize civilian control of the armed forces and celebrate democracy.

Just as military men and women show their commitment to this country while deployed around the globe, participation of service members in this traditional event demonstrates our military?s support to the nation?s commander in chief.


Source: http://www.dvidshub.net/news/100481/grand-rapids-mich-native-selected-participate-presidential-inaugural-parade

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'Workaholics' Is Back, And Anthony Anderson Better Be Watching

MTV News hits the set of 'Workaholics' for a seriously senior party, some campaigning for guest stars.
By James Montgomery


The cast of "Workaholics"
Photo: Comedy Central

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1700317/workaholics-comedy-central-new-season.jhtml

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Voter turnout push could challenge Israeli leader

JERUSALEM (AP) ? With large numbers of Israelis expected to sit out next week's election, centrist activists have launched a last-ditch appeal to get out the vote, hoping to defy what appears to be a guaranteed victory for a hard-line bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This grassroots effort could be the moderate camp's only chance. Moderate, secular voters tend to turn out in smaller numbers than ideologically motivated hard-liners. Reversing this trend, experts say, is the surest way to take on the government's handling of major issues like stalled peacemaking with the Palestinians, Iran's nuclear program and a troubled economy.

Polls published in Israeli newspapers over the weekend projected Netanyahu and his traditional right-wing and religious allies winning between 64 and 71 seats, enough to secure a majority in the 120-member parliament, compared to 49 to 56 for centrist and Arab parties.

Pollster Camil Fuchs says those numbers reflect current trends. "But a four to five percentage point change in turnout could change things," he said.

The get-out-the vote campaigners, including television personalities and local celebrities, present their efforts as non-partisan, but many are perceived to be aligned with Netanyahu's opponents.

Netanyahu's opponents say the stakes are especially high in the current election. Critics point to the deadlock in peace efforts with the Palestinians, his repeated run-ins with President Barack Obama and Iran's suspect nuclear program. Without a strong alliance with the U.S., they say, it would be difficult to halt the Iranians or rally international support for Israel's positions toward the Palestinians.

Netanyahu's Likud Party has fielded an especially hawkish slate of candidates who reject concessions to the Palestinians. The rise of "Jewish Home," a pro-settler party that could play a major role in the next coalition government, could further affect peace efforts. Jewish Home's leader, Naftali Bennett, and many inside Likud have advocated annexing parts of the West Bank.

Reflecting his hawkish line Monday, Netanyahu told Israel's Channel 2 TV that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas does not want to negotiate. "We don't have to say that we don't have a future here because Abu Mazen doesn't want to negotiate with us," Netanyahu said, referring to Abbas by his nickname. Abbas blames Israel for a four-year stalemate in peace talks.

The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, for their hoped-for state. Israeli moderates warn that Israel's continued control of these territories and their millions of Palestinian residents threaten Israel's status as a Jewish democracy.

Despite the pressing issues, turnout in recent elections has been just over 60 percent. Fuchs said turnout among supporters of Netanyahu and his allies is generally higher than among the rest of the population.

According to pollsters, turnout is especially low among several key groups ? political moderates, people under 30 and Israeli Arabs. These constituencies all tend to favor Netanyahu's opponents.

Political parties are conducting classic get-out-the-vote campaigns, with automated phone calls, parlor meetings, transportation to polling stations and specific appeals to groups, like women and young voters.

Other groups not directly affiliated with specific parties are also getting out the message.

Israel's president, Shimon Peres, teamed up with people from Israel's popular TV satire "A Wonderful Country" to produce a get-out-the-vote video clip for his Facebook page. In his largely ceremonial post, Peres, 89, is supposed to avoid politics, but the Nobel peace laureate's dovish leanings are well known.

Social activists who drew hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets last year to demonstrate against the gaps between rich and poor have recruited dozens of artists, TV personalities and journalists to take part in an ad campaign called "2013 elections ? this time we're all voting." In ads, they don black shirts that read, "Vote or they'll vote for you."

Israeli film producer Ofir Kedar, who is based in London, is pushing a get-out-the-vote campaign with two YouTube videos he hopes will go viral. One of the clips, produced with the "One Voice" non-profit organization, shows a potential voter having a nightmare in which he is fired from his job and Israel is under attack and isolated internationally. He snaps out of it only when his young son says "wake up," followed by a call to go vote.

"I'm trying to help the center-left bloc, not necessarily a specific party, but those who support a two-state solution," Kedar said.

Under Israel's system of proportional representation, voters cast ballots for parties, not individuals, and parties receive seats in parliament based on the percentage of votes they win. To enter parliament, a party must win at least 2 percent of all votes cast, or about 70,000, giving them a minimum of two seats.

"If two ... parties on the left pass the threshold, that could change the blocs," Fuchs said. "The chance for a big change is small but it exists."

A recent poll by the University of Haifa predicted that just half of Israeli Arabs will vote. Two-thirds of those surveyed said they have no faith that Arab parties will be able to improve the lot of their communities, which suffer from poverty and discrimination.

If the Arab voters were to increase their turnout by 10 percentage points, they could win an additional five or six parliamentary seats, said Ytzhak Katz, of the Maagar Mohot survey service. "They could tap their electoral potential and strengthen themselves, but they don't do it," he said.

Helmi Kittani, executive director of the Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development, has appealed to Arab voters directly, telling them it's not too late to speak up.

"It's not right to sit in your chairs and watch others wage your just struggle," he said. "Elections are an opportunity to change your lives. Don't sit at home."

____

Online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-kvsmXvUhU

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/voter-turnout-push-could-challenge-israeli-leader-195155086.html

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Team finds gene that promotes drug resistance in cancer

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 14-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Jennifer Brown
jennifer-l-brown@uiowa.edu
319-356-7124
University of Iowa Health Care

Increased NEK2 gene expression linked to increased drug resistance, faster cancer growth, and poorer patient outcome - The finding may improved diagnostic and prognostic tools for cancer care and could lead to improved cancer therapies

Scientists from the University of Iowa and Brigham Young University (BYU) have identified a gene that may be a target for overcoming drug resistance in cancer. The finding could not only improve prognostic and diagnostic tools for evaluating cancer and monitoring patients' response to treatment but also could lead to new therapies directed at eradicating drug-resistant cancer cells.

Drug resistance is a common problem in many metastatic cancers. It leads to failure of chemotherapy treatments and is associated with poor patient outcomes, including rapid relapse and death.

The research team, including Fenghuang (Frank) Zhan, M.D., Ph.D., and Guido Tricot, M.D., Ph.D., from the UI, and David Bearss, Ph.D., from BYU, initially focused on identifying genes linked to the development of drug resistance in multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer that affects more than 20,000 Americans and causes almost 11,000 deaths annually.

Working with serial biopsied cells from 19 myeloma patients, the researchers analyzed genetic changes in the cells that occurred over the course of treatment with very intensive chemotherapy drugs. This approach identified a gene called NEK2 that is strongly associated with increased drug-resistance, faster cancer growth, and poorer survival for patients. The study was published Jan. 14 in the journal Cancer Cell.

Having established the relationship between high expression of the NEK2 gene and poor patient outcome in myeloma, the team then examined the relationship in other common cancers -- including breast, lung, and bladder cancer -- by analyzing gene expression profiles from 2,500 patients' cells with eight different cancers in Zhan's lab.

"In all cases, an increase in the NEK2 gene was associated with rapid death of the patient," says Tricot, who is director of Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center's Bone Marrow Transplant and Myeloma Program at UI Hospitals and Clinics. "So this finding was not unique to myeloma; this is basically seen in every single cancer we looked at."

Taking the findings back to the lab, the team then examined the effect on cancer cells of either enhancing or blocking the expression of the NEK2 gene.

"Our studies show that over-expression of NEK2 in cancer cells significantly enhances the activity of drug efflux proteins to pump chemotherapy drugs out of cells, resulting in drug resistance. Furthermore, silencing NEK2 in cancer cells potently decreased drug resistance, induced cell-cycle arrest, cell death, and inhibited cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo," says Zhan, UI professor of internal medicine.

The research team is now developing compounds to inhibit NEK2 by collaborating with David Bearss, Ph.D., associate professor of physiology and developmental biology at BYU, in the hope that these compounds may overcome drug resistance in cancer cells.

"We were able to show that if we inhibit NEK2, then we can actually restore sensitivity to drugs that we use right now," Bearss says.

Although development and clinical testing of such drugs for use in patients is not imminent, Tricot notes that the findings may have clinical use within the next several years.

"NEK2 expression may be a diagnostic or prognostic marker for drug-resistant cancer," he says. "If NEK2 is high, that would suggest that the prognosis is poorer and the patient might benefit from more aggressive treatment. The other potential use is for monitoring the cancer's response to therapy. If NEK2 levels increase, that would suggest development of increased drug resistance and might indicate that a change of treatment would be helpful."

###

In addition to Zhan, Tricot, and Bearss, the team also included researchers in the UI Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Blood and Marrow Transplantation, and at the University of Utah.

The research was begun by Zhan, Tricot, and Bearss when the three worked at the University of Utah's Huntsman Institute of Cancer.

The study was funded in part by grants from the National Cancer Institute, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 14-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Jennifer Brown
jennifer-l-brown@uiowa.edu
319-356-7124
University of Iowa Health Care

Increased NEK2 gene expression linked to increased drug resistance, faster cancer growth, and poorer patient outcome - The finding may improved diagnostic and prognostic tools for cancer care and could lead to improved cancer therapies

Scientists from the University of Iowa and Brigham Young University (BYU) have identified a gene that may be a target for overcoming drug resistance in cancer. The finding could not only improve prognostic and diagnostic tools for evaluating cancer and monitoring patients' response to treatment but also could lead to new therapies directed at eradicating drug-resistant cancer cells.

Drug resistance is a common problem in many metastatic cancers. It leads to failure of chemotherapy treatments and is associated with poor patient outcomes, including rapid relapse and death.

The research team, including Fenghuang (Frank) Zhan, M.D., Ph.D., and Guido Tricot, M.D., Ph.D., from the UI, and David Bearss, Ph.D., from BYU, initially focused on identifying genes linked to the development of drug resistance in multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer that affects more than 20,000 Americans and causes almost 11,000 deaths annually.

Working with serial biopsied cells from 19 myeloma patients, the researchers analyzed genetic changes in the cells that occurred over the course of treatment with very intensive chemotherapy drugs. This approach identified a gene called NEK2 that is strongly associated with increased drug-resistance, faster cancer growth, and poorer survival for patients. The study was published Jan. 14 in the journal Cancer Cell.

Having established the relationship between high expression of the NEK2 gene and poor patient outcome in myeloma, the team then examined the relationship in other common cancers -- including breast, lung, and bladder cancer -- by analyzing gene expression profiles from 2,500 patients' cells with eight different cancers in Zhan's lab.

"In all cases, an increase in the NEK2 gene was associated with rapid death of the patient," says Tricot, who is director of Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center's Bone Marrow Transplant and Myeloma Program at UI Hospitals and Clinics. "So this finding was not unique to myeloma; this is basically seen in every single cancer we looked at."

Taking the findings back to the lab, the team then examined the effect on cancer cells of either enhancing or blocking the expression of the NEK2 gene.

"Our studies show that over-expression of NEK2 in cancer cells significantly enhances the activity of drug efflux proteins to pump chemotherapy drugs out of cells, resulting in drug resistance. Furthermore, silencing NEK2 in cancer cells potently decreased drug resistance, induced cell-cycle arrest, cell death, and inhibited cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo," says Zhan, UI professor of internal medicine.

The research team is now developing compounds to inhibit NEK2 by collaborating with David Bearss, Ph.D., associate professor of physiology and developmental biology at BYU, in the hope that these compounds may overcome drug resistance in cancer cells.

"We were able to show that if we inhibit NEK2, then we can actually restore sensitivity to drugs that we use right now," Bearss says.

Although development and clinical testing of such drugs for use in patients is not imminent, Tricot notes that the findings may have clinical use within the next several years.

"NEK2 expression may be a diagnostic or prognostic marker for drug-resistant cancer," he says. "If NEK2 is high, that would suggest that the prognosis is poorer and the patient might benefit from more aggressive treatment. The other potential use is for monitoring the cancer's response to therapy. If NEK2 levels increase, that would suggest development of increased drug resistance and might indicate that a change of treatment would be helpful."

###

In addition to Zhan, Tricot, and Bearss, the team also included researchers in the UI Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Blood and Marrow Transplantation, and at the University of Utah.

The research was begun by Zhan, Tricot, and Bearss when the three worked at the University of Utah's Huntsman Institute of Cancer.

The study was funded in part by grants from the National Cancer Institute, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/uoih-tfg011413.php

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FOOTBALL: Davis, Helepiko join NFLPA Bowl rosters

Posted on | January 15, 2013 | Comments

SMU's Aaron Davis, from Elsinore, will be one of six Inland players in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. (SMU photo.)

SMU?s Aaron Davis, from Elsinore, will be one of six Inland players in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. (SMU photo.)

SMU defensive end Aaron Davis, from Elsinore High, and Fresno State center Richard Helepiko, from Moreno Valley High, have been added to the rosters for Saturday?s NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, a showcase for draft-eligible players at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

Davis, who began his collegiate career at Fresno State, had 35 tackles, 18 solo, with 3.5 tackles for losses and a blocked kick . Helepiko started all 13 games for the Bulldogs, who finished 9-4 after losing to SMU in the Hawaii Bowl.

Davis will play for the National team, along with UCLA linebacker Damien Holmes (Colton). That team also includes two other UCLA players, safety Andrew Abbott and defensive tackle Donovan Cater.

Helepiko becomes the fourth Inland player on the American team, joining Southern Utah quarterback Brad Sorensen (Colton), Incarnate Word cornerback Devan Avery, who grew up in Moreno Valley before moving to Texas, and New Mexico Highlands linebacker Jordan Campbell (Norco).

Complete rosters are available here. Additional information, including a link to ticket info, is here.

Follow David Lassen on Twitter at @LassenSportsPE. His e-mail is dlassen@pe.com.

By: David Lassen

Comments

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Source: http://blog.pe.com/alumni-report/2013/01/15/football-davis-helepiko-join-nflpa-bowl-rosters/

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A disconnect between violence and television

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- If there's any soul-searching among top television executives about onscreen violence contributing to real-life tragedies like the Connecticut school shooting, it isn't readily apparent.

All say the horrors of Newtown and Aurora, Colo., rocked them. But during a series of meetings with reporters here over the last 10 days, none offered concrete examples of how it is changing what they put on the air, or if that is necessary.

"I'm not a psychologist, so I'm not sure you can make the leap (that) a show about serial killers has caused the sort of problems with violence in our country," said Robert Greenblatt, who put "Dexter" on the air when he ran Showtime and is now overseeing development of a series on the notorious creep Hannibal Lecter for NBC. "There are many, many other factors, from mental illness to guns."

All of those points are being considered by Vice President Joe Biden as he prepares to make recommendations Tuesday to President Obama on ways to curb violence. When entertainment executives met with Biden in Washington on Friday, makers of blood-spurting video games like "Call of Duty" and "Mortal Kombat" dominated attention. In theaters, "Texas Chainsaw 3-D" dominated box office receipts during its first week.

Television's biggest influence is its omnipresence; the average American watches more than four hours of TV a day.

In recent days, only FX President John Landgraf said he was in favor of further study about any correlation between entertainment and real violence. Previous studies have been mixed.

Landgraf has sons aged 15, 12 and 9 and said he doesn't let them play video games in which the player is shooting.

Everything the entertainment industry does should be fair game in a discussion about violence, he said. But he pointed out that the zombie series "Walking Dead" and brutally violent "Sons of Anarchy" are both very popular in England and that country has far fewer gun murders than the United States. The availability of powerful assault weapons and ammunition are most responsible for the difference, he said.

The Newtown shooting was heartbreaking, said Paul Lee, ABC entertainment president. "We welcome the conversation as to how we as a culture can make sure that we don't let these events happen again," he said.

He said ABC has strong standards for what it broadcasts, stronger than its competitors.

"We talk about it all the time," he said. "We are storytellers. We have to tell stories that are vibrant and passionate, but we want to make sure that the stories that we tell are done with integrity, you know, there's no gratuitous action that goes out there, that it's driven through the stories and the characters, and that we have a moral compass in what we do."

The appetite for "Walking Dead" and "Texas Chainsaw 3-D" among young viewers is not lost on any TV executive, and bottom line pressure speaks most loudly to them. Broadcast networks feel a particular need to push the envelope when they see cable programs making noise with an ability to show more explicit scenes.

The same week that Lee talked about ABC's standards, the network's hit "Scandal" had a scene depicting waterboarding.

Fox has a highly anticipated series due later this month, "The Following," about a serial killer who recruits deadly disciples, and its gruesome scenes include a woman who commits suicide by gouging her eye and piercing her skull with an ice pick, and a man set on fire at a coffee stand.

Kevin Reilly, Fox entertainment chairman, said that given all of the media choices, the impact on real life is a broad and complex conversation. "It trivializes it to try and link it to television, or broadcast television in particular," he said.

"Part of entertainment, part of what we do on television, is to provide escapism," Reilly said. "Escapism comes in many forms. It could be laughter. It could be fantasy. It is also your worst nightmare come to life. And it makes our palms sweat and it moves us emotionally and puts us on the edge of the seat. We are engrossed in it and we forget ourselves for an hour."

When a network is putting a thriller on the air, it has to be able to compete on an intensity level, he said.

Being publicly questioned about the level of violence on the air clearly annoyed Reilly, however. Asked if Fox had made any changes to the promotion or content of "The Following" after the Newtown school shooting last month, he snapped, "No," and said he wouldn't address any more questions on the topic.

He was wrong, by the way: Fox later said it had replaced a billboard showing a woman with an ice pick with an image of series star Kevin Bacon, and combed its on-air promos to make sure there was no gunplay.

Reilly wasn't alone in his impatience. CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler also called a halt to questions on the topic Saturday after being asked several. Tassler was unhappy with NBC's Greenblatt, who said that CBS' "Criminal Minds" was worse than "Dexter" ever was in terms of content. She said it was a mistake to allow the discussion "devolve into my show versus your show."

CBS is on pace to be the nation's most-watched television network for the 10th time in 11 years, and has done so with a huge fictional body count. The network's prime-time schedule is dominated by procedurals that usually involve solving violent crimes. Tassler said CBS would begin promoting on the Super Bowl a summer series based on a Stephen King book about a town trapped under an invisible dome, the promo clip shown to reporters included drawings of body parts dropping from the sky, a pacemaker bursting out of a man's chest and a bloody hammer being cleaned in a sink.

NBC illustrated a similar disconnect. As its executives said NBC wasn't a "shoot 'em up" network, a highlight reel of "Revolution" was shown that that included a swordfight, a standoff between two men with guns, a gunfight and a building blown up with a body flying through the air.

Tassler said CBS will show "awareness and sensitivity" as it moves the process of making pilots and selecting series that will run on the network in coming years.

"Nothing that is on the air is inappropriate," she said. "And our attention is always to continue to be a broadcaster that creates content for a vast, diverse audience."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/disconnect-between-violence-television-180812100.html

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Iran's Revolutionary Guards hold exercises in Strait of Hormuz

DUBAI (Reuters) - The naval force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has held exercises to test new equipment and battle tactics in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Iranian media reported on Sunday.

The drills tested the IRGC naval force's combat-readiness, speed in responding to natural disasters and familiarity with new weapons, the Fars news agency reported.

They were the fifth such tactical exercises held by the force and took place near Bandar Abbas, a Gulf port on Iran's southern coast, Fars said. It did not say when they took place.

Iran's regular navy, separate from the IRGC's naval branch, held drills in the Gulf in late December and early January meant to showcase the country's military capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of the world's seaborne oil exports passes.

Iranian officials have often said Iran could block the strait if it came under military attack over its disputed nuclear program, and a heavy Western naval presence in the Gulf is meant to deter any such move.

(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; editing by Andrew Roche)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/irans-revolutionary-guards-hold-exercises-strait-hormuz-134010679.html

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USA Today publishes misleading editorial on Windows 8 security


A new article by USA Today claims Windows Store apps could potentially include viruses.

For the second consecutive month, a major news outlet has published a misleading article about the security of Microsoft's latest Windows releases, Windows 8 and Windows RT.

USA Today has published an editorial stating the Windows 8 is susceptible?to potentially infected "widely available, consumer smartphone apps" that Windows system administrators need to worry about. The?editorial follows an Inc.com article last month that incorrectly stated?Surface with Windows RT was vulnerable to traditional Windows viruses.

The editorial, written by Mark Austin, co-founder of Windows privilege management company Avecto, states the app store in Windows 8 and Windows RT could lead to "a whole new set of vulnerabilities" that organizations using Windows haven't had to face before. Part of Austin's argument revolves around the fact that viruses have been distributed to Android users through apps. Austin's editorial fails to mention that these apps are obtained through third-party locations???not the Google Play Store???and require users to change their settings to allow the installation of unsigned apps.

As with the Google Play Store, apps in the Windows Store are reviewed by Microsoft and scanned for viruses prior to being certified; these apps also?require a digital signature from Microsoft. As explained in a Building Windows 8 blog post by John Hazen, a Microsoft program manager for its developer experience team, the digital signature prevents fraudulent?apps from running on Windows 8 devices.

"Windows uses digital signatures to ensure the integrity of your app all the way from the Store to installation and even when the app is loaded and running on your customer?s computer," Hazen wrote in the blog post. "If Windows detects that the app no longer matches its digital signature, it guides the customer to download a corrected version from the Store."

According to Austin, however, Microsoft could let "malicious applications to slip through the cracks, ultimately infecting a company's entire network," although he gives nothing to support his assertion. Austin also argues that an app being approved by Microsoft for the app store "does not necessarily make it suitable for business use."

Another aspect of Austin's argument is the recent release of a tool that enabled users to pirate paid apps from the Windows Store. That tool also allowed users to sideload unsigned apps to Windows 8 devices but must be performed each time the machine is booted, as the bypass is only temporary.?

Again, however, Austin fails to mention that users would have to use a tool to allow the installation of these unsigned apps that could theoretically be infected with a virus?? something that's unlikely for most users, especially business users.

Source: USA Today?| Image via Microsoft

Source: http://www.neowin.net/news/usa-today-publishes-misleading-editorial-on-windows-8-security

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Academics share copyrighted journal articles on Twitter to honor Aaron Swartz - @verge

This morning, hundreds of links to copyright-protected journal articles have appeared on Twitter in remembrance of Aaron Swartz, posted by members of the academic community. The call to the protest appears to have started on Reddit, where researcher Micah Allen said, "a fitting tribute to Aaron might be a mass protest uploading of copyright-protected research articles. Dump them on Gdocs, tweet the link. Think of the great blu-ray encoding protest but on a bigger scale for research articles." Early this morning the Anonymous Twitter account also announced its support for the action.

Swartz, who hanged himself in his Brooklyn apartment this past Friday, had been under federal indictment since 2011. He was charged with illegally downloading more than 4 million documents from the academic journal database JSTOR on the campus of MIT in late 2010. Although JSTOR refused to pursue the matter, the prosecutors in Massachusetts did not, resulting in a federal case against Swartz which, if found guilty, could have resulted in up to 35 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines. In the wake of Swartz's suicide his family and mentor Lawrence Lessig have at least partially blamed his death on the government's relentless pursuit of the 26-year old, and one expert witness who was going to testify on his behalf has argued that Swartz's actions hardly called for the criminal charges brought against him.

An expert witness has argued that Swartz's actions hardly called for the criminal charges brought against him.

This is just one in a flood of online reactions to Swartz's death. A large file of JSTOR articles is currently on the torrent site the Pirate Bay in his memory, and early Saturday evening several petitions were posted to the White House's online system We the People. One of them calls for the removal of District Attorney Carmen Ortiz (the prosecutor who pursued Aaron's case), and one which calls for a White House pardon for Swartz, though he was never tried or convicted of any crimes. Swartz's family has also created a website for remembrances of Aaron.

At 26, Swartz already had a long list of achievements in wide-ranging fields. He was one of the early participants in Y Combinator, and was instrumental in the early days of Reddit, when his small company Infogami merged with the founders of the internet giant we know today. He also co-authored the RSS 1.0 specification at the age of 14, and in 2010 founded Demand Progress, a non-profit dedicated to fighting the bills which would become SOPA and PIPA. Demand Progress' work fighting SOPA is widely seen as being instrumental to the internet protests which resulted in its defeat. The case against Swartz and the circumstances of his death has lead at least one academic to suggest a copyright reform act named in Swartz's honor.

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/13/3872648/academics-share-links-to-copyrighted-journals-to-honor-aaron-swartz

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