Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Epic Beard Man -- Why It's the Fastest Public Fight Meme Yet
On February 16, 2010, two guys got in a fight on a bus in Oakland. Another passenger caught it on video. Results: One bloody nose, and instant internet history.
The video, shown after the break, is officially titled AC TRANSIT BUS FIGHT I AM A MOTHERF***ER (named for the words on the fight winner's shirt), but the meme has also spread under the names "Amber Lamps" (for the loser's slurred request for an amulance) and "Epic Beard Man" (out of support for the winner).
Fight videos attract crowds. A San Francisco bus fight last October earned nearly a million views on YouTube (and a couple million for copies). A 2007 fight on the NYC subway got 441 thousand views. Fifty-five thousand views for this train fight, nearly 800 thousand for this one. Even a camcorder pointed at TV footage of a fight in India racked up 73 thousand views.
But in three days, the Oakland bus fight has logged over two million views, again not counting hundreds of thousands of views for the multiple exact copies on other accounts (a stupefying if sometimes useful YouTube phenomenon) and followups. It also inspired video remixes, mashups, YouTube replies, spinoffs (there's a cult around a hipster girl silently watching the fight), and surprisingly talented drawings like the one above. Why all the attention over just another public fight?
1. People love a fight. We've seen how popular the genre is. Conflict is fun. The most-seen nature video of all time is an animal fight: Battle at Kruger, the 36th-most-ever-watched YouTube video. And here was a fight with aggression from both sides.
2. Race is a prickly subject. Not for 4chan, where the fight first got popular. The two men argued about whether the white one was being racist toward the black one. The black guy made the first violent move, but the white guy blew him away with at least nine punches. On 4chan, the party line was that an innocent white guy had beaten an uppity black guy (but in far crasser terms). In some cases, 4chan really is just a slimy, disgusting place. The site's viewers threw around racial slurs. The 4chan-influenced meme-documenting site Encyclopedia Dramatica only slightly watered down the racism, so their coverage of Epic Beard Man is NSFW.
3. Watching this fight is cathartic for everyone, but especially for those of us who've been trapped on a bus or train with argumentative or violent people. The guy who shot last year's San Francisco bus fight said it best: "Just another day on MUNI." Public transit passengers feel helpless and unprotected from the public outbursts they see each day on buses and trains. Everyone wants to see that anger boil over and resolve. Even if that just means that someone gets a bloody nose.
For more history and analysis, as well as more videos of the guys in the fight and the lady who recorded it, as well as video and photo remixes and commentary, see Know Your Meme's definitive page on the Epic Beard Man viral video.
by:Nick Douglas
Saturday, February 20, 2010
FaceBook pulls plug on Joseph Stack tribute
A Facebook fan page praising the Austin man who flew his plane into an IRS office, killing a Vietnam vet who worked inside, has been shut down by the social networking site.
Conservative talk show host Jon Alvarez of WFBM-AM 1390 in Syracuse created the group just hours after Andrew Joseph Stack carried out his crazed suicide mission Thursday to express his anger at the IRS.
Facebook removed the site within a day of its creation and e-mailed Alvarez to tell him that it bans posts that are hateful or threatening.
"This guy was making a sacrifice to others who were having problems with the IRS," Alvarez told Syracuse's Post-Standard newspaper. "We at least owed it to him to make note of his thoughts."
The tribute page included Stack's ranting manifesto that spelled out his bitter hatred of the IRS, Wall Street bailouts and the Catholic Church.
The 53-year-old set his own house on fire before his airborne suicide, but his wife and her 12-year-old daughter were not inside the North Austin home at the time.
Alvarez devoted his Friday broadcast to Stack's plane crash and defended the pilot's actions, even though there were nearly 200 people at work inside the seven-story Echelon Building at the time.
He thinks news organizations were simply out to "label [Stack] a loon."
"I'm surprised more people haven't done something like this," Alvarez said. "There's a lot of frustration out there. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg."
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/02/20/2010-02-20_facebook_pulls_plug_on_taxicide_tribute.html#ixzz0g9P7wuVG
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Virus has breached 75,000 computers: study
(Reuters) – A new type of computer virus is known to have breached almost 75,000 computers in 2,500 organizations around the world, including user accounts of popular social network websites, according Internet security firm NetWitness.
The latest virus -- known as "Kneber botnet" -- gathers login credentials to online financial systems, social networking sites and email systems from infested computers and reports the information back to hackers, NetWitness said in a statement.
A botnet is an army of infected computers that hackers can control from a central machine."
The company said the attack was first discovered in January during a routine deployment of NetWitness software.
Further investigation by the Herndon, Virginia-based software security firm revealed that many commercial and government systems were compromised, including 68,000 corporate login credentials and access to email systems, online banking sites, Yahoo, Hotmail and social networks such as Facebook.
"Conventional malware protection and signature-based intrusion detection systems are, by definition, inadequate for addressing Kneber or most other advanced threats," Chief Executive Amit Yoran said in a statement.
(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Eric Auchard in London)
Dalai Lama pleased with Obama meeting
The Dalai Lama says US President Barack Obama was "supportive" at the pair's controversial meeting in Washington overnight.
Mr Obama brushed aside China's warning not to meet the exiled Tibetan leader but in a concession to Beijing, the meeting was held behind closed doors and in the Map Room rather than the Oval Office.
After the meeting, the Dalai Lama emerged from the White House to playfully throw snow at some of the journalists.
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said his cause was "just" and one of "peace" and he was "very happy" that the meeting had gone ahead.
"The President is very much supportive and so I express my thanks to him," he said.
He also expressed his admiration for the United States.
"Not economy or military power but mainly as a champion of democracy, freedom, human value, human creativity, these things," he said.
The White House says Mr Obama told the Dalai Lama of his "strong support" for the preservation of Tibet's identity and that he encouraged talks between the exiled Tibetan leader and China.
The Dalai Lama has now met every sitting US President since his 1991 meeting with George Bush.
Strained relations
This meeting could further strain relations between the US and China, which are already under pressure because of new US weapon sales to Taiwan and Google's accusations that its email service has been attacked by someone in China.
But Kenneth Lieberthal, a China expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, played down the ramifications of the meeting.
"I don't expect it to have a significant spillover effect on other aspects of US-China relations, it's one of those issues that as major countries we simply disagree on," he said.
"I actually think that the Chinese leadership is sincere in what they're saying. I don't think they are putting it on simply to build domestic support. I think this really does genuinely reflect the way they see the situation."
China scholar Professor David Shambaugh said it would have an impact on the countries' relationship in the short-term.
"Add to this cascading effect of blows to the relationship over the last two months and there are going to be more blows coming," he said.
"So the US-China relationship is in a bad patch. I would expect it's not going to disrupt the relationship or pull out of this period; there are too many common interests between the two countries that will prevent a real break between them."
The next test for the relationship is whether China's President, Hu Jintao, will go ahead with his planned visit to the US in April.
By Washington correspondent Kim Landers for AM
Pilot deliberately crashed into Texas building, official says
CNN-The pilot of a small plane that slammed into a building Thursday morning in Austin, Texas, set his house on fire beforehand and then intentionally crashed the aircraft, a federal official told CNN.
Federal officials told CNN the plane was a Piper Cherokee PA-28 they believe belonged to Joseph Andrew Stack.
Two F-16 fighter jets were sent from Houston as a precaution, but federal authorities said preliminary information did not indicate any terrorist connection to the crash.
"We do not yet know the cause of the plane crash," the Department of Homeland Security said in a release. "At this time, we have no reason to believe there is a nexus to terrorist activity. We continue to gather more information, and are aware there is additional information about the pilot's history.
"At this time, we are referring further questions to local authorities and the FAA."
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Still a classic... "that what she said"
middle school kid gets detention after this remark (read note)
Shutter island
Intense and twisty, Martin Scorsese's fourth pairing with Leonardo DiCaprio casts the actor as a U.S. marshal who's investigating a prison for the insane on a remote island in 1954. The detective (with his partner, played by Mark Ruffalo) is looking into how a murderess disappeared from her cell, but he's also battling internal demons surrounding the accidental death of his wife (Michelle Williams). Scorsese's dense movie was adapted from a book by Dennis Lehane, whose novels Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River also became packed-with-plot films. Though sequences often have more talk than action, the rich story, haunting score and cinematography echoing The Shining add up to a gripping journey. And leading man DiCaprio, who's in every scene, holds the intricate story together with ease.
Donte stallworth to the ravens
The Baltimore Ravens, desperate for receivers for young star quarterback Joe Flacco, have signed free-agent wideout Donte' Stallworth, who sat out the 2009 season after being convicted of vehicular homicide in Miami.
Stallworth, 30, will immediately compete for playing time on a team with an uncertain future at receiver. Incumbent Derrick Mason's future is uncertain; he almost retired last year and the team isn't sure if he'll return for the 2010 season. And number two wideout Mark Clayton, the club's top draft choice in 2005, caught just 34 balls last year.
Stallworth has been working out intensively in Miami since the accident and his controversial 24-day jail sentence (he also reported made an out-of-court settlement exceeding $3 million with the family of the man who was killed in the accident). Recently, he said he ran three 40-yard dashes clocked in the 4.3-second range. A 2002 first-round pick of the Saints, he hasn't had a top season since he caught 70 passes with seven touchdowns in 2005 for New Orleans.
After Stallworth was convicted of manslaughter while intoxicated last spring, commissioner Roger Goodell suspended him for the season, and reinstated him Feb. 8. Stallworth was free to sign with any team, and he picked the one with the most opportunity of any NFL contender.
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/nfl/02/17/stallworth/#ixzz0forGpu38
Get a free NFL Team Jacket and Tee with SI Subscription
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Top Taliban Commander Captured In Pakistan
The Taliban's top military commander has been captured in Pakistan in a joint operation by Pakistani and U.S. intelligence forces, The New York Times reported.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has been in Pakistan's custody for several days, the newspaper reported on its Web site late Monday, quoting U.S. government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Baradar was captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in a raid by Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, with CIA operatives accompanying the Pakistanis, the Times reported. Pakistan has been leading the interrogation of Baradar, but Americans were also involved, it said.
The Times described Baradar as the No. 2 behind Taliban founder and Osama bin Laden associate Mullah Muhammad Omar. Baradar has been running the battlefield command for the Taliban since the 2006 death of Taliban military chief Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Usmani.
The Times said it learned of the operation Thursday but delayed reporting it at the request of White House officials who argued that publicizing it would end a valuable intelligence-gathering effort by making Baradar's associates aware of his capture. The newspaper said it decided to publish the news after White House officials acknowledged Baradar's capture was becoming widely known in the region.
Word of Baradar's capture came as U.S. Marine and Afghan units pressed deeper into the Taliban haven of Marjah in southern Afghanistan, facing sporadic rocket and mortar fire as they moved through suspected insurgent neighborhoods on the third day of a NATO offensive to reclaim the town.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has been in Pakistan's custody for several days, the newspaper reported on its Web site late Monday, quoting U.S. government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Baradar was captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in a raid by Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, with CIA operatives accompanying the Pakistanis, the Times reported. Pakistan has been leading the interrogation of Baradar, but Americans were also involved, it said.
The Times described Baradar as the No. 2 behind Taliban founder and Osama bin Laden associate Mullah Muhammad Omar. Baradar has been running the battlefield command for the Taliban since the 2006 death of Taliban military chief Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Usmani.
The Times said it learned of the operation Thursday but delayed reporting it at the request of White House officials who argued that publicizing it would end a valuable intelligence-gathering effort by making Baradar's associates aware of his capture. The newspaper said it decided to publish the news after White House officials acknowledged Baradar's capture was becoming widely known in the region.
Word of Baradar's capture came as U.S. Marine and Afghan units pressed deeper into the Taliban haven of Marjah in southern Afghanistan, facing sporadic rocket and mortar fire as they moved through suspected insurgent neighborhoods on the third day of a NATO offensive to reclaim the town.
Caltech researchers interesting study about money
Anyone who has ever considered rolling the dice at the craps table knows about that voice inside your head telling you to stop.
Now, neuroscientists at Caltech believe they have discovered the part of the brain responsible for that fear of losing money, according to Colin Camerer, a professor of behavioral economics at Caltech.
The site of the voice telling you to call it a night is deep in the reptilian part of our brain: the amygdala, an almond-sized part of the brain that's often activated by fear, he said.
Researchers and economists have long noted that we're much more motivated by the fear of losing than we are enticed by the possibility of winning.
This tendency shows up in game shows such as "Deal or No Deal," researchers say, and in foreign trades unions that tend to fight much harder to avoid losing jobs than they do to gain the same number of jobs.
The experiment gave subjects $50 that they could keep or gamble. Participants were given several offers with a 50-50 chance of winning.
Most people in the experiment would gamble if they knew they could gain four times what they were putting down, but would reject offers to double their money. Most subjects would not even gamble $15 if they could win $20.
But two key participants in the experiment had damaged amygdalas, and they behaved in a strikingly different way from the rest of the group with healthy brains: they would gamble more money than they could win. One, with the initials S.M., would put down $12 to win $10.
This study connects an aversion to monetary loss with an aversion to fear, Camerer said.
Researchers have used S.M. in many previous experiments to study the amygdala. Neuroscientists look for people who have isolated parts of their brain that don't work to better understand how that part functions in healthy brains.
When researchers show S.M. pictures of people expressing emotions, she can recognize just about every emotion except fear. When they show her pictures and ask her to identify such qualities as being attractive or smart, she can make judgments about everything except whether someone might seem trustworthy. She also lacks the sense of personal space people with healthy brains have.
"The amygdala is like this warning dog that goes off when someone gets too close to you, but her's doesn't go off," Camerer said.
All these experiments paint a picture of a region of the brain that is vigilant to fear and loss.
But Camerer notes that the amygdala doesn't necessarily have the last word when it comes to being afraid of losing money. To return to that casino scene, other parts of the brain swayed by alcohol, peer pressure or machismo can squash a gambler's aversion to loss so that they'll keep rolling the dice.
Read more: Caltech researchers pinpoint part of brain afraid of losing money - Whittier Daily News http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_14398110#ixzz0ffWZzQcQ
Will Microsoft's windows phone 7 take over ?
Microsoft's awkwardly-named "Windows Phone 7 series" Monday afternoon at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, I was struck by the contrast between the advanced look of some of the features - notably the "integrated experiences" -- and the almost old-fashioned way Microsoft has chosen to describe its new platform.
While the rest of the industry seems to be taking pains to call their offerings "mobile devices" and to emphasize that they are "more than phones," Microsoft has gone in the other direction, calling this "Windows Phone" instead of Windows Mobile. Indeed, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer went out of his way to stress that "a phone is not a PC," and while that's certainly true, the Windows Phone platform is clearly trying to be a lot more than just a traditional phone platform.
Indeed, Microsoft is clearly trying to leverage its other businesses - including its Office tools, Windows Live services, Zune HD, and Xbox Live - in adding a large number of features into the Windows Phone 7 platform. When devices that use Windows Phone 7 come out at the end of the year, it's clearly a lot of these services that will be what differentiates them from devices on other platforms.
Here's PCMag's look at the UI. But what stood out the most in the demos from UI designer Joe Belifore was the focus on integrated experiences, which combined multiple applications, so that you didn't have to constant switch between individual applications to do things. He pointed out five different "experiences" or "hubs" as the core of the new platform. In the People hub, you have a list of the people you connect with, including the most recent contacts, their status from Facebook, Windows Live, and recent messages on Exchange or Online Mail services, including Google, Yahoo, and Windows Live Mail. That's nice, although not all that different from the integrated contacts list I've seen in Palm WebOS, Android, or even Samsung's Bada.
Perhaps the most important one is an "Office Hub," which includes a version of the OneNote notetaking devices that can sync with the desktop version, your Microsoft Office documents, and SharePoint services. As near as I can tell, this integration with Microsoft's business productivity tools is deeper than that other platforms now offer, and may very well act as an important differentiator in the business space. It's also very nice that the mail applications support offline caching, so you can work with your mail when offline.
Another one that stands out is the Games Hub, which ties into Xbox Live, and lets you play Xbox Live games, connect with your friends, and mark achievements, just as you do on the Xbox. I can imagine a group of gamers who will find that compelling as well.
The other hubs bring together pictures from the phone and various online services, again including Facebook and Windows Live; and music and video, including synching with Zune HD and a way to integrate third-party services, such as Pandora; and Games, which ties into Xbox Live
Friday, February 12, 2010
A GOP trap :/ come on now. lol funny stuff
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| The Apparent Trap | ||||
| ||||
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Lil Wayne: 'I Smoke Weed All Day'
Lil Wayne is a free man for another three weeks. On Tuesday, a judge agreed to allow the rapper to have dental surgery, delaying his sentencing on a gun charge until Mar. 2. He's expected to serve a year in New York's infamous Riker's Island prison.
Wayne (a.k.a. Dwayne Carter) was arrested on July 22, 2007 after police boarded his tour bus and found pot and a gun. He pled guilty to the gun charge last year.
While in jail, another legal case involving Wayne will be heard in an Arizona court, stemming from the bus bust on Jan. 22, 2008 when border police discovered a large stash of drugs (3.75 ounces of marijuana, 29 grams of cocaine, 41 grams of Ecstasy, $22,000 and a gun) during a search. He was charged with felony counts of possession of dangerous drugs, possession of a narcotic for sale, possession of paraphernaila and misconduct involving weapons.
While he awaits sentencing, Wayne has had time to attend the Super Bowl and pose for the cover of Rolling Stone. In the interview, Wayne says he no longer drinks sizzurp (cough syrup mixed with soda), but is quick to admit, "I smoke weed everyday."
Writer Chris Norris, perhaps playing devil's advocate, asks if he's addicted to marijuana.
"I'm a very successful addict," Wayne replies. "And a very smart one. And a very charismatic one. And one that just won four Grammys, and one that sold a million records in a week. One that still appears on everybody's songs., one that still sounds better than any rapper rapping. One that has four kids and is the greatest father ever to the kids. What am I addicted to, being great?"
Jobs Bill Won't Add Many Jobs
It sounds great: A big jobs bill that would hand President Barack Obama a badly needed victory and please Republicans with tax cuts at the same time. But there's a problem: It won't create many jobs.
Even the Obama administration acknowledges the legislation's centerpiece — a tax cut for businesses that hire unemployed workers — would work only on the margins.
As for the bill's effectiveness, tax experts and business leaders said companies are unlikely to hire workers just to receive a tax break. Before businesses start hiring, they need increased demand for their products, more work for their employees and more revenue to pay those workers.
"We're skeptical that it's going to be a big job creator," said Bill Rys, tax counsel for the National Federation of Independent Business. "There's certainly nothing wrong with giving a tax break to a business that's hired a new worker, especially in these tough times. But in terms of being an incentive to hire a lot of workers, we're skeptical."
Rick Klahsen, a tax expert at the accounting firm RSM McGladrey, said his clients need to see business pick up before they can hire more workers.
"If demand were increased, they are saying it will take care of itself because I will then have the motivation to go out and hire new employees," Klahsen said.
The bipartisan Senate plan would absolve companies of having to pay a 6.2 percent Social Security tax on the wages tax for the balance of 2010 for any workers they hire who had been unemployed for at least 60 days.
A company could save a maximum of $6,621 if it hired an unemployed worker after the bill is enacted and paid that worker at least $106,800 — the maximum amount of wages subject to Social Security taxes — by the end of the year. The company could get an additional $1,000 on its 2011 tax return if it kept the new worker for at least a full year.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently concluded that reducing Social Security taxes for companies that add workers would be among the most efficient ways for the government to create jobs. However, in showing how difficult it is to create jobs through tax policy, CBO estimates that such a tax break would generate only eight to 18 full-time jobs per $1 million in tax breaks.
Even the Obama administration acknowledges the legislation's centerpiece — a tax cut for businesses that hire unemployed workers — would work only on the margins.
As for the bill's effectiveness, tax experts and business leaders said companies are unlikely to hire workers just to receive a tax break. Before businesses start hiring, they need increased demand for their products, more work for their employees and more revenue to pay those workers.
"We're skeptical that it's going to be a big job creator," said Bill Rys, tax counsel for the National Federation of Independent Business. "There's certainly nothing wrong with giving a tax break to a business that's hired a new worker, especially in these tough times. But in terms of being an incentive to hire a lot of workers, we're skeptical."
Rick Klahsen, a tax expert at the accounting firm RSM McGladrey, said his clients need to see business pick up before they can hire more workers.
"If demand were increased, they are saying it will take care of itself because I will then have the motivation to go out and hire new employees," Klahsen said.
The bipartisan Senate plan would absolve companies of having to pay a 6.2 percent Social Security tax on the wages tax for the balance of 2010 for any workers they hire who had been unemployed for at least 60 days.
A company could save a maximum of $6,621 if it hired an unemployed worker after the bill is enacted and paid that worker at least $106,800 — the maximum amount of wages subject to Social Security taxes — by the end of the year. The company could get an additional $1,000 on its 2011 tax return if it kept the new worker for at least a full year.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently concluded that reducing Social Security taxes for companies that add workers would be among the most efficient ways for the government to create jobs. However, in showing how difficult it is to create jobs through tax policy, CBO estimates that such a tax break would generate only eight to 18 full-time jobs per $1 million in tax breaks.
John Edwards proposes to mistress Rielle Hunter, buys $4.5M beach house
The disgraced 2008 presidential contender has proposed to his baby-mama, Rielle Hunter, and is even setting her up in a swank $3.5 million beachfront mansion, The National Enquirer reported Wednesday.
The supermarket tabloid - which so far has been usually on target on the Edwards affair - says the cheatin' pol popped the question last month, shortly before he issued a statement claiming paternity of the couple's two-year-old daughter, Frances Quinn.
Six days later, Edward's cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth, confirmed she had separated from her dog of a husband - paving the way for the ex-senator to make Rielle, 45, his wife.
"John knew Rielle had been waiting for a proposal for two long years," the Enquirer said it was told by a source. "Since they've gotten involved, she's followed every order he gave her, going on a cross-country cover-up, hiding away during her pregnancy and after giving birth for the sake of his presidential aspirations."
"Rielle never uttered a peep about their affair publicly, and remained loyal to John," added the source. "John felt she deserved to know that he wanted to raise their child together, and wanted Rielle in his life as his partner."
"John has said that when his divorce is final, he'll buy her a diamond ring. But in the meantime, he's getting them a house."
Another source told the tab: "John has proposed to Rielle, and she said yes."
The news comes as Hunter and a former Edwards aide, Andrew Young, tussle in court over an alleged sex tape that Young says he found in a box of trash. Young says the tape shows Edwards and a woman he believes to be Hunter in the middle of a sex act.
Hunter has sued to get the tape back, and a judge set Wednesday as a deadline for Young to hand it over.
AT&T names LTE suppliers as it charges into battle with Verizon
Computerworld - AT&T Inc. today announced equipment suppliers for its coming high-speed wireless LTE network and signaled the start of an aggressive battle against rival Verizon Wireless.
AT&T named Alcatel-Lucent and LM Ericsson as its LTE suppliers, awarding them multiyear contracts that are estimated by analysts to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. None of the parties discussed the exact terms of the deal.
Several major suppliers had hoped for the contract, including Motorola Inc., which could not be reached for comment today.
In picking the two LTE suppliers, AT&T said that it "chose to extend existing relationships" because both had provided equipment that's being installed for upgrades of its 3G networks to HSPA 7.2.
HPSA 7.2 technology, which has theoretical speeds of 7.2 Mbit/sec., is used by the iPhone 3GS and nine other devices as well as 3G models of Apple Inc.'s upcoming iPad. The network upgrade could give AT&T a strategic advantage over Verizon in coming months.
In a statement, AT&T explained the value of working with its current suppliers this way: "Continued work with these two suppliers will enable AT&T not only to incorporate high-performance LTE equipment, but also to take full advantage of the compatibility between the suppliers' existing 3G equipment and forthcoming upgrades."
"As part of the supplier agreements, 3G equipment delivered to AT&T by the suppliers starting this year will be easily convertible to LTE, enabling AT&T to upgrade existing equipment and software rather than install entirely new equipment in many cases as it deploys the next-generation technology," the statement continued.
In an e-mail, an AT&T spokeswoman added that picking Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson "is an important step in our ongoing mobile broadband strategy. Unlike our competitors, our strategy will enable us to deliver even faster speeds to a large number of people before 4G [LTE] networks and device lineups scale."
In a statement, John Stankey, CEO of AT&T Operations, claimed that AT&T has an added advantage over Verizon when it comes to LTE. "AT&T has a key advantage in that LTE is an evolution of the existing family of GSM technologies that powers our network and the vast majority of the world's global wireless infrastructure," he said. For its part, Verizon has provided CDMA networks, although it has a clear upgrade path to LTE that is underway.
Verizon and AT&T have been crossing swords for months, if not years, in preparation for the coming LTE battle in the U.S., with both announcing LTE road maps. While AT&T repeated today that it would move forward on two LTE field trials this year, Verizon said in January that it had field trials already underway in Boston and Seattle, and that it expects to launch LTE in 25 to 30 cities by the end of 2010.
AT&T named Alcatel-Lucent and LM Ericsson as its LTE suppliers, awarding them multiyear contracts that are estimated by analysts to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. None of the parties discussed the exact terms of the deal.
Several major suppliers had hoped for the contract, including Motorola Inc., which could not be reached for comment today.
In picking the two LTE suppliers, AT&T said that it "chose to extend existing relationships" because both had provided equipment that's being installed for upgrades of its 3G networks to HSPA 7.2.
HPSA 7.2 technology, which has theoretical speeds of 7.2 Mbit/sec., is used by the iPhone 3GS and nine other devices as well as 3G models of Apple Inc.'s upcoming iPad. The network upgrade could give AT&T a strategic advantage over Verizon in coming months.
In a statement, AT&T explained the value of working with its current suppliers this way: "Continued work with these two suppliers will enable AT&T not only to incorporate high-performance LTE equipment, but also to take full advantage of the compatibility between the suppliers' existing 3G equipment and forthcoming upgrades."
"As part of the supplier agreements, 3G equipment delivered to AT&T by the suppliers starting this year will be easily convertible to LTE, enabling AT&T to upgrade existing equipment and software rather than install entirely new equipment in many cases as it deploys the next-generation technology," the statement continued.
In an e-mail, an AT&T spokeswoman added that picking Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson "is an important step in our ongoing mobile broadband strategy. Unlike our competitors, our strategy will enable us to deliver even faster speeds to a large number of people before 4G [LTE] networks and device lineups scale."
In a statement, John Stankey, CEO of AT&T Operations, claimed that AT&T has an added advantage over Verizon when it comes to LTE. "AT&T has a key advantage in that LTE is an evolution of the existing family of GSM technologies that powers our network and the vast majority of the world's global wireless infrastructure," he said. For its part, Verizon has provided CDMA networks, although it has a clear upgrade path to LTE that is underway.
Verizon and AT&T have been crossing swords for months, if not years, in preparation for the coming LTE battle in the U.S., with both announcing LTE road maps. While AT&T repeated today that it would move forward on two LTE field trials this year, Verizon said in January that it had field trials already underway in Boston and Seattle, and that it expects to launch LTE in 25 to 30 cities by the end of 2010.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
China aide to go to North Korea for nuclear talks
SEOUL (Reuters) - A senior Chinese Communist Party official will visit Pyongyang next week in what appears to be a move to press North Korea to return to stalled nuclear disarmament talks, a South Korean news agency said on Friday.
China, the destitute North's biggest benefactor, is seen as having the most influence on the reclusive state. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told the Chinese premier in October he could return to the nuclear talks if the conditions were right.
Communist Party international affairs chief Wang Jiarui is slated to make the visit, a diplomatic source in Beijing told Yonhap news. He met Kim last year and received a denuclearization pledge.
"It is part of an annual new year exchange but there may be some important change related to the six-party nuclear talks," the source was quoted as saying.
Analysts said pressure was mounting on the North to end its boycott as U.N. sanctions imposed after its nuclear test last year have dealt a blow to its wobbly economy, and a botched currency reform measure undertaken late last year has deepened its economic woes.
North Korea has boycotted for a year the six-country talks aimed at ending its nuclear program in return for aid and diplomatic rewards but said it could return if Washington was willing to hold separate talks to reach a peace treaty.
North Korea says it was forced to build up a nuclear arsenal to defend itself from a hostile United States.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Obama Continues Policy Outreach to Republicans
Emboldened by the response to President Obama’s face-off with House Republicans last week, the White House is intensifying its push to engage Congressional Republicans in policy negotiations as a way to share the burden of governing and put more scrutiny on Republican initiatives.
The president has invited members of Congress from both parties for a meeting at the White House next Tuesday, the first of the bipartisan brainstorming sessions that Mr. Obama proposed during the State of the Union address. Republicans will also be invited to the White House this weekend to watch the Super Bowl, as well as to Camp David and other venues for social visits.
The outreach represents a marked shift in both strategy and substance by Mr. Obama and his allies at a time when Democrats are adapting to the loss of their 60-vote supermajority in the Senate and the president has been losing support among independent voters.
The White House’s goal is to show voters that Mr. Obama is willing to engage Republicans rather than govern in a partisan manner while forcing Republicans to make substantive compromises or be portrayed as obstructionist given their renewed power to block almost all legislation in the Senate.
While the strategy addresses some of Mr. Obama’s short-term political problems, it is not clear that it will help him with the more fundamental issue facing him as the leader of the party in power, which is showing voters results before Election Day, especially with unemployment in double digits and the health bill stalled.
For their part, Republicans said they were more than happy to showcase their proposals. They acknowledge that Democrats might have some ulterior motives in inviting more participation, but that it could still have benefits for both parties.
Lady gaga All women
Just in case there was any residual doubt that Lady Gaga was harboring a penis under her glittery stagewear, photos from her amazing Grammy performance indicate she's all female.
Last summer at a concert in the UK, an upskirt snap of Gaga showed what looked like a tiny penis. Gaga was the subject of widespread hermaphrodite rumors and embraced as a post-gender icon before she defended her "beautiful vagina."
Obama heartfelt appeal to senate democrats
President Barack Obama made an emotional, public appeal to Senate Democrats on Wednesday to finish the job on health care reform.
Appearing at a Senate Democratic Caucus retreat, Obama acknowledged the difficulties that the party has had in dealing with a Republican bloc hell-bent on filibustering even the most mundane pieces of legislation. But he implored the lawmakers to remember why they had run for office and the promises they had made to their constituents.
"So many of us campaigned on the idea that we were going to change this health care system," the president declared. "So many of us looked people in the eye who had been denied because of a pre-existing condition, or just didn't have health insurance at all... and we said we were going to change it. Well, here we are with a chance to change it."
He continued: "There's a direct link between the work that you guys did on that and the reason you got into public office in the first place. And so as we think about moving forward, I hope we don't lose sight of why we're here. We've got to finish the job on health care."
The president's appearance came just one day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in a conference call with new media reporters, spoke in favor of the Senate fixing its health care bill by whatever parliamentary means possible as a pre-requisite for House Democratic action.
"The fact is, when [they] go into reconciliation," Pelosi said, "if in fact the Senate decides to do that...I believe that it would be predicated on those areas of agreement that were signed off on before."
If the ball is indeed in the Senate's court, it's members did not receive specific instructions from Obama on how to get health care passed. The president stuck mainly to the broad appeals for action while also acknowledging that the process had been hurt by the lack of transparency in late-stage negotiations. "I think we paid a price for it," he said, in reference to talks that went unrecorded by C-SPAN cameras, as he had promised they would during his campaign.
Obama also offered a sharp rebuke of lawmakers on the other side of the aisle for feigning an interest in bipartisanship when their objective is clearly to trip up the entire reform process. "They say they want to work with us, and we extend a hand and get a fist in return," he said.
It was probably no coincidence that the first four senators to ask questions -- Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania), Michael Bennet (Colorado), Blanche Lincoln (Arkansas) and Kirsten Gillibrand (New York) -- all find themselves facing tough primary or general-election races. To varying degrees, Obama used their questions as a means of addressing and alleviating larger political concerns. In a message to the Democratic Caucus at large, he urged everyone to stop watching cable news and start talking to constituents at home.
"Just turn off the TV," he said. "And go talk to folks out there instead of being in this echo chamber where the topic is constantly politics... It is much more difficult to get a conversation focused on how we are going to help people then a conversation on how this is going to help or hurt somebody politically."
GOP finds loophole in reconciliation in health care reform
As it turns out, Senate Democrats may not be able to force healthcare legislation through the chamber on a simple majority vote.
Republicans say they have found a loophole in the budget reconciliation process that could allow them to offer an indefinite number of amendments.
Though it has never been done, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) says he’s prepared to test the Senate’s stamina to block the Democrats from using the process to expedite changes to the healthcare bill.
Experts on Senate procedural rules, from both parties, note that such a filibuster is possible. While reconciliation rules limit debate to 20 hours, senators lack similiarconstraints on amendments and could conceivably continue offering them until 60 members agree to cut the process off.
Another option for Democrats would be to seek a ruling by the parliamentarian that Republicans are simply filing amendments to stall the process. But such a ruling could taint the final healthcare vote and backfire for Democrats in November.
Or Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) could use a tactic similar to the so-called nuclear option to quash the GOP tactics.
If those options failed, and Reid couldn’t convince a single Republican to vote with his 59-member conference, Democrats might be forced to consider withdrawing the healthcare bill.
A Democratic leadership aide confirmed to The Hill that the options outlined in this articlee are correct.
House Democrats have said they would not pass the Senate healthcare bill unless changes are made through reconciliation, which is necessary because Republicans control 41 Senate seats, enough to block legislation through the regular process.
But Republicans may end up having that power even under reconciliation.
“You could keep offering amendments until you don’t have any more to offer,” said a congressional aide, who said he did not know how long senators would be willing to stay in the chamber to move the reconciliation package. “What the body’s tolerance would be is unknown.”
A former Senate Republican leadership aide said: “The limit is on debate, not on consideration of amendments.”
DeMint said he’s ready to try anything.
“You’ll see Republicans do everything they can to delay and stop this process,” DeMint said. “They need to get the message the track they’re on is the wrong track.”
Reid spent significant time last year in close study of the Senate rules for fast-tracking healthcare legislation under special budget rules.
Reid stayed away from the special process of passing healthcare reform with only 51 votes because he knew it would be messy.
But since Republicans won a Senate seat in Massachusetts, thereby stripping Democrats of a filibuster-proof majority, it appears Democrats will need to invoke those rules to make crucial changes to healthcare legislation.
Republicans say they have found a loophole in the budget reconciliation process that could allow them to offer an indefinite number of amendments.
Though it has never been done, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) says he’s prepared to test the Senate’s stamina to block the Democrats from using the process to expedite changes to the healthcare bill.
Experts on Senate procedural rules, from both parties, note that such a filibuster is possible. While reconciliation rules limit debate to 20 hours, senators lack similiarconstraints on amendments and could conceivably continue offering them until 60 members agree to cut the process off.
Another option for Democrats would be to seek a ruling by the parliamentarian that Republicans are simply filing amendments to stall the process. But such a ruling could taint the final healthcare vote and backfire for Democrats in November.
Or Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) could use a tactic similar to the so-called nuclear option to quash the GOP tactics.
If those options failed, and Reid couldn’t convince a single Republican to vote with his 59-member conference, Democrats might be forced to consider withdrawing the healthcare bill.
A Democratic leadership aide confirmed to The Hill that the options outlined in this articlee are correct.
House Democrats have said they would not pass the Senate healthcare bill unless changes are made through reconciliation, which is necessary because Republicans control 41 Senate seats, enough to block legislation through the regular process.
But Republicans may end up having that power even under reconciliation.
“You could keep offering amendments until you don’t have any more to offer,” said a congressional aide, who said he did not know how long senators would be willing to stay in the chamber to move the reconciliation package. “What the body’s tolerance would be is unknown.”
A former Senate Republican leadership aide said: “The limit is on debate, not on consideration of amendments.”
DeMint said he’s ready to try anything.
“You’ll see Republicans do everything they can to delay and stop this process,” DeMint said. “They need to get the message the track they’re on is the wrong track.”
Reid spent significant time last year in close study of the Senate rules for fast-tracking healthcare legislation under special budget rules.
Reid stayed away from the special process of passing healthcare reform with only 51 votes because he knew it would be messy.
But since Republicans won a Senate seat in Massachusetts, thereby stripping Democrats of a filibuster-proof majority, it appears Democrats will need to invoke those rules to make crucial changes to healthcare legislation.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
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