You'd think that Google Fiber would embrace streaming TV services when internet video is practically its reason for being, but it has lagged behind many conventional providers. It's about to catch up, however: Google has just enabled Watch Disney and WatchESPN access for its TV subscribers. As ...
On a faraway island, a Gothic mansion lurks over the harsh, splashing seas. Founded by Vladmir Featherwood over two hundred years ago, Featherwood Halls is an academy for "gifted students." Those who have inherited their powers from their parents must attend here without question. The mansion has many dormitories and chambers, including a large dinning hall, a lounge when you first walk in, an ancient library, classrooms for students to learn their powers, and much more. The Featherwood family has its own quarters on the very top floor that overlooks everything. There is a large greenery, a lake with a waterfall, and a large arch of woods that surround the back area of the school.
Talon Featherwood, the principle this year, has secret powers of his own and is often found lurking through the halls on random occasions. He is unusually close with his two children. There are rumors that he means trouble, but there is no evidence that would suggest he is intentionally cruel. He is friendly with his students and teachers, and hosts winter balls, summer festivities, and other activities, but these may all just be an act..
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/bK_W-w-Bro0/viewtopic.phpThe Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has approved publication of a book by an agent who told Congress about the agency's failed gun smuggling sting operation "Fast and Furious."
The Justice Department said ATF on Wednesday was notifying the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents special agent John Dodson, that he may publish the book but that a few parts of will be redacted for law-enforcement reasons. The book, "The Unarmed Truth," is scheduled for publication in December by Threshold, a conservative imprint of Simon & Schuster.
It is still unclear whether Dodson will be allowed to be paid for the book. Federal law generally prohibits government workers from profiting off of outside work that is specifically based on their government job.
The Justice Department's ethics office will make a final determination on that after the partial government shutdown has ended.
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President Obama presented the Medal of Honor Tuesday to Army Capt. William Swenson. Swenson is being cited for his actions during a 2009 battle in Afghanistan, when he risked his life to try to save others. It's taken years for him to be recognized, however. He criticized higher-ups after the battle, which cost the lives of five Americans. Swenson's nomination for the Medal was said to be lost at one point. He is the sixth living recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor a member of the military can receive.
This bionic leg can be controlled through thinking about an action. Image: RIC
Users are able to climb stairs, walk on sloped terrains and flex an ankle just by thinking about the action. Image: RIC
This illustration demonstrates how neural impulses communicate with the leg's computer. The computer is able to learn a user's intended actions and provide an intuitive movement. Image: RIC
About a year ago, Zac Vawter climbed all 103 flights of stairs of the Willis Tower in Chicago. On its own, this accomplishment would be pretty unremarkable, but Vawter, who lost his leg four years ago during a motorcycle accident, happened climb more than 2,000 steps while wearing a prosthetic leg. Even crazier yet? Vawter could control this prosthetic leg with his mind, sending instructions from his brain, down through nerves that would communicate with his mechanical limb.
In the world of prosthetics, this was a breakthrough moment. Previously, if leg amputees needed to climb the stairs, they’d either have to rely heavily on their good leg to propel them upwards or use a remote control that required them to stop and start at the base of each stair, which creates a movement that’s more robotic than human.
In the world of prosthetics, this was a breakthrough moment.
At the time Vawter climbed the stairs, this new leg, a collaboration between the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), a team of designers at Vanderbilt University and prosthetics company Freedom Innovations, was the most advanced lower limb prosthetic in development. It still is, but an improvement in technology, recently outlined in an issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, is extending the leg’s capabilities even further, now allowing amputees to control a range of movements—walking up stairs, rotating an ankle, navigating sloped terrains—just by thinking about doing them. “This is where prosthetic limbs will go,” says Steven Reinecke, EVP of Research and Development at Freedom Innovations. “Right now people have a sophisticated support system. The goal is try to mirror the natural body as much as possible.”
Today most prosthetics are little more than glorified support systems, and it’s extraordinarily difficult to get a protheses made of sensors and metal to mimic human movement. But the research team at RIC is getting close. Since around 2005, RIC has been working on a method called targeted muscle reinnervation, which reappropriates nerves from an amputated limbs to healthy muscles. In the case of Vawter, nerves from his lower leg were reattached to healthy hamstring muscles.
“This person has essentially been rewired,” explains Dr. Levi Hargrove, one of RIC’s lead researchers on the project. So essentially, the neural impulses that are sent from the brain–the ones telling the body to stand, walk or change positions–communicate with the prosthetic leg through sensors, and a computer then translates those instructions into actions. Over time, an algorithm learns the patterns of a user’s intended actions and can begin to react to their thoughts, thus making a mechanical limb function intuitively or a least lot more like a normal human leg.
Though Vawter used an earlier version of the limb to climb the Willis Tower, the first time he used the leg to autonomously navigated sloped terrains and rotate an ankle was in April of this year. “When we said to Zac, “You’re in control, you can do whatever you want, that was kind of a surreal moment,” recalls Hargrove. “It was an overwhelming feeling for me—and I think for him as well that this has the potential to help a lot of people.”
Zac Vawter wearing the bionic leg. From this seat he’s able to use the leg to propel himself to a standing position. Image: RIC
‘This person has essentially been rewired.’
A technology like this is obviously attractive to the military, and $8 million in funding proves that. But while the RIC team was working with the department of defense in administering this technology to wounded veterans, it was focused mostly on upper body prosthetics. “The Army said, ‘We love the technology, but we have there are 10 times more leg amputations than arm amputations–can you do anything to improve the control of prosthetic legs?”
People have been using neural information to control prosthetic limbs for decades, but all of them have been for the upper-body. Legs, on the other hand, are a little more difficult to control, and it was until recently that the technology was advanced enough—and light enough—to really even begin thinking about making a prosthetic limb like this. “All of the innovation will come to the electronics,” says Reinecke, adding that around 10 years ago the sensors and materials would have made a leg like this around 300 pounds.
Today, thanks to lightweight materials like graphite and micro-technologies, the leg is around 10.2 pounds and the research team is shooting to get it under 10. The research still has a ways to go. Error rates, which mostly refer to the number of times a user scuffs his or her feet on the ground while walking, need to be lowered in order to reduce falls. And Freedom Innovations still has a lot of work to do translate a research-based technology into a consumer product. For as sophisticated as the leg is, it still could be lighter, and the machine-like noise could stand to be more subtle.
Everyone involved says they hope to have something on the market for clinical testing in as little as two to three years. In consumer time that feels like an eternity away, but in science it’s a remarkably quick pace. “Five years ago I thought there was no way to achieve all that we’ve achieved,” says Hargrove. “I thought it would take 10 years to get to where we are right now.”
It's unanimous for Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, even after their shakiest performance of the season.
Denver received all 12 first-place votes for the first time in the AP Pro32 rankings released Tuesday.
The Broncos (6-0) struggled with winless Jacksonville until scoring the last two touchdowns in a 35-19 victory Sunday.
Manning matched his season low with two TD passes against the Jaguars but still has a record 22 through six games heading into Sunday night's return to Indianapolis, where Andrew Luck is in charge of the Colts' offense now.
"Coming to Peyton's Place should bring out the best in Mr. Manning," wrote Ira Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune.
No. 2 Seattle (5-1) and third-ranked Kansas City (6-0) are separated by just two points. Both teams moved up one spot.
The Seahawks won their 11th straight at home, 20-13 over Tennessee.
"They keep winning and overcoming injuries in the offensive line," wrote Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News. "Their defense and run game will keep them in every game."
The Chiefs had just 216 yards of offense in a 24-7 win over Oakland but intercepted Terrelle Pryor three times and had 10 sacks to give them 31 for the season.
"Not much to look at when they play offense, but it is must-see TV on defense," wrote Herm Edwards of ESPN.
New England jumped from seventh to fourth after handing New Orleans its first loss 30-27 on Tom Brady's last-second touchdown pass. The Saints, who were second a week ago with the only other first-place vote, dropped to fifth.
The Patriots and Brady got another chance in the final 2 minutes after Drew Brees and the Saints couldn't run out the clock following an interception by Keenan Lewis with 2:16 remaining.
"That pained expression of Rob Ryan on the sidelines said it all, as his Saints' defense can't hold off Brady at the end," wrote Bob Glauber of Newsday.
San Francisco kept the No. 6 spot, and the Colts dropped two spots to seventh after a 19-9 loss at San Diego. Green Bay stayed No. 8 and Cincinnati at ninth, while Detroit moved up a spot to round out the top 10.
Chicago climbed a spot to No. 11 and was followed by Baltimore, Dallas and Miami.
San Diego and Philadelphia were 15th and 16th with the two of the biggest jumps of the week. The Chargers moved up from 20th, and the Eagles climbed from No. 22.
Tennessee and Arizona were 17th and 18th, with the New York Jets and St. Louis tied at 19th. The Rams moved up six spots from No. 25.
Cleveland dropped five spots to 21st, and Carolina jumped six spots to No. 22, followed by Buffalo, Atlanta and Houston, which fell from 19th to 25th with its fourth consecutive loss.
"The biggest mystery team in the NFL," wrote Pat Kirwan of SiriusXM NFL Radio and CBSSports.com.
Pittsburgh jumped three spots to 26th after its first win, followed by Oakland, Washington, Minnesota.
The league's three winless teams held the bottom three spots — the New York Giants, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville.
___
Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman, walks to a GOP meeting Tuesday.
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman, walks to a GOP meeting Tuesday.
Day 15 of the government shutdown started with as much promise as any recently: There was a bipartisan proposal by Senate leaders to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling.
But any hopes were quickly dashed when leaders of the Republican-controlled House said they would offer a competing proposal because of their dissatisfaction with the Senate effort.
The Senate's Bipartisan Proposal
The Senate agreement between Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., came after weekend negotiations.
It would reopen the government until Jan. 15, 2014, and extend the debt ceiling until February. Among its provisions, it would require income verification for individuals and families seeking subsidies in health care exchanges through the Affordable Care Act.
The House Responds
That Senate agreement was viewed as weak tea by House Republicans, however, particularly those affiliated with the Tea Party: They wanted more to show for the political hits they've taken in the fiscal fights. Yet it was clear early Tuesday they weren't sure what they wanted.
Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters: "Our leadership team met with our members today trying to find a way forward in a bipartisan way that would continue to provide fairness to the American people under Obamacare. There are a lot of opinions about what direction to go. There have been no decisions about what exactly we will do."
Eventually, House Republicans coalesced around a proposal to reopen the government and raise the debt limit with some Obamacare-related features to which Democrats hotly objected.
For instance, it would ban members of Congress and the White House staff from receiving the same employer-paid tax subsidies for health insurance received by other U.S. employees. And it would stop a fix in the Senate proposal meant to placate unions whose members must pay a fee under the new health care law.
Perhaps most objectionable to many, and not just Democrats, was a provision in the proposal that would limit the power President Obama and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew would have to take extraordinary measures to prevent a future default. In recent months, the Treasury has taken such financial steps to remain under the debt ceiling.
"Extremist Republicans in the House of Representatives are attempting to torpedo the Senate's bipartisan progress with a bill that can't pass the Senate ... and won't pass the Senate," said Reid.
It wasn't just Democrats who opposed the House proposal. The conservative advocacy organization, the Heritage Action for America, said it would score the proposal as a "key vote," thus dinging the conservative credentials of any Republican who didn't vote "no."
House leadership had scheduled a Tuesday evening vote on its proposal, despite the fact that it had no chance of passing in the Senate. After it became clear it also had no chance of passing in the House following Heritage's grenade, it appeared to be another instance of sound and fury in the House, signifying nothing.
Obama Meets Democratic Leadership
President Obama met with House Democratic leaders at the White House Tuesday afternoon. Following the meeting, Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the House minority leader, struck an optimistic tone. Vaguely echoing something Winston Churchill once said of Americans, she said: "I have confidence, and I'm optimistic, because I believe that at the end of the day, they will do the right thing even if they have to have a — do contortions to get to that place. That's unfortunate, because it doesn't inspire confidence, but if that's how they have to get there, that's a path."
Wall Street Sounds An Alarm
Pelosi's optimism wasn't universally shared. The Wall Street credit rating service, Fitch Ratings, placed the U.S.'s AAA rating on a negative watch because of the debt ceiling uncertainty.
October 15, 2013
It's no secret: IT pros absolutely love to hate tape. I've remarked on that fact in this column several times over the past few years, and it's no less true now than it was any of the other times I've mentioned it. But that's all changing! What local disk backup couldn't solve on its own, cloud storage providers with their hyperredundant and constantly maintained fleets of disk can certainly fix! Finally, we can put a stake in the heart of tape and it will simply become a ghost story that the old timers tell IT newbs. Right?
Maybe, but not so fast. Although the cloud absolutely can replace some of the use cases for tape, it can't satisfy them for everyone all the time. The very same reasons why tape was still alive and kicking when I wrote about it nearly four years ago are still largely true today.
However, you need not fret if you're itching to get rid of tape and make backup someone else's problem by moving it to the cloud. Things are definitely looking up -- especially if you're working with relatively small amounts of data, can deal with long restoration times, or have ridiculous amounts of bandwidth to spare.
A couple weeks ago we covered a new Indiegogo campaign from QSAlpha, a company aiming to produce a super-encrypted smartphone (along with a software-based platform for standard Android users as well). Despite the fact that the funding phase didn't go so well, the manufacturer recently announced that its phones will go into production and begin shipping in Q2 of next year. But which operators will take on this hardcore encrypted handset? Sources have confirmed to Engadget that QSAlpha is closely working with China Mobile to bring the Quasar IV handset to market. An official launch isn't likely to happen right away -- nor could our sources go into more detail on what the deal entails -- but at least this is good news for anyone who is rooting for this particular device to become a reality. It's hard to say whether or not we'll see it available anywhere else, though we wouldn't be surprised if we have the opportunity to buy one online in other parts of the world.
If you had any second thoughts about how Apple sees itself as a high-end fashion brand in the consumer electronics world, doubt no more: today the company announced that it is appointing Angela Ahrendts, currently the CEO of Burberry, as its SVP of retail and online stores. This is a new position at the company that will report directly to Tim Cook, and it takes effect in the Spring of 2014. At the UK-based fashion house, she is getting succeeded by designer Christopher Bailey.
Apple says Ahrendts will be in charge of “the strategic direction, expansion and operation” of both Apple retail and online stores. Apple’s direct sales operations have been a juggernaut that has redefined how consumer electronics are marketed and sold, with many like Microsoft, Samsung and Nokia trying to replicate the formula (less successfully). However, in the most recent quarter, the numbers were less stellar, with sales of $4 billion, flat on one year ago, and down 22% sequentially. That’s something that needs fixing.
“I am profoundly honored to join Apple in this newly created position next year, and very much look forward to working with the global teams to further enrich the consumer experience on and offline,” said Ahrendts in a statement. “I have always admired the innovation and impact Apple products and services have on people’s lives and hope in some small way I can help contribute to the company’s continued success and leadership in changing the world.”
“World” is the operative word here: the company has been pushing hard into new markets like China with a huge retail presence there, as well as breaking ground in other emerging countries like China. (Coincidentally, both are hits with Burberry; Ahrendts knows how to sell high-end product there.)
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, meanwhile noted that Ahrendts “shares our values and our focus on innovation, and she places the same strong emphasis as we do on the customer experience.”
The connection between Burberry and Apple is an interesting one. As Apple was gearing up for a big sales push with its new generations of the iPhone in September, the fashion house used the device prominently during its Spring/Summer 2014 fashion show — a big enough deal that Apple press released the event. Little did we know at the time that this was something of a foreshadowing wink towards today’s news. (Hell, even that champagne color on the iPhone 5s is, frankly, a metallic version of Burberry beige.)
Of course, it goes beyond simply one fashion label using the latest handsets from a phone maker in a one-off cross-promotional opportunity. “This collaboration celebrates our relationship and shared foundation in design and craftsmanship. We have a mutual passion for creating beautiful products and unlocking emotive experiences through technology, which has made it intensely exciting to explore the capabilities of iPhone 5s,” said Christopher Bailey, Burberry Chief Creative Officer at the time. “We’re inspired by what this could mean for the future as we continue to explore the merging of physical and digital experiences.” This could be a reference to how Apple may be moving even deeper into the world of aesthetics and fashion in a wearables move. In any case, the physical and digital experience will likely be a modish one, also underscored by the appointment of YSL’s CEO Paul Deneve as the new head of still-unspecified “special projects.”
More generally, Apple has long cultivated itself as no ordinary garden variety consumer electronics brand. It’s apparent in its design (always high end), its pricing (premium), and its general comportment as a special, unique thing.
No, not a pedestrian Red Delicious apple (not even my favorite, Macintosh, which is now called Mac) but a rare variety from an orchard possibly once belonging to a noble family. In that regard, Apple is actually very close in ethos to how many high-end fashion brands, including Burberry (except for its “chav” stumble), have positioned themselves for years.
There is also an ironic riposte here to what precedes Ahrendts. Other retail heads (under different titles, another mark of how Apple is breaking a bit with things it doesn’t like from its past) have included Ron Johnson, who left to run JC Penney, and John Browett, who had headed up UK mid-range electronics chain Dixons. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but JC Penney and Dixons are a very far cry from Burberry and Apple.
On the other hand, as Apple does move into more segmentation in its iPhone devices, you can see where the experience of someone like Ahrendts, who has successfully navigated Burberry into a position of regaining its stature with high-end customers but also continuing to further its name and products to a wider audience, would fit in perfectly.
Before Burberry, Ahrendts cut her teeth at a number of other fashion houses, including Liz Claiborne and Donna Karan.
April 1, 1976
NASDAQ:AAPL
Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. in January 2007. Among the key offerings from Apple’s product line are: Pro line laptops (MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac Pro), consumer line laptops (MacBook Air) and desktops (iMac), servers (Xserve), Apple TV, the Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server operating systems, the iPod, the...
Maino
Rapper ARRESTED in NYC
You Can't Be Driving That Bentley
Exclusive
6:45 PM PT -- Maino tells us he already entered a guilty plea and paid a fine. He also claims he's gotten his license back since the arrest.One thing hasn't changed -- he has NOT put a front license plate on his Bentley Continental, because Maino says he's not drilling any holes in his whip.
Maino -- the rapper behind the 2009 hit "All The Above" -- was arrested in NYC recently after cops say he was cruising around in a pimped out Bentley he had no business driving in the first place, TMZ has learned.
We've confirmed ... Maino -- real name Jermaine Coleman -- was initially pulled over around 10:54 PM on September 25 after cops say he was driving his 2008 Bentley around without a front license plate.
During the stop, cops discovered that Maino's license had been suspended for a previous incident -- and he shouldn't have been driving ANY vehicle ... let alone one without a license plate.
Maino was eventually taken into custody for driving on a suspended license. He was booked and released ... and he's due back in court in November.
It ain't Maino's first brush with the law -- the guy was popped for driving on a suspended license once before in 2010.
Oh, and he also served a 10-year prison stint for kidnapping and robbing a drug dealer.
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