Thursday, October 17, 2013

New Facebook Privacy Settings Let Teens Embarrass Themselves in Public

New Facebook Privacy Settings Let Teens Embarrass Themselves in Public

Facebook announced a pair of changes to the privacy settings for teen users on Wednesday. On the plus side, teens' post will now be shared with a smaller group of people by default. On the potentially problematic side, they'll also be able to share things with the public for the first time.

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/A26W1l9X5qo/new-facebook-privacy-settings-let-teens-embarrass-thems-1446699214
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U.S. government employees to return to work on Thursday


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama plans to sign legislation on Wednesday night ending the fiscal crisis, and federal government employees should expect to return to work on Thursday morning, Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell said in a statement.


Congress passed a bill late Wednesday that reopens the federal government and avoids a damaging default on government debt.


(Reporting by Karey Van Hall; editing by Jackie Frank)



Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-government-employees-return-thursday-030902961--business.html
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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

gdgt's best deals for October 16th: Apple MacBook Air (11-inch), Samsung 46-inch LED Smart TV


Ready to save some cash on your tech buys? Then you've come to the right place. Our friends at sister site gdgt track price drops on thousands of products every day, and twice a week they feature some of the best deals they've found right here. But act fast! Many of these are limited-time offers, and won't last long.


gdgt's best deals for September 16th: HTC One, HP LaserJet Pro and a 32-inch LG HDTV


Today's top deals include gear that could pass for back to school necessities -- if you're convincing. The popular and uber-portable 11-inch MacBook Air (mid-2012) is currently cruising at low-priced altitudes, and budding filmmakers or game coders could make an argument for nabbing Samsung's 46-inch F8000 series LED TV for "research" at its current price point. Want to make the most of your post-ramen bankroll? Join gdgt and add the gadgets you're shopping for to your "Want" list -- every time there's a price cut, you'll get an email alert!


Apple 11-inch MacBook Air (mid-2012)




Price: $770 (regularly $884).
Buy: MacMall



When it comes to slim and reliable laptops, the MacBook Air has always been one of our favorites. This bag-friendly mid-2012 model garnered a gdgt Score of 89, boasts a Core i5 Ivy Bridge processor and weighs just under 2.5 pounds. Sure, with only 64GB of storage space, it may not be as robust as we'd like, but there's plenty of portable drive options out there, and if that doesn't cut it, you can still get a great a great deal on the 128GB model -- currently priced at an approachable $820.


Samsung UN46F8000



We'd all love to turn our couch time into that idyllic experience, but when budget's an issue, there are still lots of incredible options out there at palatable prices. A 46-inch HDTV experience, bundled with web browsing, Netflix, Hulu+ and Minority Report-like gesture control is definitely nothing to sneeze at. Top that off with a gdgt Score of 87, a low price and free shipping, and it looks to be a pretty sweet deal.


Nokia WH-920 Purity Stereo Headset



Monster's lineup may include some dubiously priced products, sure, but Dr. Dre and Beats once saw fit to team up with the company for some bass-pumping headsets, too. So when we saw Nokia joining forces as part of its colorful line of products, our interest was piqued. There have definitely been some positive reviews of these in-ear buds, and with an inline volume/mic control and this significant price drop, they're definitely worth checking out. Obviously, it's up to you whether to rock them alongside Nokia's Lumia line or cross the brand borders and jack them into Apple's latest color-rich 5c for your daily jams.


Seagate Backup Plus Portable 1TB




Price: $69 - select colors (regularly $95).
Buy: Amazon



You can never have too much storage space on hand, and portability is a definitely a bonus. The Backup Plus Portable from Seagate managed to snag the "must have" stamp of approval over at gdgt, and with 1TB of room available, it's worth a look. It offers USB 3.0 for quick data transfer rates and a bevy of adapters for Thunderbolt and Firewire 800, so you shouldn't have trouble with connectivity. This version is NTFS, but not to worry; it's pre-loaded with a driver for Mac so you'll be able to swap it out interchangeably across platforms.


Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/16/gdgts-best-deals-for-october-16th/?ncid=rss_truncated
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Apache Software Foundation unveils Hadoop 2, replacing MapReduce with YARN


The Apache Software Foundation unveiled its latest release of its open source data processing program, Hadoop 2. It runs multiple applications simultaneously to enable users to quickly and efficiently leverage data in multiple ways at supercomputing speed, Apache said Wednesday.


Apache Hadoop is a framework that allows for the distributed processing of large data sets across clusters of computers using simple programming models. It enables organizations to more efficiently and cost-effectively store, process, manage and analyze the growing volumes of data being created and collected every day.


[ Also on InfoWorld: Get ready for a flood of new Hadoop apps. | Harness the power of Hadoop with InfoWorld's 7 top tools for taming big data. | Discover what's new in business applications with InfoWorld's Technology: Applications newsletter. ]


Hadoop is deployed at enterprise organizations around the globe, including Amazon Web Services, AOL, Apple, eBay, Facebook, Netflix, and Hewlett-Packard.


The latest version of the platform, released Wednesday, has been more than four years in the making and has a number of new components. Most notable is the addition of YARN, (Yet Another Resource Negotiator), which is a successor to Hadoop's MapReduce. The new version splits major functions into two separate daemons, with resource management in one, and job scheduling and monitoring in the other.


YARN sits on top of the HDFS (Hadoop Distributed File System) and serves as a large-scale, distributed operating system for big data applications, enabling multiple applications to run simultaneously for more efficient support of data throughout its entire lifecycle, Apache said in a news release. Hadoop 2 and YARN gives users the ability to mix batch, interactive and real-time workloads within a stable foundational part of the Hadoop ecosystem, it said.


Apache also refers to YARN as MapReduce Version 2. It retains API compatibility with the previous version, and applications written for MapReduce will run on YARN if recompiled, the foundation said.


More than a dozen Apache projects integrate with Hadoop, and 10 more are about to follow, Apache said.


The General Availability (GA) release of Hadoop 2 follows a preview distribution that was released in June, that also included YARN. Apache Hadoop 2 will be released under the Apache License v2.0.


Loek is Amsterdam Correspondent and covers online privacy, intellectual property, open-source and online payment issues for the IDG News Service. Follow him on Twitter at @loekessers or email tips and comments to loek_essers@idg.com.


Source: http://www.infoworld.com/d/open-source-software/apache-software-foundation-unveils-hadoop-2-replacing-mapreduce-yarn-228865
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Wine experts: EU vintners recover from bad harvest

BRUSSELS (AP) — The grape harvest in the European Union has picked up from the extremely bad 2012 season, wine experts said. But key regions in France are still struggling because of bad weather.


Several wine-producing regions had the worst harvest in a half-century last year, so the European vintners want to regain global market share with a more bountiful harvest. Overall EU production is estimated to swell by 15.2 percent compared with last year.


Thierry Coste, an expert with the EU farmers' union, said Wednesday that overall production will still be below the five-year average. France remained well below the 2011 levels, but Italy and Spain have enjoyed sizable increases.


"We are happy that we have broken with the negative spiral," Coste said.


The European harvest is essential to the global wine industry since the 28-nation EU accounts for about two-thirds of global production and 70 percent of exports, according to European Commission figures.


After output slumped to 148 million hectoliters in 2012 from an average of 175 million hectoliters, it's expected to be back up to around 170 million hectoliters. Coste said it will allow them to get back some market share lost to international competitors like South Africa and Chile.


Still, there was some bad news, especially in France.


"There have been some serious concerns due to weather vagaries for Bordeaux, the Loire Valley and Burgundy because the hail was much stronger and intense than usual," he said, referring to freak hailstorms in late spring that ravaged some of the finest French vineyards.


"Great areas have been strongly affected," Coste said. On top of that, he said the Merlot grape, an essential ingredient in Bordeaux reds, was having trouble flowering.


French production, which dropped from 50.2 million hectoliters in 2011 to 41.4 million last year, is expected to recover only to 44.1 million hectoliters.


Not all is bad news for France. The Champagne region, where an unusual growing season was followed by late harvesting, still has the promise of a great year, the local vintners' committee said.


And when it comes to quality, Coste is hopeful.


"This year the wines might have less maturity and less power than other years. But they will fully express the land they are on," Coste said.


The top European wines often do very well abroad. Overall, the EU vintners are specifically looking at the U.S.


"What we are realizing today is that there is this high demand in the United States and Europe can fulfill that demand," Coste said.


Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wine-experts-eu-vintners-recover-bad-harvest-125120483--finance.html
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IBM's Watson uses Jeopardy skills to become House-like medical diagnostician

IBM's Watson hasn't been in medical school long, but he already has two jobs. Teaming with the Cleveland Clinic, Big Blue researchers have developed WatsonPaths, a diagnosis and education project, and Watson EMR Assistant, a tool for delving deep into medical records. WatsonPaths is the more ...


Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/iqlKJd5Khhc/
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Timeline: Congress' Path To Federal Shutdown


A timeline of Congress' battle over the partial government shutdown and expiring federal borrowing authority:


Sept. 20: Republican-run House ignores White House veto threat, votes to keep government open through Dec. 15 if President Barack Obama agrees to cut off money for his 2010 health care law.


Sept. 24-25: Tea party Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and other conservatives speak on Senate floor for more than 21 consecutive hours about using shutdown bill to weaken health care law.


Sept. 27: Democratic-led Senate votes to remove House-approved provision defunding health care law, sends bill keeping agencies open through Nov. 15 back to House.


Sept. 29: House shifts demands on health care law, votes to delay implementation for a year and repeal tax on medical devices. Separately, House votes to pay troops in case of shutdown. Senate approves bill next day, Obama signs it into law.


Sept. 30: Senate rejects latest House provisions curbing health care law. House reworks shutdown bill again, delaying for a year health care law requirement that individuals buy health insurance and requiring members of Congress and staff to pay full expense of health insurance, without government paying part of costs. Senate kills latest House health care provisions.


Oct. 1: Government's new fiscal year begins, partial federal shutdown starts. House stands by language delaying required individual health coverage and blocking federal health insurance subsidies for Congress, requests formal negotiations with Senate. Senate quickly rejects House effort for formal bargaining.


Oct. 2: Embarking on strategy of voting to restart popular programs, Republicans push bills through House reopening national parks and National Institutes of Health and letting the District of Columbia municipal government spend money. Over the next two weeks, they pass more than a dozen similar bills reviving veterans, disaster aid, Head Start and other programs. Democrats mostly vote "no," saying entire government must reopen, and Senate ignores the measures. Obama discusses impasse with congressional leaders at White House, no progress reported.


Oct. 4: Republicans increasingly tie shutdown fight to need for Congress to renew federal borrowing authority by Oct. 17 or risk economy-rattling government default. GOP leaders increasingly shift their conditions for passage of the shutdown and debt limit bills to deficit reduction.


Oct. 5: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says he is bringing most of his department's 350,000 furloughed workers back to work immediately.


Oct. 6: House Speaker John Boehner says House won't pass bills ending shutdown or raising debt limit without negotiations on GOP demands.


Oct. 8: Obama and Boehner suggest they might consider short-term bills ending the shutdown and extending the debt limit to give them time to negotiate.


Oct. 10: Boehner proposes six-week debt limit extension, conditioned on Obama bargaining over spending cuts and reopening government. House GOP leaders discuss standoff with Obama at White House, no deal but both sides cite progress. Congress gives final approval to bill providing death benefits for slain troops and Obama signs it.


Oct. 11: White House, congressional Republicans continue bargaining. A bipartisan Senate group works on a measure that would reopen the government and prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its bills.


Oct. 12: Boehner tells House Republicans that negotiations with White House have stalled. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., begin talks. Senate derails Democratic effort to extend debt limit through 2014.


Oct. 14: Reid and McConnell say they've made progress toward a deal described as extending debt limit to Feb. 7, reopening government until Jan. 15, other provisions.


Oct. 15: Boehner prepares House alternative but it collapses for lack of votes. His proposal would have extended debt limit to Feb. 7, fully reopened government until Dec. 15, ended federal health insurance subsidies for president, members of Congress, other government officials.


Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=233119759&ft=1&f=
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