Harry Styles 'Thanks' NME For Villain Of The Year Award

One Direction also nab Worst Band award at the show, which was held in London while the guys were onstage in Scotland.
By Jocelyn Vena

Harry Styles
Photo: FilmMagic

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702758/harry-styles-nme-villain-of-the-year-award.jhtml

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SIA Recgonizes Top US, Canadian Snow Sports Retailers & Reps ...

By Kailee Bradstreet
Wed, Feb 27 2013 6:02 pm | Comments

?

WASHINGTON (Feb. 27, 2013) ? SnowSports Industries America (SIA) honored 13 retailers and 15 regional sales reps from the United States and Canada with 2012 SnowSports Retailer of the Year Awards and 2012 SnowSports Rep of the Year Awards for consistently making a significant impact in the snow sports industry. Honorees received awards made out of beetle kill wood representing the beetle issues affecting an unprecedented 50,000 acres of forest in the American West.

The SIA U.S. Retailer of the Year Award is based on a shop?s contributions to the growth of the snow sports industry, their promotional and marketing techniques and their success in the ski, snowboard, tele, cross country and/or snowshoe categories. The award winners are nominated and selected by suppliers and reps in the snow sports industry.

All of the winning shops are listed as ?snow experts? in SIA?s Snow Expert database and can use the program?s marketing materials to signify their expertise to their customers.

The award is an honor for retailers. ?We work as hard as we play, and to be recognized for that by a jury of our peers is so rad,? said Brendan Madigan, owner of Alpenglow Sports in Tahoe City, Calif. ?The entire team at Alpenglow takes immense pride in being vested in the community.?

Read more about the 2012 Retailers of the Year in the United States and Canada:

U.S.

Mid-Atlantic Ski Barn | Paramus, NJ

Mountain Milosport | Salt Lake City, UT

New England Summit Ski & Snowboard | Framingham, MA

North Central Pierce Skate & Ski | Bloomington, MN

Pacific Alpenglow Sports | Tahoe City, CA

South Central St. Bernard Sports | Dallas, TX

Southeast Peter Glenn | Miami, FL

Canada

Alberta The Source | Calgary, AB

Atlantic Ballistic Skate & Snow | St. John?s, NL

British Columbia Comor- Go Play Outside | Vancouver, BC

Central Propaganda Shop | Prince Albert, SK

Ontario Sporting Life | Toronto, ON

Quebec Boutique Daniel Lachance | Mont-Tremblant, QC

The SIA U.S. and Canadian SnowSports Regional Rep of the Year recognizes sales reps in the snow sports industry that have successfully fostered relationships with retail storefronts to help move winter sports products. Nominations and winners for this accolade came from snow sports retailers across the industry.

?I?m truly honored to be named Rep of the Year and feel very fortunate to be able to still, after all these years, be involved in an industry that I?m very passionate about,? said Drew Sivers, a Salomon Rep of the Year from Ontario, Canada?

Read more about the 2012 Reps of the Year in the United States and Canada:

?

U.S.

Atlantic Greg Morrison

Eastern Lakes John Kerkhof

Mid-West Tim Parker

Northeast Ivar Dahl

Northern California Clem Smith

Northwest Tobey Crane

Rockies Nick Vigos

South Suzie Parnell

West Jeff Darby

?

Canada

Alberta Ian Hunter

Atlantic Guy Pellerin

British Columbia Jason Wutke

Central Bill Yano

Ontario Drew Sivers

Quebec Nick Rochon

For 24/7 updates on all things SIA, stay connected to the SIA Social Dashboard with feeds from Facebook, SIA?s Latest and Twitter.

?

Source: http://business.transworld.net/123409/news/sia-recgonizes-top-us-canadian-snow-sports-retailers-reps/

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Wii-playing surgeons may improve performance on laparoscopic procedures

Feb. 27, 2013 ? Laparoscopic surgeons may improve certain aspects of surgical performance by regularly playing on a Nintendo? Wii, according to research published February 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Gregorio Patrizi and colleagues from the University of Rome, Italy.

Considering the technical skills required to perform laparascopic procedures, several studies aim to evaluate and improve training for surgeons outside the operating room. Previous studies have assessed the effect of playing video games on hand-eye coordination and spatial attention. In the current research, the authors combined these two aspects by analyzing how a four-week training regimen on the Nintendo? Wii impacted the laparoscopic skills of post-graduate residents in the first or second year of their surgical training. Half the surgeons were assigned to a training regimen on the Wii while the other half were not. Before and after the regimen, all the participants' performance was tested on a laparoscopic simulator.

The study found that participants in both groups improved their skills over the four week period, but those who had been trained on the Wii showed a significant improvement over the other group in their performance on several specific metrics like economy of instrument movements and efficient cautery. The study concludes, "The Nintendo? Wii might be helpful, inexpensive and entertaining part of the training of young laparoscopists, in addition to a standard surgical education based on simulators and the operating room."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Public Library of Science.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Domenico Giannotti, Gregorio Patrizi, Giorgio Di Rocco, Anna Rita Vestri, Camilla Proietti Semproni, Leslie Fiengo, Stefano Pontone, Giorgio Palazzini, Adriano Redler. Play to Become a Surgeon: Impact of Nintendo WII Training on Laparoscopic Skills. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (2): e57372 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057372

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/TPR-SEe5As0/130227183500.htm

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What is a Health Insurance Navigator?

What is a Health Insurance Navigator?

The Affordable Care Act requires state health insurance marketplaces to establish a ?navigator? program (Section 1311(i)) that will help individuals who are eligible to purchase coverage through a health insurance marketplace learn about their new coverage options and enroll. States can award grants to entities that will provide these services. This articles explains how navigators are different from brokers and agents.

What is a health insurance navigator?

Under current law, navigators have the following five duties:

1. To conduct public education about the availability of qualified health plans.?

2. To distribute fair, impartial information about enrollment in qualified plans and about the availability of premium tax credits and cost-sharing assistance in the exchange.

3. To facilitate enrollment in qualified plans.

4. To refer people who need help resolving a problem with their health plan or with their premium assistance to a consumer assistance or ombudsman program or to another appropriate agency that can help with a grievance or appeal.

5. To provide information in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner to the population being served by an exchange.

Who can become a health insurance navigator?

The law lists a number of different kinds of entities that could become navigators, including:

• community- and consumer-focused nonprofits;?

• trade, industry, and professional associations;?

• commercial fishing, ranching, and farming organizations;?

• chambers of commerce;?

• unions;?

• Small Business Administration resource partners;?

• licensed insurance agents and brokers; and?

• other entities.

To be eligible to receive navigator grants, an entity must meet the following criteria:

1. Relationships

The entity must already have relationships, or be readily able to establish relationships, with one or more of the following that qualify to enroll in exchange plans:

• employers and employees;

• consumers, including uninsured and underinsured consumers; and

• self-employed individuals.

2. Capabilities

The entity must be capable of performing the duties of a navigator, described above.

3.?Meet standards established by the Secretary of HHS

These standards will ensure that navigators are qualified and ?licensed if appropriate? and that they avoid conflicts of interest. The law requires that navigators cannot be health insurers. Nor can they receive direct or indirect compensation from an insurer in connection with enrollment of any exchange-eligible individuals or employers in a qualified health plan.

4. Deliver fair and impartial information

The Secretary and states will develop standards to ensure that navigators deliver fair, impartial, and accurate information.

Can a health insurance agent or broker be a navigator?

Yes. According to ACA Section 1312(e), the Secretary will establish procedures under which states may allow agents or brokers to:

1. Enroll individuals and small employers in qualified health plans, and?

2. Assist individuals in applying for premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions in exchanges.

Insurers are not prohibited from paying agents and brokers for their services. While the yet-to-be-issued procedures will clarify how this will work, it appears that agents and brokers can be paid by insurers for enrollments (as they are now) or can be paid a fee by the exchange, but when they are paid by insurers, they cannot simultaneously get grants to act as navigators.

Note: This should not be taken as legal or tax advice.

Source: http://www.zanebenefits.com/blog/bid/271638/What-is-a-Health-Insurance-Navigator

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On campus beat: 4 are up for seats on U of M's Board of Regents (Star Tribune)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/287916334?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Variety dropping daily publication and paywall

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Variety, the venerable trade paper that has covered Hollywood for more than a century, is dropping its daily print edition and replacing it with a weekly publication starting next month.

The publication also will have a new management structure featuring three editors-in-chief and will remove the paywall that was put up on its website three years ago.

"It was an interesting experiment that didn't work. We look forward to welcoming back longtime Variety readers when the paywall drops March 1," said Jay Penske, the chairman and CEO of Variety's parent company.

Variety's last daily print edition will be published March 18. A Tuesday-only publication will debut March 26 and will be augmented throughout the year by several special editions reporting on the industry's many awards shows and other topics of interest to Hollywood movers and shakers.

"We remain committed to a print edition of Variety and are excited that it will expand in size and scope of coverage," the paper's publisher, Michelle Sobrino, said in a story Tuesday on the paper's website (http://bit.ly/YVaMUr ).

Variety also announced that three veteran Hollywood journalists, Claudia Eller, Cynthia Littleton and Andrew Wallenstein, are assuming the titles editor-in-chief.

Eller joins the paper after 20 years with the Los Angeles Times, where she was most recently entertainment news editor. Littleton was most recently deputy editor of Variety and Wallenstein was the trade paper's television editor.

Executive editor Steven Gaydos will continue to oversee Variety's editorial department. Tim Gray, the current editor-in-chief, will remain in a leadership role, overseeing special projects and expansion of international coverage.

Variety has been a fixture in Hollywood since its founding in 1905, but like other traditional print publications has struggled in recent years as news has moved to other formats.

It was purchased last year for $25 million by Penske Media Corp., which also owns the popular Hollywood website Deadline.

___

Information from: Daily Variety, http://www.variety.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/variety-dropping-daily-publication-paywall-211716519.html

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Derek Fisher returns to Oklahoma City Thunder

Derek Fisher became the third point guard in the Oklahoma City Thunder line up. Derek Fisher won five NBA championship rings with the Los Angeles Lakers.

By Staff,?Associated Press / February 26, 2013

Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Derek Fisher (37) seen here last year during the NBA finals basketball series against the Miami Heat in Oklahoma City. The Thunder signed veteran Derek Fisher again on Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (

AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, FIle)

Enlarge

The Oklahoma City Thunder signed veteran Derek?Fisher on Monday, filling an opening for a third point guard that was created when Eric Maynor got traded to Portland.

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Fisher joins Oklahoma City for the stretch run for the second straight season. He played in 20 regular-season games and then all 20 playoff games last season. He played briefly for the Dallas Mavericks this season, asking for his release in December after injuring his right knee.

Why bring Fisher back? " For a team that expects to make another deep playoff run, entering the postseason with only two lead guards would have been risky. Fisher also brings stability to the position in the event that Jackson, still in just his second season, struggles under the playoff spotlight," writes?Darnell Mayberry, of the Oklahoman.

Fisher won five NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers before getting traded to Houston last season, then buying his way out of his contract with the Rockets.

Fisher is also the president of the NBA Players Association, which recently ousted longtime executive director Billy Hunter.

The Oklahoma City Thunder was helped to victory by some terrible Chicago shooting, beating the Bulls 102-72 on Sunday in a surprisingly one-sided contest.

Russell Westbrook scored 23 points and Kevin Durant had 19 points and 16 rebounds for Oklahoma City, which moved 6-1/2 games clear atop the Northwest Division.

The Thunder, who had allowed an average of 113 points over their previous four games, broke out of a rough defensive patch by limiting Chicago to 29.1 percent shooting. Midway through the third quarter, Chicago had missed 44 of its 55 shots.

O.C. led 61-39 at that point, and the margin reached 32 with both teams' starters sitting out the fourth quarter.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/72x5mKKhwl0/Derek-Fisher-returns-to-Oklahoma-City-Thunder

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Developmental Disabilities NJ | Stay Out Of Sight

A Guide To Mental Well being Services

The aim of mental health services is usually to offer adults and children with the chance to access good quality therapeutic support. Individuals are assisted in each and every way doable to locate appropriate therapy procedures. This way, clients can attain optimal functioning and integrate into their environment for productive living.

Just about all adults will expertise some form of psychological illness or associated symptoms at a stage in their lives. Frequently children below the age of 16 will be diagnosed having a mental condition and will require particular programs to aid progression by means of school for positive outcomes. Every single individual requires a service which is tailored to their particular circumstance and specifications.

The focus is on the well being of the patient and in supplying the top doable care to attend to a certain set of needs. A variety of programs are offered to adults and kids alike and delivered through professional institutions. Highly trained individuals focus on early and helpful remedy tailored to individual scenarios.

Just about every service is designed to adhere to a specific principle for specialist care. Every strategy should be made to include a comprehensive strategy to assist patients in reaching the highest probable degree of functioning within a safe and non-restrictive environment. Emphasis is constantly placed on the most effective outcomes for the patient and integration into society for healthy living.

The techniques of treatment obtainable to individuals should be diverse and include a number of approaches so the most suitable service is supplied to address the demands of the patient. Although tailoring programs to individual needs is significant, the implemented strategies really should incorporate a program of care for special groups. This way, entire communities receive proper help.

For patients who seek psychological treatment there is often a have to have for a continuity of care. Programs are designed to coordinate the delivery of created plans so that patients receive the proper attention for a needed time period. This really is supplied to people across the state having a focus on early intervention for those at risk of developing psychological disorders.

Patients suffering from debilitating conditions need to get top quality and continuous care that is usually offered by way of specially developed programs and state clinics. The supplied services encourage individuals to work with professionally trained counselors in making critical decisions concerning care and outcomes. An method that incorporates the rights of others is adopted in being able to empower individuals and families in their recovery procedure.

Precise approaches are devised in addressing the requires of entire families in a safe and warm atmosphere. Pros function in collaboration with clients for the creation of culturally proper programs for the well-being of other people. The developed service is committed to improving the lives of people and communities and are usually state funded for people who call for reasonably priced assistance.

Data relating to where to find mental health services may be identified via a rapid net search. Skilled people who?ve the capacity to assist within your problems are able to develop suitable plans to aid in successful coping techniques for enhanced psychological well-being. Through consultations, trained experts determine essentially the most suitable method for your desires.

Click here for more info on Developmental Disabilities NJ and Capitol Care Services

Source: http://conorclemons.proveacase.com/2013/02/26/developmental-disabilities-nj/

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Bork: Nixon offered next high court vacancy in '73

FILE - In this Sept. 15, 1987, file photo, Judge Robert Bork, nominated by President Reagan to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court, and who's nomination ultimately failed in the Senate, is sworn before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill at his confirmation hearing. Bork says President Richard Nixon promised him the next Supreme Court vacancy after Bork complied with Nixon's order to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox in 1973. Bork's recollection of his role in the Saturday Night Massacre that culminated in Cox's firing is at the center of his slim memoir, "Saving Justice," that is being published posthumously by Encounter Books. Bork died in December 2012 at age 85. Bork writes that he didn't know if Nixon actually, though mistakenly, believed he still had the political clout to get someone confirmed to the Supreme Court or was just trying to secure Bork's continued loyalty as his administration crumbled in the Watergate scandal. (AP Photo/John Duricka)

FILE - In this Sept. 15, 1987, file photo, Judge Robert Bork, nominated by President Reagan to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court, and who's nomination ultimately failed in the Senate, is sworn before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill at his confirmation hearing. Bork says President Richard Nixon promised him the next Supreme Court vacancy after Bork complied with Nixon's order to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox in 1973. Bork's recollection of his role in the Saturday Night Massacre that culminated in Cox's firing is at the center of his slim memoir, "Saving Justice," that is being published posthumously by Encounter Books. Bork died in December 2012 at age 85. Bork writes that he didn't know if Nixon actually, though mistakenly, believed he still had the political clout to get someone confirmed to the Supreme Court or was just trying to secure Bork's continued loyalty as his administration crumbled in the Watergate scandal. (AP Photo/John Duricka)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Robert Bork says President Richard Nixon promised him the next Supreme Court vacancy after Bork complied with Nixon's order to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox in 1973.

Bork's recollection of his role in the Saturday Night Massacre that culminated in Cox's firing is at the center of his slim memoir, "Saving Justice," that is being published posthumously by Encounter Books. Bork died in December at age 85.

Bork writes that he didn't know if Nixon actually, though mistakenly, believed he still had the political clout to get someone confirmed to the Supreme Court or was just trying to secure Bork's continued loyalty as his administration crumbled in the Watergate scandal.

President Ronald Reagan nominated Bork to the high court in 1987. The nomination failed in the Senate.

Bork describes a surreal time in Washington as the Watergate scandal began to consume the government and the country, and a sense of paranoia prevailed.

Bork says that soon after his arrival in Washington in 1973, White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig tried to persuade him to resign as Solicitor General to become Nixon's chief defense lawyer. Bork sought out his good friend Alexander Bickel to discuss the offer. Rather than talk inside Bork's home in McLean, Virginia, they walked along a dark, semi-rural road so that no one would overhear them. Bork turned down the offer.

When Bork and Attorney General Eliot Richardson were called to the Oval Office to discuss plans to indict Vice President Spiro Agnew, the two men ducked into a restroom where Richardson turned on all the faucets so their conversation would not be picked up by electronic eavesdropping.

Most details about Bork's role on the tumultuous evening of October 20, 1973, immortalized as the Saturday Night Massacre, are well known.

Nixon ordered Richardson to fire Cox over the prosecutor's subpoena of White House tapes. Richardson resigned rather than carry out the order. The next in line, William Ruckelshaus, refused to fire Cox and was himself fired.

That left Bork, whose main job was arguing in front of the Supreme Court and who also was the third-ranking Justice Department official. Bork says his initial inclination was to fire Cox and then resign so as not to be seen as a White House toady. He says Richardson and Ruckelshaus encouraged him to stay on for the good of the Justice Department.

In the end, Bork served as acting Attorney General until January 1974, and stayed on as Solicitor General until January 1977. Nixon resigned in August 1974.

After Richardson and Ruckelshaus refused to carry out Nixon's order, the White House sent a car to the Justice Department to fetch Bork.

He met the car outside the department and found Nixon lawyers Leonard Garment and Fred Buzhardt in the passenger seats. Bork says he joked that he felt like he was being taken for a ride, as in a scene from a gangster movie, but that no one else laughed.

Shortly after he sent Cox a two-paragraph letter, he was taken in to see Nixon. Bork says the resignation and firings should have been called "The Saturday Night Involuntary Manslaughter" because Nixon didn't plan the episode, but blundered into it.

It was in that conversation that Bork says Nixon for the first and only time offered up the next Supreme Court seat.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-25-Bork-Posthumous%20Book/id-a281412f9ebd48fb985b27fc7abdacd4

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Akamai Raises the Bar for Web Security with Enhancements to Kona ...

Cloud-Based Solutions Apply Protections at the Network Edge; Adds Greater Intelligence, Flexibility and Simplicity to Fighting Web Attacks. Akamai? Technologies, Inc., the leading cloud platform for delivering secure, high-performing user experiences to any device, anywhere, has unveiled several feature upgrades to the company?s Kona Site Defender web security solution.

Akamai^? Technologies, Inc., the leading cloud platform for delivering secure, high-performing user experiences to any device, anywhere, has unveiled several feature upgrades to the company?s Kona Site Defender web security solution. The enhancements are designed to add greater intelligence, flexibility and simplicity to the defense of web site and application attacks, giving businesses the tools to help organizations of all types better protect web sites and applications from an ever changing threat landscape.

Included in the new version of Kona Site Defender are upgraded Web Application Firewall (WAF) capabilities and network layer controls, new user validation capabilities and improved configuration and automation tools that speed both initial deployment and response time to changing attacks. Further, Akamai has developed Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and other modifications to Kona Site Defender. These are designed to make the technology easier to use by Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP) as well as to facilitate tighter integration with existing on-premises security technology.

Kona Site Defender is an always-on cloud-based web security solution designed to protect an enterprise?s most critical online business functions against attacks that can result in millions of dollars in lost transactions and business productivity each year, and even greater harm to brand value and reputation. Using the Akamai Intelligent Platform^? as its foundation, the solution offers highly flexible and scalable protection ? that does not negatively impact performance ? to customers against a variety of attack vectors including DDoS, as well as web application attacks such as SQL injection, Cross Site Scripting and others.

Enhancements to Kona Site Defender include:

- Akamai Common Rules: ?In addition to the baseline WAF security offered by the OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS), organizations can now benefit from the extended security offered by the newly introduced Akamai Common Rules set. Each time the Akamai threat intelligence team experiences a new attack tool or a new version of an existing attack tool used against the platform, the company develops a rule to counter the attack. These rules are uniquely available to Akamai customers. To date, Akamai has developed and implemented rules to counter attacks such as LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon) and HOIC (High Orbit Ion Cannon), among others.

- New Rate Control Capabilities: To help determine if anomalous traffic is being generated by users accessing the Internet from behind a proxy server and if that traffic is legitimate or malicious, Kona Site Defender features upgraded rate control capabilities. For example, IP addresses that might previously have been flagged as being the source of malicious content based on request volume can now easily be identified as a web proxy. This increased security intelligence is designed to enable customers to make better decisions about which traffic to block and which traffic to let through to their sites or web applications. Improved protection against slow-moving DDoS attack vectors better allows customers to fight ?resource starvation? attacks that bring down sites and applications by tying up CPU power versus simply flooding with massive traffic levels.

- User Validation Capabilities: New to Kona Site Defender, the user validation module provides a way to better understand who or what is generating traffic aimed at your web site or web application. If traffic is identified as potentially malicious, the browser is redirected to a JavaScript confirmation page. If the browser passes, the client request is further processed.? The user validation module helps reduce an enterprise?s exposure to machine-based attacks.

- Cloud Security Intelligence: The massive scale of the Akamai Intelligent Platform gives the company tremendous visibility into emerging attack vectors and other malicious activity that can negatively impact organizations doing business online. The intelligence derived from the processing and analysis of aggregated security data is designed to make Akamai services simpler, more automated and more efficient.

- Site Assessment and WAF Rule Update Services: To help identify potential site vulnerabilities and develop appropriate web security strategies, organizations can now engage with Akamai security experts for web site scanning and analysis. This one time professional services engagement is intended to provide customers with a deeper understanding of potential exposure to attack and options for mitigating risk. In addition, customers now can work with Akamai?s professional services organization for ongoing WAF rules updating and tuning.

- APIs and MSSP Flexibility: Understanding that customers may wish to use Kona Site Defender in conjunction with existing on-premises appliances or through relationships with MSSPs, Akamai is developing APIs and other modifications intended to ease integration with these environments. The APIs will enable on-premises security controls to tightly integrate with the DDoS mitigation functionalities delivered by Kona Site Defender. The ability for MSSPs to include Kona Site Defender in their portfolio of supported technology gives customers greater choice in how they deploy and take the best advantage of the solution according to their unique requirements.

?The threat landscape is constantly evolving and web security professionals need a solution that can keep pace with the array of challenges they face every day,? explained John Summers, vice president, Security Business, Akamai. ?Customers that have deployed Kona Site Defender have been able to deal effectively with these new adversaries, new tools and new attacks. Mitigating the Operation Ababil attacks that began in September 2012?is just one example of our success.?

Kona Site Defender is part of the Akamai Kona Security Solutions family. Akamai customers across industries are using Kona Security Solutions to better protect their valuable web sites and web applications by extending the security perimeter outside the data-center and to provide protection from the increasing frequency, scale and sophistication of web attacks. To date, 27 of the Fortune 100, 37 of the Internet Retailer 100 (including 10 of the top 20) and 27 of the Mobile 100 use Kona Security Solutions to protect their online businesses.

For more information about Kona Security Solutions please visit http://www.akamai.com/html/solutions/kona-solutions.html.

About Akamai
Akamai^? is the leading cloud platform for helping enterprises provide secure, high-performing user experiences on any device, anywhere.? At the core of the Company?s solutions is the Akamai Intelligent Platform? providing extensive reach, coupled with unmatched reliability, security, visibility and expertise.? Akamai removes the complexities of connecting the increasingly mobile world, supporting 24/7 consumer demand, and enabling enterprises to securely leverage the cloud.? To learn more about how Akamai is accelerating the pace of innovation in a hyperconnected world, please visit www.akamai.com or blogs.akamai.com, and follow @Akamai on Twitter.

Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
This release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai?s management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, failure of Akamai services to operate as expected or to address intended market needs, a failure of Akamai?s network infrastructure, and other factors that are discussed in Akamai?s Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.

Contact: Rob Morton, Media Relations, 617-444-3641, rmorton@akamai.com

Source: http://www.webhostmagazine.com/2013/02/akamai-raises-the-bar-for-web-security-with-enhancements-to-kona-site-defender/

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Barnes & Noble chair wants to buy retail business

FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012, file photo, the exterior of a Barnes & Noble bookstore is seen in Salem, N.H. Barnes & Noble. Leonard Riggio, chairman of Barnes & Noble, disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday morning Feb. 25, 2013, that he wants to acquire the company's stores and website, but not the business that makes the Nook e-reader or the company's college bookstores. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012, file photo, the exterior of a Barnes & Noble bookstore is seen in Salem, N.H. Barnes & Noble. Leonard Riggio, chairman of Barnes & Noble, disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday morning Feb. 25, 2013, that he wants to acquire the company's stores and website, but not the business that makes the Nook e-reader or the company's college bookstores. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

FILE - In a Feb. 26, 2008 file photo Leonard Riggio, chairman of Barnes & Noble, is seen in New Orleans. Riggio disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday morning Feb. 25, 2013, that he wants to acquire the company's stores and website, but not the business that makes the Nook e-reader or the company's college bookstores. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The last remaining national bookstore chain is being taken off the shelf and dusted off for sale.

Barnes & Noble's founder Leonard Riggio disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday that he wants to acquire the company's stores and website, but not the business that makes the Nook e-reader or the company's college bookstores. No price was disclosed.

It's the latest attempt by a company founder to take back control of all or part of a company he started. Best Buy's co-founder Richard Schulze is mulling a bid for the electronics retailer, and Michael Dell earlier this month announced a $24.4 billion deal to take the namesake computer company he founded private.

The deals are a way for executives to exert more control over companies without the need to run everything by shareholders. In all of these cases, the founders have devoted decades to the businesses, and the companies are struggling to survive in a changing retail landscape.

"When you've got control outside public eye or public market, you can invest and translate your strategy at your own pace," said Peter Wahlstrom, analyst at Morningstar. "It's him believing he can run it better by himself without the distraction of the digital side. He believes the brand has value that's not being recognized by investors."

Barnes & Noble, based in New York, has been struggling to find its place as more readers have shifted to electronic books and competition has grown from discount stores and online competitors. The company, which has 689 bookstores in 50 states and 674 college bookstores, has been trying to avoid the fate of its former rival Borders Group, which did not adapt to the growing threat of the Internet and e-books and went out of business in 2011.

Technically, Riggio, who is chairman of the chain, didn't found the original Barnes & Noble store in New York when it opened in 1917. But he bought the store and brand name in the 1970s. Under his leadership, Barnes & Noble became a one of the pioneers of the "big box" format in which national chains would set up large stores that offer a wide selection of merchandise under one roof.

The company also pioneered bookselling in general. In 1975 it began offering 40 percent off New York Times best sellers, which was then unheard of in the bookselling business.

Throughout the 1980s, the company expanded through acquisitions. It bought B Dalton Bookseller in 1987 and BookStop in 1989. Then it went public in 1993 and established its Web site in 1997.

But the company was hurt by Internet retailers like Amazon.com and discounters such as Wal-Mart and Costco expanding their book selections. Barnes & Noble has been proactive, investing heavily in its Nook e-book readers and a digital library. It struck a deal with Microsoft last April to create a Nook subsidiary. But the Nook faces competition from other devices like Apple's iPad Mini, Amazon's Kindle and Google's Nexus tablet.

And the unit is far from profitable. Earlier this month, the company said it expects Nook media revenue of less than $3 billion in fiscal 2013. It also anticipates a loss for the unit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to exceed the $262 million loss recorded in its 2012 fiscal year.

This follows a report from the retailer in January that its Nook unit revenue fell 12.6 percent to $311 million during the critical holiday period. Overall sales during the holiday period fell 10.9 percent at bookstores and online compared with a year ago. Barnes & Noble is scheduled to report third-quarter results Thursday.

Barnes & Noble bookstores, though, have been profitable even though they're facing falling sales. The company has broadened its offerings in stores and sells more high-margin games, educational toys and other non-book items to improve results.

In its fiscal second recent quarter ended Oct. 27, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the retail segment ? which includes the stores and the Web site that Riggio wants to buy ? doubled to $28 million, helped by selling higher margin products. Revenue from that segment fell 3 percent to $996 million. Overall, the company's net income totaled $2.2 million, up from a prior-year loss of $6.6 million. Revenue was nearly flat at $1.88 billion.

Monday's filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said that Riggio, who is Barnes & Noble's largest shareholder with nearly 30 percent of the company's shares, will seek to negotiate a price with the company's board and pay for the deal with cash and debt. Riggio is making the offer in order to facilitate the company's review of its strategic options for separating its Nook business, according to the filing.

Barnes & Noble said the offer will be considered by a committee of three independent directors. But there is no set timetable for the process.

Morningstar's Wahlstrom said the deal makes sense considering the retail side of the business has been overshadowed by investments needed for the Nook business. He added that the move by Riggio was not unexpected: His large stake in the company ? and history with it ? would likely make finding extra financing the company needs easier.

"Riggio feels like he can run it better than just about anyone else, and with four decades of operating history there's not much reason to believe that he can't," he said.

On the news, Barnes & Noble shares rose $1.55, or about 11.5 percent, to close at $15.06. Its shares have traded in a 52-week range of $10.45 in mid-April to $26 later that same month.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-25-Barnes%20and%20Noble-Chairman/id-7e5855dce80c429e9f209f33dbafe02d

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Marijuana gardeners seek help with tough weed

Ed Andrieski / AP

Instructor Ted Smith, left, shows Ginger and Heath Grider how to cut and plant a section of a tomato plant during class at THC University at the Tivoli in Denver.

By Kristen Wyatt and Nicholas K. Geranios, Associated Press

It may be called weed, but marijuana is legendarily hard to grow.

Now that the drug has been made legal in Washington and Colorado, growers face a dilemma. State-sanctioned gardening coaches can help folks cultivate tomatoes or zucchini, but both states have instructed them not to show people the best way to grow marijuana. The situation is similar in more than a dozen additional states that allow people to grow the drug with medical permission.

That's leaving some would-be marijuana gardeners looking to the private sector for help raising the temperamental plant.

"We can't go there," said Brian Clark, a spokesman for Washington State University in Pullman, which runs the state's extension services for gardening and agriculture. "It violates federal law, and we are a federally funded organization."

The issue came up because people are starting to ask master gardeners for help in growing cannabis, Clark said. Master gardeners are volunteers who work through state university systems to provide horticultural tips in their communities.

Related: Colorado, Washington approve recreational marijuana use

The situation is the same in Colorado, where Colorado State University in Fort Collins recently added a marijuana policy to its extension office, warning that any employee who provides growing assistance acts outside the scope of his or her job and "assumes personal liability for such action."

The growing predicament is just the latest quandary for these states that last year flouted federal drug law by removing criminal penalties for adults over 21 with small amounts of pot. In Washington, home-growing is banned, but it will be legal to grow pot commercially once state officials establish rules and regulations.

In Colorado, adults are allowed to grow up to six marijuana plants in their own homes, so long as they're in a locked location out of public view.

At least two Colorado entrepreneurs are taking advantage of that aspect of the law; they're offering growing classes that have attracted wannabe professional growers, current users looking to save money by growing their own pot and a few baby boomers who haven't grown pot in decades and don't feel comfortable going to a marijuana dispensary.

"We've been doing this on our own, but I wanted to learn to grow better," said Ginger Grinder, a medical marijuana patient from Portales, N.M., who drove to Denver for a "Marijuana 101" class she saw advertised online.

Grinder, a stay-at-home mom who suffers from lupus and fibromyalgia, joined about 20 other students earlier this month for a daylong crash course in growing the finicky marijuana plant.

Taught in a rented room at a public university, the course had students practicing on tomato plants because pot is prohibited on campus. The group took notes on fertilizer and fancy hydroponic growing systems, and snipped pieces of tomato plants to practice cloning, a common practice for nascent pot growers to start raising weed from a "mother" marijuana plant.

Related: Recreational marijuana users could get pot from vending machines, company says

Ted Smith, a longtime instructor at an indoor gardening shop, led the class, and warned these gardeners that their task won't be easy. Marijuana is fickle, he said. It's prone to mildews and molds, picky about temperature and pH level, intolerant to tap water.

A precise schedule is also a must, Smith warned, with set light and dark cycles and watering at the same time each day. Unlike many house plants, Smith warned, marijuana left alone for a long weekend can curl and die.

"Just like the military ... they need to know when they're getting their water and chow," Smith said of the plants.

The class was the brainchild of Matt Jones, a 24-year-old Web developer who wanted to get into the marijuana business without raising or selling it himself. As a teenager, Jones once tried to grow pot himself in empty Home Depot paint buckets. He used tap water and overwatered, and the marijuana wilted and died.

"It was a disaster," he recalled. Jones organized the class and an online "THC University" for home growers, but his own thumb isn't green. Jones said he'll be buying his marijuana from professional growers.

The course showed would-be grower Cael Nodd, a 34-year-old stagehand in Denver, that marijuana gardening can be an intimidating prospect.

"It seems like there's going to be a sizable investment," he said. "I want something that really tastes good. Doesn't seem like it will be that easy."

? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/25/17086518-marijuana-gardeners-seek-help-with-tough-weed?lite

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Join the Engadget HD Podcast live on Ustream at 8:30PM ET

Two in a row, that was a good run, but it's over as once again we are off our regularly scheduled time for the Engadget HD podcast. Hopefully this later time still works for you, as we don't know how we can go on recording without you at at 8:30PM tonight. If it does still work for you go ahead and get ready by reviewing the list of topics after the break, then you'll be ready to participate in the live chat.

Filed under: HD

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/2TQEEAe31mU/

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2013 Oscar Winners: 'Lincoln' And 'Argo' Among The Big Winners

The 85th annual Academy Awards were held Sunday and it was a big night for "Argo," "Lincoln," and "Les Miserables."

"Lincoln" began the night with the most Academy Awards nominations. The film, which starred Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln, was up for 12 awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director. Close behind was "Life of Pi," with 11 nominations.

"Argo" took home the award for Best Picture, with Daniel Day-Lewis winning Best Actor for "Lincoln."

Seth MacFarlane hosted the 2013 Oscars at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre. The awards show, held on Feb. 24, included performances by Adele and Barbra Streisand.

More information about winners and performances can be found in the live blog below the following gallery.

A list of Oscar Winners from the 2013 Academy Awards, courtesy of THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.

1. Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained."

2. Animated Short Film: "Paperman."

3. Animated Feature Film: "Brave."

4. Cinematography: "Life of Pi."

5. Visual Effects: "Life of Pi."

6. Costume: "Anna Karenina."

7. Makeup and Hairstyling: "Les Miserables."

8. Live Action Short Film: "Curfew."

9. Documentary (short subject): "Inocente."

10. Documentary: "Searching For Sugar Man."

11. Foreign Language Film: "Amour."

12. Sound Mixing: "Les Miserables."

13. Sound Editing (TIE): "Skyfall," "Zero Dark Thirty."

14. Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables."

15. Editing: "Argo."

16. Production Design: "Lincoln."

17. Score: "Life of Pi."

18. Song: Adele, "Skyfall."

19. Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio, "Argo."

20. Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, "Django Unchained."

21. Director: Ang Lee, "Life of Pi."

22. Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook."

23. Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln."

24. Picture: "Argo."

• Best Picture

  "Argo"

• Best Picture

  "Lincoln"

• Best Picture

  "Amour"

• Best Picture

  "Zero Dark Thirty"

• Best Picture

  "Silver Linings Playbook"

• Best Picture

  "Les Miserables"

• Best Picture

  "Life of Pi"

• Best Picture

  "Django Unchained"

• Best Picture

  "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

• Best Actor

  Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln"

• Best Actor

  Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"

• Best Actor

  Hugh Jackman, "Les Miserables"

• Best Actor

  Denzel Washington, "Flight"

• Best Actor

  Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"

• Best Actress

  Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"

• Best Actress

  Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"

• Best Actress

  Naomi Watts, "The Impossible"

• Best Actress

  Quvenzhane Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

• Best Actress

  Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"

• Best Supporting Actor

  Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln"

• Best Supporting Actor

  Robert De Niro, "Silver Linings Notebook"

• Best Supporting Actor

  Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"

• Best Supporting Actor

  Alan Arkin, "Argo"

• Best Supporting Actor

  Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained"

• Best Supporting Actress

  Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"

• Best Supporting Actress

  Sally Field, "Lincoln"

• Best Supporting Actress

  Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"

• Best Supporting Actress

  Amy Adams, "The Master"

• Best Supporting Actress

  Jacki Weaver, "Silver Linings Playbook"

• Best Director

  Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln"

• Best Director

  David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"

• Best Director

  Ang Lee, "Life of Pi"

• Best Director

  Michael Haneke, "Amour"

• Best Director

  Behn Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

• Best Animated Feature Film

  "Brave"

• Best Animated Feature Film

  "Frankenweenie"

• Best Animated Feature Film

  "ParaNorman"

• Best Animated Feature Film

  "The Pirates! Band of Misfits"

• Best Animated Feature Film

  "Wreck-It Ralph"

That's all from the Oscars 2013 live blog here at HuffPost Entertainment! Hope you enjoyed the show. This is Christopher Rosen, signing off.

From backstage at the Oscars:

When did you feel a tipping point in your favor for this film?

Clooney: Michelle Obama.

Ben: When they gave us the trophies I was confident that we would win. I don?t get too much into the Oscar-ology and the pontificating. It doesn?t help me to read up on that stuff.

Backstage at the Oscars with Daniel Day-Lewis:

Was it uncomfortable wearing the beard?

What do you mean? No it's just a beard. Do you wear your hair? It was my very own beard.

From HuffPost Los Angeles correspondent Sasha Bronner:

"A bad word. That starts with F."

Here's Awards Daily blogger Sasha Stone just after "Argo" won Best Picture.

@ AwardsDaily : See, I told you Argo was Crash incarnate. Won the same amount of awards even.

Here's Sasha Stone on "Argo" back in October:

Have you ever seen a movie where you walk out saying, ?That was just a great f--king movie?? That?s Ben Affleck?s Argo. Inexplicably, a film that draws its strength from humor and suspense, winds up being more moving the second time through. Perhaps because once you have been through the suspense part of it you get to know the characters better and therefore care about their outcomes more.

@ LouLumenick : Affleck: Oscar winner to laughingstock to Oscar winner. You can't make these things up.

@ m1keh0gan : Tommy Lee Jones told me Seth MacFarlane was "hilarious." His favorite part? "I Saw Your Boobs." #notkidding

?It?s a strange thing, because three years ago, before we decided to do a straight swap, I had actually been committed to play Margaret Thatcher, um...? he joked. ?And Meryl was, was Steven?s first choice for ?Lincoln.? And I?d like to see that version. And Steven didn?t have to persuade me to play Lincoln, but I had to persuade him that, perhaps, if I was going to do it, that Lincoln shouldn?t be a musical.?

More on Daniel Day-Lewis' Oscar speech here.

The 85th annual Oscars gave audiences plenty to talk about -- from host Seth MacFarlane's "rejected"-but-still-definitely-included "We Saw Your Boobs" number to William Shatner's comment that the Academy should have asked Amy Poehler and Tina Fey to host. (Are they really hosting next year? Don't play with our emotions that way.)

More here from HuffPost Women.

Need to make sense of the Oscars? We've got you covered. From the WHOA to the EEK to the OH NO!, we've rounded up the night's brightest highlights. Because nobody should be the odd man out at the water cooler.

Seth MacFarlane opened the night with a Tommy Lee Jones joke (remember Mr Grumpy Cat?). "The quest to make Tommy Lee Jones laugh starts now," quipped the host. So ...

Look at Oscar night in GIFs by clicking here.

The 85th annual Academy Awards took a moment Sunday evening to honor a number of late Hollywood greats. The memoriam nodded to an extraordinary group, including Nora Ephron and Richard Zanuck. However, one actor was noticeably absent from the list.

Andy Griffith wasn't mentioned in the Oscars' In Memoriam segment. More here.

@ brooksbarnesNYT : Reporter to Jennifer Lawrence, "Are you worried about peaking too soon?" She makes a face and pauses. "Well, now I am!"

From HuffPost Women:

We learned a few things: Seth MacFarlane likes boobs. Seth MacFarlane thinks eating disorders are funny. And Seth MacFarlane's one-liners would make the worst pick-up lines ever.

More here on Seth MacFarlane's Oscar night.

Pretty great. David Rothschild, who spearheaded our Oscars Prediction Dashboard weighs in:

This is a spectacular result ? The Oscars are always billed as ?unpredictable? and that is especially true down the line for the more obscure categories ? 19 out of 24 correct is a testament to scientific predictions

More on the Oscars tie that occurred in the Best Sound Editing category:

Although it is rare, Oscars ties have happened before.

In 1932, Frederic March won the Best Actor award for "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and tied with Wallace Beery for "The Champ" because Beery only beat him by one single vote, Slate notes. The rules allowed for a one vote difference to be called a tie back then, while today it must be the exact same.

Relive the most awkward moment of Jennifer Lawrence's life:

More on Michelle Obama's Oscar appearance:

"[These films] taught us that love can beat all odds," Obama said. "They reminded us that we can overcome any obstacle if we dig deep enough and fight hard enough and find the courage within ourselves."

The 2013 Oscars are over. "Life of PI" led with four wins, including Best Director for Ang Lee. "Argo" and "Les Miserables" had three wins. "Django Unchained" and "Lincoln" earned two.

@ kateyrich : Poor Bradley Cooper, knowing they pre-wrote a musical number about how he's a loser.

Seth MacFarlane and Kristen Chenoweth sing a song about the losers at the Oscars. Surely this will go over well in the room.

"Argo," Ang Lee, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jennifer Lawrence, Christoph Waltz and Anne Hathaway were 2013 Oscar winners. Here's the full list.

Affleck, who was snubbed for Best Director, gives a long but thoughtful acceptance speech. More on the historic "Argo" Oscar win here:

The 2013 Academy Award for Best Picture was awarded to Hollywood's favorite film: "Argo." Oscar looked good in Ben Affleck's hand, especially as the star was notably snubbed in the Best Directing category.

He thanks Ben Affleck, who directed a "helluva film." He then introduces Affleck.

"Thank you very, very much." Affleck acknowledges Steven Spielberg and the other films.

Michelle Obama announces "Argo" as Best Picture.

Jack knows better than to mess with Michelle Obama.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/2013-oscar-winners_n_2718798.html

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India orders probe into Finmeccanica copter deal

FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2005 file photo, former Indian Air Force chief Shashi Tyagi listens to a question during a press conference at a military air base on the outskirts of Srinagar, India. The country's top investigative agency is looking into the role Tyagi played in a US$750 million helicopter contract marred by reports of bribery. Tyagi and three of his cousins are among 11 people and two companies at the center of a preliminary inquiry announced Monday, Feb. 25, 2013 by the Central Bureau of Investigation. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2005 file photo, former Indian Air Force chief Shashi Tyagi listens to a question during a press conference at a military air base on the outskirts of Srinagar, India. The country's top investigative agency is looking into the role Tyagi played in a US$750 million helicopter contract marred by reports of bribery. Tyagi and three of his cousins are among 11 people and two companies at the center of a preliminary inquiry announced Monday, Feb. 25, 2013 by the Central Bureau of Investigation. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

NEW DELHI (AP) ? India's top investigative agency is looking into the role a former air force chief played in a $750 million helicopter contract marred by reports of bribery.

Shashi Tyagi and three of his cousins are among 11 people and two companies at the center of a preliminary inquiry announced Monday by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The CBI, India's equivalent of the FBI, is investigating whether kickbacks were paid to steer the contract to Italian defense group Finmeccanica's helicopter division, AgustaWestland.

The inquiry is based on documents that Indian investigators received from Italian authorities following the arrest two weeks ago of Giuseppe Orsi, the CEO of Finmeccanica, in Italy on charges that the company paid bribes in India. Orsi, who has been jailed, denies wrongdoing.

Italian authorities placed AgustaWestland chief Bruno Spagnolini under house arrest.

The inquiry is the first formal step by Indian investigators into allegations that bribes clinched the purchase of 12 helicopters two years ago. India's defense ministry received three of the helicopters in December but has placed the rest of the contract on hold.

The ministry has threatened to cancel the deal unless Finmeccanica gives assurances that no bribes were paid.

People to be questioned by the bureau include Tyagi, his cousins, Orsi and Spagnolini. Tyagi, who led the air force from 2005 until his retirement in 2007, has said he is innocent.

The agency said it would also investigate allegations that three middlemen channeled illegal payments through Tunisia and Mauritius to two India-based companies. Those companies and two Indian men associated with them also are under investigation.

Only after the agency completes questioning the suspects and gathering evidence can it pursue criminal cases.

India is expected to spend $80 billion over the next 10 years to upgrade its military. It has become the world's top arms and defense equipment buyer in recent years due to its concerns about China's growing power in the region and its traditional rivalry with neighbor Pakistan.

Arms deals in India have often been mired in controversy, with allegations that companies have paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to Indian officials to procure lucrative contracts.

In the 1980s, then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's government collapsed over charges that Swedish gun manufacturer Bofors AB paid bribes to supply Howitzer field guns to the Indian army.

Following the Bofors scandal, India banned middlemen in all defense deals.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-26-India-Finmeccanica/id-aeb746c4715647f7a106b347a599d637

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Microsoft posts Dev Center app for Windows Phone, tops 130,000 total apps

Despite launching the Windows Phone Dev Center months ago, Microsoft hasn't provided an option to run the dashboard on Windows Phone itself. The company is at last introducing some logical consistency (and recursion) by launching a Windows Phone version of its Windows Phone developer console. The app lets registered creators track downloads, crashes and feedback without turning to a computer, and a Live Tile can sometimes save the trouble of launching the app in the first place. Having the Dev Center always on hand may be increasingly necessary, based on Microsoft's own figures -- the Windows Phone Store is up to about 130,000 apps, or 10,000 more than it had in December. That's not quite the breakneck pace of other mobile stores, but it's quick enough to justify hitting the download link.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft

Comments

Via: Windows Phone Developer Blog, TechCrunch

Source: Windows Phone Store

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/25/microsoft-posts-windows-phone-dev-center-app-for-windows-phone/

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BT buys ESPN UK and Ireland, waves goodbye to ESPN Classic

BT's got far more important things to do than fill in the gaps in its fiber broadband coverage, like blowing around £10 million ($15 million) on buying ESPN's UK and Ireland channels from Disney. BT is trying to compete with Sky on sporting rights, and needs a channel to broadcast 38 Premier League games a year for the next three years -- which cost the phone company £738 million ($1.1 billion). At the same time, ESPN is shuttering ESPN Classic, the satellite channel dedicated to showing classic sporting events free of charge. Broadly speaking, BT just knows how to brighten our Mondays.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Via: The Guardian

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/25/bt-buys-espn-uk-and-ireland/

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Cinecoup Canadian Idol for filmmakers ? McIntyre's Angel of Death ...

Vancouver
-
Promoter Jason ?J? Joly founder of Cinecoup and CEO of Vancouver-based company Overinteractive Media makes a deal with Cineplex to screen a feature film in all Cineplex theatres across Canada in the fall of 2013.
"Not only that, he?s swung a deal with Cineplex, Canada?s largest chain of cinemas, to show their feature film on any of its 1,437 screens across the country next fall. But the hard sell isn?t an easy sell, as the fast-talking entrepreneur learned in a swing through Montreal on a national tour to launch the CineCoup project."- Montreal Gazette So how will Cinecoup choose the feature film? The CineCoup Film Accelerator is, as Linda McIntyre of PerArdua Productions describes as, the "Canadian Idol for Indie Filmmakers". The basic concept of an accelerator is that a group of serial entrepreneurs, angel investors, and VCs select a group of strong startups to participate in a short, intense period of support, feedback, and mentoring, all designed to help them prove out their business model and get to market. The top entrepreneurs that emerge are capitalized in exchange for equity in the business. What normally would take an entrepreneur one to two years in terms of building their business, the accelerator model accomplishes in under four months. This accelerator concept we realized could be applied to film and was in-part the genesis for CineCoup particularly in identifying true film entrepreneurs. This model is not for everyone, as it is tough-love in nature and is designed to nurture and support the most well rounded filmmakers from a both a creative and entrepreneurial perspective. - Cinecoup So what does this mean for McIntyre and her Cinecoup feature film submission Angel of Death? "Sleepless nights trying to make the February 24 deadline to film, edit and submit the required two minute trailer and all the other things needed to complete the application. Win or lose, Cinecoup's Pitch Boot Camp experience is what I will be taking away from this and applying to my future projects." - Linda McIntyre If Angel of Death is accepted, this could mean more sleepless nights for McIntyre as the competition to increase the social networks' awareness of the project goes into hyper mode. By the April deadline, accepted films must accomplish weekly Cinecoup assignments or marketing missions. These missions are designed to help create the fanbase necessary for the film project to succeed after production. Missions will include creating weekly promotional videos to also help the project gain attention from media and other networks. These tasks are not for the weak of heart. Cinecoup projects must have a minimum of three participants in the team in order to share the workload. While audience support is a key element to success, CineCoup is not a popularity contest. Our performance analytics are designed to reward qualitative engagement over quantitative values by measuring factors such as sentiment, trends, reach and retention achieved across the social web. - Cinecoup If the project manages to get into the Top 50 phase, the completed script must then be finalized for the currently announced April 21th, 2013 deadline. The projects will then be further reduced to the Top 15 which will start the fund raising phase. The Top 5 winners will then be reviewed by a Jury who will vote on the final winner of the $1 million dollar Cinecoup contract. The jury will consider all of the following in their evaluation and decision-making -Strength of the team presentation and interview at the jury. -Overall performance during the Social Selection Funnel and Finalist Slate including filmmaking missions, marketing missions and social voting results. -First draft of project script (submitted to CineCoup during the Top 50 phase) and it?s viability to be produced within CineCoup?s production budget and scheduling constraints. -Marketing pitch (submitted to CineCoup during the Top 50 phase) based on it?s originality, innovation and viability to execute within budget and production schedule. -Crowdfunding campaigns as a measure of the quality of audience engagement, not total value - Cinecoup Submissions for the Cinecoup Film Accelerator end tonight at midnight Eastern time. For more information on Cinecoup go to the Cinecoup Official Website. To find out more Linda McIntyre's project Angel of Death, go to: Angel of Death, Facebook fan page Angel of Death Twitter page

Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/344229

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