I reversed, it saw, it braked: Hands-on with Infiniti QX80's backup intervention

The 2014 Infiniti QX80 has your back—actually, its own back. Rear sensors on this luxury SUV can detect objects behind it and apply the brakes if you don’t. It’s another step in the evolution of hyper-alert car tech that tries to sense dangers that a fallible—or momentarily distracted—driver might miss.

Introduced in the 2013 Infiniti JX, the backup intervention tech makes perfect sense for the yacht-sized QX80 (base price: $61,350). Just backing out of your driveway, you could run into a lot of carelessly placed small outdoor objects, like garden equipment, not to mention pets and kids--all too short to be seen out the QX80’s high back window.

A car as big as the Infiniti QX80 definitely needs help seeing what's in back.

To try the system, we started with the obvious: a tall trash can. The QX80 spotted the five-foot object with no problem and stopped the car. The QX80 also had no problems detecting a four-foot stroller.

For smaller objects, we had to adjust the sensor a bit. Under the Settings menu on the touchscreen, you can bump the sensitivity from its default middle to a higher or lower setting. With a two-foot bag of leaves (also about the size of a child sitting in the driveway), the QX80 rolled over it every time with the sensor on the middle setting. On high, the car stopped each time readily. To detect objects like a small kid’s chair, we also had to bump to the sensitivity to high. On the other hand, with a ladder, and the QX80 stopped on every setting except the highest sensitivity.

At night, the sensors spotted a trash can with the sensor on high, but there was a bit more of a delay. In a few cases at night, the QX80 tapped the trash can slightly.

One surprise: when the QX80 stops, it does not hold the stop. While the jolt you feel when the car brakes should make you step on the brake yourself, we expected that the QX80 would hold until the driver acknowledged the alert. Infiniti has made it very clear that the intervention tech should not replace vigilance when driving.

Image: Wayne StenderThe Infiniti QX80's rear camera and rear sensors help you see more around the car, but the driver still needs to remain vigilant.

A Mercedes S550 can spot a deer jumping out at you on the highway. A Ford Focus can parallel-park itself. An Acura RLX can keep you centered in the lane by controlling the steering wheel. And now, the Infiniti QX80 can stop before you hit something behind you. We hope the technology makes its way into every car—not just this SUV behemoth.

John Brandon , TechHive

John Brandon is a technology writer and car enthusiast. After leaving the corporate world in 2001, he embarked on a solo writing career and never looked back (except for that one time). He's tested thousands of products and reported on everything from 50 Cent starting a headphone company to BMW building a data center in Iceland. He lives outside of Minneapolis.
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ACA Website: Is Government Technology Doomed To Fail?

Copyright © 2013 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. We're going to spend some time today talking about health issues. We'll hear about why cancer is a growing cause of death in Africa and we'll hear about why leaders of a Native American tribe believe that offensive team names can actually be harmful to the health of their people. That's coming up.

But first, we want to talk about something that was supposed to make it easier to get healthcare in this country, especially for people who do not now have it. We're talking about the president's signature healthcare law - the Affordable Care Act. But as you probably know by now, the rollout has been anything but easy. It's been marred by political infighting to be sure, but the serious technical problems have really infuriated the public and lawmakers on both sides.

And the president was forced to defend the law again yesterday in a speech after reports that many insured people were notified that their existing plans are being canceled. We wanted to learn more about both of these issues so we've called on Mary Agnes Carey. She's a senior editor correspondent for Kaiser Health News. She joins us from time to time to talk about the Affordable Care Act and other issues in healthcare. Welcome back. Thanks for joining us once again.

MARY AGNES CAREY: Thanks for having me.

MARTIN: And for the technical side, we've called Clay Johnson. He's the CEO for The Department of Better Technology. That's a nonprofit that develops technology for governments. He also worked on Howard Dean's 2004 campaign and is a cofounder of Blue State Digital, which worked on digital strategies for President Obama's 2008 and 2012 elections. Clay Johnson, welcome to you. Thank you so much for joining us.

CLAY JOHNSON: Thanks for having me.

MARTIN: So, Mary Agnes, let me start with you 'cause the president said for years that people who like their insurance, who like their existing healthcare program, would get to keep it under the Affordable Care Act. And now the House Republicans have put an ad out calling him out for that promise.

(SOUNDBITE OF POLITICAL AD)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: If you like your insurance plan, you will keep it.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: It's not the truth. You don't get to keep your premiums. You don't get to keep anything.

OBAMA: Let me repeat this - nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The guys I work with, they've gotten the same things, the same letters. And then, you know, when we called Blue Cross Blue Shield they're like, we've been dealing with this all day long, every day.

OBAMA: If you like your current insurance you will keep your current insurance.

MARTIN: I think we get the idea. So what happened?

CAREY: What happened is that for about 5 percent of Americans who purchased in individual market - that's about 14 million people - hundreds of thousands of those people are getting these letters that say, your plan is being discontinued. It could be because it doesn't satisfy the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. It might be that the insurance company simply doesn't want to sell it - insurers have had that ability in the individual market to change plans, year in, year out. But they're getting these notices and, for a lot of people who have the coverage they like, they're wondering, why is my policy being covered?

MARTIN: Isn't this something that the administration should have anticipated?

CAREY: I think that's a fair assessment, because they know - they've said themselves - there's a lot of churn in the individual market, a lot of turnover. And they've also talked about how skimpy some of these plans are. Now some people like these policies, right?

They may want a policy that doesn't cover maternity coverage. They don't want - they don't want preventative care coverage, no out of pocket cost, no co-pays deductibles and so on, which is required by the ACA. So when those plans would be renewed, if they had - you know, if they don't follow these particular requirements, or they've changed in a variety of ways since the law came into focus, people are going to lose that coverage. So I think it's something they should have anticipated. I have a feeling that they were trying to calm the people who have employer-sponsored coverage, because...

MARTIN: Which is the majority. Is it not?

CAREY: The majority, it's like 85 percent of people, right? And so for people in the employer market, they're not on the exchanges. They don't have to change their plans. But we've got to remember that, even in the employer market, our employers make that decision every year. What plans they're going to offer, which plans they're not. So you might lose your coverage even with your employer if they decide they want to go with a different carrier.

MARTIN: So what do people do who lose their coverage? What do they do now? Or who's existing policies are being canceled? What do they do? They're supposed to do what? Go to the website, right? And get - figure out new plans?

CAREY: Yeah, that could be a problem.

MARTIN: OK, which brings in Clay Johnson - without getting too technical about it, everybody - the Health and Human Services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, the president himself - nobody is defending it. Is this as bad as people say?

JOHNSON: This is as bad as it gets. Although it's sort of predictably bad. You know, 94 percent of the time large federal IT projects fail and this is no exception. Usually, the successes are the exceptions and not the rule. It's...

MARTIN: Why is that?

JOHNSON: I think it's because of the way that we hire people on the inside of government to manage these projects. And the way that we hire contractors in order to implement the work. Look, from my experience, I like to say that a successful information technology project requires three things. It requires time, it requires money, and it requires talent. And the government had plenty of time and they had plenty of money, so it must've been talent that was missing.

In this case, we have about 1,800 pages worth of regulations that determines who can win contracts and who can't. And as a result, I think, in technology, some of the smaller, more innovative businesses are not getting selected for these contracts. And you have larger companies that have entrenched themselves and almost guaranteed themselves the business, winning these contracts, and therefore, not having to compete, not having to modernize themselves and continually failing at implementing stuff like this.

MARTIN: If you're just joining us, we're talking about some of the issues that have been coming up with the Affordable Care Act - issues is putting it mildly. I'm joined by technology developer Clay Johnson. Also with us, Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News, who's been helping us sort out all these issues around the Affordable Care Act before now. Clay, from a technical standpoint - we can see from a user's standpoint what's wrong with the website, you can't get in.

You can't use it in a number of places, not everywhere. There are some places where it is working and people are able to get in and have enrolled. But can you tell us from a technical standpoint, why is it so messed up? I mean, a lot of consumers these days have the experience of going online and buying anything they want from a stick of gum to a set of tires. So why is this so hard?

JOHNSON: Well, you know, it's interesting from a technical standpoint. There's a lot of systems that this has to integrate with. So it has to talk to the social security database and the IRS database and stuff like that. But for $200 million, that ought to be achievable. I think to really figure out why this is messed up, you have to sort of take a step back and go, why does this stuff keep failing? One reason why might be that in 1996, Congress decided to lobotomized itself. It got rid of its technology assessment office - the group of people that were advising Congress on technology issues.

And so when Congress is now making a policy or regulation that requires an information technology project, whether it be healthcare.gov today or recovery.gov, you know, five years ago, they generally do a bad job at figuring out the requirements and figuring out the reality of which this website is going to be implemented in. And then, coupled on top of that, you have, you know, an executive branch of government that can only choose from a handful of vendors that will generally charge you too much money and do a bad job. So between those two things, this is the outcome that you get. And we can sort of complain about healthcare.gov, but I think really the solution exists - the solution to these problems exists a step back.

MARTIN: Now the president said that this is going to be fixed in a matter of weeks, I believe he said. Do you believe him?

JOHNSON: Well, they've given themselves a deadline of November the 30. I think that's a pretty healthy deadline. They've put a lot of talent on the show now. They've got Jeff Zients who's working on it. He used to be at the Office of Management and Budget. He's a pretty smart, sharp guy. And they've brought in the Presidential Innovation Fellows. I used to be a Presidential Innovation Fellow last year. Those are some really smart and talented people. So I think that they don't have a choice but to do it. I think that, honestly, if they don't get this fixed by the self-imposed deadline of November 30, then it really puts the entire Affordable Care Act at risk.

MARTIN: And, Mary Agnes, what has Kathleen Sebelius saying about this, the Health and Human Services secretary? What's she saying about the big problem - both the technical problem, which I'm not saying is not a big problem, and also this issue of people having policies, that they say they liked, being dropped from them? What's she saying about that?

CAREY: Well, as far as the website, she's admitted it's a miserable, frustrating experience. She called it a debacle. They're working hard to fix it. And she acknowledged that yes, some people have gotten these notices. But what she tried to stress yesterday in testimony on Capitol Hill was that a lot of these plans may have been weaker than people realized. For example, it may not have had the hospital coverage that you thought you had.

There had been a lot of medical underwriting that prohibited lots of people from getting coverage. That has gone away. No more annual limits, no more lifetime limits. She tried to stress the benefits of these plans offered under the Affordable Care Act. But she also acknowledged, though, that yes, there are some problems with the website. During the hearing that I attended yesterday, the website was down the entire time. The Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee brought it up about six times. So she knows she's got a problem, but says they're on it, and they want to fix it and that they're moving forward.

MARTIN: Do people in the administration have confidence that it can be fixed? I mean, I understand - you know, there are things that they say publicly, and then there the things that they say to each other, OK? So what are they saying to each other?

CAREY: That they think they can get this fixed. They took two things. Number one, they set this November 30 deadline, and as Clay was talking about, they've got Jeff Zients in there, they've got other - they have a tech surge. They're not saying who's all working on the tech surge, but that they have that. So they're very focused on doing that and say that they believe they can finish it in time for that.

MARTIN: And, Clay Johnson, final thought from you. I understand you were watching the hearings yourself off and on. What impressions, if you don't mind my asking, did you get from the hearings?

JOHNSON: Honestly, my impression was that, you know, Congress has certainly lobotomized itself when it comes to these technology issues. You know, it was very much like watching people, who could neither read nor write, discuss a book. They sort of had no grasp of the issues, and so it degraded into sort of just talking points with no serious outcome really wanted by either side. And was really unfortunate because these processes - you know, the federal IT budget is $80 billion a year.

The total amount of contracting dollars that we spend per year is a half a trillion dollars. It represents one-sixth of the federal budget. That money could be spent better and, also, it could do a lot of good. And I wish our Congress would really start thinking more about how to spend that money more effectively.

MARTIN: Maybe you'll come out of your shell one day and tell us how you really feel, Clay. Clay Johnson is a chief executive officer for The Department of Better Technology. That's a non-profit that works to create better technology for governments. He joined us from member station WABE in Atlanta. Mary Agnes Carey is a senior correspondent for Kaiser Health News - we want to say once again, that's a news service. It is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. And she was kind enough to join us once again in our Washington, D.C. studios. Thank you both so much for joining us.

CAREY: Thank you.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

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Driver expects to fight Google Glass ticket

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Southern California woman cited for wearing Internet-connected eyeglasses while driving plans to contest the citation.

Cecilia Abadie was pulled over for speeding Tuesday evening in San Diego, when a California Highway Patrol officer noticed she was wearing Google Glass and tacked on a citation usually given to drivers who may be distracted by a video or TV screen.

The lightweight eyeglasses, which are not yet widely available to the public, feature a hidden computer and a thumbnail-size transparent display screen above the right eye. Users can scan maps for directions — as well as receive web search results, read email and engage in video chats — without reaching for a smartphone.

Abadie, a software developer, said in an interview that she was not using her Google Glass when she was pulled over for allegedly going about 80 mph in a 65 mph zone on the drive home to Temecula after visiting a friend.

"The Glass was on, but I wasn't actively using it" to conserve the battery, she said.

Abadie expressed surprise that wearing the glasses while driving would be illegal and said she's "pretty sure" she will fight the ticket. First, she said, she needs to seek legal counsel. In the flurry of online commentary her traffic stop has generated, several people saying they are attorneys offered their services.

"The law is not clear, the laws are very outdated," Abadie said, suggesting that navigating with the device could be less distracting than with a GPS unit or phone.

"Maybe Glass is more a solution to the cellphone problem than a problem," she said.

It's unclear whether a citation for Google Glass has been issued before. The CHP said it is not sure whether an officer within its own ranks has written one, and an agency spokesman pointed out hundreds of law enforcement agencies in California alone can write traffic tickets.

Legislators in at least two states, Delaware and West Virginia, have introduced bills that would specifically ban driving with Google Glass. Authorities in the United Kingdom are mulling a similar ban.

About 10,000 units have been distributed so far in the United States to "pioneers," and this week Google announced another 30,000 would be available for $1,500 apiece. Abadie said she got hers in May and has become an "evangelist" for the technology.

A spokesman for Google did not reply to a request for comment. On its website, Google says this about using the headgear while driving: "Read up and follow the law. Above all, even when you're following the law, don't hurt yourself or others by failing to pay attention to the road."

___

Associated Press researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.

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Sly Stallone likes Karl's 'natural humility'

NEW YORK (AP) — Picking the guy who will play Rocky Balboa onstage was no easy task. Just ask Sylvester Stallone, who helped cast Broadway veteran Andy Karl.

"Having gone through literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of prospects, Andy was one of our first choices and he just had it," Stallone said last month during a sit-down with the actor who will be playing his most famous character. 

"He has what it takes — there's no arrogance, there's a natural humility about him, and that's what is important," Stallone said.

"No matter how threatening he may look, you're going to like him, it just comes through. And that's not so easy to find. Tough guys are a dime a dozen; a sensitive tough guy, pretty rare."

The musical "Rocky" will open on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre in March 2014. Based on the Oscar-winning 1976 film by Stallone, the musical features a score by "Ragtime" veterans Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, and a story by Thomas Meehan, who wrote "The Producers" and "Hairspray."

Karl's Broadway credits include "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," ''Jersey Boys," ''9 to 5," ''Legally Blonde," ''The Wedding Singer" and "Saturday Night Fever." Margo Seibert, making her Broadway debut, will star as Adrian, Balboa's love interest.

The musical stays close to the film, which charted the rise and romance of amateur boxer and debt collector Rocky Balboa, who gets his shot against undefeated heavyweight champion Apollo Creed.

The film made famous the image of Balboa running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the quote "Yo, Adrian!" The trumpet-laden funky theme "Gonna Fly Now" and the anthem "Eye of the Tiger" will be in the Broadway version.

The director is Alex Timbers, who directed Broadway's "The Pee-wee Herman Show" and directed and wrote the book for "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson." The boxing choreography is being done by Steven Hoggett, who choreographed "American Idiot," ''Peter and the Starcatcher" and "Once."

___

Online: http://www.rockybroadway.com

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After unity, some Democrats push back on Obama

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just two weeks after President Barack Obama saw his Democratic Party put up an unyielding front against Republicans, his coalition is showing signs of stress.

From health care to spying to pending budget deals, many congressional Democrats are challenging the administration and pushing for measures that the White House has not embraced.

Some Democrats are seeking to extend the enrollment period for new health care exchanges. Others want to place restraints on National Security Administration surveillance capabilities. Still others are standing tough against any budget deal that uses long-term reductions in major benefit programs to offset immediate cuts in defense.

Though focused on disparate issues, the Democrats' anxieties are connected by timing and stand out all the more when contrasted with the remarkable unity the party displayed during the recent showdown over the partial government shutdown and the confrontation over raising the nation's borrowing limit.

"That moment was always going to be fleeting," said Matt Bennett, who worked in the Clinton White House and who regularly consults with Obama aides. "The White House, every White House, understands that these folks, driven either by principle or the demands of the politics of their state, have to put daylight between themselves and the president on occasion."

Obama and the Democrats emerged from the debt and shutdown clash with what they wanted: a reopened government, a higher debt ceiling and a Republican Party reeling in the depths of public opinion polls.

But within days, attention turned to the problem-riddled launch of the 3-year-old health care law's enrollment stage and revelations that the U.S. had been secretly monitoring the communications of as many as 35 allied leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. And with new budget talks underway, Democratic Party liberals reiterated demands that Obama not agree to changes that reduce Social Security or Medicare benefits even in the improbable event Republicans agree to increase budget revenues.

The fraying on the Democratic Party edges is hardly unraveling Obama's support and it pales when compared to the upheaval within the Republican Party as it distances itself from the tactics of tea party conservatives. But the pushback from Democrats comes as Obama is trying to draw renewed attention to his agenda, including passage of an immigration overhaul, his jobs initiatives and the benefits of his health care law.

The computer troubles that befell the start of health insurance sign-ups have caused the greatest anxiety. Republicans pounced on the difficulties as evidence of deeper flaws in the law. But Democrats, even as they defended the policy, also demanded answers in the face of questions from their constituents.

"The fact is that the administration really failed these Americans," Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., told Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner at a hearing this week. "So going forward, there can be just no more excuses."

In the Senate, 10 Democrats signed on to a letter seeking an unspecified extension of the enrollment period, which ends March 31. "As you continue to fix problems with the website and the enrollment process, it is critical that the administration be open to modifications that provide greater flexibility for the American people seeking to access health insurance," Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., wrote.

Another Democratic senator, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, has called for a one-year delay in the requirement that virtually all Americans have health insurance or pay a fine.

On Thursday, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, Tavenner and the White House's designated troubleshooter for the health care web site, Jeffrey Zients, were meeting privately with Senate Democrats to offer reassurances.

Democrats who have talked to White House officials in recent days describe them as rattled by the health care blunders. But they say they are confident that the troubled website used for enrollment will be corrected and fully operational by the end of November.

The spying revelations also have created some tensions between the administration and Democrats. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and until now a staunch supporter of the NSA's surveillance, called for a "total review of all intelligence programs" following the Merkel reports.

She said that when it came to the NSA collecting intelligence on the leaders of allies such as France, Spain, Mexico and Germany, "Let me state unequivocally: I am totally opposed."

In the House, Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, a Democratic member of the House intelligence committee, complained that the intelligence committees had been kept out of the loop about the collection of data on foreign leaders.

"Why did we not know that heads of state were being eavesdropped on, spied on?" she asked Obama administration intelligence officials on Tuesday. "We are the Intelligence Committee. And we did not -- we didn't know that. And now all of us, all of us, are dealing with a problem in our international relations. There will be changes."

With Congress renewing budget talks Wednesday, liberals have been outspoken in their insistence that Democrats vigorously resist efforts to reduce long-term deficits with savings in Social Security or Medicare. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who usually votes with Democrats, has been the most outspoken, saying he fears a budget deal will contain a proposal in Obama's budget to reduce cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security and other benefit programs.

Obama, however, has proposed that remedy only if Republicans agree to raise tax revenue, a bargain that GOP lawmakers involved in the discussions made clear they would reject. Moreover, leaders from both parties as well as White House officials have signaled that in budget talks, they are looking for a small budget deal, not the type of "grand bargain" that would embrace such a revenue-for-benefit-cuts deal.

Still, many liberals warn that such cuts aren't palatable even if coupled with additional revenues.

"The idea, the notion that we're going to solve this problem or it's going to be OK if we were able to raise revenue and cut this thing back at the same time, it just isn't going to fly outside of Washington," said Jim Dean, chairman of the liberal advocacy group Democracy for America.

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Huawei Vitria (MetroPCS)

With MetroPCS transitioning to GSM smartphones that run on T-Mobile's network, you'd expect the two carriers to have near-identical offerings, but MetroPCS's larger roster of affordable smartphones is more robust. The Huawei Vitria ($129 up front) is a solid Android smartphone, and the least expensive MetroPCS phone with LTE. It doesn't compete with the carrier's flagship Android smartphone (and our Editors' Choice), the Samsung Galaxy S4, though it isn't meant to. The Vitria's display could be a little better, the camera could be faster, and it could have a little more storage, but it's an inexpensive device that performs well enough in its price class.

Design and Display
For such a small device the Vitria is pretty hefty. It measures 4.99 by 2.51 by 0.46 (HWD) inches and weighs 4.94 ounces, 0.94 ounces more than the LG Optimus F3, another 4-inch smartphone, now available on MetroPCS.

The Vitria's enclosure is smooth, with rounded corners, and the bottom comes to a very slight point. It's pretty plain looking, and doesn't stand out among the crowd of slimmer smartphones. On the back is the 5-megapixel camera and LED flash, which is flush with the soft touch exterior. Remove the matte black plastic back and you'll gain access to the 1750mAh battery, SIM card, and microSD card slot. Pulling the battery lets you remove the SIM card; the microSD card is accessible without powering down your phone, and located right next to the camera lens.

On the left side is the micro USB port for charging and connecting to a PC. It's an awkward placement when using the phone in landscape mode. On the other side is a faux-metal plastic volume rocker. The same plastic wraps around the edge of the phone, making it seem a little cheap, but still feel sturdy. On top is the Power button on the left and headphone jack on the right. Included with the Vitria is a small wall charger and a micro USB cable.

For this price you're not getting an HD screen. The Vitria has a 4-inch Gorilla Glass 2 LCD with 800 by 480 resolution. That's about 233 pixels per inch. Not bad, but not stellar either. Text and images aren't especially clear, but colors look vibrant. Viewing angles is adequate, but the display begins to wash out at more extreme angles. There's a set of Back, Home, and Menu buttons below the screen. Though it has a low-resolution display, typing on the on-screen keyboard is incredibly easy. The Vitria has Swype's keyboard installed at launch, making it a breeze to slide your finger over the letters you need and have the phone spell the right word for you, and eliminating the annoying smartphone hunt-and-peck typing.

Connectivity and Call Quality
The Huawei Vitria is pretty well-connected for the price. Under the hood is Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi calling, A-GPS, and DLNA support for media streaming to the few and far between DLNA-capable devices.

The Vitria may be inexpensive, but it's one of the few sub-$150 phones with LTE. The next LTE-capable phone on MetroPCS is the $149 Optimus F3. It's running on T-Mobile's network, and as such doesn't support any of MetroPCS' CDMA bands. For $40 per month you get unlimited voice, texting, and data (with 500MB worth of LTE speeds). $50 gets you 2.5GB of high-speed data, and $60 gets you unlimited high-speed data.

Call quality on the phone was remarkably good, at least on my end. The other person's voice was clear and loud thanks to the earpiece. My voice came through more muddied and muffled than I would have liked. Noise cancellation was also an issue whenever a truck or car would pass by. The caller on the other end would hear every sound outside. My tests with a Jabra Stone 3 Bluetooth headset yielded the same results. The speakerphone was very quiet and barely audible in the streets of New York City.

The Vitria's 1750mAh cell was a boon during battery testing. The phone lasted a solid 9 hours and 23 minutes in our talk time test.

Hardware, OS, and Apps
The Vitria contains a Snapdragon MSM8930 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM; old hardware, but fine for an entry-level smartphone. In Nenamark's graphical performance test, the Vitria scored 59 frames per second. It trounces its similarly priced competitor, the Samsung Galaxy Exhibit, which scored a meager 38.6 frames. In the Taiji graphics test it beats the more expensive LG Optimus L9, with 42.8 versus LG's 13.6. When you remember it isn't pushing too many pixels, all that speed makes more sense. As a result, the Vitria is an affordable casual gaming machine, though it routinely runs out of space needed to download the games and apps without a microSD card. Our tests showed that a 64GB card was too large, but a 32GB one worked just fine. You're going to need that card, however, as the Vitria only has 1.72GB of available storage.

Huawei's Android 4.1.2 is carrying a lot more bloatware than I'd like. It's too gratuitous, even coming with a theming app that customizes the interface with new sets of icons that doesn't look as great as stock Android. A few of the apps are simply shortcuts to settings like mobile hotspots or visual voicemail, but with apps like Rhapsody ($5/month), MetroPCS Screen-It ($5/month) for screening calls, and Metro Block-It ($1/month) for blocking calls, all I see is my phone trying to nickel-and-dime me. In total there are 16 nonstandard apps, none of which are removable.

One interesting app is Profiles, which allows you to tie a group of settings together into a phone "profile" of sorts. For example, the preloaded Sleep profile has brightness at 7 percent, all data services off, and alarm sound at around 60 percent. It's useful for quickly turning on or off a group of related settings when in a movie, meeting, or other environment where you can't miss an alert.

Multimedia, Camera, and Conclusions
The Vitria played most video formats except any AVI files, whether encoded in MPEG-4, Xvid, or DivX. As for audio, it played everything except FLAC. Video looks passable, but darker scenes become muddled and contrast is quite low.

Many low-end Android phones have a built-in FM radio, and the Vitria is no exception; you'll need to plug in headphones, which double as an antenna; you can then toggle the sound output from headphone to phone speaker. You can't record what you're listening to, but bookmarking and searching for stations with two large arrow buttons is very convenient. As for purchasing content, the Vitria is equipped with the full suite of Play Store apps, including Play Movies & TV, and Play Music.

The 5-megapixel camera on the Vitria isn't a great shooter. Most of the images are washed out and noisy indoors, or overexposed outdoors. It takes almost a full second for the phone to capture each the photo and process it. Video recording is poor in low light; the frame rate drops dramatically and there's no image stabilization. Every step was a tremor to the phone and screwed with the autofocus while recording. The front-facing VGA camera snaps low-resolution photos.

The Huawei Vitria is in the sweet spot of price for performance on MetroPCS. If you're willing to spend a little more, $149 gets you the LG Optimus F3, a similar 4-inch touch-screen Android phone with LTE and better battery life. If you're on a shoestring budget you can save $20 with the Samsung Galaxy Exhibit, though it lacks LTE and has a slightly smaller display. The Huawei Vitria doesn't have a great screen, but at under $150, and with 4G LTE, it's a solid value.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/FnLtxQP_mPo/0,2817,2426445,00.asp
Tags: halloween   2013 Emmy Winners  

Tony Parker: Baby on the Way!

He’s been romantically involved with fiancée Axelle Francine since 2011, and Tony Parker is about to become a father.

The ex-husband of Eva Longoria took to his Twitter account to share the great news earlier today (October 31).

Parker tweeted, “Hey just wanted to say that I’m very happy today…me and my future Wife going to have a Baby Boy!!!!”

There’s no word on a due date or wedding date, so stay linked to the GossipCenter for all the latest details!

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/tony-parker/tony-parker-baby-way-952895
Tags: castle   diana nyad   Xbox One Release Date   Ryne Sandberg   Gia Allemand Dead  

Eddie Alvarez on his battle with Bellator: 'I don't regret any of it'

Lost amidst the cacophony of jeers from a portion of the mixed martial arts community ahead of what was supposed to be Bellator's pay-per-view debut, which clumsily turned into a Spike TV broadcast is the story of the return of Eddie Alvarez, the organization's distanced and former champion.

Once Bellator's golden boy, Alvarez's position in the company and career has not been the same since his last encounter with the man some suggest took his spot, Michael Chandler, in November of 2011. Alvarez would go on to earn two more high-profile, impressive victories after that brutal loss, but would soon be mired in a protracted, ugly and often public legal dispute with Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney and the company over what he argued was a failure to match a lucrative contract offer from the UFC.

The fires of that battle have since been extinguished, but the path to get there was bloody and the road forward for Alvarez isn't clear. A rumored new contract signed could see him exit the promotion with a loss, but UFC President Dana White has stated he has little interest in Alvarez under those circumstances. A win would allegedly require him to immediately defend that title again.

Still, a win in his rematch Saturday could be redemptive in ways few have even considered. Alvarez isn't simply trying to reclaim his spot in the rankings or get revenge on a fighter who beat him. This is his chance to remind everyone of who he used to be and demonstrate he's still that fighter. And depending on one's perspective, this is also an opportunity to get back at everyone Alvarez views as having forgot about him or unfairly attempted to manipulate him in the most important moment of his fighting career.

In this interview with MMA Fighting, Alvarez is adamant he has not a single regret about how he conducted himself in a battle with his still current promoter, how he spent his down time, what the turning point was in negotiations and what he thinks of Michael Chandler, Bellator lightweight champion.

Full audio and partial transcript below.

You sound like you're in a good mood.

Always am, man. No reason to be in a bad mood.

This past year. How would you characterize it?

As a roller coaster, man; roller coaster of emotions. It was a busy year for me. I got a lot done, relocated here to Florida. Had to renovate a bunch of homes in Philly so I could make that happen. Had to sell a home in Philly to make that happen.

On my time off from fighting, I was still really busy doing other things, but I'm here where I'm at now in south Florida training, where I want to be with the best team in the country and seven days away from a world title fight. I'm happy.

Given all those challenges, how consistent was your training?

In life in general, there was probably about about a 6-7 weeks where I just was renovating, working on that whole aspect. But in between renovating I was helping Edson Barboza and Frankie Edgar, they had fights coming up, so I was going over there and giving them some rounds trying to put my best foot forward to give them guys rounds to get them prepared for their fight.

Never completely down and out. There was some time where I just needed to focus on renovating the home, selling some homes. I needed to concentrate my focus on that just so I can keep afloat and get down here to Florida.

Technically speaking, was there you worked on the most to develop in this last year while you were 'off' from a competitive schedule?

There is one thing I changed in my training. I laid off strength and conditioning, which I never really have in the past. Really focused on functional training. I found in the past that strength and conditioning was making me fatigue and tired and was interrupting my functional training: my sparring sessions, my things that I held to the highest importance.

The more I came to Florida, the more I laid off strength and conditioning and focused my mind on getting more MMA rounds in. Five, five-minute rounds, getting a bunch of rounds in, dealing with the adversity of being in the fourth, being in the fifth. Knowing how I can recover from going to an explosive movement, how long it's going to take to recover from that explosive movement.

Just more sparring rounds in general and I feel like it has evolved my game so much and helped my game so much. Being able to them rounds with some of the best guys in the world, that doesn't hurt either. Being where I'm at really helps me.

Does that mean you've had a chance to heal any nagging injuries with the time that's past?

Yeah, that, too. I didn't even think about that, but yeah, that, too. This is one of the first fights I'm going into uninjured. No dings, no injuries. There could be something there. Maybe, maybe not, but I just feel f--king great.

I really did do a lot of strength and conditioning in the past and I kind of cut it out. A guy told me one time that 'You don't see a runner come into a MMA gym to get better at running', so why should we do anything else other than fights to get better at fighting? That's sort of what I'm concentrating on and what I have been.

Circling back to this past year, if you could do it all over again, would you do it differently?

No, no. No, I don't regret any of it. It was necessary. I don't regret any of it.

I believed in everything I was doing. Every action I made, I believed in. I thought I was doing the right thing. I think my best foot forward to do what I had to go to get to number one in the world and if anybody wants to blame me for that, then they can blame me for that, but I'm just trying to do my best to get to the number one spot.

I'm willing to be relentless. I'm willing to do what it takes to get there. I don't regret any of it.

What did that entire process teach you?

It taught me the court system, in general, is no way to settle anything. Normally, if you want to settle something, the best way to do it is sit down as men and talk, continue to keep an open line of communication and continue to talk, regardless of your differences.

But, 100 percent, the court system is no way to settle your differences. Unless you got a lot of time and a lot of money on your hands, going that route is no way to go.

Let's say you knock out Michael Chandler in the first round and now you're the champion again. How's it going to be dealing with Bjorn Rebney? How is it going to be dealing with Bellator management? Do you find that to be an issue?

No! It'd be perfectly fine. Look, I don't have to like Bjorn. Bjorn don't have to like me. I work for myself. Every fighter who fights in the world works for themselves. Regardless, I'm going to be a professional and do what I have to do, but I'm an independent contractor. I'm my own brand and I work for myself just like any other fighter.

Bjorn is a promoter and he works for himself. He don't have to like me, I don't have to like him, but what needs to happen is fights need to be made that fans want. As long as we can both agree upon that - if me and Bjorn don't agree upon anything and we just agree upon giving the fans the fights that they want - then that's all we need to agree upon. That's all we need to come an agreement with, is that.

What was the moment where you said, 'Ok, we have to settle this. We have to move forward'?

I think when I finally made my way down here to Florida because I sold an investment property. I got out of my house and the only reason I came here to south Florida, my only goal in mind was to be a world champion again, you know? To get a world championship belt, to get back to the top, that was my only goal coming here.

I told my wife that. I told my kids that. They made the move with me, supported me along the way and as soon as I got down here I began training. I talked to my management. I said, 'Let's fight. Let's get a fight. To hell with it. Let's get this over with and let's start fighting.'

You can't become a world champion not fighting, so regardless, we had to fight.

Let's talk about Michael Chandler a bit, technically speaking. From the guy you fought to what you have seen today, how would you describe his evolution?

We haven't got to see much of him, so the truth is he don't a have a lot of ring experience. He's getting guys out of there pretty quickly. It's hard to say how good Mike has gotten in the last year and half or two years that we fought.

From my eyes, I'm sure in the gym, he's`been training, getting better, working on some things. But I've been in this sport for 11 years. I know it's very slow moving. You don't evolve overnight. It takes years just to maybe get confident enough in a move or technique to use it in a live fight situation.

It's not going to be too much different except myself, you're going to see a huge difference in myself, in my spirit, in my conditioning, and everything else. Mike, the truth is we haven't got a whole lot of minutes of him in the cage. Can't really tell how much he's evolved or hasn't, but I'm counting on that he's evolved and he's a better guy on Nov. 2nd.

For sure in your mind, what do you know you do better than Chandler?

I just feel like I have a better knowledge, a better overall knowledge of the sport. I just feel like I have a better overall knowledge of the sport, period.

I feel like I'm a better striker. I feel like I'm better at jiu-jitsu. People may laugh at that because I did get choked, but I got caught in the fourth round, which jiu-jitsu doesn't play too much of a factor. I feel like I have better jiu-jitsu, better striking. Just a better all around game. It's really just up to me to go out there and show it, but in my own opinion, I feel like I'm better than Mike altogether. Nov. 2nd, it's time to show it.

When you hear Bjorn Rebney say 'Michael Chandler is the best lightweight in MMA', you respond with...?

No, Bjorn Rebney will say that about anybody. He said that about me five minutes before I lost that fight. It just sort of needs to be said.

I believe - I really believe - Mike's arguably the top lightweight out there. And when I beat him, I'll be the top lightweight. I really believe Mike's at the top of his game. He's top notch. He's one of the best lightweights out there right now. When I win my title back, I will be.

The biggest takeaway from your first fight with Mike was what? What happened that you didn't count on or what was the biggest lesson?

To be more focused, to not let things outside of fighting control my training, control my thoughts, control what's important. Too many external things going on.

I always call the gym my sanctuary. It's the one place where I can focus and just concentrate on fighting and I let things outside come to my sanctuary and disrupt what was going on. That's a big part of the reason I came to Florida, is to just be able to focus on fighting.

If you win on November 2nd, you win the belt back. But if I asked you what you gain, what you get back besides that, what would you say?

I think it's the same feeling after I rematched [Shinya] Aoki. It's personal. It's not personal with Mike Chandler. It's not personal with Bjorn Rebney or the promotion. It's personal with myself. It's important in general just as a human being to fail. And it's important to learn from it, bounce back and do better. It's just a lesson that I want put in action, show myself it's ok to fail as long as you learn from it and come back stronger and do better. This is a lesson I tell my kids all the time, I tell myself, I tell my training partners and it's important for me just to put it in action. Talk the talk and walk the walk.

Is it fair to say as a bonus to winning, do you want to stick it to a few people?

Yeah, why not? I always smile in the back of my head. All of the smirk going on inside and it'll feel good.

During this past year with all the changes and challenges, there have to be some people in your life that have gotten no press but have been instrumental in their help. Who are they?

First and foremost, it's my wife, my biggest supporter of all. My wife and kids. My kids don't have much of a choice. If me and my wife decide, they pretty much have to go. It's been my wife more than anything who has been behind me through this and she's just one of them down ass chicks who, she's for the dream. She's for the goal. She's on board no matter what. She picked her own three kids up, left her home and everything, left everything that's comfortable to her to pursue this dream of ours, not just mine. It's my wife first and foremost.

It's also Glenn Robinson at Authentic Sports Management. He's had my back from the very beginning. He has my best interest in mind. He's not so worried about anything else. A lot of managers are worried about making money, doing this, doing that. He's truly a guy who has your best interest in mind. I wouldn't have been able to get through this without Glenn, Frank and one of my very good friends, Josh. These three guys worked really hard to get us through this past year and I owe a lot to them. I owe a lot to my family.

Someone said to me it's almost as if Michael Chandler not only beat Eddie Alvarez, but took his place in the organization. In some ways, took that part of your life. Do you believe by beating Michael you get that back?

No, no. My spot never leaves me. I am my spot. Regardless of win, loss, whatever. It might change for you guys. It might change for the media, for the common fan, the way you think and feel about me. It never changes for me. I live in a bubble. I think the world of myself. I think I'm number one in the world and no one's ever going to change that for me. I understand my spot. I know what I'm capable of and I'll always be a champion, with or without a belt. That sort of thought don't change. That's silly to even think that.

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2013/10/31/5046662/eddie-alvarez-on-his-battle-with-bellator-i-dont-regret-any-of-it
Category: ABC Family   michigan football   drew brees   Raz B   oprah winfrey  

Well Cow health monitor lives in Bessie's stomach, measures indigestion

Ever wonder how hot it gets inside of a cow's stomach? Neither have we, but if we ever had cause to find out, we can thankfully now do so wirelessly. Front and center in ARM's Internet of Things display at ArmTechCon this week we found Well Cow, a bovine health monitor that bobs around your cattle's rumen -- the largest of a cow's four stomach compartments. The sensor-laden pill lasts between 80-100 days inside the animal, transmitting pH and temperature data to a Bluetooth collar around the beast's neck. Data can then be retrieved using either an Android device or the company's own PC peripheral. We gave the app a quick whirl and were able to quickly discern the room's temperature and general air acidity with the touch of a button. (There appears to be a no cows rule on the show floor.)

It sounds like an unappetizing ordeal, but the setup actually prevents indigestion. By monitoring a cow's stomach acidity, farmers can catch digestive problems early, and adjust the animal's feed or medical needs before it becomes an issue. Micromanaging the animal's diet could also help maximize milk production. An odd thing to find in ARM's booth? Absolutely, but it certainly highlights the creative potential of the company's MBed development platform and what it could bring to the Internet of Cows Things.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/31/well-cow-stomach-monitor/?ncid=rss_truncated
Tags: jennifer lawrence   nfl standings   iPhone 5S   chargers   leah remini  

Radio on the TV: Pandora comes to Chromecast

Chromecast is Google’s $35 little HDMI dongle that allows users to stream content directly from the Internet over their Wi-Fi network. It’s pretty good! But it has an unfortunate dearth of official third-party apps that would make it a true living room conqueror. As of Thursday morning, though, the little dongle can boast at least one more streaming feather in its hat: Pandora.

The Internet radio giant announced in a blog post that it was bringing one-touch streaming to Chromecast. Users will be able to “cast” Pandora directly to the TV using their smartphone or tablet as the remote control, which will provide core Pandora functionality such as Play, Pause, Thumb-up or –down, and Skip.

The Pandora app for iOS while in cast mode.

Pandora says the Chromecast cast function is available as of today for listeners who downloaded version 5.0 of the Pandora app. Chromecast integration will work with all Android phones and tablets as well as iPhones (support for iPads will be “coming soon”).

A necessary step in the right direction

While Chromecast has been selling like magical wish-granting pancakes, the service is in a desperate need of more third-party apps. In addition to Pandora and a plethora of Google properties, Chromecasters now have access to Netflix, Hulu Plus, and reportedly HBO Go is coming soon. It’s a good start, but still short of what is availalbe on many other set-top devices.

While Chromecast users are able to access just about anything available on the Web via the browser function, it doesn’t work as seamlessly as the official apps. This lack of streaming apps is the only thing keeping Chromecast from being a serious low-cost threat to the Rokus, TiVos, and Apple TVs of the world.

Unless the service can wrangle in more third-party partners—and as Google appears to be tweaking Android to be a smart TV OS in some form—Chromecast may be destined to be little more than a curious little side note of technology.

• Google Chromecast
  
  $35.00
  

  It needs more Android and iOS app support, but at just $35 the Chromecast is already a great value for YouTube junkies, Netflix aficionados, and cross-platform households.

  
  

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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2059746/radio-on-the-tv-pandora-comes-to-chromecast.html#tk.rss_all
Category: EBT   Robinson Cano   auburn football   Daft Punk   danity kane  

Woody Allen Pens Rare Open Letter to Hollywood (Guest Column)

Courtesy Everett Collection

From left: Wiest, Mia Farrow, Barbara Hershey and Allen on the set of 1986's "Hannah and Her Sisters."

This story first appeared in the Nov. 8 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

Tom Donahue's documentary Casting By, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2012, uses the careers of casting directors such as Marion Dougherty, Lynn Stalmaster and Juliet Taylor -- between them responsible for the ensembles of such films as Midnight Cowboy, Manhattan, Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate -- to lament that casting is the only "single-card" opening credit that isn't recognized by the Academy Awards. With Casting By opening in New York on Nov. 1 and a week later in Los Angeles, Woody Allen wrote to THR to support the recognition of casting directors by championing his own:

PHOTOS: 'Blue Jasmine' Premiere: Cate Blanchett, Peter Sarsgaard Hit the Red Carpet in L.A. 

In my case certainly, the casting director plays a vital part in the making of the movie. My history shows that my films are full of wonderful performances by actors and actresses I had never heard of and were not only introduced to me by my casting director, Juliet Taylor, but, in any number of cases, pushed on me against my own resistance. People like Jeff Daniels, Mary Beth Hurt, Patricia Clarkson and others who are people I was unfamiliar with. A number of discoveries and careers have been launched by the energies and resourcefulness of my casting director. Not only did I use Meryl Streep for a small part in Manhattan when she was a relative unknown, but at the best my casting director helped start the film career of Mariel Hemingway and Dianne Wiest, a stage actress completely unknown to me but known by Juliet Taylor. I’m particularly difficult in the casting area because the whole process bores and embarrasses me. If it were up to me we would use the same half dozen people in all my pictures, whether they fit or not. Despite my recalcitrance, Juliet has forced me to meet and to watch the work of many new people and to hire people on nothing more then her strong recommendation. Because my films are not special effects films and are about human beings, proper casting is absolutely essential. I owe a big part of the success of my films to this scrupulous casting process which I must say if left to my own devices would never have happened. I might add also, anecdotally, that despite my firm conviction that I could never persuade luminaries like Saul Bellow, Marshall McLuhan, Susan Sontag, Mayor Koch and others to work in my films, the confidence and insistence of my casting director proved more accurate and I wound up getting these unlikely notables.

Sincerely,
Woody Allen

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/news/~3/Q-Km2ygjAJ0/woody-allen-pens-rare-open-651493
Related Topics: Columbus Day 2013   Tami Erin   Jack Nicholson   Matt Harvey   Riley Cooper  

Iran Seen Retaliating For Border Attack By Killing 16 Prisoners

Iran has hanged 16 militant prisoners in what is being called retaliation for an attack that killed more than a dozen Iranian guards near the country's border with Pakistan, according to Iran's state-affiliated media. The country is also blaming Pakistan for what it calls lax security.

NPR's Peter Kenyon filed this report for our Newscast unit:

"FARS news agency quoted a local official in the restive Sistan-Baluchistan province as saying 16 'rebels' had been hanged in reaction to the killing of the border guards Friday night in the Saravan region, known to be used by smugglers and drug traffickers.

"A group calling itself Jeish al-Adl, or Army of Justice, took credit for the attack, according to state media accounts, although the group's website appeared to describe the attack as having taken place earlier this month. Iran's deputy interior minister described the attack as an ambush by Iranians 'belonging to hostile groups.'

"The commander of the border guards said none of his men was taken hostage, contradicting earlier reports."

The AP notes that the FARS report didn't detail about the prisoners' affiliation with a militant group; it also didn't mention a trial, "suggesting the prisoners may already have been convicted and sentenced to death, and their executions moved up after the ambush," the agency says.

After the attack, the deputy governor-general of Sistan and Baluchestan, Rajabali Sheikhzadeh, expressed frustration with Pakistan, citing poor security measures.

"Pakistan should feel responsible for its borders because these outlaws have fled into Pakistan after the clashes," Sheikhzadeh tells FARS.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/26/240972840/iran-seen-retaliating-for-border-attack-by-killing-16-prisoners?ft=1&f=1001
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Salesforce.com's Odd Decision To Close Do.com

On Friday, Salesforce.com said it would shut down do.com, its once-heralded task-management service. The closing is an odd one. The service has a loyal following and is lauded for its good design and usability. But even odder may be what the closure means for desk.com, the Salesforce customer service platform, and the timing with Dreamforce, its annual event starting in a few weeks.

The Do.com service will close January 31 and it’s not accepting new registrants. The company is developing an export tool for customers using Do.com and will stop charging for the service starting November 1.

Do.com served as a task-management service designed to help teams manage tasks, contacts, notes and projects. It emerged from the Manymoon acquisition the company made in 2011. It had a following from people like Jeisson Neira, founder of IQThink, an international consulting company that is starting to develop its own projects.

In a phone interview, Neira said his company, a Salesforce partner, has had up to 25 people using Do.com for projects. He switched to it from Podio. He said Do.com was easier to use than Podio and it had features such as integration with Dropboox that the team really liked. He was notified that the service would have a data export tool available on November 15. The Salesforce Dreamforce event starts the next week so he is hoping the company has something planned, either to make it a part of the AppExchange or another service. He pointed out that Salesforce.com has excellent enterprise products but nothing for project management. “It is such a great project management tool and they paid so much money for it,” he said.

Manymoon was one of the most popular services on the Google Apps marketplace and LinkedIn application directory before Salesforce bought the company for $25 million to $35 million, according to a story at the time by Kara Swisher of AllThingsD.

Klint Finley, writing for ReadWriteWeb in 2011, commented that the service looked like it would integrate with Salesforce Chatter, the enterprise social network. It was also perceived that Manymoon would be part of a more unified collection of services that integrated with the Chatter service. For example, in January 2011, Salesforce acquired DimDim, the video conferencing service, but there has been practically no news about DimDim since the acquisition. It was also supposed to integrate with Chatter, but nothing has come of it since the announcement.

The shut down raises questions about the Do.com integration with desk.com. Earlier this year, Salesforce made it easier to integrate desk.com and Do.com. A customer can add tasks to the desk.com environment.

Salesforce.com is expected to make a big mobile push for its Dreamforce event so it is feasible that it will make some related announcement about Do.com. But if so, why risk losing existing customers with such an announcement? What will happen to the desk.com integration? I have contacted Salesforce but have not heard back from them. It just doesn’t make any sense to say the Do.com service is closing down and then later say it will be part of something new. Making the customer a pawn does not exactly instill confidence in a service, as there are plenty of other options such as Jive Software or Wrike.

The Do.com closure raises questions about the Salesforce acquisition strategy. The company has bought several startups but has a spotty record. Manymoon was a great independent service but now looks like it has met its demise as part of Salesforce.com.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/H2mpv_nmknI/
Category: world series   Wally Bell   lesean mccoy   David Frost   Justin Timberlake Vma  

Teen guilty of stealing Guy Fieri's Lamborghini

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (AP) — A jury on Wednesday found a Northern California teen guilty of stealing celebrity chef Guy Fieri's Lamborghini sports car from a San Francisco dealership.

The Marin County panel found Max Wade, 19, guilty of commercial burglary and auto theft, after hearing evidence that Wade had rappelled into British Motors in 2011 to purloin the $200,000 convertible. The car was in the shop for repairs at the time.

Wade was also found guilty of attempted murder and firing a gun into an occupied vehicle in an unrelated drive-by shooting of a man who was dating a girl Wade desired. The man wasn't injured.

Marin County prosecutor Yvette Martinez said Wade had stolen the yellow Lamborghini to impress the girl and was willing to kill to get her attention.

Wade pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. He now faces up to 30 years in prison.

Detectives testified during the trial that they found the gun used in the shooting, two assault weapons and shotgun shells, as well as climbing gear.

Fieri, a star of Food Network, testified during the trial that he had never met Wade and never gave him permission to drive his car.

The teen made news again last year after at least two people tried to break into Marin County's juvenile hall with sledgehammers in an unsuccessful attempt to free him.

Authorities took extra measures to ensure security in the courtroom during the trial, keeping Wade tethered to a chair bolted to the floor.

• Society & Culture
• Crime & Justice
• Guy Fieri

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/teen-guilty-stealing-guy-fieris-lamborghini-011909774.html
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Referees need to be willing to stop fights if UFC’s spotless safety record is to continue

In that euphoric moment when a fighter who, seconds before, had been virtually out cold, rallies to win a significant bout, no one is thinking of concussions or traumatic brain injuries or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) or subdural hematomas or death.

They're too busy cheering the stunning turnaround, hailing a fighter who was victorious against almost invincible odds.

There have been many such miraculous comebacks in the UFC, one of the reasons we've fallen so deeply in love with the sport. Cheick Kongo scored a win out of nowhere over Pat Barry in a fight in Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center which he was seconds away from losing by knockout.

Frankie Edgar rallied to retain his lightweight title after being dropped multiple times and on the verge of going out against Gray Maynard at UFC 125. Tim Boetsch was battered and beaten and hopelessly out of the fight when he came out of nowhere to defeat Yushin Okami at UFC 144.

There have been no deaths in the cage in the UFC's 20-year history, and, as best as is known, none of its fighters have suffered traumatic brain injuries.

This is due in large part to safety procedures set in place before a card begins. Fighters are thoroughly checked medically before they're cleared to fight.

Doctors, paramedics and ambulances are on hand at every arena to treat fighters in distress.

UFC fighters are among the greatest sportsmen in the world, as Lyoto Machida showed on Saturday when he failed to take advantage of an out-cold Mark Munoz in the main event of a card in Manchester, England. Machida knocked Munoz down with a kick to the head, and got to the prone Munoz before the referee.

The rules allowed Machida to try to punch the downed Munoz -- What ex-heavyweight champion Randy Couture called the sport's "rules of engagement" after a loss to Brock Lesnar at UFC 92 -- but Machida recognized Munoz was out and defenseless and never threw another punch.

The referee then quickly stopped the fight. By declining to throw that extra punch or two before the referee intervened, Machida may have saved Munoz a serious brain injury.

Brian Stann did the same thing in a fight last year with Alessio Sakara. Their restraint, and that of numerous other fighters who have reacted similarly when they realize the opponent is helpless, has been another factor why there haven't been any deaths or traumatic brain injuries.

Much of the credit for the UFC's terrific safety record, though, should be given to the referees, who very literally have the fighters' lives in their hands, and repeatedly show good judgment.

But once in a while, a fight goes on too long and a debate is stirred. It's happened in the last two UFC shows. Many were critical of referee Herb Dean for not stopping the heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos at UFC 166 in Houston earlier.

Velasquez was pummeling dos Santos from the bout's opening seconds, and by the end of the third round, there were calls for Dean to stop the bout. But Dean let dos Santos continue until the fifth, when dos Santos went down and Velasquez delivered a series of unanswered blows from the top.

On Saturday in Manchester, Jessica Andrade routed Rosi Sexton in a fight that referee Neal Hall let go the three full rounds. Many thought it should have been stopped, including UFC television analyst Joe Rogan. Sexton, though, took a shot at what she felt was Rogan's over-the-top commentary.

48 hours post fight - I have 2 black eyes, otherwise I'm 100% fine. You could have given me an IQ test as I stepped out of the cage, and I'd still have scored higher than Joe Rogan.

Long-time MMA journalistDamon Martin suggested in a column on Fox Sports that Hall made the right move allowing the fight to continue.

He suggested gender bias led to all the calls for a stoppage, when there were not similar cries when males were being similarly beaten.

If the conversation is about when a fighter is being too tough for their own good or when to account for too much punishment in a fight, then that's a subject worth putting under the microscope but it has to go there without an ounce of gender bias. Referees and corners need to undergo training and watch fight footage and have to understand when enough is enough and be willing to make those calls regardless of the public backlash that may occur because a fight was deemed as stopped too early.

The same goes for corners who are there on behalf of the fighters, and they need to be willing to stop the action and deal with the fallout from fellow coaches and the fighter for making a judgment call.

The problem with Martin's thinking is that while someone may have made an error by not stopping a previous fight, the same error shouldn't be repeated, because there can be dire consequences to allowing a fighter to take too many blows to the head.

"Big" John McCarthy, the outstanding referee, made a great point to Ben Fowlkes in USA Today about the right time to stop a fight. The referee's job is all about safety and not about worrying about what is at stake for a fighter.

If the fighter doesn't show he is physically able to be competitive and defend himself, the bout needs to be stopped, no matter what is on the line. McCarthy was 100 percent on the money in his comments to Fowlkes.

No one deserves the right to finish a fight. They earn it through their actions in being competitive. A ref needs to understand the difference between fighting and surviving. Sometimes we need to protect fighters from themselves as much as their opponent.

I have personally covered seven boxing matches where a fighter died, and in virtually every case, it wasn't from one single powerful punch. Rather, the death resulted from a long, sustained beating to the head.

Sexton finished on her feet and, fortunately, appears to be in good health. And, as Martin pointed out correctly, she had her best round in the third after being demolished in the second.

Stopping a fight too quickly may rob the fans of a Kongo over Barry or of Boetsch over Okami or one of any of about 100 other incredible finishes.

That, though, is what must be done to ensure as best as possible a fighter does not wind up with a serious, life-altering brain injury.

The referee should always stop a bout when one fighter is taking repeated, clean, hard blows to the head and doesn't seem to have the capacity to fend off further onslaughts by either landing significant strikes of his or her own or by strategically moving away from danger.

CTE and other traumatic brain injuries don't go away just because a fighter rallied from the brink of defeat for a heart-pounding win. Referees must be trained to stop fights well before there is a higher-than-average risk of head injury.

Doing so will occasionally rob the fans of an amazing stop-the-presses finish, but if it means all of the fighters return home safely with their wits intact, it's a small price to pay.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/referees-willing-stop-fights-ufc-spotless-safety-record-001357806--mma.html
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Baking blueberries changes their polyphenol content -- and possibly their health benefits

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

30-Oct-2013

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Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
202-872-6042
American Chemical Society

Blueberries are called a "superfood" for their high polyphenol content, but when served as warm, gooey pie filling or when lending bursts of sweet flavor to a muffin, their "super" health benefits change. Scientists studied how cooking and baking affect the increasingly popular fruit's polyphenols and reported their mixed findings levels of some of these substances rose while others fell in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Ana Rodriguez-Mateos and colleagues note that eating blueberries is associated with several health perks including improved thinking, reduced risk for heart disease and reduced inflammation. Research suggests that a set of natural plant compounds called polyphenols lend the fresh fruit these benefits. But consumers don't always enjoy blueberries raw. Some methods of processing, such as juicing and canning, lower polyphenol levels by 22 to 81 percent. However, no studies have tested whether using blueberries in breads, muffins or pies affects their polyphenol content. Rodriguez-Mateos' team sought to test the stability of these health-promoting compounds during cooking, proofing (when the dough rises before cooking) and baking.

They found that all three processes had mixed effects on blueberries' polyphenols including anthocyanin, procyanidin, quercetin and phenolic acids. Anthocyanin levels dropped by 10 to 21 percent. The levels of smaller procyanidin oligomers got a boost while those of the larger ones dipped. Phenolic acid levels increased. Other compounds such as quercetin remained constant. They say that the good retention of polyphenols observed in their study might be due to the use of yeast, which may act as a stabilizing agent during baking. "Due to their possible health benefits, a better understanding of the impact of processing is important to maximize the retention of these phytochemicals in berry-containing-products," the researchers state.

###

The authors cite funding from the Alpro Foundation.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

30-Oct-2013

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Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
202-872-6042
American Chemical Society

Blueberries are called a "superfood" for their high polyphenol content, but when served as warm, gooey pie filling or when lending bursts of sweet flavor to a muffin, their "super" health benefits change. Scientists studied how cooking and baking affect the increasingly popular fruit's polyphenols and reported their mixed findings levels of some of these substances rose while others fell in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Ana Rodriguez-Mateos and colleagues note that eating blueberries is associated with several health perks including improved thinking, reduced risk for heart disease and reduced inflammation. Research suggests that a set of natural plant compounds called polyphenols lend the fresh fruit these benefits. But consumers don't always enjoy blueberries raw. Some methods of processing, such as juicing and canning, lower polyphenol levels by 22 to 81 percent. However, no studies have tested whether using blueberries in breads, muffins or pies affects their polyphenol content. Rodriguez-Mateos' team sought to test the stability of these health-promoting compounds during cooking, proofing (when the dough rises before cooking) and baking.

They found that all three processes had mixed effects on blueberries' polyphenols including anthocyanin, procyanidin, quercetin and phenolic acids. Anthocyanin levels dropped by 10 to 21 percent. The levels of smaller procyanidin oligomers got a boost while those of the larger ones dipped. Phenolic acid levels increased. Other compounds such as quercetin remained constant. They say that the good retention of polyphenols observed in their study might be due to the use of yeast, which may act as a stabilizing agent during baking. "Due to their possible health benefits, a better understanding of the impact of processing is important to maximize the retention of these phytochemicals in berry-containing-products," the researchers state.

###

The authors cite funding from the Alpro Foundation.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Follow us: Twitter Facebook

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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/2013-10/acs-bbc103013.php
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