Amazon Instant Video Suffered Long, Unexplained Outage Last Night

At the end of last year, Netflix suffered a prolonged outage because Amazon’s cloud services, which Netflix uses to host most of its infrastructure, went down. At the time, Amazon’s own video services continued to function without any issues. Last night, it was Amazon’s turn own to suffer from a multi-hour outage. According to a number of tips we received, as well as a number of reports on Twitter and other social networks, Amazon’s Instant Video service and Prime Instant Video went down sometime in the late afternoon yesterday and remained offline for a large part of the evening. So far, Amazon hasn’t publicly acknowledge last night’s outage and its @amazonvideo account has remained silent since the first reports came in. Amazon Web Services, which powers Amazon’s Video Services, continued to work without issues last night. One of our readers provided us with a boilerplate email he received from Amazon last night after he complained about the outage: Hello, We’re sorry for the trouble you had while trying to connect to Amazon Instant Video. If you try again, you should be able to connect without encountering further problems. We look forward to seeing you again soon. We have contacted Amazon for more details about this outage and will update this post once we hear back from them. Hey @AmazonVideo maybe mention VOD is down right now. It's nice when the marketing tweets come with useful info between them.— Ry4an Brase (@Ry4an) March 30, 2013 Seriously, I get emails from @amazon every day, you'd think they could use one of those to let us know why @AmazonVideo is down.— Aaron Gardner (@Aaron_RS) March 30, 2013 @amazonvideo #fail. A little notice of when you're going to do maintenance would be nice. I expect a credit, or will cancel Amazon Prime.—   (@djdeedle) March 30, 2013

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/vz80E6istSo/

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White House takes North Korea's threats seriously

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The White House said Saturday it is taking seriously new threats by North Korea but also noted Pyongyang's history of "bellicose rhetoric."

North Korea warned Seoul on Saturday that the Korean Peninsula had entered "a state of war." It also threatened to shut down a border factory complex that is the last major symbol of cooperation between the Koreas.

"We've seen reports of a new and unconstructive statement from North Korea. We take these threats seriously and remain in close contact with our South Korean allies," said Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council. "But, we would also note that North Korea has a long history of bellicose rhetoric and threats, and today's announcement follows that familiar pattern."

North Korea's threats are seen as part of an effort to provoke the new government in Seoul to change its policies toward Pyongyang, and to win diplomatic talks with Washington that could get it more aid. The moves also are seen as ways to build domestic unity as North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong Un, strengthens his military credentials.

In recent days, the U.S. flew a pair of nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers over an uninhabited South Korean island, dropping dummy munitions as part of annual defense drills that North Korea views as rehearsals for an invasion. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel also announced that the U.S. will fortify its defenses against a potential North Korean missile attack on the U.S. by adding more than a dozen missile interceptors to the 26 already in place at Fort Greely, Alaska.

North Korea said in a statement Saturday that it would deal with South Korea according to "wartime regulations" and would retaliate against any provocations by the U.S. and South Korea without notice.

"Now that the revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK have entered into an actual military action, the inter-Korean relations have naturally entered the state of war," said the statement, which was carried by the official North Korean news agency and referred to the country by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Provocations "will not be limited to a local war, but develop into an all-out war, a nuclear war," the statement said.

The White House has stressed the U.S. government's capability and willingness to defend itself and its allies and interests in the region, if necessary.

"We remain fully prepared and capable of defending and protecting the United States and our allies," Hayden said.

___

Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-30-US-Koreas-Tension-White-House/id-a73573bc8dd448c8badbdf8fa51e7686

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PHOTO: Snooki Shows Off Her Post-Baby Body!

See photos of Snooki's beach ready body! Check out other cute and candid moments from the stars

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/celebrity-twitter-pictures/1-b-229669?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Acelebrity-twitter-pictures-229669

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Kenya Supreme Court upholds election result

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? Kenya's Supreme Court on Saturday upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as the country's next president, ending an election season that riveted the nation amid fears of a repeat of the 2007-08 postelection violence.

Outside the Supreme Court in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, police fired tear gas at supporters of losing candidate, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the second time that has happened in this post-election period.

Outbreaks of violence by angry Odinga supporters were reported in some Nairobi slums and truckloads of police were called in to quell the demonstrations, according to reports on a police radio heard by an Associated Press reporter.

Jubilant Kenyatta supporters flooded the streets of downtown Nairobi, honking horns, blowing noisy plastic horns and chanting.

Saturday's verdict ? following a drawn-out court case that raised tensions across the nation ? means that Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's first president, will be sworn in as president on April 9. He will become the second sitting president in Africa to face charges at the International Criminal Court. Kenyatta and Deputy President-elect William Ruto both face charges that they helped orchestrate the 2007-08 postelection violence in which more than 1,000 people died. Both deny the charges. Ruto's trial is set to begin in late May; Kenyatta's is to start in July. Kenyatta has promised to report to The Hague.

Lawyers for challenger Odinga, who finished second, had argued before the Supreme Court that the election was marred by irregularities and that Kenyatta did not win enough votes to avoid a runoff election. According to official results, Kenyatta won 50.07 percent of the vote, narrowly avoiding a runoff election against Odinga, who said his case before the Supreme Court would put Kenya's democracy on trial.

But the Supreme Court's unanimous verdict, read out by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, said the election was "conducted in compliance with the constitution and the law" and that Kenyatta and Ruto were legally elected.

"It is the decision of the court that (Kenyatta and Ruto) were validly elected," the ruling said. The reasons behind the judges' decision were not given Saturday. The chief justice said a detailed judgment would be delivered within two weeks.

George Oraro, the lawyer who argued Odinga's case before the court, said he respected the Supreme Court's decision.

"I've done my job and the court has done its job and I think Kenya has won. It has seen what the court process can do," Oraro said.

Unlike after the 2007 election, which degenerated into tribe-on-tribe violence that killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than 500,000 villagers, this time Odinga said he had faith in the judiciary's ability to give him a fair hearing. Odinga, who said he would respect the court's decision whether it favored him or not, was set to address reporters in Nairobi later on Saturday.

The court's ruling ended days of anxiety since March 9, when Kenyatta was declared the winner of the March 4 vote that many described as the most complex in Kenya's history. More than 12 million Kenyans participated in the election. Some observers had expected a low registration of voters because of apathy following the 2007-08 violence, but campaigns by Kenyatta, Odinga and other presidential candidates led to the highest registration in the country ever. Kenya's electoral commission registered 14.3 million people.

Election day, though, did not go as planned. An electronic voter ID system intended to prevent fraud failed for reasons yet to be explained by the electoral commission. Vote officials instead used manual voter rolls.

After the polls closed, results were to be sent electronically to Nairobi, where officials would quickly tabulate a preliminary vote count in order to maximize transparency after rigging accusations following the 2007 vote. But that system failed, too. Election officials have indicated that computer servers were overloaded but have yet to fully explain the problem.

As the early count system was still being used, election results showed more than 330,000 rejected ballots, an unusually high number. But after the count resumed with the arrival in Nairobi of manual tallies, the number of rejected ballots was greatly reduced, and the election commission said the computer was mistakenly multiplying the number of rejected ballots by a factor of eight.

Odinga's lawyers told the Supreme Court this week that the switch from electronic voter identification to manual voter roll was contrived to allow inflation of Kenyatta's votes to take him past the 50 percent threshold. That accusation was vehemently denied by the electoral commission and Kenyatta's legal team.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kenya-supreme-court-upholds-election-result-141537773.html

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It's a bird, it's plane...no, it's a drone

WASHINGTON (AP) ? It's a good bet that in the not-so-distant future aerial drones will be part of Americans' everyday lives, performing countless useful functions.

A far cry from the killing machines whose missiles incinerate terrorists, these generally small, unmanned aircraft will help farmers more precisely apply water and pesticides to crops, saving money and reducing environmental impacts. They'll help police departments find missing people, reconstruct traffic accidents and act as lookouts for SWAT teams. They'll alert authorities to people stranded on rooftops by hurricanes and monitor evacuation flows.

Real estate agents will use them to film videos of properties and surrounding neighborhoods. States will use them to inspect bridges, roads and dams. Oil companies will use them to monitor pipelines, while power companies use them to monitor transmission lines.

With military budgets shrinking, drone makers have been counting on the civilian market to spur the industry's growth. But there's an ironic threat to that hope: Success on the battlefield may contain the seeds of trouble for the more benign uses of drones at home.

The civilian unmanned aircraft industry worries that it will be grounded before it can really take off because of fear among the public that the technology will be misused. Also problematic is a delay in the issuance of government safety regulations that are needed before drones can gain broad access to U.S. skies.

Some companies that make drones or supply support equipment and services say the uncertainty has caused them to put U.S. expansion plans on hold, and they are looking overseas for new markets.

"Our lack of success in educating the public about unmanned aircraft is coming back to bite us," said Robert Fitzgerald, CEO of The BOSH Group of Newport News, Va., which provides support services to drone users.

"The U.S. has been at the lead of this technology a long time," he said. "If our government holds back this technology, there's the freedom to move elsewhere ... and all of a sudden these things will be flying everywhere else and competing with us."

Since January, drone-related legislation has been introduced in more than 30 states, largely in response to privacy concerns. Many of the bills are focused on preventing police from using drones for broad public surveillance, as well as targeting individuals for surveillance without sufficient grounds to believe they were involved in crimes.

Law enforcement is expected to be one of the bigger initial markets for civilian drones. Last month, the FBI used drones to maintain continuous surveillance of a bunker in Alabama where a 5-year-old boy was being held hostage.

In Virginia, the state General Assembly passed a bill that would place a two-year moratorium on the use of drones by state and local law enforcement. The measure is supported by groups as varied as the American Civil Liberties Union on the left and the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation on the right.

Gov. Bob McDonnell is proposing amendments that would retain the broad ban on spy drones but allow specific exemptions when lives are in danger, such as for search-and rescue operations. The legislature reconvenes on April 3 to consider the amendments.

"Any legislation that restricts the use of this kind of capability to serve the public is putting the public at risk," said Steve Gitlin, vice president of AeroVironment, a leading maker of smaller drones, including some no bigger than a hummingbird

Seattle abandoned its drone program after community protests in February. The city's police department had purchased two drones through a federal grant without consulting the city council.

Drones "clearly have so much potential for saving lives, and it's a darn shame we're having to go through this right now," said Stephen Ingley, executive director of the Airborne Law Enforcement Association. "It's frustrating."

In some states economic concerns have trumped public unease. In Oklahoma, an anti-drone bill was shelved at the request of Republican Gov. Mary Fallin, who was concerned it might hinder growth of the state's drone industry. The North Dakota state Senate killed a drone bill in part because of concern that it might impede the state's chances of being selected by the Federal Aviation Administration as one of six national drone test sites, which could generate local jobs.

A bill that would have limited the ability of state and local governments to use drones died in the Washington legislature. The measure was opposed by The Boeing Co., which employs more than 80,000 workers in the state and which has a subsidiary, Insitu, that's a leading military drone manufacturer.

Although the Supreme Court has not dealt directly with drones, it has OK'd aerial surveillance without warrants in drug cases in which officers in a plane or helicopter spotted marijuana plants growing on a suspect's property. But in a case involving the use of ground-based equipment, the court said police generally need a warrant before using a thermal imaging device to detect hot spots in a home that might indicate that marijuana plants are being grown there.

In Congress, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., co-chairman of the House's privacy caucus, has introduced a bill that prohibits the Federal Aviation Administration from issuing drone licenses unless the applicant provides a statement explaining who will operate the drone, where it will be flown, what kind of data will be collected, how the data will be used, whether the information will be sold to third parties and the period for which the information will be retained.

Sentiment for curbing domestic drone use has brought the left and right together perhaps more than any other recent issue. "The thought of government drones buzzing overhead and constantly monitoring the activities of law-abiding citizens runs contrary to the notion of what it means to live in a free society," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said at a recent hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Privacy advocates acknowledge the many good uses of drones. In Mesa County, Colo., for example, an annual landfill survey using manned aircraft cost about $10,000. The county recently performed the same survey using a drone for about $200.

But drones' virtues can also make them dangerous, they say. Their low cost and ease of use may encourage police and others to conduct the kind of continuous or intrusive surveillance that might otherwise be impractical. Drones can be equipped with high-powered cameras and listening devices, and infrared cameras that can see people in the dark.

"High-rise buildings, security fences or even the walls of a building are not barriers to increasingly common drone technology," Amie Stepanovich, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Council's surveillance project, told the Senate panel.

Civilian drone use is limited to government agencies and public universities that have received a few hundred permits from the FAA. A law passed by Congress last year requires the FAA to open U.S. skies to widespread drone flights by 2015, but the agency is behind schedule and it's doubtful it will meet that deadline. Lawmakers and industry officials have complained for years about the FAA's slow progress.

The FAA estimates that within five years of gaining broader access about 7,500 civilian drones will be in use.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., recently drew attention to the domestic use of drones when he staged a Senate filibuster, demanding to know whether the president has authority to use weaponized drones to kill Americans on American soil. The White House said no, if the person isn't engaged in combat. But industry officials worry that the episode could temporarily set back civilian drone use.

"The opposition has become very loud," said Gitlin of AeroVironment, "but we are confident that over time the benefits of these solutions (drones) are going to far outweigh the concerns, and they'll become part of normal life in the future."

___

Associated Press writer Michael Felberbaum in Richmond, Va., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/drone-industry-worries-privacy-backlash-070658841--finance.html

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Former US soldier accused of fighting with al Qaeda group in Syria

via YouTube

Video of US Army veteran Eric Harroun filming militants celebrating a crashed helicopter was cited in the FBI affadavit. This clip has not been edited or verified by NBC News.

By Ian Johnston, Staff Writer, NBC News

A former U.S. soldier has been charged with fighting with an al Qaeda group in Syria after allegedly posting photographs of himself posing with military hardware on the internet, officials said in a statement.

Eric Harroun, 30, of Phoenix, Ariz., was accused of using a rocket-propelled grenade while fighting with the al-Nusrah Front, an alias of al Qaeda in Iraq, according to a statement issued on Thursday by the U.S. Attorney?s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia.

?Harroun, a U.S. citizen who served with the U. S. Army from 2000 to 2003, was charged by criminal complaint with conspiring to use a destructive device outside of the United States, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, if convicted,? the statement said.

?According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Harroun allegedly crossed into Syria in January 2013 and fought with members of the al-Nusrah Front against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria,? it added. ?The affidavit alleges that Harroun was trained to use an RPG by members of the terrorist organization and that he fired an RPG and posted online multiple photographs of himself carrying or posing with RPGs and other military weapons.?

?Harroun allegedly participated in attacks led by the al-Nusrah Front and was part of an RPG team, for which he carried anti-personnel and anti-armor rockets,? it said.

600 terrorist attacks
Al Qaeda in Iraq has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization since October 2004.

?The al-Nusrah Front is one of several aliases used by the 'al Qa?ida in Iraq' terrorist organization, and since November 2011 the group has claimed responsibility for nearly 600 terrorist attacks in Syria,? the statement said.

U.S. officials have called for Assad to step down in Syria and have offered non-lethal support to the rebels, but there is concern about militant groups like al Qaeda affiliates fighting alongside other rebel forces.

Israel fears al Qaeda elements will establish themselves close to the border and threaten to fire chemical weapons and long-range rockets captured from the Syrian army into Israel.

The statement said Harroun appeared in a federal court in Alexandria, Va., Thursday.

Harroun was arrested on Wednesday upon returning to the United States at an airport outside Washington, Reuters said. He has a hearing scheduled for Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

He was medically discharged from the army after being injured in a car accident, according to an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint, Reuters reported.

The criminal charge of "conspiring to use a destructive device outside of the United States" carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Harroun appeared in two videos that indicated he was engaged in military action with rebel forces against the Syrian government, Reuters reported. In one video, he said: "Bashar al-Assad, your days are numbered. ... Where(ever) you go we will find you and kill you," according to the affidavit.

In March, the FBI conducted three voluntary interviews of Harroun at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, during which he stated that he wanted to fight with the Free Syrian Army against the Assad regime, the affidavit added.

Harroun allegedly told the FBI that during his fighting in Syria he shot about 10 people but did not know whether he killed any of them, the affidavit said, according to Reuters. He also said he hated al Qaeda and did not know any al Qaeda members, the affidavit said. On Wednesday in the United States, the FBI conducted another voluntary interview during which Harroun allegedly said that he knew the al-Nusrah Front had been designated a terrorist organization, according to the affidavit.

The U.S. Attorney's office said a lawyer would be appointed for Harroun, Reuters reported.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Exhibit of Jews in Germany raises interest, ire

BERLIN (AP) ? "Are there still Jews in Germany?" ''Are the Jews a chosen people?"

Nearly 70 years after the Holocaust, there is no more sensitive an issue in German life as the role of Jews. With fewer than 200,000 Jews among Germany's 82 million people, few Germans born after World War II know any Jews or much about them.

To help educate postwar generations, an exhibit at the Jewish Museum features a Jewish man or woman seated inside a glass box for two hours a day through August to answer visitors' questions about Jews and Jewish life. The base of the box asks: "Are there still Jews in Germany?"

"A lot of our visitors don't know any Jews and have questions they want to ask," museum official Tina Luedecke said. "With this exhibition we offer an opportunity for those people to know more about Jews and Jewish life."

But not everybody thinks putting a Jew on display is the best way to build understanding and mutual respect.

Since the exhibit ? "The Whole Truth, everything you wanted to know about Jews" ? opened this month, the "Jew in the Box," as it is popularly known, has drawn sharp criticism within the Jewish community ? especially in the city where the Nazis orchestrated the slaughter of 6 million Jews until Adolf Hitler's defeat in 1945.

"Why don't they give him a banana and a glass of water, turn up the heat and make the Jew feel really cozy in his glass box," prominent Berlin Jewish community figure Stephan Kramer told The Associated Press. "They actually asked me if I wanted to participate. But I told them I'm not available."

The exhibit is reminiscent of Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann sitting in a glass booth at the 1961 trial in Israel which led to his execution. And it's certainly more provocative than British actress Tilda Swinton sleeping in a glass box at a recent performance at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Eran Levy, an Israeli who has lived in Berlin for years, was horrified by the idea of presenting a Jew as a museum piece, even if to answer Germans' questions about Jewish life.

"It's a horrible thing to do ? completely degrading and not helpful," he said. "The Jewish Museum absolutely missed the point if they wanted to do anything to improve the relations between Germans and Jews."

But several of the volunteers, including both German Jews and Israelis living in Berlin, said the experience in the box is little different from what they go through as Jews living in the country that produced the Nazis.

"With so few of us, you almost inevitably feel like an exhibition piece," volunteer Leeor Englander said. "Once you've been 'outed' as a Jew, you always have to be the expert and answer all questions regarding anything related to religion, Israel, the Holocaust and so on."

Museum curator Miriam Goldmann, who is Jewish, believes the exhibit's provocative "in your face" approach is the best way to overcome the emotional barriers and deal with a subject that remains painful for both Jews and non-Jews.

"We wanted to provoke, that's true, and some people may find the show outrageous or objectionable," Goldmann said. "But that's fine by us."

The provocative style is evident in other parts of the special exhibition, including some that openly raise many stereotypes of Jews widespread not only in Germany but elsewhere in Europe.

One includes a placard that asks "how you recognize a Jew?" It's next to an assortment of yarmulkes, black hats and women's hair covers hanging from the ceiling on thin threads. Another asks if Jews consider themselves the chosen people. It includes a poem by Jewish author Leonard Fein: "How odd of God to choose the Jews. But how on earth could we refuse?"

Yet another invites visitors to express their opinion to such questions as "are Jews particularly good looking, influential, intelligent, animal loving or business savvy?"

Despite the criticisms, the "Jew in the Box" has proven a big hit among visitors.

"I asked him about the feelings he has for his country and what he thinks about the conflict with Palestine, if he ever visited Palestine," visitor Panka Chirer-Geyer said. "I have Jewish roots and I've been to Palestine and realized how difficult it was there. I could not even mention that I have Jewish roots."

On a recent day this week, several visitors kept returning to ask questions of Ido Porat, a 33-year-old Israeli seated on a white bench with a pink cushion.

One woman wanted to know what to bring her hosts for a Shabbat dinner in Israel. Another asked why only Jewish men and not women wear yarmulkes. A third inquired about Judaism and homosexuality.

"I guess I should ask you about the relationship between Germans and Jews," visitor Diemut Poppen said to Porat. "We Germans have so many insecurities when it comes to Jews."

Viola Mohaupt-Zitfin, 53, asked if Porat felt welcome as a Jew living among Germans "considering our past and all that."

Yes, Porat said, Germany is a good place to live, even as a Jew. But the country could do even more to come to terms with its Nazi past, he added. He advised the would-be traveler that anything is permissible to bring to a Shabbat dinner as long as it's not pork.

"I feel a bit like an animal in the zoo, but in reality that's what it's like being a Jew in Germany," Porat said. "You are a very interesting object to most people here."

Dekel Peretz, one of the volunteers in the glass box, said many Germans have an image of Jews that is far removed from the reality of contemporary Jewish life.

"They associate Jews with the Holocaust and the Nazi era," he said. "Jews don't have a history before or after. In Germany, Jews have been stereotyped as victims. It is important that people here get to know Jews to see that Jews are alive and that we have individual histories. I hope that this exhibit can help."

Still, not everyone believes this is the best way to promote understanding.

Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal from the Jewish Chabad community in Berlin said Germans who are really interested in Jews and Judaism should visit the community's educational center.

"Here Jews will be happy to answer questions without sitting in a glass box," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exhibit-jews-germany-raises-interest-ire-135713125.html

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Documents show Arizona gunman's father had taken away his shotgun

By Brad Poole

TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - The father of the man who wounded former U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in a 2011 mass shooting told police that before the rampage he had taken a shotgun from his mentally disturbed son and locked it in the trunk of a car, investigators said in documents released on Wednesday.

The release of the records by the sheriff's office that responded to the attack comes just over four months after 24-year-old college dropout Jared Lee Loughner was sentenced to life in prison for the rampage that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including Giffords.

Giffords, who with her husband is campaigning for universal background checks for all gun buyers and curbs on military-type assault weapons, said in a statement that the documents demonstrate the mentally disturbed Loughner "should never have had access to a gun."

The more than 2,700 pages of documents released by the Pima County Sheriff's Department includes transcripts of witness accounts, calls to emergency responders and case reports from the dozens of detectives and officers who responded to the shooting.

The papers also detailed an interview detectives had with Loughner's parents, Randy and Amy Loughner, that revealed details of their son's troubled mental state prior to the shooting.

Randy Loughner told investigators that after learning from Pima Community College that his son was suspended amid concerns about his mental health, the father took away a shotgun owned by Loughner, according to an account in one of the police reports released on Wednesday.

"After school officials talked to them, Randy took Jared's shotgun and placed it in the trunk of a car which was located in his garage," the report from investigators stated.

Randy Loughner told investigators his son had shown signs of being distraught and angry, the police report said. He had also taken to writing in notebooks, later found in his bedroom in his parents' suburban home, using a code they could not decipher.

Court-appointed psychologists later found Loughner to be suffering from schizophrenia, and said he was delusional. His father told investigators he tried to talk to his son about his fears that the college police were after him."

"But, I tried to talk to him. But you can't ... he wouldn't communicate with me no more," he told a detective the day of the January 8, 2011 shooting outside a Tucson supermarket.

Amy Loughner also told investigators about Loughner's mental problems and that she observed him talking to himself and making "all kinds of noises," a police report said. Investigators spoke to the parents at their home the day of the rampage.

Anthony Kuck, an acquaintance of Loughner's, told investigators his companion was on a "downhill slope" after an episode of alcohol poisoning in high school and got increasingly antagonistic about government in general.

Kuck recalled no specific animosity toward Giffords. Three weeks before the shooting, Loughner showed up at Kuck's apartment brandishing a gun.

"I kicked him out of my house, because he showed me his gun. I did not care to see that. I did not want to know. I didn't," Kuck said. "I was like, 'Why the hell do you have this?' He's all, 'Protection.'"

Kuck then tried to convince Loughner it was unwise to have a gun. "He obviously didn't listen to me," Kuck said.

'HE PAUSED BRIEFLY AND FIRED'

Giffords left Congress in 2012 to focus on her recovery from the head wound from a bullet fired by Loughner. Her former district director, Ron Barber, ran for her seat and is now a U.S. Representative.

The document trove also held a chilling account of the shooting by Mark Kimble, an aide to Giffords who is now Barber's communications director, who was standing next to her when Loughner opened fire.

Kimble recalled hearing gunshots, then a man running toward him and Giffords. He could not describe the man to investigators, other than to recall that he had his head covered with a hoodie or hat.

"He paused briefly and fired at the congresswoman, the district director, and anyone else who happened to be in the area," Kimble said a few hours after the shooting.

Kimble escaped harm by ducking to the ground behind a concrete pillar, he said.

Loughner committed the shooting with a Glock handgun he purchased legally, police said at the time.

Since leaving Congress, Giffords and husband Mark Kelly have formed a lobbying group called Americans for Responsible Solutions to focus on gun-control issues.

A representative for the National Rifle Association could not be reached for comment.

(Additional reporting by David Schwartz in Phoenix, Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis, editing by G Crosse, Kevin Gray, Bernard Orr and Philip Barbara)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/documents-show-arizona-gunmans-father-had-taken-away-020209062.html

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A Brilliant Toilet Paper Dispenser To Leave Crapping Campers Clean and Hassle-Free

Camping purists may prefer to eschew traditional toilet paper in favor of nature's very own brand of sticks and leaves, but to the untrained eye, becoming one with Mother Earth might might leave a lasting, painful reminder on those tender, poison-ivy-scrubbed nether regions. So for those of us who aren't quite ready to give up all the comforts of home, students at the Alberta College of Art and Design have put together this clever, waterproof toilet paper dispenser to make outdoor defecating a delight. More »

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Western environmentalists oppose wolf delisting

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) ? Western environmental groups say they're alarmed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a plan to end federal protections for gray wolves in vast areas where the animals no longer exist.

The groups say ending federal protections would keep wolves from expanding their range back into states that could support them, including Colorado and California.

"As a matter of principle, I just think it's wrong," said Jay Tutchton, a Colorado lawyer with the group WildEarth Guardians.

Tutchton's group has sued over recent action to end federal protections for wolves in Wyoming. Wolves in most of the "Cowboy State" are classified as unprotected predators and scores have been killed since federal protections ended last fall.

"The Endangered Species Act was designed to protect species, including in places where they no longer reside," Tutchton said. "You were supposed to try to recover them, not throw in the towel."

The Fish and Wildlife Service could announce as soon as this spring whether it will propose a blanket delisting of wolves in most of the lower 48 states. Wolves in the Northern Rockies and around the Great Lakes, where reintroduced populations are well-established, are already off the Endangered Species List.

Chris Tollefson, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington, DC, said Tuesday that the agency hasn't made any decision yet whether it will propose the blanket delisting. An agency report last year proposed dropping wolves from the endangered list in most areas where they're known not to live.

Even if the Fish and Wildlife Service ends federal protections, Tollefson said states would be free to cultivate their own wolf populations. "It's fair to say that there wouldn't be a prohibition, it would simply be left to the states to determine how to manage wolves in their boundaries," he said.

Tollefson said his agency regards the wolf recovery efforts in the Great Lakes states and Northern Rockies as enormous successes.

"Our view, and that of the biological community is that those populations are thriving and no longer require the protections of the Endangered Species Act," Tollefson said. "Obviously, we'll be discussing other areas as we move forward on that."

The prospect of the national delisting has prompted members of Congress on both sides of the issue to lobby the Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe.

Seventy-two members of Congress, most of them Republicans, signed the most recent letter to Ashe on Friday urging him to go through with the delisting. Another group of scores of congressmen wrote to Ashe earlier this month urging him to reject the delisting idea.

"Unmanaged wolves are devastating to livestock and indigenous wildlife," the members of Congress, led by Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and others, wrote to Ashe last week. "Currently state wildlife officials have their hands tied any time wolves are involved."

Lummis said Tuesday that the letter was intended to celebrate the successful recovery of wolves.

"I know some will wring their hands over a delisting, but for the life of me I don't understand why they don't throw a party instead," Lummis stated. "In most suitable habitat, and in states that strongly objected to their presence initially, the wolf is here to stay. For some that is a bitter pill to swallow, for others it's not enough, but the bottom line is there are wolves where there once were none, and everyone but the most litigious among us seem ready to move on."

Bob Brister, wildlife campaign coordinator for the Utah Environmental Congress in Salt Lake City, has been campaigning to restore wolves to Utah, where he said they were extirpated in the 1930s.

Brister said the effect of delisting wolves in Utah and elsewhere where they currently don't exist would be to preclude their ultimate recovery back into their historic range. He noted that wolves are hunted heavily in the Wyoming, Utah and Montana and that states can't be counted on to provide the protections new populations would need to survive.

"It's especially dire here in Utah, because we depend on wolves migrating from Wyoming and Idaho to restore wolves here in Utah," Brister said. "And when they're being hunted so intensely in Wyoming and Idaho, it greatly decreases the possibility of wolves migrating into Utah."

Erik Molvar executive director of the Bioldiversity Conservation Alliance in Laramie, Wyo., also noted that Wyoming, Idaho and Montana allow substantial wolf hunting. He said delisting wolves across the rest of the Lower 48, "would seem to be a very unwise move, given the tenuous status of wolf populations in this area."

Molvar, whose group also is challenging the recent delisting of wolves in Wyoming, said it's clear there are other areas of the West that could support wolf populations.

"It certainly is true that there are places in Colorado, particularly Rocky Mountain National Park, where elk are so overpopulated that they're becoming a nuisance, that wolves are one of the few options to restore the natural balance," Molvar said.

Tutchton said his group and others are likely to fight the sweeping delisting effort.

"I'm very sure that if wolves were delisted in Colorado, we would want to sue. If wolves get delisted in Oklahoma, I don't know. That might be a different question," Tutchton said. "There are some places where wolves would be quite viable."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/western-environmentalists-oppose-wolf-delisting-195957935.html

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Boston mayor to announce he won't seek re-election

BOSTON (AP) ? Boston's longest-serving mayor, Thomas Menino, will formally announce that he won't be seeking re-election for a sixth term.

The popular Democratic mayor planned an announcement for 4 p.m. Thursday at Faneuil Hall.

A person with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed Menino's decision not to see re-election in November to The Associated Press on Wednesday. The person wasn't authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The 70-year-old was re-elected to a fifth four-year term in 2009. He has recently faced a series of health problems but has remained popular with voters.

Menino was hospitalized for eight weeks in the fall after a respiratory infection and a blood clot that was complicated by a spinal fracture and diabetes.

His decision not to run for office again is expected to trigger a political scramble to replace him as a new generation of political figures eye the mayor's office.

City Councilor John Connolly announced his mayoral intentions last month, regardless of Menino's decision. But Menino had been considered a heavy favorite had he opted to run.

As recently as January, Menino delivered an upbeat assessment of the city during his annual state of the city address.

Menino used a cane to walk to the podium and spoke vigorously about his plans for Boston. At the time, Menino gave no indication of whether he'd decided to seek a sixth term this year.

"Our progress is real. Our future is bright. The state of our city is striking, sound and strong," he said in prepared remarks that cited progress on economic development and crime reduction.

On Tuesday, Menino appeared at a rally at Boston City Hall plaza to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The previous day, he delivered a speech to the Boston Municipal Research Bureau in which he said he had never been more confident about the city and announced several new development projects and initiatives.

Menino became acting mayor after his predecessor, Raymond Flynn, left office in 1993 after being named ambassador to the Vatican. Menino, then president of the City Council, was automatically elevated to the mayor's job.

The circumstances prompted some critics to label him the "accidental mayor," a charge the sometimes-thin-skinned Menino was quick to reject. But he was elected mayor in his own right in November 1993 and won re-election by wide margins in 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2009.

The city's previous longest serving mayor, the late Kevin White, was in office for four terms, from 1968 to 1984.

Menino's longevity also exceeded the legendary Mayor James Michael Curley, who also served four terms, but not consecutively.

Menino built his reputation by focusing on the unglamorous nuts and bolts of running a major metropolitan city ? fixing potholes, cleaning streets, even curbing the practice of saving a shoveled-out parking space by putting folding chairs or trash cans along the curb.

It's everyday commitments like those that earned him the nickname of the "Urban Mechanic."

The 2004 Democratic National Convention put Menino's political and negotiating skills to the test when the city's main police union threatened to picket over an unresolved contract.

It was only with the last minute help of other politicians, including Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, that a contract was reached in the early morning hours the day before the convention opened in the city.

During his years in office, Menino also became a vigorous national voice in favor of stricter gun control measures.

He co-founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and criticized the National Rifle Association's call for more armed guards at schools after the Connecticut school shooting in December.

"That is crazy," Menino said. "Every victim of gun violence and their families knows that's crazy."

Menino also built a reputation for creating an impressive political machine that handily defeated challengers.

Last year, Menino also played a crucial role in helping elect U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, campaigning with her at stops across the city.

___

Associated Press writer Bob Salsberg contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boston-mayor-announce-wont-seek-election-064142290--election.html

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Some Pebble smartwatches bricking after shutdown, company replacing faulty units

It appears that Pebble's smartwatch is officially feeling its largest growing pain since debuting just two months ago. A five-page long (and growing) thread on the company's forum has some owners describing a bug that's leaving their Pebbles pebbled bricked after shutdown. Pebble's Eric Migicovsky let us know that is actively replacing affected units, while examining those being sent in to find out the root cause:

We've had reports of this issue, and we understand of course that it's annoying for users. We're replacing any Pebbles for users who report this issue. We're reviewing the Pebbles that get returned, working to get to the bottom of the issue. We have our support team ready to follow up to any user that reports this issue.

As it stands, there's no word on whether firmware update 1.9 has any role in keeping the devices from turning on after being shut down. Owners have further reported that no amount of charging their Pebble will help it to actually come back to life. We've reached out to the company for more info on the matter (including nailing down how many units the company has replaced so far), and we'll be sure to keep you updated. For now, let us know whether your experience with Pebble has been rocky at all so far.

Update: That was fast -- apparently Pebble has received about 30 reports of this issue since Friday. Here's the official word from Migicovsky:

We're tracking a few reports of this issue. Up to Friday, we've had 20-30 reports (out of 30,000+ pebbles in the field). We've gotten several back to the office, and we're getting to the bottom of it.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Wearables, Mobile

Comments

Source: Pebble (forum)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/23/pebble-smartwatch-dead-after-shutdown-report-owners/

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One More Thing... tres podcast de audio y dos de v?deo sobre el mundo Apple

Hoy he querido cambiar un poco el contenido de nuestra secci?n One More Thing. Normalmente intentamos hacernos eco de noticias, opiniones o art?culos que otros blogueros de habla hispana hacen sobre el mundo Apple.

Esta vez quiero cambiar y en lugar de hablar sobre blogs, enlaces interesante a trav?s de Twitter, etc? os quiero mostrar tres podcasts que sigo sobre Apple. Una forma de estar al d?a, conocer las opiniones y descubrir alguna que otra peque?a joya.

Public transportation stretched as hiring picks up

Reuters ? ? ? 15 hrs.

The number of Americans commuting by public transportation rose to the second highest level on record last year, as more people returned to work, according to an annual survey released by the leading U.S. transit association on Monday.

The growth in ridership would have been even stronger, if Superstorm Sandy had not stranded people and shut down transit along the East Coast, where public transportation is most concentrated, American Public Transportation Association President Michael Melaniphy said.

Altogether, U.S. transit ridership rose 1.49 percent, with passengers taking 10.52 billion trips on trains, buses and commuter rail in 2012.

The increase was universal across the different modes of transit.

There were 1.42 percent more trips on heavy rail such as subways, 4.47 percent more on light rail, and 0.52 percent more on commuter rail than in 2011. Meanwhile, bus ridership grew 1.2 percent. Some of the light rail rise came from cities expanding or creating lines.

In the final quarter of the year, though, transit use was lower than in the fourth quarter of 2011, a reflection of Superstorm Sandy hitting in the fall. In November, New York and New Jersey, the states struck most by the storm, lost at least 41,600 jobs.

Rising fuel prices and a dislike of traffic contributed to the largest transit ridership since 2008, which was the highest year on records dating back to 1957, Melaniphy said.

Nonetheless, he added, nearly 60 percent of all transit trips are taken by people going to work.

"You can't get people back to work unless you can get them to work," Melaniphy said.

While the U.S. unemployment rate is stuck above the 6.5 percent that most economists consider healthy, it has been dropping for more than a year. The rate ended 2012 at 7.8 percent, well below where it ended 2011, 8.5 percent, according to Labor Department statistics.

The association points to places such as Seattle, Washington, where transit rides rose 11.8 percent over the year as the metropolitan area added more than 30,000 jobs.

At least 15 transit systems experienced record ridership last year, according to APTA. While some were in cities with well-established public transportation, such as Boston, Massachusetts, others were in areas associated more with freeways and commuting by car - namely Riverside and San Bernardino, California.

The question hanging over the industry is whether transit can meet mounting demand. Traditionally, fares only represent part of the agencies' capital and operating budgets, with federal, state and local governments providing a hefty share.

Melaniphy points to voter initiatives to raise taxes for transit that passed last year - 49 out of 62 measures placed on ballots. The association has not seen such a high passage rate for transit funding initiatives since 2000.

Places where Sandy damaged the infrastructure are borrowing to bring transit back on-line. New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which carried 11 million bus and train passengers each day, has approved selling up to $2.5 billion of short-term bond anticipation notes for Sandy costs.

At the same time, the U.S. Congress in 2012 passed a long-awaited authorization for funding surface transportation. It includes loan, financing and grant programs that systems will be able to use for repairs or new equipment. The account, supplied by gas tax revenues used to fund federal transportation, was put off-limits from the $85 billion in spending cuts known as "sequestration."

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/public-transportation-getting-stretched-hiring-picks-1C8780237

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FAA approves Boeing's 787 fix

A Boeing plan to redesign the 787 Dreamliner's fire-plagued lithium-ion batteries won approval Tuesday from the Federal Aviation Administration, moving the cutting-edge planes a step closer to flying passengers again.

The plan includes changes to the internal battery components to minimize the possibility of short-circuiting, which can lead to overheating and cause a fire. Among the changes are better insulation of the battery's eight cells and the addition of a new containment and venting system, the FAA said in a statement.

The FAA statement didn't provide an estimate for when the grounded planes might return to service. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., who was briefed by the agency, said that if all goes well, the FAA could give final approval by mid- to late April for the 787 to resume flight.

Boeing would still have to retrofit the 50 planes already delivered to eight airlines in seven countries, Larsen said in an interview. That could mean the plane wouldn't return to the skies until late April or early May, he said.

First, Boeing's redesigned batteries have to pass a series of 20 separate lab tests, Larsen said, then flight tests would follow.

"If there's any one test that isn't passed, it's back to the drawing board for that particular part of the tests," he said.

So far, test flights of two 787s have been approved ? one with a complete prototype of the new battery, the other with only a new, more robust containment box for the battery, Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said.

The plan is an outline for a recertification of the plane's batteries, the FAA said. The 787 has two identical lithium-ion batteries, one of which is located toward the front of the plane and powers cockpit electrical systems, the other toward the rear and used to start an auxiliary power unit while the plane is on the ground, among other functions.

Every item that is part of an airplane, down to its nuts and bolts, must be certified as safe before FAA approves that type of plane as safe for flight.

The 787 fleet worldwide has been grounded by the FAA and civil aviation authorities in other countries since Jan. 16, following a battery fire on a Dreamliner parked in Boston and a smoking battery that led to the emergency landing of another 787 in Japan.

"This comprehensive series of tests will show us whether the proposed battery improvements will work as designed," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. "We won't allow the plane to return to service unless we're satisfied that the new design ensures the safety of the aircraft and its passengers."

The airliner's troubles have raised concerns that the FAA has ceded too much responsibility for evaluating the safety of new aircraft to manufacturers. To save manpower, the FAA designates employees at aircraft makers and their subcontractors to conduct the safety testing of new planes. Boeing's battery testing concluded that short-circuiting wouldn't lead to a fire and that the chance of a smoke event was one in every 10 million flight hours.

Instead, there were two battery failures when the entire fleet had clocked less than 52,000 flight hours.

The FAA's approval of Boeing's plan "is a critical and welcome milestone toward getting the fleet flying again and continuing to deliver on the promise of the 787," Jim McNerney, the aircraft maker's CEO, said in a statement.

The 787 is Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced plane. Its grounding on Jan. 16, an enormous black eye for Boeing, marked the first time since 1979 that FAA had ordered every plane of a particular type to stay out of the air for safety reasons.

UBS analyst David Strauss estimated that the 787 will cost Boeing $6 billion this year. Besides the battery problems, the plane already costs more to build than it brings in from customers.

United Airlines is the only U.S. carrier with Dreamliners in its fleet. It has six, plus another 44 on order. American and Delta have also ordered 787s. Boeing has orders for more than 800 of the planes from airlines around the globe.

Steven Udvar-Hazy, CEO of Air Lease Corp., which has ordered 12 of the planes, said it could still take months for the plane to fly again and that a very long-term grounding could damage the 787 Dreamliner brand.

"It's important to get the airplane back in the air," Udvar-Hazy said while attending an airplane finance conference in Orlando, Fla. "Every plane has mechanical issues, but this was one that was considered serious by the authorities and I think Boeing has done everything it can to get that under control."

Udvar-Hazy has had weekly updates from Boeing's CEO of commercial airplanes, Ray Conner, and daily conversations with others at the airplane manufacturer. He has then relayed that information to his airline customers around the world.

"Boeing has been very transparent and I think they've made a very concerted effort to address this issue ... to come up with a fix that hopefully is a permanent fix, not just sort of a Band-Aid solution," he said.

Boeing plans to begin test flights within days, Birtel said. The new battery design will be tested on a plane that has been identified elsewhere as being built for LOT Polish Airlines. Boeing also plans to fly a 787 that is used exclusively for testing. That plane has the stronger battery box, and will also be used for unrelated engine tests.

Before the fire on Jan. 7, Boeing shares had closed at $77.69. They closed as low as $73.65 three weeks later, after the planes had been grounded. But the shares have been recovering as anticipation grew for a battery fix. Boeing's gains have outpaced the strong rise in the Dow Jones industrial average, of which Boeing Co. is a member.

On Tuesday, Boeing shares rose $1.22 to close at $84.16, and rose another 28 cents to $84.44 in aftermarket trading.

???

Freed reported from Minneapolis. AP Airline Writer Scott Mayorwitz in Orlando contributed to this report.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/faa-approves-boeing-plan-fix-220605784.html

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Film review: I GIVE IT A YEAR, from Built For Speed

I Give It A Year is the latest film from the Working Title production company who redefined the British rom with movies like Love Actually and Notting Hill. This film, however, takes a noticeably different approach to the standard Working Title flick both in terms of comedy and romance.? Written and directed by Ali G alumnus Dan Mazer, the film has (or at least attempts) a more acerbic, envelope-pushing style of comedy than we might see in a Richard Curtis scripted movie.? Unfortunately, this approach doesn?t entirely gel with the film?s rom com formula and results in a strangely uneven movie.? Also, with its sexual frankness and uncomfortable view of relationships, ??I Give It a Year seems closer to a Judd Apatow film than a Hugh Grant romantic fantasy.? Like Apatow?s This is 40, though, I Give it a Year doesn?t always seem to know where it?s going and isn?t as funny or romantic as it?s supposed to be.

I Give it a Year centres on the crumbling relationship of thirty-something couple Nat (Rose Byrne) and Josh (Rafe Spall) during their first year of marriage. After nine months together their once-endearing idiosyncrasies have become infuriating and their personalities seem completely incompatible.? Nat begins to think she might be better off with smug American money-bags wanker Guy (Simon Baker) while Josh wishes he had never ditched former girlfriend the sensitive charity worker Chloe (Anna Faris).

The filmmakers clearly thought this film was a lot funnier than it actually is as evidenced by the strange silences that follow many supposed gags where the audience were presumably meant to laugh.? There are sporadic funny moments, particularly when characters like Olivia Colman?s marriage counsellor throw psychotic tantrums but too many gags fall flat.? The film makers seemed to think that upping the sex gags and obscenity would make the film funnier but all the swearing and genitalia jokes in the world won?t make up for an absence of wit.

The film lacks charm and a romantic spark because, unlike the typical Working Title leads, Nat and Josh aren?t very endearing.? Rafe Spall?s Josh is an irritating git while Rose Byrne?s Nat is bitter, spiteful and flaky. Even though we?re meant to see the negative side of their personalities we also need to see a positive side to feel anything for them.? There?s simply no reason to care that their relationship is falling apart so the film lacks any emotional punch.? This also makes the film?s attempts at the warmer romantic scenes seem awkward and hollow.

I Give it a Year contains the typical supporting cast of quirky oddballs including Stephen Merchant as Josh?s tactless, goofball, idiot mate who?s basically a less likeable version of Merchant?s character in the TV show Extras.

A few amusing moments of Gervais-style cringe comedy just about get this film over the line but ultimately I Give it a Year ?is a disappointment.

Nick?s rating: Two and a half stars.

Classification: M

Director(s): Dan Mazer

Release date: 28^th Feb 2013

Running time: 97 mins.

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Source: http://www.southernfm.com.au/general/film-review-i-give-it-a-year-from-built-for-speed/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=film-review-i-give-it-a-year-from-built-for-speed

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What Games Are: The PC?s Struggle To App-Up Continues

Sim City 5 is yet another game that exposes an inherent conflict at the heart of the PC, about how connected and app-like or independent it should be. Publishers like EA might be trying to convince PC users to think of their games more as services, but PC users are still as reluctant as ever. So are operating system developers. And so the PC continues to muddle on.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/eyo6B3GyFgE/

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What's Domain Name Backordering? Be Cautious About This One!

Names of domain will be the best net-real-estate on the internet. It?s no surprise services like: ?Domain Name Backordering? can be obtained to the general public. Can some one really backorder your website from the comfort of underneath you? Think again?

What exactly is Domain Name Backordering?

This is a service that enables anybody on the web to reserve a name when and if it comes up for sale! This does not seem hazardous does it? Imagine again?

Businesses all over the web are purchasing this support for website url?s that be seemingly common! Imagine if by chance you just eventually neglect to re-order your domain name? Let us say that you go on holiday and neglect to check your messages that are now telling you to restore your domain name? In this case, another company on one other side of the earth sees the fact that your domain name is soon up for grabs, so they buy a on your domain name and just wait to see what you do with it.

So here you?re finding its way back from a lengthy holiday and what is this? Your domain name is now owned by someone else because your duty was simply neglected by you to keep your net-real-estate up-to-date!

Unless you possess a domain name protected by the CIRA, or you?ve a brand in your domain name or business name, you are ?really? out of luck. before you can convince the courts that you just forgot to continue your website address once you are at this time, it might take months.

Must This Company Be Allowed?

That?s a really interesting problem. Some would say yes due to the fact there are literraly 1000?s of internet sites that aren?t going to be renewed the following month. On the flip side, several of those sites are only a mistake. I believe the idea here is; avoid making that mistake and renew your domain name for atleast 5 years.

Google is apparently looking through the ?WHOIS Data Base? to see which internet sites have the endurance on line and are significant by joining their domain name for over 1 year at a time.

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Again, should domain backordering be granted?

I say no! As being a patent for an innovation, you needs to have around 1 year to declare that domain until you shift the domain name to another company or individual. This way we?d have less domain name theft and less ?hick-ups? from their important responsibility is simply forgotten by companies who.

Protect Your Net-Real-Estate!

Your site address may be the most critical thing you?ve online. As your organization name itself It?s as crucial. It?s what ties your organization offline to on line. People know you through your domain name. Clients may find yourself visiting your internet site down the road, you woudln?t need some other business in your place?

Please be cautious when hand out the access information for your domain name to anyone who is not within your trusted circle.

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Rebels free 21 U.N. captives in southern Syria

BEIRUT (AP) ? Rebels in southern Syria freed 21 U.N. peacekeepers on Saturday after holding them hostage for four days, driving them to the border with Jordan after accusations from Western officials that the little-known group had tarnished the image of those fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.

The abduction and the tortured negotiations that ended it highlight the disorganization of the rebel movement, which has hindered its ability to fight Assad and complicates vows by the U.S. and others to provide assistance.

It also has raised concerns about the future of U.N. operations in the area. The Filipino peacekeepers were abducted on Wednesday by one of the rebel groups operating in southern Syria near the Jordanian border and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, where a U.N. force has patrolled a cease-fire line between Israel and Syria for nearly four decades.

Activists associated with the group, the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, gave different reasons for seizing the 21 men. First they demanded that all government forces leave the area. Then they suggested the peacekeepers were human shields against government attacks. Then they declared them "honored guests" held for their own safety.

They also released videos online, including one on Saturday of a bearded rebel commander with his arms around two peacekeepers' shoulders, flashing a V for victory sign.

On Saturday, after negotiations that the top U.N. official in Damascus described as "long and difficult," the rebels changed the plan to deliver the peacekeepers to a U.N. team, instead taking them to the Jordanian border.

Video broadcast by Arab satellite channels late Saturday showed them sitting at a round conference table in Amman, their bright blue helmets in front of them.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed their release and called on all parties in Syria to respect the peacekeepers' freedom of movement.

Raul Hernandez, spokesman for the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs, said Sunday the initial plan for the peacekeepers is for them to stay in Jordan for two days before they return to the Golan Heights.

Hernandez also cited reports from Philippine Ambassador to Jordan Olivia Palala indicating that the peacekeepers are safe.

"They are safe, they are unharmed, they are OK, and they are whole," he said, quoting Palala.

It was the first time in nearly two years of violence in Syria that U.N. personnel have been directly caught up in the civil war, which evolved from an uprising against Assad that broke out in March 2011 and has left more than 70,000 people dead.

Since then, hundreds of independent rebel groups have formed across the country to fight Assad's forces, overrunning military bases and seizing territory in northern and eastern Syria while the regime maintains its grip in the center and the capital, Damascus.

Although some groups have banded together into organized brigades, most still operate independently, competing with each other for resources and booty from captured sites.

Even the rebel's political leadership, the Syrian National Coalition, which the U.S. and other powers have officially recognized, has no direct control over fighters on the ground. And it remains unclear how many rebels follow its associated High Military Command, which was formed in Turkey in December.

This lack of a central command has hindered rebel efforts against government forces and discouraged the U.S. and others from providing arms.

Last month, the U.S. promised $60 million dollars in new aid for the opposition but refused to arm the rebels, saying more weapons would worsen the situation and could help extremists.

The release of the 21 peacekeepers serves as a case study in rebel disorganization.

As the days passed and the captors' terms changed, international indignation rose.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland blasted the Syrian government on Friday for shelling the area, while also warning the rebels that the kidnapping was "not good for their reputation and that they need to immediately release these people."

The men were held in the village of Jamlah, less than two kilometers (a mile) from the Jordanian border.

A U.N. team tried to retrieve the hostages on Friday, but abandoned the plan because of government shelling.

On Saturday, another U.N. team reached the area and stopped in a village less than a mile away to wait for the captives, said Mokhtar Lamani, the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria.

Lamani said the team was "surprised" when the rebels issued a "very urgent request" that the team come to the village itself.

The team demurred, Lamani said, then was "surprised" again when rebels took the peacekeepers directly to Jordan.

"We were surprised to hear to hear the news from a satellite channel that they had reached Jordan," he said. "Praise God in the end that all of them were released safely."

An activist associated with the captors said via Skype that the rebels had not been able to reach the U.N. team because of "security conditions" so had taken them to Jordan instead.

He said the Syrian government had been shelling and carrying out airstrikes on the area for weeks, and that locals worried the situation would get worse after the captives left.

"They lightened the shelling today, but we fear that now they will launch a harsh attack on the area," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a letter to the United Nations Saturday that the Syrian army had held its fire in the area "out of concern for the security and safety of the U.N. forces."

It called on the U.N. to "unequivocally condemn the attacks of those terrorist groups against civilians and work to dislodge those terrorist groups immediately from the region."

The Syria government says the uprising is a foreign-backed conspiracy to weaken the country carried out by "terrorists" ? its blanket term for the opposition.

The peacekeepers are part of a U.N. mission known as UNDOF that was set up to monitor a cease-fire in 1974, seven years after Israel captured the plateau and a year after it pushed back Syrian troops trying to recapture the territory.

The truce's stability has been shaken in recent months, as Syrian mortar shells have hit the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

Israeli officials worry the violence will prompt UNDOF to end its mission.

On Friday, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said "the mission in the Golan needs to review its security arrangements and it has been doing that."

___

Associated Press writers Karin Laub in Beirut and Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rebels-free-21-un-captives-southern-syria-190231921.html

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