Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/282159754?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Sunday, February 3, 2013
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Legg Mason says committed to its affiliate model
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Legg Mason Inc
(Reporting By Jessica Toonkel; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/legg-mason-says-committed-affiliate-model-140711663--sector.html
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Will you want the new BlackBerry?
We've referred to BlackBerry 10, the latest operating system released by Research in Motion (now known as BlackBerry), as the company's last hope. It's do or die, make or break, claim a hefty serving of the smartphone market or settle for a few crumbs. But setting aside all that pressure and drama, let's focus on what's important now: Will you actually want to buy a smartphone running BlackBerry 10?
Yes, no ? and maybe so.
The first device to run BlackBerry 10 is the Z10, an all-touch smartphone. Yes, you did read that right: The physical keyboard, a defining BlackBerry feature, is gone. Sure, it'll reappear with the Q10 ? the more traditional-looking of the first two BlackBerry 10 devices ? but that isn't expected to be available until April or so. For now, we can merely judge BlackBerry based on one device ... one that's a dramatic departure from the company's modus operandi.
Physically speaking, the Z10 is a beautiful device. It doesn't have some sort of flashy or daring design. Instead it's simple and unadorned, like a classy little black dress that'll seldom look out of place or out of style. Whenever I'd hand the Z10 to someone for the first time, he or she would remark that it feels a great deal like an iPhone. Take that however you will, but I see it as a good thing.
As far as the device's guts go, there's nothing that'll grab your attention too much. It has a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB or memory (expandable up to 64GB, thanks to a microSD slot), an 8MP camera on the back, and a 2MP camera in the front. Oh, and there's a removable battery. (As someone who has gone a long time without having to deal with annoying BlackBerry freeze-ups, I'd forgotten how important it is to have a battery that can be yanked out, if only to force a restart. And yes, the Z10 has frozen up a couple of times during my review period.)
Touchy
It's not the hardware that's the main attraction when it comes to the Z10 though. As I've said, this is the first BlackBerry 10 device. And the operating system is the deal-maker ? or deal-breaker.
Since the physical keyboard is absent, I found myself quite focused on its touch-screen replacement. It left me impressed. It definitely takes some adjustment to start using the keyboard's suggestions ? every tap brings up hovering words, and you flick a word up to select it ? yet it's amazingly easy to write entire sentences without ever actually tapping out a single full word.
Not every touch interface was as pleasant as the keyboard. The navigational gestures baked into BlackBerry 10 were a source of frustration. If you don't start them at the very edge of the screen, the Z10 simply ignores your attempts to jump back home.
The Hub
Since the BlackBerry is known for creating email monsters ? gadgets that can handle any amount of correspondences thrown at them ? I was fairly excited about the new BlackBerry Hub. This is intended to function as a unified inbox of sorts, where all email, BlackBerry messages, SMS messages, Twitter notifications, Facebook notifications, and the like can live.
Unfortunately, as you can see in the video up top, the Hub gets overwhelming as soon as the emails and notifications start flooding in and causes more headaches than it relieves. Additionally, there's an odd quirk that sends you back to the last viewed message instead of the Hub overview whenever you toggle between other apps and the Hub. This is incredibly annoying since you then have to hit the back button to get where you want to go.
The Z10's 8-megapixel camera delivers poor image quality compared to the leading Samsung and Apple contenders, while the camera app is gimmicky at best. While some might be excited about TimeShift mode, which rapidly captures several photos and allows you to choose a subject's best face, the novelty quickly wears off and leaves one craving for the more intuitive (and higher quality) camera systems of Android and iOS. Besides, that feature is far from unique, found increasingly on other phones and cameras.
While BlackBerry devices are typically workhorses, any competitive smartphone also has to be able to serve as a primary media player. So how is the music and video playback on the Z10? Short answer: Acceptable. Long answer: You can live with it, but if you're an iPod/iPhone/iTunes addict, you'll definitely flinch at the limited content management and access of the Music Player and Video Player apps.
The rest of the BlackBerry 10 experience is fairly smooth. The device is snappy and responsive ? pesky gestures aside ? and, unlike the BlackBerry operating systems of the distant past, doesn't feel bloated.
Of course, one could write the lack of bloat off as being related to the limited app selection. BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins called attention to the fact that there are over 70,000 apps available for the operating system, and indeed we found Cut the Rope, Facebook, Twitter, and other favorites ? BlackBerry also secured Skype, Rovio, Amazon, and other popular app makers as partners ? however, we're still waiting for Netflix, Google Maps, Instagram, and Hulu, among other obvious absentees.
Overall, the BlackBerry Z10 is a solid device. If you're an existing BlackBerry user who happens to be willing to patiently adjust to an on-screen keyboard, that brand dedication may finally pay off. But if you, like me, have come to rely on iPhone or Android, chances are that you'll constantly find yourself looking for features (or apps) that are missing from BlackBerry 10.
BlackBerry certainly did re-design, re-invent and re-imagine itself ? as it takes pains to tell you on its website ? but the clich? of "too little, too late" definitely rings true at this point.
Want more tech news or interesting links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/will-you-want-new-blackberry-1B8211810
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Friday, February 1, 2013
Chevron Fined Nearly $1 Million For California Refinery Fire
SAN FRANCISCO ? Chevron was fined nearly $1 million by the state on Wednesday in connection with a fire last year at the company's San Francisco Bay area refinery that sent a cloud of gas and black smoke over residential areas.
Investigators found "willful violations" in Chevron Corp.'s response before, during and after the Aug. 6 fire in Richmond caused by an old, leaky pipe in one of the facility's crude units, said Ellen Widess, chief of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
"Our ... investigation showed that Chevron had repeated warnings and recommendations from its own metallurgists and pipe inspectors about the condition of this pipe," Widess said.
"Chevron was in a unique position to really know the hazards that they deal with from their dynamic technologies and processes, many of which are proprietary. They alone were in position to have addressed these hazards."
The agency filed 25 citations against oil giant, and said the $963,200 in fines were the largest allowed by state law. The company said it planned to appeal some of the violations.
Among the findings, the agency said the company didn't follow recommendations of its own inspectors and scientists made in 2002 to replace the corroded pipe that ultimately ruptured and caused the fire.
"Chevron had pervasive violations in its leak repair procedures throughout the refinery," the agency found. "Investigators identified leaks in pipes that Chevron had clamped as a temporary fix. In some cases the clamps remained in place for years, rather than replacing the pipes themselves."
Cal-OSHA also cited Chevron for not following its own emergency shutdown procedures when the leak was first spotted, and said the company exposed workers to harm by not ensuring they wore proper safety equipment when going back into the burnt out crude unit following the blaze.
No workers were seriously injured in the incident.
Eleven of the violations have been classified as "willful" because investigators found that Chevron had not taken actions to eliminate dangerous conditions for employees, including replacement of the pipe that ruptured.
The investigation also cited the company for failing to file in writing its mandated "thorough review" of a new type of pipe that it wants to use in replacement of the old one that failed.
Company spokesman Sean Comey said Chevron disagreed with some of the violations.
"Although we acknowledge that we failed to live up to our own expectations in this incident, we do not agree with several of the (Cal-OSHA) findings and its characterization of some of the alleged violations as `willful,'" he said in an email. "Chevron intends to appeal."
Smoke and gas from the fire prompted thousands of people to seek medical treatment, with many complaining of eye irritation and breathing problems.
The fire was caused by a decades-old pipe that the company had neglected to replace, even after inspecting areas near the segment that failed less than a year earlier.
Chevron has paid $10 million in connection to nearly 24,000 claims from residents and to nearby hospitals and local government agencies in Richmond and Contra Costa County, the company said in a report filed earlier this week.
Most of that money went to the hospitals to pay for medical exams and treatments following the incident.
While the fines may not be a major deterrent for a company that earned an estimated $25 billion in 2012, the agency said industry is often more sensitive to a violations classification, such as "willful," than monetary penalties.
"There's a huge stigma to willful violations with all industries," Erika Monterroza, a Cal-OSHA spokeswoman.
Chevron's El Segundo refinery and its oilfield near Bakersfield are also under investigation by Cal-OSHA.
___
Follow Jason Dearen on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/JHDearen
Earlier on HuffPost:
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/31/chevron-fined_n_2587468.html
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Israel hits Syria arms convoy to Lebanon - sources
BEIRUT/AMMAN |
BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - Israeli warplanes bombed a convoy near Syria's border with Lebanon, sources told Reuters, apparently targeting weapons destined for Hezbollah in what some called a warning to Damascus not to arm Israel's Lebanese enemy.
Syrian state television accused Israel of bombing a military research centre at Jamraya, between Damascus and the nearby border, but Syrian rebels disputed that, saying their forces had attacked the site. No source spoke of a second Israeli strike.
"The target was a truck loaded with weapons, heading from Syria to Lebanon," said one Western diplomat, echoing others who said the convoy's load may have included anti-aircraft missiles or long-range rockets. Several sources ruled out the presence in the convoy of chemical weapons, about which Israel has also raised concerns.
Diplomatic sources from three countries told Reuters that chemical weapons were believed to be stored at Jamraya, and that it was possible that the convoy was near the large site when it came under attack early on Wednesday.
However, there was no suggestion that the vehicles themselves had been carrying chemical weapons.
The raid followed warnings from Israel that it was ready to act to prevent the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad leading to Syria's chemical weapons and modern rockets reaching either his Hezbollah allies or his Islamist enemies.
A source among Syrian rebels said an air strike around dawn (4:30 a.m. British time) blasted a convoy near the border. "It attacked trucks carrying sophisticated weapons from the regime to Hezbollah," the source said, adding that it took place inside Syria.
Syrian state television said two people were killed in a dawn raid on the military site at Jamraya, which lies in the 25-km (15-mile) strip between Damascus and the Lebanese border. It described it as a scientific research centres "aimed at raising the level of resistance and self-defence".
It did not mention specific retaliation but said "these criminal acts" would not weaken Syria's support for Palestinians and other groups engaged in "resistance" to Israel.
Several rebel sources, however, including a commander in the Damascus area, accused the authorities of lying and said the only attacks at Jamraya had been mortar attacks by insurgents.
A regional security source said Israel's target was weaponry given by Assad's military to fellow Iranian ally Hezbollah.
"This episode boils down to a warning by Israel to Syria and Hezbollah not to engage in the transfer of sensitive weapons," the source said. "Assad knows his survival depends on his military capabilities and he would not want those capabilities neutralised by Israel - so the message is this kind of transfer is simply not worth it, neither for him nor Hezbollah."
With official secrecy shrouding the event, few details were corroborated by multiple sources. All those with knowledge of the events - from several countries - spoke anonymously.
"MOCK RAIDS"
There was no comment from Hezbollah or the Israeli government. Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said only that Israeli warplanes had carried out "mock raids" over southern Lebanon on Wednesday night, close to the Syrian border.
Israel's ally the United States declined all comment. A Lebanese security source said its territory was not hit, though the army also reported a heavy presence of Israeli jets through the night after days of unusually frequent incursions.
Such a strike or strikes would fit Israel's policy of pre-emptive covert and overt action to curb Hezbollah and does not necessarily indicate a major escalation of the war in Syria. It does, however, indicate how the erosion of the Assad family's rule after 42 years is seen by Israel as posing a threat.
Israel this week echoed concerns in the United States about Syrian chemical weapons, but its officials say a more immediate worry is that the civil war could see weapons that are capable of denting its massive superiority in airpower and tanks reaching Hezbollah; the group fought Israel in 2006 and remains a more pressing threat than its Syrian and Iranian sponsors.
Israeli officials have said they feared Assad may be losing his grip on some chemical weapons, including around Damascus, to rebel groups which are also potentially hostile to Israel. U.S. and European security sources told Reuters they were confident that chemical weapons were not in the convoy which was bombed.
Wednesday's action could have been a rapid response to an opportunity. But a stream of Israeli comment on Syria in recent days may have been intended to limit surprise in world capitals.
The head of the Israeli air force said only hours before the attack that his corps, which has an array of the latest jet bombers, attack helicopters and unmanned drones at its disposal, was involved in a covert "campaign between wars".
"This campaign is 24/7, 365 days a year," Major-General Amir Eshel told a conference on Tuesday. "We are taking action to reduce the immediate threats, to create better conditions in which we will be able to win the wars, when they happen."
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, set for a new term after an election, told his cabinet that Iran and turmoil in Arab states meant Israel must be strong: "In the east, north and south, everything is in ferment, and we must be prepared, strong and determined in the face of all possible developments."
Israel's refusal to comment on Wednesday is usual in such cases; it has, for example, never admitted a 2007 air strike on a suspected Syrian nuclear site despite U.S. confirmation of it.
By not acknowledging that raid, Israel may have ensured that Assad did not feel obliged to retaliate. For 40 years, Syria has offered little but bellicose words against Israel.
(Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny and Oliver Holmes in Beirut, Myra MacDonald in London, Mark Hosenball in Washington and Reuters bureaux; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by David Stamp)
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How To Learn French The Easy Way?
French is one of the most spoken languages in the world. Resembling English, it is very well recognized as a language and numerous people are inclined towards learning it. But learning it as an exercise or course is not satisfactory, as it is spoken in a different attitude and etiquette, depending on the context of situation.
Unlike in America, where it's common to talk to strangers in a market or at school, in France people aren't used to this and will probably get a bit freaked out if you try it. But generally in France, the best way to meet people is through groups rather than trying to go solo. Let us look into different scenarios:
"HEY! HELLO!":
Like in English, when asked "what's up?" we usually give a one-word answer because fact is that nobody really cares. But in France they'll assume you actually want to know how they're doing, and they'll expect you to give a real answer, too. Politeness in France is mostly for work situations, between strangers, or when there's an age difference. With friends you can usually assume everything's fine. But between foreign languages and new cultures, misunderstandings happen pretty easily. So avoid being totally blank and keep some of these tension-defusing phrases handy. This is my first time in France. C'est la premiere fois que je viens en France.
I'd like to meet some French people. Je veux rencontrer des Francais.
Excuse me. Excusez-moi. (formal or plural)/Excuse-moi. (casual)
Don't worry about it. T'inquiete.
Don't worry about him/her. Ignore-le/la.
Pardon my French! Pardon, ca m'a ?chapp?.
How's it going? ca va? How you doing? Tu vas bien?
You doing good today? T'es en forme?
Long time, no see! ca fait longtemps, dis donc!
Watcha up to? Qu'est-ce que tu me racontes?
Nothing much. Pas grand chose.
"FORMALITIES":
Watch out for a few cultural differences in France. First, only medical doctors use "Dr." with their names; a Ph.D. in ceramics won't get you any special title. Second, there is no French equivalent to "Ms."; there are only "Mademoiselle" and "Madame." So the rule of thumb is to use "Mademoiselle" for every woman who looks under thirty; that won't get you into trouble.
Sir Monsieur
Ma'am Madame
Miss, Ms. Mademoiselle
Dr. Docteur
Mr. President Monsieur le pr?sident
Judge Monsieur/Madame le juge
"WANT TO TRY FRENCH RESTAURANT?":
In France, even ordering water at a restaurant can be a trip through a minefield. Remember, the French eat late. Most restaurants open for dinner at 7:30 p.m. All-you-can-eat buffets are almost non-existent in France. Once you order and have your meal, do ask for the bill. You have to ask for it or they won't bring it to you.
Bring me? Apportez-moi?
The menu la carte
Bread du pain
Silverware des couverts
The cheque l'addition
Can we order? On peut commander?
What do you recommend? Qu'est-ce que vous recommandez?
These were some common things to learn for a trip to France.
For more common terms to learn for a trip to France, see here.
Source: http://articles.submityourarticle.com/how-to-learn-french-the-easy-way--314722
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Sony asks us to 'see the future' of PlayStation on February 20th (update: WSJ rumors)
What's this? A Sony invite to "see the future" of PlayStation on February 20th in New York City? From the looks of the very tease-y clip Sony's released (found just beyond the break), it's clearly PlayStation related. Perhaps involving a certain codenamed "Orbis" project? The company's official PlayStation Twitter account says "See the future" and pushes followers to this website, where invitees can sign up and everyone can see the aforementioned video.
We'll find out soon enough what the tease is about, as we've just finished up registration. From the video ... well, the future features the same triangle, circle, square, and cross buttons, apparently. A recent report detailed some specs for Sony's rumored next PlayStation, including an eight core AMD64 CPU and an AMD R10XX GPU -- specs that may change dramatically before we hear anything official. Could this be the first volley in Sony's rollout of the next PlayStation?
Source: PlayStation Meeting 2013
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/qH0PErJXIiU/
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