Huawei to launch a Google Edition smartphone

Four people who were on the ground the night of the Benghazi attacks last year are writing a book about their experience, and they're getting a $3 million advance from Twelve Books to do it. The authors are unnamed, according to New York Post's Keith J. Kelly, who describes them as "members of the elite security team from the annex of the US Embassy." That annex, we now know, was the CIA annex, which makes this book deal really fascinating. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/huawei-launch-google-edition-smartphone-223031089.html

power ball livan hernandez soledad o brien mega ball lottery winner lottery numbers mega millions lottery

Kerry meeting with Palestinian president

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman, Jordan, on Friday, June 28, 2013. It is Kerry's fifth visit to the region since becoming secretary of state in February to try to restart peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, which broke down in 2008. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman, Jordan, on Friday, June 28, 2013. It is Kerry's fifth visit to the region since becoming secretary of state in February to try to restart peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, which broke down in 2008. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

Israeli President Shimon Peres, left, speaks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry before their dinner meeting in Jerusalem on Friday, June 28, 2013. Kerry shuttled between Israelis and Palestinians Friday in his latest diplomatic mission to coax the two sides back to the negotiating table and revive the Mideast peace process. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry invites Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sit at a table with him as they meet for the second time on Kerry's fifth Mideast trip in Jerusalem on Friday, June 28, 2013. Kerry shuttled between Israelis and Palestinians Friday in his latest diplomatic mission to coax the two sides back to the negotiating table and revive the Mideast peace process. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

JERUSALEM (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the second time in two days as he continues a rushed round of shuttle diplomacy to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Kerry flew to Amman, Jordan, in a helicopter Saturday morning to meet with Abbas at the same place they had lunch on Friday. He's flying back to Jerusalem later in the day for more talks with Israeli officials.

Kerry is trying to coax both sides to restart talks, which broke down in 2008, and negotiate a two-state solution to their long-running conflict.

Kerry added a stop in Abu Dhabi to his two-week swing through the Mideast and Asia, then canceled it because of his ongoing meetings on the Mideast peace process.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-29-Kerry/id-609c801326624ce390175051e1c26bed

Paula Broadwell Tilted Kilt Barbara Palvin Yahoo Fantasy Football Nick Foles Auguste Rodin Breaking Amish

SKorean president in Beijing for summit with Xi

BEIJING (AP) ? The South Korean president's visit to China's capital Thursday brought together North Korea's archrival and its biggest ally for meetings that will put Pyongyang under greater pressure to rejoin nuclear disarmament talks.

President Park Geun-hye arrived in Beijing for a four-day visit that marks the first formal discussions between her and the new Chinese administration led by President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.

Park, a self-taught Mandarin speaker, has said she is keen to enlist the Chinese leaders in the drive for new North Korean denuclearization discussions that also would include the U.S., Russia, and Japan.

"I will try to make cooperation between the two countries more substantial and harden Korea-China cooperation for the sake of attaining the goal of North Korea's denuclearization so as to make North Korea come forward for sincere talks," Park was quoted as saying earlier this week by South Korean media.

The China-hosted talks with Pyongyang have been stalled since 2009 over how to verify North Korea is fulfilling its commitments to dismantle its nuclear facilities.

Park was scheduled to meet with Xi later Thursday and with Li on Friday.

Teaming up with China offers some hope for success, with Beijing showing signs of frustration with its neighbor and longstanding communist ally. China was angered by the North's long-range rocket launch late last year and carrying out of a third nuclear test earlier this year, and it has since supported tightening U.N. sanctions, cracked down on North Korean banking activity and urged Pyongyang to return to disarmament talks.

"We hope all sides involved can continue to work toward returning to the six-party talks and make concrete efforts to resolve the relevant issues, achieve denuclearization, preserve peace and stability in the peninsula through dialogue and negotiation within the framework of the six-party talks," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Wednesday.

While China is North Korea's biggest source of diplomatic and economic support, their trade and other interactions dwarf those which China maintains with the South. Ordinary Chinese are also big fans of South Korean pop culture and high-tech wares, and there is a growing sentiment among urban intellectuals that China should not sacrifice international credibility for the sake of coddling Pyongyang.

However, corralling Kim Jong Un's mercurial North Korean regime into new talks will not prove easy.

When the top North Korean negotiator Kim Kye Gwan visited Beijing earlier this month for talks, Chinese analysts said afterward that Pyongyang seemed more interested in improving its damaged ties with China than in swiftly moving toward new six-nation talks.

Park has said that any resumption of talks must be preceded by signs that the North is serious about following through on its disarmament commitments, echoing the position of the U.S. Washington does not want to be drawn into talks that serve only to relieve pressure on Pyongyang, provide it a platform to seek much-needed aid, and buy it more time to further its nuclear weapons program.

While Beijing has remained neutral over recent developments, Chinese scholars say Xi's government will seek an intermediary role to create conditions for a restoration of talks. They warn, however, that Beijing would oppose harsher sanctions or other measures that could spark a backlash from Pyongyang or further destabilize the regime of the young and inexperienced Kim, who took over following his father's death 18 months ago.

"It's very hard to say whether the meeting will produce any new proposals, but, following the third nuclear test, I think China and every other country involved realizes the seriousness of the need to get North Korea back into talks," said Zhang Liangui, a researcher with the ruling Communist Party's main research and training institute in Beijing.

While Pyongyang will be watching Park's Beijing interactions carefully, her visit is a "normal diplomatic activity" and North Korea has "neither the need, nor the right to cast aspersions" about it, Zhang said.

Park's visit should also help smooth over strains in ties between China and South Korea over China's refusal to criticize Pyongyang following the sinking of a South Korean navy ship in early 2010 and shelling of one of its islands by a North Korean artillery unit later that year.

Park's appreciation for Chinese culture should also help foster positive relations. The Beijing stage of her trip, which includes meetings with business groups and a speech to university students, is to be followed by an excursion to the ancient capital of Xi'an, a cultural hub that is also a favorite destination for South Korean investors.

Park is traveling with a record 71-strong business delegation, highlighting the close economic ties that have lifted China above the U.S. as South Korea's top trading partner. Two-way trade hit $215 billion last year, with South Korea's exports of semiconductors, mobile phones, cars and industrial products giving it a trade surplus of more than $50 billion.

Business delegates include leaders of South Korean industry, including the chairmen of Hyundai Motor Group and LG Group.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/skorean-president-beijing-summit-xi-045156659.html

wiz khalifa and amber rose oh the places you ll go blunt amendment justin bieber birthday read across america vikings stadium breitbart dead

Microsoft Build 2013 event wrap-up

We came. We handled Windows 8.1. We grabbed news about the latest and greatest from Microsoft. We picked up a few new Steve Ballmer catch phrases ("touch touch touch touch!"). Then, we left. In a nutshell, this was our experience covering Microsoft Build 2013 this week at the Moscone Center, though it obviously was much more involved. Fortunately, we were able to bring you, dear reader, along for the action -- but in case you missed any of the excitement as it happened, you'll find a list of all of the announcements, hands-ons and other posts we covered during the event below the break. Feel free to also visit our Build event page for an extra visual oomph.

Filed under: Announcements, Microsoft

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/FG8GDkyE3dA/

franchise tag lesotho a wrinkle in time benjamin netanyahu storm shelters nick lachey lifelock

Army Network Tests Drive New Tactics: Officials | Defense Tech

The U.S. Army?s semi-annual network tests at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., are spurring soldiers to adopt new tactics for the battlefield, officials said.

The so-called Network Integration Evaluations give troops the opportunity to test new radios, smart phone-like devices, satellite communications networks, software and other gear in a combat-like environment, the officials said. They?re helping to refine the service?s so-called tactics, techniques and procedures, or TTPs, for using the technology, they said.

?Over the last few NIEs, the network has become much more stable than it was ? so we are able to get at the TTPs and figure out mission command and do all that kind of stuff much more now than we have in the past, when we were really just trying to figure out the architecture,? Col. Beth Bierden, chief of the Network Integration Division at Brigade Modernization Command, said in an interview.

For instance, a new tactic was developed for soldiers using Nett Warrior, a smart-phone like device that displays maps with icons showing the position of forces, as well as nearby terrain and other combat-relevant intelligence, Bierden said.

?Soldiers love the Nett Warrior,? she said.

The program links troops using a handheld device called the Rifleman Radio, a single-channel radio that transmits voice and data communications running a high-bandwidth software package called Soldier Radio Waveform, or SRW.

?They call it tethering where they can give a team leader direction over Nett Warrior and do so without having to issue orders or talk to them,? Bierden said.

Tethering allows users of the system to send so-called ?graphic control measures,? essentially icons imposed over a digital map showing where units are in relation to surrounding terrain, obstacles or enemy forces, Bierden said.

?From the platoon leader talking to the squad leaders and the team leaders, they call this leaving ?bread crumbs? ? where they could put graphic control measures down and leave their intent,? she said. ?The whole platoon could see them down to the platoon leader level and really do TTPs regarding how that platoon works together using the Nett Warrior,? she said. ?Working through these TTPs is giving all kinds of capability that did not exist before.?

The technology allows troops to make mission adjustments more quickly and efficiently, Bierden said.

?That whole platoon leadership is seeing the same picture on their Nett Warrior device as they are moving toward the objective or doing a search,? she said. ?That platoon leader can really direct his squads and teams wherever they want to go.?

With another system called Warfighter Information Network ? Tactical Increment 2, or WIN-T, commanders were able to communicate while driving in armored trucks and other combat vehicles at a level that?s normally reserved for tactical operations centers.

The system is a mobile satellite communications and radio network engineered to integrate with tactical vehicles such as armored trucks, known as Mine Resistant Ambush Protected ? All Terrain Vehicles, or M-ATVs. It includes antennas and, in some cases, a small satellite dish mounted onto vehicles, giving commanders the ability to chat with other commanders, as well as digital maps and intelligence information, Bierden said.

The network system uses an application called Command Post of the Future, or CPOF, a constantly updated display showing pertinent combat and intelligence data. The application gives commanders the ability to lead missions while stopped or moving.

The system is designed to be ?self-healing,? meaning it can switch between a satellite connection to high-band radio as needed if, for instance, a line-of-sight connection is interrupted by terrain.

During testing, commanders had a soldier monitor the flow of data and alert the commander as needed, said Rickey Smith, director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center ? Forward.

?There is a lot of complexity and challenge to mission command on the move,? he said. ?A commander?s got a lot going on. He?s got to know where his elements are and at the same time know what the enemy is doing. You have to manage the data elements in real time. One solution was to have another soldier take on the monitoring of the data and manage the data so that the commander is not stuck to the screen.?

After installing the second version of the system on wheeled vehicles, the Army plans to configure numerous tracked vehicles with the technology, Smith said.

The Army is developing another tactic to better unify operations and intelligence data, Bierden said. While much of the transitional work with this is still ongoing, the effort will more fully fuse technologies such as CPOF with the Army?s intelligence database called Distributed Common Ground System ? Army, or DCGS.

This effort involves moving toward what Bierden referred to as a web or cloud-based common operating environment, or COE. The term refers to a common set of standards so that emerging and new technologies can better integrate with existing systems. The effort will also integrate a host of web-applications and move operational and intelligence data onto a single server, she added.

The next evaluation, called 14.1 and slated for October of this year, will likely advance this effort in a substantial way, Bierden said.

?The TTPs will get better and they will be better integrated,? she said. ?We?re moving a lot of these operational applications onto one server to the intel standard, so that everything is integrated.?

Much of this gear is part of what the Army calls Capability Set 13, a suite of integrated networking technologies slated to deploy to Afghanistan this summer with the service?s 10th Mountain Division. Developers stay in close communication with the operational units receiving the gear so as to continually inform and refine TTPs, Bierden said.

?We will learn more TTPs from them [10th Mountain] and then incorporate that back into the process,? she said.

June 27th, 2013 | Comms, Gadgets and Gear, Ground, The Defense Biz | 1 Comment

Tagged as: Army, Nett Warrior, Network Integration Evaluation, NIE, Warfighter Information Network-Tactical, WIN-T

Source: http://defensetech.org/2013/06/27/army-network-tests-drive-new-tactics-officials/

nfl free agents 2012 encyclopedia brittanica nfl free agency jonbenet ramsey jason campbell doobie brothers jennie garth peter facinelli

Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman Returning for Independence Day 2

After seventeen years of rumors, speculation, and false starts, director Roland Emmerich appears to finally have some traction for the long-awaited Independence Day follow-up, tentatively titled?ID Forever. If all goes according to plan, the sequel will actually be comprised of two feature length films ? Part I and Part II ? with the first installment tentatively scheduled for?July 3rd, 2015. The filmmaker has been busy promoting his soon-to-be-released thriller White House Down, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie?Foxx, which sees a hostile force take control of the White House and put the President?s life in jeopardy (not to be confused with Olympus Has Fallen).

Unsurprisingly, ID Forever has been a regular topic of conversation for Emmerich on the White House Down press tour and today we?ve got good news for fans of patriotic speeches and outer space cigar smoking ? as the director has confirmed that both Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman are expected to return for the sequel(s).

Speaking to Movies.com?in a New York City Q&A, Emmerich asserted that the actors, who played fan-favorite cable guy/computer hacker, David Levinson, and fighter pilot/President, Thomas J. Whitmore, are two returning faces set for?ID Forever. As we?ve previously reported, the sequel?s cast is expected to be a mix of familiar franchise participants and entirely new characters ? roughly a 50/50 blend for the main cast. Previously,?Goldblum and Pullman have expressed interest in the project, but this is the first report suggesting that Emmerich has included them in his plans for the film ? and that he expects they?ll reprise the roles. That said, the director does not outright say the actors have signed contracts ? meaning that, until we hear official confirmations, it?s still possible one or both of the characters might not make it into the final film.

Regardless, the most notable omission to the ID Forever?crew will be Will Smith?s Captain Steven Hiller?- who is not expected to return. In the new interview, Emmerich asserts that they simply cannot afford the actor but the filmmaker was quick to clarify that Smith has not yet read the final script and that a Hiller cameo is still possible ? if for no other reason than to ?pass the torch? to new cast members.

Regardless of how viewers might feel about Smith these days (considering the amount of backlash aimed at?After Earth), Hiller was a fan-favorite character responsible for many of the best (and most memorable) moments in Independence Day. As a result, a cameo by the actor would be a nice way to close-out the Hiller storyline ? without requiring the production to front a huge salary.

That said, if Smith opts to pass on Emmerich?s cameo ideas, there are still plenty of ways for the filmmaker to explain Hiller?s absence?- especially since early plot details suggest the movie will take place in real time, 20-25 years after the original alien invasion. That time jump (made possible by complicated space travel/wormhole physics) should also help provide Goldblum and Pullman with fun material for their characters ? since they?ll be playing much older versions of Levinson and Whitmore.

Even at the most basic level, a story about people who survived the first alien attack and then spent the next 20 years (possibly) preparing for a second wave is intriguing ? even before you consider the continued personal stories that will be included. For example: President Whitmore should no longer be President and his young daughter, Patricia (played by Arrested Development?s Mae Whitman),?will be in her twenties. Similarly, will Emmerich bring back Margaret Colin to reprise her role as?Levinson?s wife, Constance Spano? If so, it?s likely the pair could have decided to have their own children in the subsequent two decades.

Until we know more, let?s all keep our fingers crossed that ? since Goldblum is back -?Levinson?s father, Julius (portrayed by Judd Hirsch), will also make an appearance.

The Movies.com interview also (casually) suggests that Emmerich is still interested in a Stargate sequel, and that it might be next on the filmmaker?s schedule after ID Forever Part I and II. However, that appears to only be speculation at this point ? as Emmerich collaborator Dean Devlin already mentioned they were interested in returning to the Stargate franchise in the future. As a result, Emmerich?s comment is merely confirmation that the pair could return to their other beloved sci-fi property at some point.

___

ID Forever: Part I?invades theaters on July 3rd, 2015.

Follow me on Twitter?@benkendrick?for more on?ID Forever as well as future movie, TV, and gaming news.

Source: Movies.com

"Follow us if you want to live."

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1927745/news/1927745/

white sox chuck colson ufc 145 results orrin hatch marlon byrd charles colson humber

NFL criminal cases put focus on vetting

Two felony charges in one day were more than a bump in the NFL's offseason. They pointed to an ongoing problem for the league ? players who wind up at the center of criminal cases.

Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested Wednesday in Massachusetts, accused of murdering his friend Odin Lloyd. Also Wednesday, Browns rookie linebacker Ausar Walcott was charged with attempted murder in New Jersey.

Both players were cut later in the day by their teams. On Thursday, the league said any club that now wants to sign Hernandez will face a hearing with Commissioner Roger Goodell first.

The question now is whether the veteran tight end and the rookie should have been in the league at all.

"It is difficult, it's always a balancing act," says Tony Dungy, who won a Super Bowl as Colts coach and has served as a mentor to players since leaving the NFL, including Michael Vick after the quarterback served federal prison time for dogfighting. "The league has a security department that sends out information, and every team is different in terms of how much its scouting department does and what areas are concentrated on most.

"It's really a matter of what you do with the information and what your organization feels is important. One thing you have to keep in mind is a lot of the (negative) things that happen come when they are 15 or 17 or 19 years old."

According to FBI statistics cited by the league, the incidence of NFL players getting arrested is much lower in than the general public. The average annual arrest rate of NFL players is roughly 2 percent of about 3,000 players who go through the league each year, including tryouts and minicamps. That's about half the arrest rate of the general U.S. population, the league says. The NFL notes the disparity becomes even more dramatic when the group is narrowed to American men ages 20-34.

But Jeff Benedict, author of several books on athletes and crimes, including "Pros and Cons, The Criminals Who Play In The NFL," believes the FBI statistics are a bad gauge.

"The danger of doing comparisons with the general public is, if you look at these people and their backgrounds, how many of those guys who have been arrested in the FBI numbers have been to college, make a lot of money like NFL players do, and live in safe, good neighborhoods?" Benedict says. "The issue is why any of these guys are doing this when they have all these good things going on in their lives."

The San Diego Union-Tribune, which has tracked NFL arrests "more serious than speeding tickets" dating back to 2000, has listed 36 this year, including Hernandez and Walcott and three players who were charged twice.

By comparison, the NBA says six players of its players have been arrested since last July 1, and Major League Baseball says it's aware of three cases this year worse than a speeding ticket: two DUIs and a misdemeanor drug charge.

While granting that NFL rosters are far bigger than those in the NBA or MLB, Benedict says, "You can't take these tiny snap shots and say the NFL is low."

Of course, even a few cases such as Hernandez's or that of Jovan Belcher ? the Kansas City player who shot his girlfriend to death last December, then committed suicide in front of his coach and general manager ? can create a widespread negative image.

And anyone who has suited up for an NFL team will face extra public scrutiny for even minor transgressions.

That, in turn, puts more pressure on the league's vetting process.

Dungy stresses that the amount of homework teams do is critical because they don't get all that much one-on-one time with prospective players. Some clubs do psychological analyses, even hiring outside agencies to handle them. Though others like the approach, Dungy is not a fan of it and always believed in his gut feeling about a player.

"You have to find out if they have grown from the issues, or there seems to be a pattern, or will these issues always be there," he says.

Bill Polian, who built the Bills, Panthers and Colts into Super Bowl teams as one of the NFL's most successful general managers and team presidents, strongly maintains that the league's vetting process is solid. It delves into players' histories from high school and college before they enter the league. Those investigations have become more sophisticated through the years; background checks include not only public records such as court documents and arrest data, but talking to teammates and coaches, high school principals and other people who have been a part of a player's life and development.

"It uncovers a fair amount of information," Polian says. "It is not designed to uncover information that is usable in court, but it is a process by which the clubs try to ascertain a clear picture of the individual that they are thinking about taking."

But there's no way of knowing how playing football for a living will change a young man.

"First of all, it is important to remember that no team is immune from having a player run afoul of the law, whether it's a speeding ticket up to what we have seen in the Hernandez and Belcher cases, which are as serious as is possible to be," Polian says.

"There's no magic wand a team can wave and change that player who has had serious problems. It's no different than any other workplace in America, just more publicized."

Benedict agrees that teams perform due diligence on draft prospects and they know what they are getting ? or avoiding ? in their draft rooms when it comes to skills or 40-meter dash times or health issues.

"The hardest thing they deal with on draft day is the character question," he says. "That is what keeps them up at night."

Former Broncos general manager Ted Sundquist says the vetting process wasn't particularly thorough for many of his years in the NFL ? he left after the 2007 season ? but he's certain it is more efficient now.

"I think Michael Vick was the turning point on the timeline," Sundquist says. "He was right in their backyard and they didn't know it was going on, an example of a team that had not had a handle on what players were doing."

Sundquist believes teams could get a better handle on developing problems by hiring security firms that are available around the clock to keep watch on players already in the league, even though the NFL's personal conduct policy is very direct in saying it expects "lawful, ethical and responsible" behavior.

"It's better to have a system in place that can monitor or check that guy, a security firm that is part of these guys' lives, not just vetting them," he says. "They are tied to the hip with these guys. I think that investment is well worth it."

Ultimately, if the public grows tired of player misconduct, regardless of the low percentages, it could become a huge problem for the NFL. And it could change how the teams approach player procurement.

"As these issues become a much more public situation in a business that relies upon the public for its goodwill," Polian says, "you are more and more concerned about taking chances on individuals ? no matter what the talent ? if they have problems in their background."

___

AP Sports Writers Dennis Waszak Jr., Brian Mahoney and Ronald Blum contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nfl-criminal-cases-put-focus-vetting-221910656.html

teresa giudice atlanta hawks 2012 white house correspondents dinner forrest gump bernard hopkins devils la riots