Monday, June 24, 2013

Today in History

Today is Sunday, June 23, the 174th day of 2013. There are 191 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On June 23, 1888, abolitionist Frederick Douglass received one vote from the Kentucky delegation at the Republican convention in Chicago, effectively making him the first black candidate to have his name placed in nomination for U.S. president. (The nomination went to Benjamin Harrison.)

On this date:

In 1757, forces of the East India Company led by Robert Clive won the Battle of Plassey, which effectively marked the beginning of British colonial rule in India.

In 1812, Britain, unaware that America had declared war against it five days earlier, rescinded its policy on neutral shipping, a major issue of contention between the two countries.

In 1860, a congressional resolution authorized creation of the United States Government Printing Office, which opened the following year.

In 1931, aviators Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took off from New York on a round-the-world flight that lasted eight days and 15 hours.

In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Authority was established.

In 1947, the Senate joined the House in overriding President Harry S. Truman's veto of the Taft-Hartley Act, designed to limit the power of organized labor.

In 1956, Gamal Abdel Nasser was elected president of Egypt.

In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin (ah-LEK'-say koh-SEE'-gihn) held the first of two meetings at Glassboro State College in New Jersey.

In 1969, Warren E. Burger was sworn in as chief justice of the United States by the man he was succeeding, Earl Warren.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon and White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman discussed a plan to use the CIA to obstruct the FBI's Watergate investigation. (Revelation of the tape recording of this conversation sparked Nixon's resignation.) President Nixon signed into law Title IX, which barred discrimination on the basis of sex for "any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

In 1988, James E. Hansen, a climatologist at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told a Senate panel that global warming of the earth caused by the "greenhouse effect" was a reality.

In 1993, in a case that drew widespread attention, Lorena Bobbitt of Prince William County, Va., sexually mutilated her husband, John, after he'd allegedly raped her. (John Bobbitt was later acquitted of marital sexual assault; Lorena Bobbitt was later acquitted of malicious wounding by reason of insanity.) Canada's Senate ratified the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Ten years ago: A divided Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, allowed the nation's colleges and universities to select students based in part on race, as long as race was not the determining factor. The Supreme Court said the government could require public libraries to equip computers with anti-pornography filters. Democrat Howard Dean formally announced his presidential campaign. Maynard Jackson Jr., the first black mayor of Atlanta, died in Arlington, Va., at age 65.

Five years ago: Outraged at the turmoil in Zimbabwe, the U.N. Security Council declared that a fair presidential vote was impossible because of a "campaign of violence" waged by President Robert Mugabe's government. Seattle's Felix Hernandez hit the first grand slam by an American League pitcher in 37 years, then departed with a sprained ankle before he could qualify for a win in the Mariners' 5-2 victory over the New York Mets.

One year ago: Syria and Turkey desperately sought to ease tensions following an incident in which Syria shot down a Turkish reconnaissance plane, saying the plane had entered its airspace. Ashton Eaton broke the world record in the decathlon, finishing with 9,039 points at the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore. The Daytime Emmys showered "General Hospital" with five trophies, including best drama; NBC's "Today" show won as best morning show and the syndicated "Jeopardy!" was named best game show.

Today's Birthdays: Singer Diana Trask is 73. Musical conductor James Levine (luh-VYN') is 70. Rhythm-and-blues singer Rosetta Hightower (The Orlons) is 69. Actor Ted Shackelford is 67. Actor Bryan Brown is 66. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is 65. Actor Jim Metzler is 62. "American Idol" ex-judge Randy Jackson is 57. Actress Frances McDormand is 56. Rock musician Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) is 51. Actor Paul La Greca is 51. Rhythm-and-blues singer Chico DeBarge is 43. Actress Selma Blair is 41. Rock singer KT Tunstall is 38. Rhythm-and-blues singer Virgo Williams (Ghostowns DJs) is 38. Singer-songwriter Jason Mraz is 36. Actress Melissa Rauch is 33. Rock singer Duffy is 29. Country singer Katie Armiger is 22.

Thought for Today: "Suffering without understanding in this life is a heap worse than suffering when you have at least the grain of an idea what it's all for." ? Mary Ellen Chase, American author (1887-1973).

(Above Advance for Use Sunday, June 23)

Copyright 2013, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/today-history-050206767.html

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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Netflix Vs. Apple: Who Rules Online Video? | Wall St. Cheat Sheet

netflix family watch tv movieIt?s no secret that consumers are increasingly moving from traditional sources of entertainment content towards Internet-based content delivery. Two of the biggest beneficiaries of this growing trend have been Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX). ?The only question is: which of these companies is actually the leader in this brave new world of online video?

It turns out that the answer depends on what specific type of content delivery method you are measuring. When it comes to video downloads, Apple emerges as the clear market leader. Apple recently released its astounding movie and television show download rates via a press release that stated, ?iTunes users have downloaded more than one billion TV episodes and 380 million movies from iTunes to date, and they are purchasing over 800,000 TV episodes and over 350,000 movies per day.?

According to research firm NPD Group, Apple accounted for 67 percent of the TV show download market and 65 percent of the movie download market in 2012. Microsoft?s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox was iTunes? closest competitor, and it only held 14 percent of the download market for TV shows and 10 percent of the market for movies.

However, when it comes to the subscription-based video streaming market, Netflix emerges as the clear leader. According to NPD Group, Netflix accounted for 90 percent of the subscription video-on-demand market in the first quarter of 2013.

Source: http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/netflix-vs-apple-who-rules-online-video.html/

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Here's The Security Breach Email Facebook Is Sending To 6M Users

new facebook iconFacebook has started sending out warning emails to users whose personal information has been compromised by the security bug uncovered yesterday. The bug exposed some six million Facebook users' email addresses and telephone numbers to other site users because Facebook had "inadvertently stored [it] in association with people?s contact information as part of their account on Facebook".

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/oUQBycgW09k/

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Friday, June 21, 2013

Bat sounds play 'Batman' theme song

Cory Holliday / Fish & Wildlife Service

A gray bat with white-nose syndrome is seen inside a cave in Montgomery County, Tenn.

By Nidhi Subbaraman

One European group has created a soundtrack to the "Batman" theme tune using the most natural of acoustic choices: the sounds of real bats.?

Because the call of bats is well, squeaky and less pleasant for the human ear to take in, the group transposed recorded sounds down a few octaves. Then they assigned sounds to keys on a keyboard, they explain on their YouTube page.

A techno-flavored, but very convincing, rendition is the final product.?

Have a listen below.?

Music arrangement: Ulrich Seidel, Erfurt, Germany. Video compilation: S?ndor Seuntjens, Brussels, Belgium. Idea: Wolter Seuntjens, Erfurt, Germany

More bat science:

Via?Mark Abrahams at Improbable Research

Nidhi Subbaraman writes about science and technology. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2d9431f0/l/0Lscience0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A60C20A0C190A617520Ebat0Esounds0Eplay0Ebatman0Etheme0Esong0Dlite/story01.htm

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Head of revived watchdog pledges open look at U.S. surveillance

By Alina Selyukh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of a newly revived federal privacy oversight board pledged on Wednesday to be "as transparent and public as possible" as the board reviews recently exposed U.S. government secret surveillance programs.

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, which has been largely dormant since 2008, held its first full-fledged meeting on Wednesday after the Senate confirmed David Medine as its chairman last month.

The meeting was behind closed doors to review classified information about the vast and controversial Internet and phone monitoring programs. But Medine told Reuters that the board is aiming to hold a public event around July 9 to get legal insight from experts, academics and advocates.

"Based on what we've learned so far, the board believes further questions are warranted," said Medine, who previously was a partner at the law firm WilmerHale and served as an associate director at the Federal Trade Commission.

Still without formal email, a website or permanent staff, the five board members have in recent weeks acquired security clearances and last week, received a classified briefing with federal authorities including the National Security Agency, the FBI and the Director of National Intelligence, Medine said.

The top-secret surveillance programs were revealed earlier this month after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents to media outlets showing how the U.S. government uses vast amounts of phone and internet records to guard against potential attacks.

The Obama administration and high-profile lawmakers have defended the programs as vital national security tools that are vigorously overseen by the administration, Congress and a special court.

Privacy advocates have argued they infringe on Americans' civil liberties and say the oversight is insufficient.

Obama said earlier this week that he plans to meet with the privacy board to discuss ways to balance the need for U.S. surveillance with privacy concerns.

The board, established at the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission in 2004, is an independent watchdog that resides within the executive branch and is tasked with ensuring that U.S. anti-terrorism activity respects Americans' privacy.

A civil liberties advocate said the board will largely be charting new territory with its review.

"The board has been defunct for so long, so I don't think that we have any precedent for how something like this plays out," said Michelle Richardson, legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union.

The president nominates members to the bipartisan board, who must then be confirmed by the Senate. President Barack Obama did not nominate his first two choices until December 2010, then a year later put forward three more names.

Beside Medine, the other current members are: Rachel Brand, former lawyer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and at the Justice Department; Elisebeth Collins Cook, a lawyer and former assistant attorney general at the Justice Department; James Dempsey, former public policy vice president at the Center for Democracy and Technology; and Patricia Wald, a former federal appeals court judge.

FIGHT FOR ACCESS

Medine withheld judgment on Wednesday about the surveillance programs, saying the board will continue to study them and eventually issue a report and recommendations.

He did not speculate on the timing but pledged to be "as transparent and public about these issues as possible."

Both he and civil liberties advocates acknowledge the board's transparency is limited by the classified status of much of the data about the programs. But Medine said Obama has asked the government to declassify as much as possible.

A 2007 law restructured the board to be independent of the White House and gave it power to request subpoenas for the private sector. It also required all executive branch agencies to comply with the board's requests for reports, records and various other documents.

"We have been doing and plan to do it," Medine said, when asked whether the oversight board was exercising that power over federal agencies. "The executive branch has been very responsive to our requests," he added.

Civil liberties advocates are cautiously optimistic the board will shed more light on the surveillance programs.

"I think the key will be how fast can they staff up, how hard will they be willing to fight for the access to information and what type of leverage they'll be able to exercise to make more information public," said ACLU's Richardson.

The ACLU, in coalition with 33 other advocacy groups, on Tuesday wrote to Medine and his colleagues, seeking more transparency of the legal standards involved in the issue.

The letter, reviewed by Reuters on Wednesday, urged the board to ask Obama for public disclosure of sufficient information for Americans "to understand the existing legal authorities for national security surveillance of Americans and the administration's interpretation of their scope."

(Reporting by Alina Selyukh; Additional reporting by Matthew Haldane; Editing by Karey Van Hall and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/head-revived-watchdog-pledges-open-look-u-surveillance-002817517.html

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