gooey harpist: May 2012

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Diddy's Son's College Scholarship Sparks Controversy

Some are saying that his father's wealth makes it unfair for Justin Combs to get free ride at UCLA.
By Rob Markman

Justin Combs with his father Diddy
Photo: Getty Images

"It's all about the Benjamins" has been a long-running battle cry for , and now that his son Justin has earned a full athletic scholarship to UCLA, Puff's bank is once again the center of attention.

In November, the news broke that Justin Combs had accepted a full merit-based scholarship to play football for UCLA. But now, some local taxpayers and students are questioning whether the $54,000 scholarship is fair considering that Justin's dad topped Forbes' wealthiest hip-hop artists list last month after it was reported that he was worth more than half a billion dollars.

"UCLA's athletic department needs to consider the fact that perhaps there is another athlete on the football team who could perhaps really use this scholarship," UCLA student Neshemah Keetin told Los Angeles' CBS News affiliate. "Just being considerate that [with] our economy, students are trying to get to college through athletics and academics as well."

Once the news broke last year, a proud Puff Daddy issued a statement in support of his son. At that point, Justin's detractors hadn't voiced their displeasure. "As a parent, today is one of the proudest moments of my life. This is everything a father could want for his son, for him to excel at what he loves to do and is truly passionate about," he said. "Justin is a shining example of what hard work, determination and a strong mentality can achieve. I am honored to call him my son and am happy that he is fulfilling his dream."

Justin graduated with a 3.75 GPA from Iona Prep high school in New Rochelle, New York, where he was a top-rated cornerback. He received scholarship offers from state universities in Illinois, Virginia and Wyoming. During a CNN interview, the network's education contributor Dr. Steve Perry defended the young athlete. "He's done what he needs to do to be successful, and in a meritocracy we have to accept that no matter who your father is, whether he be rich, poor or absent, that you can in fact be successful on your own merit," he said. "There's nothing free about a Division I athletic scholarship. It's 40 hours-plus of work on campus every single week in order to maintain that scholarship."

UCLA spokesman Ricardo Vazquez echoed Perry's sentiment, explaining that the scholarship was based on Combs' talent on the football field and not his financial need. "Athletic scholarships, such as those awarded to football or basketball players, do not rely on state funds. Instead, these scholarships are entirely funded through UCLA Athletics ticket sales, corporate partnerships, media contracts and private donations from supporters."

Should Justin Combs accept the full scholarship to UCLA? Sound off in the comments!

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Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms Video | Diet-Fitness-Health-Healthy ...

Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are pain, swelling, redness and stiffness. Other symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis may include fatigue, lack of appetite, low grade fever and muscle aches. Dr. Dahlman?s all natural protocol combines food allergy testing and all natural supplements to help you conquer rheumatoid arthritis symptoms.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

phoenixnutritionals.com (CLICK HERE) Arthritis is a progressive chronic degenerative condition caused by the bodys inability to replace lost cartilage. In the early stages such things as sports injuries to a particular joint or an accident that has damaged one or more joints may cause arthritis, but in the vast majority of cases, arthritis is the result of a breakdown of protein absorption and a lack of key essential minerals needed to repair and maintain connective tissue strength. Exercise plays a major role in keeping the body flexible. Exercise and arthritis can often be uncomfortable but exercise for the arthritis sufferer is essential. You should begin with only what you can comfortably do, but slowly try and increase both duration and resistance of the exercise. By exercising, we can keep the joints and especially the connective, supportive tissues flexible. The best time to gain control over the arthritis process is as early on in the disease process as possible. The longer arthritis ravages the joints of the body, the greater the potential permanent damage that can occur. Almost all arthritic conditions begin with the inability for the body to replace worn cartilage. Every time you move a joint, the friction of the bones on the cartilage wears microscopic amounts of cartilage tissue away. This is normal and causes no problem as long as the body is able to replace the cartilage tissue at the same rate it is worn away. When we are young, this is usually not a ?
Video Rating: 4 / 5

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Noctua developing noise-cancelling PC fan, will demo at Computex

Try as we might to block it out, we just can't stand the whirring of our PC fan when it starts to act up. There may be an end to our cringing, as Austrian company Noctua is gearing up to debut a fan with integrated noise cancellation at Computex. The cooling fan to be shown in Taipei is only a prototype, but we know it's a Noctua NF-F12 model that uses noise-control technology from RotoSub. Luckily, Computex is less than a week away, so we'll soon have a better idea of whether this fan can keep our PC from sounding like a 777 ready for takeoff... we're sure our coworkers would appreciate it.

Noctua developing noise-cancelling PC fan, will demo at Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 May 2012 18:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rise Of The Machines: IP Traffic Is Poised To Quadruple By 2016, Driven By An Influx Of New Devices

Every year, Cisco issues its Visual Networking Index (VNI) to forecast the amount of data traffic that will be used worldwide. The latest VNI forecast shows a massive uptick in data usage, from the 369 Exabytes of IP traffic used worldwide in 2011 to approximately 1.3 zettabytes in 2016. According to Cisco, that rapid growth in data traffic will be driven by a proliferation of connected devices, ever-increasing broadband connectivity, and greater adoption of IP video worldwide. So what's driving that explosion in traffic? For one thing, an increase in the total number of devices that are connected to the Internet. With the proliferation of smart phones, tablets, connected TVs and other smart devices (think broadband-enabled washing machines, refrigerators and the like), folks are no longer just connecting to the Internet via PCs.

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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Will and Jada Smith: Going Strong, 15 Years Later!

For Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, it's all about putting family first and being by each other's side. Sounds cliche, but it really does work.

For nearly 15 years, in their case.

"We make the effort to always put the family first," Smith said at last weekend's Men in Black III premiere in New York City. "Being there for each other and being present with our kids ... I take being a parent very seriously."

Will is father to Trey, 19, from a previous relationship, and Jaden, 13, and Willow, 11, with Jada. He considers his marriage and children his top priority, and flew back to L.A. from New York nearly every weekend while filming MIB3.

He and Jada will celebrate their 15th anniversary in December.

Despite rumors of their divorce lately - which Pinkett Smith recently said were ridiculous - Will says that, as a couple, they're as strong as ever.

"What's helped us is being supportive, no matter what the situation is," the actor says of his better half. "I'm so lucky to have someone like Jada."

"She's really an incredible woman, wife and mother."

What he loves the most about her is "she is just absolutely hardcore, like she absolutely is unfazed by the weight and the pressures of life. She is so calm and cool and easy in any situation. She can bear anything, and I just love that about her."

[Photo: WENN.com]

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Insert Coin: Twig, the tiny iPhone cable that's also a tripod (video)

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.

Imagine an iPhone cable that was only four-inches long, doubled as a tripod and could bend to your every whim? That's the idea behind Twig, designed by former WIMM engineer Jason Hilbourne, who wanted something sturdier, smaller and more portable than Cupertino's "limp noodle." In partnership with an iOS accessory maker, the cable's three sturdy prongs will transform into a dock, wrap around objects or create a free-standing tripod for your FaceTime needs. It needs $50,000 to turn from dismembered action-figure prototype to reality, with an $18 pledge enough to secure you one of the first to leave the factory. After the break we've got the pitch footage, which includes what happens when you start prototyping with your Speed Racer dolls.

Continue reading Insert Coin: Twig, the tiny iPhone cable that's also a tripod (video)

Insert Coin: Twig, the tiny iPhone cable that's also a tripod (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 May 2012 07:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

New cyberweapon discovered; Iranian computers hit

LONDON (AP) ? A massive, data-slurping cyberweapon is circulating in the Middle East, and computers in Iran appear to have been particularly affected, according to a Russian Internet security firm.

Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab ZAO said the "Flame" virus was unprecedented both in terms of its size and complexity, possessing the ability to turn infected computers into all-purpose spying machines that can even suck information out of nearby cell phones.

"This is on a completely different level," Kaspersky researcher Roel Schouwenberg said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "It can be used to spy on everything that a user is doing."

The announcement sent a ripple of excitement across the computer security sector. Flame is the third major cyberweapon discovered in the past two years, and Kaspersky's conclusion that it was crafted at the behest of a national government fueled speculation that the virus could be part of an Israeli-backed campaign of electronic sabotage aimed at archrival Iran.

Although their coding is different, Schouwenberg said there was some evidence to suggest that the people behind Flame also helped craft Stuxnet, a notorious virus that disrupted controls of some nuclear centrifuges in Iran in 2010.

"Whoever was behind Flame had access to the same exploits and same vulnerabilities as the Stuxnet guys," he said, speculating that two teams may have been working in parallel to write both programs.

Stuxnet revolutionized the cybersecurity field because it targeted physical infrastructure rather than data, one of the first demonstrations of how savvy hackers can take control of industrial systems to wreak real-world havoc.

So far, Flame appears focused on espionage. The virus can activate a computer's audio systems to eavesdrop on Skype calls or office chatter, for example. It can also take screenshots, log keystrokes, and ? in one of its more novel functions? steal data from Bluetooth-enabled cell phones.

Tehran has not said whether it lost any data to the virus, but a unit of the Iranian communications and information technology ministry said it had produced an anti-virus capable of identifying and removing Flame from its computers.

Speaking Tuesday, Israel's vice premier did little to deflect suspicion about the Jewish state's possible involvement in the latest attack.

"Whoever sees the Iranian threat as a significant threat is likely to take various steps, including these, to hobble it," Israeli Vice Premier Moshe Yaalon told Army Radio when asked about Flame. "Israel is blessed with high technology, and we boast tools that open all sorts of opportunities for us."

Flame is unusually large.

Malicious programs collected by U.K. security firm Sophos averaged about 340 kilobytes in 2010, the same year that Kaspersky believes Flame first started spreading. Flame weighs in at 20 megabytes ? nearly 60 times that figure.

Alan Woodward, a professor of computing at the University of Surrey in southern England, said the virus was modular ? meaning that functions could be added or subtracted to it as needed. He compared it to a smartphone, saying that, depending on what kind of espionage you want to carry out, "you just add apps."

He was particularly struck by Flame's ability to attack Bluetooth-enabled devices left near an infected computer.

Bluetooth is a short-range wireless communications protocol generally used for wireless headsets, in-car audio systems or file-swapping between mobile phones. Woodward said that Flame can turn an infected computer into a kind of "industrial vacuum cleaner," copying data from vulnerable cell phones or other devices left near it.

"I don't believe I've seen it before," he said.

Udi Mokady, chief executive of Cyber-Ark, an Israeli developer of information security, said he thought four countries, in no particular order, had the technological know-how to develop so sophisticated an electronic offensive: Israel, the U.S., China and Russia.

"It was 20 times more sophisticated than Stuxnet," with thousands of lines of code that took a large team, ample funding and months, if not years, to develop, he said. "It's a live program that communicates back to its master. It asks, 'Where should I go? What should I do now?' It's really almost like a science fiction movie," he said.

It's not clear what exactly the virus was targeting. Kaspersky said it had detected the program in hundreds of computers, mainly in Iran but also in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The company has declined to go into detail about the nature of the victims, saying only that they "range from individuals to certain state-related organizations or educational institutions."

Schouwenberg, the Kaspersky researcher, said stolen data was being sent to some 80 different servers, something which would give the virus's controllers time to readjust their tactics if they were discovered. He added that some of Flame's functions still weren't clear.

"Maybe it's just espionage," he said. "Maybe it's also sabotage."

Kaspersky said it first detected the virus after the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union asked it for help in finding a piece of malware that was deleting sensitive information across the Middle East. The company stumbled across Flame when searching for that other code, it said.

Spokespeople for the Geneva-based Telecommunication Union didn't return emails seeking comment.

The discovery of the Flame virus comes just days after nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers in Baghdad failed to persuade Tehran to freeze uranium enrichment. A new round of talks is expected to take place in Moscow next month.

Yaalon, the Israeli vice premier, told Army Radio on Tuesday that the talks in Iraq "yielded no significant achievement" except to let Iran buy time. He appeared to take a swipe at President Barack Obama by saying it might "even be in the interest of some players in the West to play for time."

___

Teibel reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Diaa Hadid also contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Kaspersky's primer on the virus: http://bit.ly/KWHP5g

Raphael Satter can be reached at: http://twitter.com/razhael

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China allows private placements for SMEs

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Plum Perfect Uses A Picture Of Your Face For Makeup, Clothes Recommendations

Listen up, ladies! (And upwardly fashionable gents!) A new service has hit the web that you've likely been waiting for for a long time. Gone are the days of trotting over to a store sales associate and getting help with matching makeup or clothing colors. Now all it takes is a trip to Plum Perfect and a camera to get your style on. Here's how it works:

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Monday, May 28, 2012

Chinese general cancels Japan visit in diplomatic protest [over Senkaku Islands] ? The Tokyo Times

Posted by Matt on May 26, 2012 [Subscribe Here]

A Chinese top military official has cancelled a trip to Japan amid new diplomatic tensions between the two countries on the disputed islands of Senkaku (called Diaoyu by China).

General Guo Boxiong, who is also a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, was supposed to start his official visit in Japan on Thursday. The visit would have included a meeting with Japan?s prime minister Yoshihiko Noda and a visit to the base of Japan?s self defence forces.

Chinese general cancels Japan visit in diplomatic protest ? The Tokyo Times

As china has gained military power, it is pushing out in many directions creating lots of conflict in process.

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Americans held over death of Irish woman in Japan

By Alastair Jamieson, msnbc.com

Two Americans have been arrested in connection the death of a female Irish exchange student in Japan, police in Tokyo were reported as saying on Sunday.

Nicola Furlong, 21, from County Wexford, Ireland, was found unconscious in a hotel room early on Thursday, hours after attending a concert by the rapper Nicki Minaj, the Irish Times said.

She was later confirmed dead at a hospital, where an autopsy indicated she may have been strangled.

The Irish Times said Furlong is believed to have gone to Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku, a business and shopping hub in central Tokyo, after midnight with her female friend after the two met the American pair.

The Daily Yomiuri in Japan said police arrested?two American?men - a musician, 19, and a dancer, 23 - on suspicion of sexually assaulting Furlong's friend and fellow student, 21, in a taxi on the way to the hotel.

It said police suspect?the men know how Furlong subsequently died.

The Japan Times said the 19-year-old suspect was alone in a room with Furlong when hotel staff went up to probe a complaint about loud noise.

None of the reports could be confirmed by msnbc.com.

Furling was attending Takasaki City University of Economics in Gunma Prefecture.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

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Malin Akerman to Star as Blondie?s Debbie Harry in CBGB, Emily Browning Cast in Catherine Hardwicke?s PLUSH and Ahna O?Reilly Joins JOBS

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Some easy on the eyes casting additions today.? Here they are at a glance:

Malin Akerman (Watchmen) will star as ?Blondie? front-woman, Debbie Harry in director Randall Miller?s indie, CBGB.
Emily Browning (Sucker Punch) is in talks to join Plush, a psychic story from director Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight).
Ahna O?Reilly (The Help) will star opposite Ashton Kutcher in the Steve Jobs indie picture, Jobs, from director Joshua Michael Stern (Swing Vote).

Hit the jump for more on each film.

Variety reports that Rock of Ages star Akerman will join Harry Potter alumni Alan Rickman and Rupert Grint in the indie picture, CBGB. Telling the story of the iconic New York music venue, CBGB features Rickman as club-owner, Hilly Kristal and Grint as Cheetah Chrome, guitarist for the ?Dead Boys,? a punk band who played a crucial role in CBGB?s success.? Also starring in the picture are recent additions Stana Katic (Castle) as Genya Ravan, lead singer of ?Goldie & the Gingerbreads,? and Joel David Moore (Avatar) as Joey Ramone, as THR reports.? Other casting per THR is as follows:

Julian Acosta (Thin Red Line) as Johnny Ramone
Richard De Klerk (Repeaters) is CBGB soundman Taxi
Josh Zuckerman (Sex Drive) is Punk magazine creator John Holmstrom
Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy) is Mad Mountain
Estelle Harris (Seinfeld) is Hilly?s mother, Bertha Kristal

Miller, who co-wrote CBGB with Jody Savin (Bottle Shock), is looking to film at Meddin Studios in Savannah, GA on June 25th, before moving to New York City.

Variety also reports that Browning is in negotiations to star as a teenage patient of a psychic psychologist.? The doctor uses his gift to peer into the minds of his patients and view their memories in order to help them deal with their issues.? However, he finds a challenge in Browning?s character, who shares the same ability.? Plush, co-written by Hardwicke with Artie Nelson, is currently searching for a male lead.

Finally, per Variety, O?Reilly is set to star as Jobs? love interest, Chris-Ann Brennan, a Bay Area painter who is the mother of Jobs? daughter, Lisa.? One of two Steve Jobs-related pictures at the moment, Jobs was written by Matt Whiteley and stars Kutcher in the title role with Josh Gad (Love and Other Drugs) playing the Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak.

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Amity catcher Paul Gusmano dives to catch a foul pop fly during the Southern Connecticut Conference championship game against Shelton High School Saturday, May 26, 2012 at Yale Field in West Haven, Conn. Photo: Autumn Driscoll / Connecticut Post | Buy This Photo

Amity catcher Paul Gusmano dives to catch a foul pop fly during the...

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