Exclusive: Microsoft and Symantec disrupt cyber crime ring

BOSTON (Reuters) – Software makers Microsoft Corp and Symantec Corp said they disrupted a global cyber crime operation by shutting down servers that controlled hundreds of thousands of PCs without the knowledge of their users.

The move made it temporarily impossible for infected PCs around the world to search the web, though the companies offered free tools to clean machines through messages that were automatically pushed out to infected computers.

Technicians working on behalf of both companies raided data centers in Weehawken, New Jersey, and Manassas, Virginia, on Wednesday, accompanied by U.S. federal marshals, under an order issued by the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.

They seized control of one server at the New Jersey facility and persuaded the operators of the Virginia data center to take down a server at their parent company in the Netherlands, according to Richard Boscovich, associate general counsel with Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit.

Boscovich told Reuters that he had “a high degree of confidence” that the operation had succeeded in bringing down the cyber crime operation, known as the Bamital botnet.

“We think we got everything, but time will tell,” he said.

The servers that were pulled off line on Wednesday had been used to communicate with what Microsoft and Symantec estimate are between 300,000 and 600,000 PCs currently infected with malicious software that enslaved them into the botnet.

The companies said that the Bamital operation hijacked search results and engaged in other schemes that the companies said fraudulently charge businesses for online advertisement clicks.

Bamital’s organizers also had the ability to take control of infected PCs, installing other types of computer viruses that could engage in identity theft, recruit PCs into networks that attack websites and conduct other types of computer crimes.

Now that the servers have been shut down, users of infected PCs will be directed to a site informing them that their machines are infected with malicious software when they attempt to search the web.

Microsoft and Symantec are offering them free tools to fix their PCs and restore access to web searches via messages automatically pushed out to victims.

The messages warn: “You have reached this website because your computer is very likely to be infected by malware that redirects the results of your search queries. You will receive this notification until you remove the malware from your computer.”

It was the sixth time that Microsoft has obtained a court order to disrupt a botnet since 2010. Previous operations have targeted bigger botnets, but this is the first where infected users have received warnings and free tools to clean up their machines.

Microsoft runs a Digital Crimes Unit out of its Redmond, Washington, headquarters that is staffed by 11 attorneys, investigators and other staff who work to help law enforcement fight financial crimes and exploitation of children over the web.

Symantec approached Microsoft about a year ago, asking the maker of Windows software to collaborate in trying to take down the Bamital operation. Last week they sought a court order to seize the Bamital servers.

The two companies said they conservatively estimate that the Bamital botnet generated at least $ 1 million a year in profits for the organizers of the operation. They said they will learn more about the size of the operation after they analyze information from infected machines that check in to the domains once controlled by Bamital’s servers.

Their complaint identified 18 “John Doe” ringleaders, scattered from Russia and Romania to Britain, the United States and Australia, who registered websites and rented servers used in the operation under fictitious names. The complaint was filed last week with a federal court in Alexandria and unsealed on Wednesday.

The complaint alleges that the ringleaders made money through a scheme known as “click fraud” in which criminals get cash from advertisers who pay websites commissions when their users click on ads.

Bamital redirected search results from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing search engines to sites with which the authors of the botnet have financial relationships, according to the complaint.

The complaint also charges that Bamital’s operators profited by forcing infected computers to generate large quantities of automated ad clicks without the knowledge of PC users.

Boscovich said he believes the botnet originated in Russia or Ukraine because affiliated sites install a small text file known as a cookie that is written in Russian on infected computers.

The cookie file contains the Russian phrase “yatutuzebil,” according to the court filing. That can loosely be translated as “I was here,” he said.

(Reporting By Jim Finkle; Editing by Claudia Parsons)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: Exclusive: Microsoft and Symantec disrupt cyber crime ring
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/exclusive-microsoft-and-symantec-disrupt-cyber-crime-ring/
Link To Post : Exclusive: Microsoft and Symantec disrupt cyber crime ring
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment

Read More..

IHT Special: Syria's Kurds Try to Balance Security and Alliances

ERBIL, IRAQ — Syria’s Kurds have mostly escaped prolonged bouts of direct conflict in the country’s civil war, but with rebel units pushing east toward the resource-rich Kurdish heartland, Kurdish militias proliferating and calls for greater autonomy growing, this may not remain the case.

Last summer, the Democratic Union Party, known by its Kurdish-language acronym P.Y.D., seized control of many towns and villages in the Kurdish majority northeast. The group also holds territory in a few Aleppo neighborhoods and some towns around the city.

The P.Y.D. is the most powerful Kurdish faction in Syria and has a well trained militia. This is perhaps a product of its ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., a guerrilla group that has been fighting for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey.

The leadership of the P.Y.D. plays down its ties to the P.K.K. But Syrian Kurds often use the names interchangeably, and P.Y.D. offices feature portraits of the imprisoned P.K.K. leader Abdullah Ocalan and Syrian P.K.K. guerrillas killed in fighting with Turkey.

Detractors of the P.Y.D. accuse it of working in collusion with the Syrian government. The party’s leadership and supporters, who say they were struggling against the government to secure rights for Syria’s two million-plus Kurds well before the uprising began in 2011, reject this allegation.

But in the complexities of Syria’s civil war, friendships are not born of common enemies.

The P.Y.D.’s militant Kurdish nationalism, which puts ethnic identity before allegiance to Syria, and their goal of some form of autonomy has put them at odds with Syria’s rebels. After decades of discriminatory policies against the Kurds under the Baath Party, the P.Y.D. is opposed to anybody but Kurds ruling their areas.

Last month, fighting flared in Ras al-Ain, which the Kurds call Serekaniye, as rebel units assaulted P.Y.D.-held areas. Dozens were killed in the fighting.

“Those groups attacking Serekaniye, we don’t consider them as Free Syrian Army,” said Saleh Muslim, the leader of the P.Y.D. Instead, he said the groups that attacked “are mainly just taking orders from the Turkish regime.”

The Free Syrian Army “is a name, or a trademark, not registered to anybody,” said Mr. Muslim. “So anybody can come from his home and get a hold of some weapons and say, ‘I am Free Syrian Army.”’

The push on Ras al-Ain, a town on the Turkish border about 300 kilometers, or 185 miles, northeast of Aleppo, could reflect a number of things: a rebel attempt to gain strategic territory, the lack of coordination among Free Syrian Army units, the spread of armed groups beyond the control of the Free Syrian Army, or the prodding of rebel groups by Turkey to confront the Kurds.

Mr. Muslim believes that Turkey, which is concerned that P.Y.D.-controlled areas along its borders could act as a base for P.K.K. attacks and has warned of intervention if it feels threatened, had something to do with the outbreak of fighting.

“I think it’s a part of the larger plan by the Turkish regime,” he said. “They want to disarm all people, to leave them without defense.”

Beyond the strategic value offered by the northeast, with its access to long stretches of the Iraqi and Turkish borders, the area is home to the majority of Syria’s oil. Before the conflict, oil exports earned Syria $4 billion per year.

The amount of oil that Syria could produce is negligible when compared with other exporters in the region, but with the economy shattered the oil fields are attractive real estate.

There are conflicting reports over who holds the main northeastern oil fields around the town of Rmeilan, though in late January a video appeared online purporting to show members of the P.Y.D.’s militia patrolling the smaller Gir Ziro field nearby.

Beyond the P.Y.D., the other notable political player in Syria’s Kurdish areas is the Kurdish National Council, a coalition of 16 parties. The parties are mostly small and have differing views, though on the whole they are more amenable to working with the mainstream Syrian opposition, which the P.Y.D. rejects.

Read More..

Braun says he used Fla clinic owner as consultant

NEW YORK (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun said the person who ran the Florida clinic being investigated by Major League Baseball was used only as a consultant on his drug suspension appeal last year.

"I have nothing to hide," Braun said in a statement released by his representatives on Tuesday night.

Earlier in the day, Yahoo Sports reported the 2011 NL MVP's name showed up three times in records of the Biogenesis of America LLC clinic. Yahoo said no specific performance-enhancing drugs were listed next to his name.

The Miami New Times recently released clinic documents that purportedly linked Alex Rodriguez, Gio Gonzalez, Melky Cabrera and other players to purchases of banned drugs from the now-closed anti-aging center.

Rodriguez and Cabrera were on the list with Braun that also included New York Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli and Baltimore Orioles infielder Danny Valencia.

Braun said his name was in the Biogenesis records because of an issue over payment to Anthony Bosch, who ran the clinic near Miami.

"There was a dispute over compensation for Bosch's work, which is why my lawyer and I are listed under 'moneys owed' and not on any other list," Braun said.

"I have nothing to hide and have never had any other relationship with Bosch," he said. "I will fully cooperate with any inquiry into this matter."

On Tuesday, MLB officials asked the Miami New Times for the records the alternative newspaper obtained for its story.

Asked specifically about Braun's name in the documents before the five-time All-Star released his statement, MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said: "Aware of report and are in the midst of an active investigation in South Florida."

Braun tested positive during the 2011 postseason for elevated testosterone levels. He maintained his innocence and his 50-game suspension was overturned during spring training last year when arbitrator Shyam Das ruled in favor of Braun due to chain of custody issues involving the sample.

With that, Braun became the first major leaguer to have a drug suspension overturned.

"During the course of preparing for my successful appeal last year, my attorneys, who were previously familiar with Tony Bosch, used him as a consultant. More specifically, he answered questions about T/E ratio and possibilities of tampering with samples," Braun said.

The T/E ratio is a comparison of the levels of testosterone to epitestosterone.

Braun led the NL in homers (41), runs (108) and slugging percentage (.595) last season while batting .319 with 112 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. He finished second to San Francisco catcher Buster Posey in MVP balloting."

Cervelli, who spent nearly all of last season in Triple-A, posted a statement on Twitter later Tuesday night.

"Following my foot injury in March 2011, I consulted with a number of experts, including BioGenesis Clinic, for (cont)," Cervelli posted, "(cont)legal ways to aid my rehab and recovery. I purchased supplements that I am certain were not prohibited by Major League Baseball."

An email sent to Valencia's agent was not returned.

Read More..

Personal Health: Effective Addiction Treatment

Countless people addicted to drugs, alcohol or both have managed to get clean and stay clean with the help of organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous or the thousands of residential and outpatient clinics devoted to treating addiction.

But if you have failed one or more times to achieve lasting sobriety after rehab, perhaps after spending tens of thousands of dollars, you’re not alone. And chances are, it’s not your fault.

Of the 23.5 million teenagers and adults addicted to alcohol or drugs, only about 1 in 10 gets treatment, which too often fails to keep them drug-free. Many of these programs fail to use proven methods to deal with the factors that underlie addiction and set off relapse.

According to recent examinations of treatment programs, most are rooted in outdated methods rather than newer approaches shown in scientific studies to be more effective in helping people achieve and maintain addiction-free lives. People typically do more research when shopping for a new car than when seeking treatment for addiction.

A groundbreaking report published last year by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University concluded that “the vast majority of people in need of addiction treatment do not receive anything that approximates evidence-based care.” The report added, “Only a small fraction of individuals receive interventions or treatment consistent with scientific knowledge about what works.”

The Columbia report found that most addiction treatment providers are not medical professionals and are not equipped with the knowledge, skills or credentials needed to provide the full range of evidence-based services, including medication and psychosocial therapy. The authors suggested that such insufficient care could be considered “a form of medical malpractice.”

The failings of many treatment programs — and the comprehensive therapies that have been scientifically validated but remain vastly underused — are described in an eye-opening new book, “Inside Rehab,” by Anne M. Fletcher, a science writer whose previous books include the highly acclaimed “Sober for Good.”

“There are exceptions, but of the many thousands of treatment programs out there, most use exactly the same kind of treatment you would have received in 1950, not modern scientific approaches,” A. Thomas McLellan, co-founder of the Treatment Research Institute in Philadelphia, told Ms. Fletcher.

Ms. Fletcher’s book, replete with the experiences of treated addicts, offers myriad suggestions to help patients find addiction treatments with the highest probability of success.

Often, Ms. Fletcher found, low-cost, publicly funded clinics have better-qualified therapists and better outcomes than the high-end residential centers typically used by celebrities like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. Indeed, their revolving-door experiences with treatment helped prompt Ms. Fletcher’s exhaustive exploration in the first place.

In an interview, Ms. Fletcher said she wanted to inform consumers “about science-based practices that should form the basis of addiction treatment” and explode some of the myths surrounding it.

One such myth is the belief that most addicts need to go to a rehab center.

“The truth is that most people recover (1) completely on their own, (2) by attending self-help groups, and/or (3) by seeing a counselor or therapist individually,” she wrote.

Contrary to the 30-day stint typical of inpatient rehab, “people with serious substance abuse disorders commonly require care for months or even years,” she wrote. “The short-term fix mentality partially explains why so many people go back to their old habits.”

Dr. Mark Willenbring, a former director of treatment and recovery research at the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, said in an interview, “You don’t treat a chronic illness for four weeks and then send the patient to a support group. People with a chronic form of addiction need multimodal treatment that is individualized and offered continuously or intermittently for as long as they need it.”

Dr. Willenbring now practices in St. Paul, where he is creating a clinic called Alltyr “to serve as a model to demonstrate what comprehensive 21st century treatment should look like.”

“While some people are helped by one intensive round of treatment, the majority of addicts continue to need services,” Dr. Willenbring said. He cited the case of a 43-year-old woman “who has been in and out of rehab 42 times” because she never got the full range of medical and support services she needed.

Dr. Willenbring is especially distressed about patients who are treated for opioid addiction, then relapse in part because they are not given maintenance therapy with the drug Suboxone.

“We have some pretty good drugs to help people with addiction problems, but doctors don’t know how to use them,” he said. “The 12-step community doesn’t want to use relapse-prevention medication because they view it as a crutch.”

Before committing to a treatment program, Ms. Fletcher urges prospective clients or their families to do their homework. The first step, she said, is to get an independent assessment of the need for treatment, as well as the kind of treatment needed, by an expert who is not affiliated with the program you are considering.

Check on the credentials of the program’s personnel, who should have “at least a master’s degree,” Ms. Fletcher said. If the therapist is a physician, he or she should be certified by the American Board of Addiction Medicine.

Does the facility’s approach to treatment fit with your beliefs and values? If a 12-step program like A.A. is not right for you, don’t choose it just because it’s the best known approach.

Meet with the therapist who will treat you and ask what your treatment plan will be. “It should be more than movies, lectures or three-hour classes three times a week,” Ms. Fletcher said. “You should be treated by a licensed addiction counselor who will see you one-on-one. Treatment should be individualized. One size does not fit all.”

Find out if you will receive therapy for any underlying condition, like depression, or a social problem that could sabotage recovery. The National Institute on Drug Abuse states in its Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment, “To be effective, treatment must address the individual’s drug abuse and any associated medical, psychological, social, vocational, and legal problems.”

Look for programs using research-validated techniques, like cognitive behavioral therapy, which helps addicts recognize what prompts them to use drugs or alcohol, and learn to redirect their thoughts and reactions away from the abused substance.

Other validated treatment methods include Community Reinforcement and Family Training, or Craft, an approach developed by Robert J. Meyers and described in his book, “Get Your Loved One Sober,” with co-author Brenda L. Wolfe. It helps addicts adopt a lifestyle more rewarding than one filled with drugs and alcohol.

This is the first of two articles on addiction treatment.

Read More..

Trade Group Lawsuit Challenges Olive Oil Labeling

The North American Olive Oil Association, a trade group that represents the olive oil business in the United States and Canada, is suing Kangadis Food, saying that it falsely labeled its Capatriti brand as olive oil when the product is a fat from leftover olive skins and pits.

That fat, known as olive pomace oil or olive residue oil, is extracted using high heat and chemical solvents including hexane. “Olive pomace oil is not allowed in any grade of olive oil under any standard anywhere in the world,” said Eryn Balch, executive vice president of the association. In addition, she said, “The cost of producing oil that way is a fraction of what it costs to produce authentic olive oil.”

Themis Kangadis, an executive with the company, said he had not heard of the lawsuit and would ask the company’s lawyers to look into it. “I had no idea,” Mr. Kangadis said.

The lawsuit seeks to prevent Kangadis, which is based in Hauppage, N.Y., and operates under the name The Gourmet Factory, from selling any pomace product that is not so labeled and to notify retailers and other buyers of pomace products that they were buying an adulterated product. The suit was filed Wednesday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Ms. Balch said Capatriti’s pricing was one-third to one-half the price of competitive brands, so the association hired an independent contractor to buy nine tins of Capratiti “100% Pure Olive Oil” product from three lots. Identifying materials were removed from the samples, and they were shipped to a lab in Spain that is certified by the International Olive Council, an organization based in Spain that sets the standards for olive oil purity and quality.

“When the results came back, they clearly confirmed that none of the samples were olive oil,” Ms. Balch said. “Instead, they were some type of pomace oil and pomace oil and seed oils.”

Dan Flynn, executive director of the Olive Center at the University of California, Davis, said he was not surprised to hear of the lawsuit. “There have been too many reports that the grading and labeling of olive oil are a big problem,” Mr. Flynn said.

Other studies by the center on olive oils sold in supermarkets and used in the food service industry have found that many failed to meet the standards of the grade listed on their labels.

In 1982, the Food and Drug Administration defined “virgin olive oil” as a term that may be used on labels only for oil from the first “pressing” of olives and fit for consumption without further processing. “Oil extracted from olive pomace and pits by chemical means and refined to make it edible must be labeled either ‘refined olive residue oil’ or ‘refined extracted olive residue oil,’ according to the agency’s regulations.

More recently, the Agriculture Department has published voluntary guidelines for grading olive oil. New York State has more stringent laws than the federal government, stating that any compound or blended olive oil be labeled as such and include the percentage of olive oil that is in the total.

Diluting olive oils with seed and other oils has been a persistent problem, attracting growing consumer complaints, as has the grading of extra virgin olive oil.

“Information about hazelnut, walnut and other seed oils being in olive oils has been misrepresented in the press,” she said. “Most of what has been talked about lately is not about authenticity, it’s about labeling within a grade, whether something is really extra virgin or not.”

In the complaint against Capatriti, the association said that because of the differences in the way olive oil and pomace were produced, the presence of pomace in a single tin meant that all tins in the same lot contained pomace. Capatriti bottles and cans are labeled “Extra Virgin Olive Oil,” “100% Pure Olive Oil” and “Light Olive Oil,” and its Web site says it is “proud to introduce” a new line of “All Natural Blended Olive Oil.”

“This is a very, very clear-cut case of false advertising,” said Timothy J. Treanor, a lawyer at Sidley Austin who is representing the association. “This is not a case where there is room for argument about degrees of truthfulness. Here, 100 percent olive oil is what it states on the tin and by any standard, that’s not true.”

The association contends that Kangadis had to have known about the adulteration of its products because of a complaint it filed after the Connecticut General Assembly in 2008 adopted the criteria set by the International Olive Council for assessing olive oil quality and set penalties for companies that sell olive oils cut with hazelnut, soy or peanut oils.

Kangadis tried to stop the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection from enforcing the state’s law on olive oil, saying the company’s “reputation and business relationships have already been harmed by adoption of the state olive oil standards.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 6, 2013

An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled the surname of a laywer at Sidley Austin representing the North American Olive Oil Association. He is Timothy J. Treanor.

Read More..

BlackBerry eyes future beyond its new line of devices

TORONTO (Reuters) – Barely a week after launching an all-new, make-or-break line of smartphones, BlackBerry is already looking at a future in which it is a leader in “mobile computing,” Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said on Tuesday.

Heins said BlackBerry is aiming to reclaim its spot as an innovator in a world where smartphones already have the processing power to replace tablets and laptops.

The company, which changed its name from Research In Motion when it launched its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones a week ago, pioneered on-the-go email before losing ground to nimbler rivals with faster devices. It is now out to explore new territory.

“This isn’t just about smartphones and tablets,” Heins, who took over as CEO just over a year ago, said in an interview soon after the launch of the BlackBerry 10 devices.

“The architecture we have built is true mobile computing architecture. It’s not a downgraded PC operating system. It is a whole new innovation built from scratch. It’s built for mobile.”

While speaking at the Empire Club of Canada on Tuesday, Heins reiterated his message: “BlackBerry 10 is not just a device. It is a whole new mobile computing platform,” he said.

Despite a number of glowing reviews for the BB10 and reports of strong initial sales, however, some analysts and technology pundits are skeptical about BlackBerry’s chances of mounting a comeback, doubting its ability to sell either enough smartphones or manage to transform the way people work.

“The Street cares about how many units of these (devices) they’re going to sell and that is the balancing act,” said John Jackson, an industry analyst at consulting firm IDC.

Jackson said he can see a future in which the BlackBerry 10 operating system will allow users to control a vast array of devices, but added: “They need to sell devices to keep the lights on while they transform themselves into a next-generation computing platform.”

BlackBerry’s marketing head, Frank Boulben, said the company is moving quickly enough to do just that.

“The vision is going to start to materialize this year,” he said. “You will be able to plug the (Z10) device into a docking station at the office and then all you need is a keyboard, a mouse and a screen. Combined with cloud services this would mean you don’t need a laptop or a desktop.”

BlackBerry last week unveiled two versions of devices that run on the BB10 OS, a touchscreen smartphone dubbed Z10 and one with a physical keyboard called the Q10, betting they will help it win back some of the market share it has bled to the likes of Apple and Samsung Electronics.

IT’S ABOUT THE PLATFORM

On launch day, Heins spent the first 20 minutes of the event talking about the BlackBerry 10 platform, rather than about the new smartphone models themselves.

“Over the short term, yes, we have to be successful with the devices, we have got to win back the enterprises, we’ve got win back consumers,” he said. “But in the longer term, we have to understand where this company is going.”

Initial checks from analysts point to strong sales for the Z10 in its early launch countries of Canada and Britain. The Q10 device will not be on sale until April.

“We spoke to a range of U.K. vendors over the weekend who indicated BlackBerry’s Z10 sales were strong,” Barclays analyst Jeff Kvaal said in a note. “Some store locations were completely sold out of the Z10 device, while others had limited stock.”

Two of Canada’s largest wireless carriers, Rogers and Bell, say demand for the new devices is strong. Rogers said pre-orders for the Z10 device are already in the thousands, while Bell said customer pre-registration numbers for the new smartphone are unprecedented for a new BlackBerry device.

Analyst upgrades, coupled with the Z10 sales reports, have sparked a surge in BlackBerry’s shares this week. The stock is up more than 24 percent from Friday’s close of $ 13.03 on the Nasdaq.

The stock, which remains some 90 percent below its 2008 peak, fell more than 20 percent in the two days following the BlackBerry launch, partly on disappointment that the new devices will not hit the crucial U.S. market until next month.

ALL OPTIONS OPEN

At the launch, BlackBerry did not address its so far unsuccessful foray into the tablet market, but Heins said the company remains committed to this segment.

“I’m not getting out of the tablet business, I’ve asked my teams to build another one, but I need to make money from it. If the hardware doesn’t provide the margins I need, then it makes no sense in doing it,” he said.

BlackBerry’s PlayBook tablets debuted in 2011, but never gained traction against Apple’s iPad and other devices. The company was forced to write down the value of the devices and it has since sold them at sharply reduced prices.

Heins said BlackBerry will remain focused on expanding its business in mobile computing over the next two to four years.

BlackBerry’s QNX operating system, which forms the basis of its new BlackBerry 10 OS, already runs cars, nuclear reactors and manufacturing plants, and Heins said this opens new vistas for the company, although he gave no clear description of what they are.

“What we need to decide is where do we play? It could be a software play, a licensing play, an end-to-end horizontal play, we’ll figure that out,” he said. “In five years, yes we might still be in hardware, but we may not be in hardware … I’m not ruling anything out.”

“Mobile computing is not going to be decided in the next quarter … We have got to figure out as an industry how we get there. All I know is that I want us to be a leader there.”

(Reporting by Euan Rocha; Editing by Janet Guttsman; and Peter Galloway)

Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: BlackBerry eyes future beyond its new line of devices
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/blackberry-eyes-future-beyond-its-new-line-of-devices/
Link To Post : BlackBerry eyes future beyond its new line of devices
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment

Read More..

Georgia’s Ivanishvili Sees Warming With Russia

TBILISI, Georgia — As Russia took steps to resume imports of Georgian-produced wine and mineral water, Georgia’s new prime minister, the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, said Tuesday he was making progress on one of his campaign promises — to repair the country’s badly frayed relationship with its huge neighbor.

Mr. Ivanishvili has struggled to meet the expectations that swept him to power in October, ending the nine-year political dominance of President Mikheil Saakashvili and his party. Many voters expected his election to be followed by immediate financial relief and a turnaround in relations with Russia, perhaps even re-engagement with the breakaway Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

On Monday came the news that Russia would dispatch teams of sanitary inspectors to Georgia in anticipation of resuming imports. Georgian wine and mineral water — Russian consumer staples since the Soviet era — were banned from Russian shelves in 2006, as Mr. Saakashvili openly challenged Russia’s supremacy in the region. At a news conference marking his first 100 days in office on Tuesday, Mr. Ivanishvili said he was making headway repairing the rift.

“It will not happen as fast as I used to say, and I can confirm this today,” he said. But he said that he felt a friendly tone was returning to the relationship, and that Russian officials had given him “a surprisingly warm reception” at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos.

“I got the feeling that there is great nostalgia and great desire not only from the people of Georgia but also from Russia for the restoration of relations between the two states,” he said.

Mr. Saakashvili and his allies have warned that Mr. Ivanishvili’s overtures may mark a departure from Georgia’s longstanding efforts to join NATO and the European Union, which still has strong public support. Late last month, legislators from Mr. Saakashvili’s United National Movement proposed amending the country’s constitution to make Georgia’s “pro-Western orientation” legally binding.

Mr. Ivanishvili said Tuesday that he would not amend the constitution, but that altering the country’s pro-Western foreign policy was “unimaginable.”

“This is not the choice of either Saakashvili or the previous government,” he said. “This is the will of the Georgian people.”

A Russian analyst, Fyodor Lukyanov, commenting on the “thaw” between the two countries in Rossiyskaya Gazeta, a government newspaper, warned that the early stage of re-engagement — like the lifting of economic blockades — would be followed by a more difficult one, especially if Russia applied “excess pressure” to bring Tbilisi back into its orbit.

He noted that Russian chatter about Georgia re-joining the Commonwealth of Independent States, a Russian-dominated organization it left after its brief 2008 war with Russia, had provoked a storm of controversy in Georgia, for which integration is a fundamental goal.

“Without the dreams of institutional integration into the Western society, Georgia hangs in the air-- there is no other aim for its development,” he wrote. “The idea of Russia, if it existed, could not be considered now. But quite frankly Moscow cannot offer anything anywhere near as attractive as the European idea — maybe more a matter of image than substance, but that doesn’t matter.”

Olesya Vartanyan reported from Tbilisi and Ellen Barry from Moscow.

Read More..

Lindsey Vonn tears knee ligaments, out for season

SCHLADMING, Austria (AP) — Lindsey Vonn will miss the rest of the ski season after tearing knee ligaments and breaking a bone in her leg in a high-speed crash Tuesday at the world championships. The U.S. team expects her to return for the next World Cup season and the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Vonn lost balance on her right leg while landing a jump in the super-G. She flipped in the air, landed on her back and smashed through a gate before coming to a halt.

The four-time overall World Cup winner and 2010 Olympic downhill champion received medical treatment on the slope for 12 minutes before being taken by helicopter to a hospital in Schladming.

The 28-year-old star tore her anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in her right knee. U.S. team medical director Kyle Wilkens said in a statement. The broken bone in her lower leg was described as a "lateral tibial plateau fracture."

Christian Kaulfersch, the assistant medical director at the worlds, said Vonn left the Schladming hospital Tuesday afternoon and will have surgery at another hospital.

"She first wanted to go back to the team hotel to mentally deal with all what has happened," Kaulfersch said.

Team physician William Sterett was with Vonn but declined to offer any more information when contacted by The Associated Press.

This is the sixth straight major championship in which Vonn has been hit with injuries. The crash in the opening event of the championships came almost exactly a year before the Olympics.

"She will be out for the remainder of this season but is expected to return to racing for the 2013-14 ... World Cup season and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi," the team said.

Vonn returned to the circuit last month after an almost monthlong break from racing to fully recover from an intestinal illness that put her in a hospital for two days in November.

The start of Tuesday's race was delayed by 3½ hours because of fog hanging over the course and the skiers began in waning light at 2:30 p.m. Even before Vonn's crash, a course worker fell and also had to be airlifted. He was reported to have broken his nose.

All the delays made for flat light when Vonn raced.

"Lindsey did a great job on top and Lindsey has won a lot of races in flat light so the flat light was definitely not a problem," U.S. Alpine director Patrick Riml told the AP.

"We are upset obviously with what happened, but if you don't know the facts and why they decided to start and what the weather forecast was it's hard to say without any reasoning," Riml said. "And they probably had a reason, otherwise they wouldn't have started."

It was difficult to pinpoint when Vonn lost control as she came off a left turn into the jump.

"She jumped a little bit in the wrong direction and started to correct that a little bit in the air and put a lot of pressure on the outside ski exactly in the landing and she couldn't hold the pressure and then (she crashed)," International Ski Federation women's race director Atle Skaardal said.

Skaardal defended the decision to race.

"I can confirm that the visibility was great, there were no problems, and the course was also in good shape," he said. "I don't see that any outside factors played a role in this accident. ... The other factors were like they were supposed to be for ski racing."

Two years ago, Vonn pulled out midway through the last worlds in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, because of a mild concussion. At the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Vonn skied despite a severely bruised shin to win the downhill and take bronze in the super-G.

At the 2009 worlds in Val d'Isere, France, she sliced her thumb open on a champagne bottle after sweeping gold in the downhill and super-G, forcing her out of the giant slalom. At the 2007 worlds in Are, Sweden, Vonn injured her knee in training and missed her final two events.

And at the 2006 Turin Olympics, she had a horrific crash in downhill training and went directly from her hospital room to the mountain to compete in four of her five events.

Having regained her form in recent weeks, Vonn trailed eventual race winner Tina Maze of Slovenia by just 0.12 seconds at an intermediate interval shortly before Tuesday's crash.

The conditions varied from racer to racer.

Former overall winner Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany started immediately after Vonn and skied off course.

"It's not a very difficult course but in some parts you couldn't see anything," said Fabienne Suter of Switzerland, who finished fifth.

However, Vonn teammate Julia Mancuso thrived in the difficult conditions and won the bronze medal.

"It's the same for everybody," U.S. speed coach Chip White said. "Everyone had to wait for a long time and that's always difficult. And the holds were every 15 minutes so it really doesn't give you a chance to go and do something else. You're always kind of on edge at the ready. It's a difficult situation but everybody had the same difficult situation."

Read More..

SciTimes Update: Recent Developments in Science and Health News

Red Bull Stratos/European Pressphoto Agency

Felix Baumgartner of Austria jumps from 24 miles up in Roswell, New Mexico.

Tuesday in science, sharks with an image problem, good teeth get more dates, dog geniuses and remembering your dreams. Check out these headlines and other science news from around the Web.

Supersonic Skydiver: Skydiver Felix Baumgartner was faster than he or anyone else thought during his record-setting jump last October from 24 miles up. The Austrian parachutist known as “Fearless Felix” reached 843.6 mph, reports The Associated Press.

Stress Through Generations: For the first time, genes chemically silenced by stress during life have been shown to remain silenced in eggs and sperm in mice, possibly allowing the effect of stress to be passed down to the next generation, reports The Washington Post.

Man Bites Shark: A new study refutes the shark’s reputation as a bloodthirsty stalker of humans, reports Reuters. There’s no basis for believing that sharks have a taste for human flesh, the study argues. Human swimmers, often dressed in black wet suits and looking like seals, are instead mistaken for sharks’ usual prey.

What Singles Want: Good teeth, grammar and humor are important to singles, a new USA Today survey reports.

The Farmer’s Workout: Farmers -- the people counted on to feed the nation -- are facing weight gains of their own, reports Gannett News.

Yes, They Do Windows: The Wall Street Journal reports on window-washing robots.

Staying In: To keep patients out of the hospital, health care providers are bringing back revamped versions of a time-honored practice: the house call.

Spill Your Secrets: Teenagers who share their secrets in confidence with parents and friends have fewer headaches and depressed moods and are more confident in social situations than those who keep secrets to themselves, according to a report in The Journal of Adolescence.

Drilling on Mars: NASA’s Curiosity rover, the S.U.V.-sized robot exploring Mars, is getting ready to spin its drill bit for the first time, reports The Christian Science Monitor.

Couch Potatoes: Men who watch a lot of television have lower sperm counts than those who don’t watch any, reports ScienceNews.org.

Dream a Little Dream: Anyone who has ever awoken feeling amazed by their night’s dream only to forget its contents by the time they reach the shower will understand the difficulties of studying such an ephemeral state of mind, reports New Scientist.

Smart Dogs: Scientific American explores the science of dog intelligence.

Read More..

Weak Earnings Report for Zynga, but Stock Rises

SAN FRANCISCO — In the 14 months since Zynga sold shares to the public, the online game developer has been on a monumental losing streak. Games have been killed, crucial employees have fled and players have sought excitement elsewhere.

Any hopes that Zynga’s luck has substantially improved were dashed Tuesday when the company reported its fourth-quarter earnings. They were expected to be weak and they generally were, if not nearly as bad as some feared.

Revenue was $311 million, flat with the year before. Daily users of the games were down 6 percent from the third quarter, a clear measure of flagging interest. More casual users dropped as well.

Earnings per share were a penny, better than the 3-cent loss that analysts had been expecting on an adjusted basis. And Zynga’s cash hoard of $1.65 billion was untouched.

For the full year, revenue was $1.28 billion, up 12 percent from 2011. Not exactly what you would expect from a growth company.

Yet the company’s shares immediately rose in after-hours trading by 7 percent.In regular trading they were also up 7 percent to $2.73, largely on the basis of an analyst upgrade from Merrill Lynch. Many online stock sites, by contrast, have been portraying the company as going the way of Pets.com or MySpace. “Zynga’s Earnings May Reveal Its Impending Demise” read the headline at one of them.

Michael Pachter, a managing director of Wedbush Securities, is a Zynga optimist, of a sort. He wrote in an e-mail message before the earnings were released that he had “100 percent confidence” the company could pull off a turnaround but “zero confidence that they will.”

Zynga’s diminishing fortunes illustrate how quickly the prospect of Internet companies can wax and wane — a development compounded by the shift to smartphones. And it has a crucial test coming up: Can it successfully move its most popular games, starting with the Farmville franchise, from PCs to mobile devices?

The bigger issue for Zynga, which pioneered the concept of social gaming and is still the biggest developer, is whether its once-hot hand was merely being in the right place at the right time, a condition also known as dumb luck. Zynga hitched its rise to Facebook, which gave the developer preferential treatment. Games like Farmville and Mafia Wars boomed as the social network expanded its reach.

Only a small sliver of players ever bought the virtual goods that constituted Zynga’s main source of revenue, but that was a problem for the future. For a time in early 2011, Zynga’s initial public offering was touted as being as big as $20 billion. In the end, it was about half that, which was still a major achievement for a company less than five years old.

Almost immediately after the offering, a little over a year ago, the disappointments began. Zynga spent $180 million last March to buy the Internet craze Draw Something, abandoning its usual practice of just cloning hits. Draw Something had about 15 million daily users. Before the ink on the purchase was dry, nearly a third of them had departed for a newer craze. Zynga wrote over half the purchase price, but since Draw Something’s audience has continued to dwindle, the miscalculation was even worse.

More recently, critics have been pointing to the rise of King.com’s games, including Candy Crush, which makes the latest version of Farmville look as complicated as advanced physics.

“Who thought crushing candy would have been popular?” said Brian Blau, a Gartner analyst.

Read More..