Monday, January 28, 2013

Anonymous hijacks federal website to avenge activist's death

2 hrs.

WASHINGTON???The hacker-activist group Anonymous says it hijacked the website of the U.S. Sentencing Commission to avenge the death of Aaron Swartz, an Internet activist who committed suicide. The FBI is investigating.

The website of the commission, an independent agency of the judicial branch (http://www.ussc.gov), was taken over early Saturday and replaced with a message warning that when Swartz killed himself two weeks ago "a line was crossed."

The hackers say they've infiltrated several government computer systems and copied secret information that they now threaten to make public.

Family and friends of Swartz, who helped create Reddit and RSS, say he killed himself after he was hounded by federal prosecutors. Officials say he helped post millions of court documents for free online, and that he illegally downloaded millions of academic articles from an online clearinghouse.

The FBI's Richard McFeely, executive assistant director of the agency's?Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch, said in a statement that "we were aware as soon as it happened and are handling it as a criminal investigation. We are always concerned when someone illegally accesses another person's or government agency's network."

Hours after the hijacking, pages on the USSC.gov website were available only sporadically.

This report was updated by NBC News.

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/anonymous-hijacks-federal-website-protest-activist-aaron-swartzs-death-1C8125283

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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Why gun groups say 'no way' to assault weapons ban

By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

With assault weapons firmly in the crosshairs of state and federal lawmakers, gun-rights groups say they are not willing to give an inch when it comes to restricting access to the weapon of choice in recent mass shootings.

From arguments over what exactly defines an assault weapon to enthusiasts who say the guns are just plain fun to shoot, defenders of assault weapons say President Obama and others are misguided in their focus on banning them.

?I can?t possibly imagine what logic people are following that somehow another law, just one more law, will solve these issues,? said Keith Morgan, president of the West Virginia Citizens Defense League, a pro-gun group.

?People are killed in greater number by cars, bats, hammers, hands, and feet,? he added. ?Examining the tool and attempting to ban the tool will have absolutely no effect. We?re dealing with a people problem. We?ve got to find a people solution.?

AR-15 style rifles are among the most popular guns in America and were used by both accused Aurora movie theater shooter James Holmes and Connecticut gunman Adam Lanza. But gun-rights advocates like Morgan argue that despite the guns? roles in high-profile mass killings, they are used in a relatively small number of homicides.

First Read: Obama set to go big on guns

According to the FBI?s Unified Crime Report for 2011, handguns were used 6,220 of the 12,664 homicides reported. Rifles accounted for 323 homicides, with knives and other unnamed firearms making up most of the rest.

Other gun-rights advocates are willing to entertain a conversation about assault weapons, but they remain dubious.

?If someone can show me how it can save lives, we?ll look at anything,? said Jim Irvine, chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association. He remains unconvinced, however, that an assault weapons ban would have done anything to prevent mass shootings like that in Newtown, Conn.

?I don?t like a bunch of dead kids, so I don?t see why we waste time on stale policies,? Irvine said.

The debate about what works will play out in the halls of Congress as well as state capitals, but also?in American living rooms.

A survey released this week by the Pew Research Center found generous support among most Americans for at least some new controls on guns. The poll found that a majority of the public ? 55 percent ? would favor a ban on assault weapons. That support broke somewhat along party lines, with 69 percent of Democrats and 44 percent of Republicans favoring a legislation restricting assault weapons.

California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York already place some prohibitions on assault weapons.

Support soars for tougher gun laws, surveys show

In California, which has some of the nation?s toughest regulations on assault weapons, the law lists 75 assault weapon types by name, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. California is also one of three states that employ a ?one-feature? test to identify assault weapons, banning all weapons that have one military-style feature, such as a pistol grip or telescoping stock.

Some pro-gun activists, like Paul Valone of Grass Roots North Carolina, dismiss the category of assault weapons entirely.

?It?s relatively easy to circumvent a firearms ban based on cosmetic features. A pistol grip does not change the function of the firearm,? Valone said. ?None of these things make any difference whatsoever.?

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law on Tuesday that tightened the state?s existing ban on assault weapons by applying the one-feature test.

The last federal ban on assault weapons lapsed in 2004. It was criticized by gun control proponents for allowing gun makers to easily circumvent restrictions may making small changes to existing models of rifles. That law required guns to have two military-style features to be considered assault weapons.

Ross Meyer, a manager at Gun World and Archery, a Nevada gun store, said some of his customers buy AR-style weapons for defense ? but many also simply enjoy shooting the guns.

Gun-rights groups: Our 'backs are against the wall'

?A lot of them, it?s just kind of fun to go out and shoot,? said Meyer. His store sold out of the 150 AR-style weapons it had in stock within three days of the shooting in Newtown. ?And then also the high-capacity magazine, that?s fun to have.?

?Semi-autos are just one of the most fun to go out and shoot when it comes to the recreation of it,? Meyer said.

Activists contend that there?s no political gain for them in sitting down at the table to discuss restrictions on assault weapons.

?As a strategic measure, it would be a horrific mistake for Republicans to play this game again,? said Michael Hammond, legislative consultant for Gun Owners of America, a national pro-gun rights group that claims 300,000 members.

Longtime conservative activist Larry Hunter is a co-organizer of Gun Appreciation Day. The day, which Hunter said is intended to promote Second Amendment rights, is scheduled for January 19. Hunter sees any ban on assault weapons as an encroachment on American?s constitutional rights.

?I hope it?s a non-starter,? Hunter said of any new ban on assault weapons. ?But I think the world has changed so dramatically since it was first enacted and then allowed to expire, we have to take very seriously the possibility that they will do something.?

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/16/16544310-why-gun-groups-say-no-way-to-assault-weapons-ban?lite

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Fish Poop Helps Spread Seagrass

To spread and regenerate, an important marine plant depends on animals to eat its seeds and poop them out around the ocean, according to recent research.

Seeds from eelgrass, a type of marine grass found around the world, can survive and germinate after being eaten by three types of fish, one turtle and one type of bird, said Sarah Sumoski, a researcher at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and co-author of a study published recently in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.

It's hard to understate the importance of eelgrass and other seagrasses, which globally can store up to twice as much carbon as the world's temperate and tropical forests, according to a separate study. This is potentially important as humans pump more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Eelgrass meadows, which grow on the ocean floor in shallow waters, also help shelter many different types of fish and crabs, and serve as food for animals as diverse as manatees and ducks, Sumoski told OurAmazingPlanet.

By hitching a ride in these animals' digestive tracts, the grasses' seeds can travel long distances, establishing far-flung seagrass meadows. Sumoski's study found that a type of diving duck called the lesser scaup can transport seeds more than 12 miles (19.5 kilometers); after this journey, the seeds can still sprout, Sumoski said.

This is the first study to show how these seeds fare when eaten by multiple types of animals, said Sumoski. The ability of some of the seeds to sprout after being eaten surprised Sumoski, she said, especially in the case of one fish species, which commonly feed on the grasses and are well equipped to break down plant material.

The study's results will help Sumoski and co-author Robert Orth in their efforts to reintroduce eelgrass to Virginia's coastal bays. In the 1930s, an outbreak of wasting disease and an enormous hurricane virtually wiped out these eelgrass beds, which provide a bedrock for marine life. The environmental impact was so great that bay scallops (a type of shellfish) disappeared; until that time the scallops had supported a significant local fishery. ?

For the last 15 years, Orth and a large group of collaborators have planted eelgrass shoots and millions of seeds throughout the coastal bays. Now, more than 6.6 square miles (17 square km) of lush eelgrass meadows line these bays, according to a release from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The researchers think the fish and other creatures have already helped spread the grasses beyond the areas planted by conservationists. Scientists hope that the animals will continue to spread the meadows in the future.

"Animals consuming seeds in one location and then excreting them in another location where they can germinate is not new," said Matt Harwell, a seagrass ecologist who was not involved in the study. "However, it is a new finding for a seagrass species that is found across much of the world. Understanding population dynamics is very important to understanding the health, longevity, and resilience of a seagrass meadow to stresses, especially since recent estimates suggest that seagrass loss ? globally ? is around 7 percent per year."

Reach Douglas Main at dmain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @Douglas_Main. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter?@OAPlanet. We're also on?Facebook?and Google+.

Copyright 2013 OurAmazingPlanet, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fish-poop-helps-spread-seagrass-175253198.html

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Sunday, January 6, 2013

Solid Business Advice That Works Well For Marketing Via Email ...

Many people would like to build their business through marketing via email, but just aren?t sure how to do it. When it comes to marketing via email, there are many things you have available to you that can help build your business as well as your communication with customers. The tips in this article will let you achieve success through the effective use of email promoting.

Make subscribing to your emails easy, but never pressure consumers to do so. Let your customers know what you intend to use their email addresses for and talk to them about the benefits of signing up for your mailing list. If you want success in your campaign, you need to get correct customer information.

You want to make certain your emails include pertinent information, and not just sales talk. Your emails should have a newsletter format, containing information that your readers will appreciate about your business as well as the industry. Filling your emails with only sales pitches will eventually result in annoyed customers and a lot of people unsubscribing from your email list. While the purpose of your newsletters may be to sell products, it is important that you provide interesting information to your customer base.

Use strong subject lines. Because your subject line is the first thing subscribers see in their inboxes, it is important that the subject entices them to read the rest of your message ? so be clever. This is the single most important step in attracting new clients.

It is vital to gain permission from everyone you are going to email before you send any out. If you do, your emails will be viewed as unwelcome solicitations, meaning they won?t be read and will instead be instantly sent to the delete pile. If you send out unsolicited email, it could even hurt your company. Starting by doing things properly can make your efforts appreciated by your readers.

Ensure that you focus your e-mail marketing plans on corresponding with special events and holidays. Make sure you plan your emails with holidays in mind! Develop email campaigns that center around important holidays like Easter and Christmas. Don?t forget to try and grab some extra business by creating special campaigns for times when business is usually slow.

Be sure you have good content in your emails and that it isn?t all a marketing pitch. Make sure that your subscribers receive special articles that are only available via email. Also include exclusive offers on your services or products. Be prepared to offer holiday or birthday greetings, and other special communications, that don?t always appear to be eliciting a purchase.

Before you email a customer, get their permission. When you email your customers without asking them, they may think you are a spammer and not read them. Not only that, but a lot of people will choose to opt-out, which means they will not get anymore emails from you. You also run the risk of violating your ISP policy if you are called a spammer.

Try to enhance your campaigns for marketing via email with not just active feedback, but passive feedback, as well. Active feedback means things like customer opinions or suggestions. Passive feedback is less obvious, or sometimes non-existent, to readers. You could use whatever software and tools you have to determine the links that are clicked on, most of the time.

Marketing emails that are important should not be sent out close to major holidays. People generally don?t spend as much time on the Internet during these major holidays, so they may never open your email, or open it too late to take advantage of your offer. There are obviously exceptions to this rule. Black Friday, for example, is one occasion where a date relevant campaign is warranted.

Use multi-part coding when you send out e-mail marketing messages, in order to grab a larger market share. Including your message in both plain text and HTML format makes your emails readable to anyone. This will keep users happy, no matter what format they prefer to receive emails in.

Use all of the information provided to you when customers subscribe to make their shopping experience much simpler. When a customer clicks on a link from an email the information should be filled in on a purchasing form automatically. This will save the customer some typing and may increase the likelihood of a purchase.

Many businesses would like to get into the arena of marketing with email, but quite a few aren?t sure how to start and what approach to take. Do not underestimate how important Internet marketing is to making a small business successful. Use the tips you just read to develop a great email promoting strategy.

Skype: Shawn.A.Johnson

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Source: http://shawnjohnsoninc.com/solid-business-advice-that-works-well-for-marketing-via-email/

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Friday, January 4, 2013

Arkansas Gets Approval for Health Care Insurance Exchange ...

LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas has been given conditional approval to establish a partnership with the federal government for its insurance exchange under the health care law.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday approved Arkansas' plans to opt for a partnership model of the exchange, in which households and private businesses shop for private coverage. Gov. Mike Beebe opted for the partnership model after Republican lawmakers blocked legislation to set up a state-run exchange in the 2011 session.

In a letter to Beebe, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the state must sign a memorandum of understanding with the federal government on functions of the partnership by Feb. 15.

The partnership option allows states to handle consumer relations and oversight of health plans.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, broadcast or distributed.)

Source: http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/89957/arkansas-gets-approval-for-health-care-insurance-exchange

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Wednesday, January 2, 2013

$100 million legal claim in Newtown school shooting is withdrawn ...

Adrees Latif / REUTERS

A U.S. flag hangs over stockings left as a memorial for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, along a fence surrounding the Sandy Hook Cemetery in Newtown, Conn., on Thursday.

By NBC News staff and wire services

A $100 million legal claim filed against the state of Connecticut in the wake of the deadly Newtown elementary school shooting has been withdrawn for now, local media reported Tuesday.

New Haven, Connecticut-based attorney Irving Pinsky said he dropped the claim because he was evaluating new evidence, according to a report on?CTPost.com.

Pinsky said he did not rule out further legal action, the report said. He did not respond immediately to Reuters requests to comment on the report.

The attorney filed the claim last week on behalf of an unidentified 6-year-old survivor of the Newtown shooting at a primary school that left 20 children and six adults dead on Dec. 14.


The survivor, referred to as Jill Doe, "has sustained emotional and psychological trauma and injury, the nature and extent of which are yet to be determined," the claim said.

State Attorney General George Jepsen on Monday called the claim misguided and said a public policy response by the U.S. Congress and the Connecticut state legislature would be more appropriate than legal action, according to a spokeswoman.

"Our hearts go out to this family, and to all the children and families affected by the Newtown shootings," Jepsen said in a statement. "They deserve a thoughtful and deliberate examination of the causes of this tragedy and of the appropriate public policy responses."

By law, any claim against the state must be approved by the state claims commissioner before it can move forward. The state attorney general serves as the state's defense attorney.

"The Office of the Claims Commissioner is not the appropriate venue for that important and complex discussion," Jepsen said in his statement.

"Although the investigation is still under way, we are aware of no facts or legal theory under which the state of Connecticut should be liable for causing the harms inflicted at Sandy Hook Elementary School," he said.

According to the claim, the unidentified child heard "cursing, screaming, and shooting" over the school intercom when the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Pinsky's claim said the state Board of Education, Department of Education and education commissioner failed to take appropriate steps to protect children from "foreseeable harm" and had failed to provide a "safe school setting."

Pinsky said last week that he was approached by the child's parents within a week of the shooting.

Lanza shot and killed his mother and killed himself as well, police said. The violence has prompted extensive debate about school security, gun control and the suggestion by the National Rifle Association that schools be patrolled by armed guards.

Lanza?s father, Peter, claimed his son's remains on Thursday, and private arrangements were held over the weekend at an undisclosed location, a spokesman for Peter Lanza said.

NBC News staff contributed to this report by Reuters.

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/01/16284171-100-million-legal-claim-in-newtown-school-shooting-is-withdrawn-by-lawyer

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The First Mexico Real Estate Professional License and Degree ...

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In Part 1 of this article, Bea Lozano discussed the antecedents of Mexico real estate licenses, and mentions that Thomas Lloyd, president of TOPMexicoRealEstate, was the first recipient of the new degree and professional license. Here she continues to discuss Thomas? preparation for the exam, as well as the exam content and procedures.

Preparation Course

For Thomas Lloyd, the process of obtaining the new Mexico real estate degree started with a preparation course at La Salle University. The process was new, so universities and organizations did not have a clear understanding of exactly what questions or what areas would be covered in the exams. La Salle offers an 80 hour course, with a diploma. The preparation course at La Salle has a requirement of 3 years of experience.

A general outline had been distributed to the universities such as La Salle, which in turn was distributed to the applicants who had registered and paid their application fees. The diploma course, which included studying the text guidelines, lasted for several months, with classes each weekend, lasting from early in the morning to the late afternoon. In the course we studied various areas of the real estate profession, including marketing, Mexico real estate law, accounting, taxes. The themes covered in the class are as follows:

* To understand the supply and demand factors for real estate products and services.* To know the classifications of property use (in addition to land use regulation of land use)* To know the functions of the sales area.* To understand the methods to acquire the rights of the property* To know the stages of testamentary and non-testamentary succession* Understand the classification of contracts for various real estate transactions* Understand the concepts of Internal Rate of Return, present value and future value.

The application of the exam

The day before the exam, Thomas travelled to Cancun to relax. He stayed in a hotel across the street from where the exams were applied, and turned in quite early to be rested and fresh for the next morning.

Apart from what had been studied in the preparation course, the exam also included administration, economy, and finances, among other aspects of Mexico real estate. The exam had a time limit of five hours, and consisted of 177 multiple choice questions divided into 8 sections. Breaks were allowed, under clear restrictions and conditions, following the official exam guidelines. The exam was administered in strict accordance with guidelines in order to ensure that the questions were not revealed prior to the exam date to ensure formality and professionalism.

There were 16 cities throughout Mexico where the exam was applied; Morelia, Cancun Mazatlan, Zacatecas, Puebla, Cuernavaca, Veracruz, Cd. Juarez, Tijuana, Toluca, Guadalajara, Mexico City, the metropolitan area, Queretero, Puerto Vallarta, Monterrey. Likewise, the exam was applied in every city simultaneously, coordinated to have the exams distributed at the same hour, for the same reasons mentioned above.

Continued in Part 3

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Source: http://rawbusinesslaw.com/2013/01/02/the-first-mexico-real-estate-professional-license-and-degree-part-ii-real-estate-property-investment-2/

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Tuesday, January 1, 2013

LG's latest Smart TVs to include NFC and Miracast compatibility

Android Central

Not content with waiting until next week to unveil CES bound products, LG has pulled the wraps off some of their latest Smart TV's. We already know that LG is taking some new Google TV hardware to Las Vegas, but these TV sets aren't those. But, despite lacking a direct Android connection, they still give us cause for interest. 

Android Central @ CES

The new LG Cinema 3D range includes this rather handsome looking edge-to-edge display, but there's a couple of standout features included. The new TVs will come with NFC compatibility, and Miracast. The sets will come with an NFC sticker that makes it easy to pair with an NFC capable smartphone, allowing for hassle free pairing and streaming of content from your mobile devices.

And that streaming will include the use of Miracast technology. While still in its infancy, it's still great to see LG including the technology in their new TV sets. After all, they did make the Nexus 4.

via Pocket-Lint 



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/QphqKHAvVjM/story01.htm

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Just how deep do you believe? Would you bite the hand that feeds? (Unqualified Offerings)

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To Increase Productivity, Remember the "Two C's"

To Increase Productivity, Remember the "Two C's"Are you often left scratching your head after a long day wondering, "what did I even get done today?" You're not alone. As designer and writer Josh Long explains, you can get rid of this feeling by upping two things in your daily life: constraints and concentration.

The Critical Three

The best way to get your best work done is to spend as much uninterrupted time as possible working at your craft. As much as we love doing a lot of things for as many people as possible, that fact is that we only have enough time in a day to do three things. It's our job to identify our three critical tasks and balance them with the time people need to feel "taken care of."

Loading your to-do list with twenty-five tasks usually leads to none of them getting fully done. When it comes to getting things done, pace is the trick. We have to slow down and carefully work through our daily challenges in order to produce good work. We can't do that if twenty-five things are battling for our attention.

Set Constraints Ahead of Time

It's always best to be honest with the people we serve and set constraints ahead of time, otherwise Parkinson's Law (tasks will fill the time we allot for them) will kick in and we'll automatically fill all of our time with mundane conversation and back-and-forth emails. If you set parameters upfront, you'lll be surprised how focused time constraints can make you. People will respect you more and you'll be "shipping" things at the end of the day.

If you allow instant access to your time, you will inevitably be interrupted. You'll open yourself up for 2 hour meetings that could have been handled in a quick message. You'll end up chasing rabbit trails that lead to hour-long conversations about things completely unrelated to your work. Have you ever known a salesperson that only spent one hour a day selling? How about that manager in your office who's entire job rests on how busy they can look? Check around. They're everywhere.

Concentration

Concentration is a funny concept. There are many variables involved that can alter the amount of focus that we have at any moment. If we're not inspired to do what we need to do, we leave space in between for distraction. If we leave our computer reminders or alerts on, we have to take the time to remember where we left off, which usually takes about fifteen minutes on average each time we get interrupted.

Saying "No"

The one thing that everyone benefits from is the value created when we're all doing our best work. The biggest hindrance to doing our best work is interruption and lack of focus. I've found that the hardest thing about conducting yourself as a professional isn't about the things you do, it's about the things you don't do.

Put in other words, it's about what you say "no" to. The better you get at your work, the more you'll have people asking you to do things for them. Understand your own value and say "no" if a task or project is not a good fit for you.

Conclusion

Effective productivity happens when we align our passions with purpose, and we are concrete about removing interruption. In order to get things done we have to set time constraints to hold us in, and identify the three critical tasks we have for a particular day in order to maximize and streamline our focus. Without constraints, there can never be any real work getting done.

Productivity is About Constraints and Concentration | Treehouse Blog


Josh Long is a designer & writer. He's the editor at Treehouse and author of Execute. He also co-hosts the Happy Monday Podcast with Sarah Parmenter. Follow him on Twitter @joshlong.

Want to see your work on Lifehacker? Email Tessa.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/6YwRH0URwv4/to-increase-productivity-remember-the-two-cs

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