menes helaine

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Meet The Coders Of The Disrupt Europe Hackathon

The Disrupt Europe Hackathon is underway, but just because you can’t make it out to Berlin for the festivities, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the experience.

That said, we’re bringing you as close as possible to the sights, sounds, and (unfortunate) smells of the 24-hour coding competition with this video. We’re seeing starts from near and far, experienced and brand new to the scene compete.

More than $5,000 is on the line, as hackers will present their products on stage tomorrow at noon to a panel of amazing, expert judges. Plus, our incredible API sponsors like Weather Underground and Yammer are giving away some amazing prizes for the best use of their API.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/vkNdrnVB3sM/
Similar Articles: redskins elizabeth smart What Does Government Shutdown Mean south park miley cyrus

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Teen Drinking Party Leaves Md. Attorney General With Headache

In this Instagram photo, Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler (center, in white shirt holding cellphone) is seen at a summer party where underage drinking appears to be taking place.

Via The Baltimore Sun

In this Instagram photo, Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler (center, in white shirt holding cellphone) is seen at a summer party where underage drinking appears to be taking place.

Via The Baltimore Sun

Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler meets with reporters Thursday to explain his actions during a summertime visit to a teenage house party.

Cliff Owen/AP

Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler meets with reporters Thursday to explain his actions during a summertime visit to a teenage house party.

Cliff Owen/AP

Doug Gansler is Maryland's top law enforcement official. As the state's attorney general, he's spoken out against the perils of underage drinking.

So, naturally, the posting of an Instagram photo of Gansler in the middle of what appears to be a wild underage drinking party — the attorney general is surrounded by shirtless dancing teenagers and red plastic cups — is proving to be a big political problem.

Gansler explained to the Baltimore Sun, which published the photo in its Thursday edition, that he had stopped by the Delaware beach house party briefly to speak with his teenage son. He said he did not remember if he saw any of the attendees drinking, though partygoers later confirmed that many were.

"Assume for purposes of discussion that there was widespread drinking at this party," Gansler, who is running for governor in 2014, told the paper. "How is that relevant to me? ... The question is, do I have any moral authority over other people's children at beach week in another state? I say no."

At a press conference Thursday, Gansler said he "should have probably assumed there was drinking" going on at the party, but that he "wasn't there to determine if there was drinking."

The particular party took place last summer at a six-bedroom beach house where a group of recent private school graduates lived during a weeklong stay.

The Sun reported that the weeklong stay was organized by some of the graduates' parents, who laid down a set of ground rules preventing the teenagers from driving, taking girls behind closed bedroom doors and drinking hard alcohol. Two fathers were also put on chaperone duty each night.

An anonymous attendee told the Sun, "I don't remember much, but it was one of the best parties I've been to, hands down."

The flap comes on the heels of a run of bad press for the attorney general. Earlier this month, the The Washington Post reported that Gansler regularly ordered the state troopers who drive him around to turn on the lights and sirens, run red lights, speed and use the shoulder to bypass traffic. Gansler even took the wheel himself on one occasion, turning the sirens on and running red lights, the Post said.

Gansler on Wednesday paid a $400 speeding ticket — issued to his state-owned vehicle after it was spotted by a traffic camera — that was overdue by 16 months. He said that he was not operating the vehicle at the time, even though a state trooper says otherwise.

A Democratic gubernatorial primary poll released last week shows Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown leading the Democratic primary field with the support of 41 percent of likely voters. Gansler was in second with 21 percent.

Brown has been endorsed by some of the most prominent Democratic figures in Maryland politics, including outgoing Gov. Martin O'Malley, Sen. Barabara Mikulski and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/10/24/240563485/teen-drinking-party-busts-maryland-attorney-general?ft=1&f=1001
Category: Mayweather vs Canelo results Polina Polonsky

Coral chemicals protect against warming oceans

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Australian marine scientists have found the first evidence that coral itself may play an important role in regulating local climate.They have discovered that the coral animal--not just its algal symbiont--makes an important sulphur-based molecule with properties to assist it in many ways, ranging from cellular protection in times of heat stress to local climate cooling by encouraging clouds to form.Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/sip-ccp102313.php
Similar Articles: Hannah Davis oprah winfrey Beyonce Haircut oj simpson cote de pablo

Marcia Wallace dies, voice of 'Simpsons' Krabappel

FILE - This Sept. 5, 2007 file photo shows Marcia Wallace during TV Land's 35th anniversary tribute to "The Bob Newhart Show" in Beverly Hills, Calif. Wallace, who played a receptionist on the show, and the voice of Edna Krabappel on "The Simpsons," died Saturday Oct. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, file)

FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007 file photo, actors Marcia Wallace and Bill Daily arrive for TV Land's 35th anniversary tribute to "The Bob Newhart Show" in Beverly Hills, Calif. Wallace, who played a receptionist on the show, and the voice of Edna Krabappel on "The Simpsons," died Saturday Oct. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

FILE - This 1972 file photo made available by CBS Television shows Marcia Wallace. Wallace, who played a receptionist on "The Bob Newhart Show" and the voice of Edna Krabappel on "The Simpsons" died Saturday Oct. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/CBS)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Marcia Wallace, the voice of scoffing schoolteacher Edna Krabappel on "The Simpsons," whose wise-cracking characters on "The Bob Newhart Show" and other prime-time hits endeared her to generations of TV viewers, has died.

"Simpsons" executive producer Al Jean called said in a statement Saturday that her "irreplaceable character," the fourth-grade teacher who contended with Bart Simpson's constant antics, would be retired from the show. Wallace was 70.

"I was tremendously saddened to learn this morning of the passing of the brilliant and gracious Marcia Wallace. She was beloved by all at The Simpsons," Jean said. It's "a terrible loss for all who had the pleasure of knowing her."

The statement did not provide a date for her death, or a cause.

The longtime TV actress' credits ranged from playing a receptionist on "The Bob Newhart Show" to appearances on Candice Bergen's "Murphy Brown."

On "The Simpsons," Wallace provided the voice for world-weary Edna Krabappel (cru-BOP'-pul), who smoked cigarettes, made sarcastic comments and finally found love in the arms of Simpson's neighbor Ned Flanders after fans voted online at the end of season 22 to keep the unlikely couple together.

Wallace's trademark "Ha!" punctuated Krabappel's frequent wisecracks, and her character was also known for the catchphrase, "Do what I mean, not what I say."

Harry Shearer, the voice of Ned Flanders on the show, said Wallace "brought this huge, positive energy" to her work on "The Simpsons."

"She was just a warm and wonderful person," Shearer told The Associated Press.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-26-Obit-Wallace/id-3ecbb47e55084640a8404c6198532e9d
Related Topics: WWE cher chrissy teigen Sons Of Anarchy Season 6 Miley Cyrus Vmas 2013

Coffee Coming Up, Nice And Hot ... And Prepared By A Robot

Briggo's Coffee Haus takes up about 50 square feet of space, has a nice exterior wood design, and accepts orders either on-site or via a website.

Courtesy Briggo

Briggo's Coffee Haus takes up about 50 square feet of space, has a nice exterior wood design, and accepts orders either on-site or via a website.

Courtesy Briggo

A new trend is brewing in the coffee world: coffee prepared by a robot, able to be preordered via cellphone and picked up at an unmanned kiosk, perfectly adjusted to your taste and ready to go.

To some, this might seem lamentable: the beginning of the end of coffee shops as we know them. No more huddling around warm cups of coffee with friends or sipping a refreshing iced latte while reading.

But to others, this might be just what they've waited for: no lines when you're in a rush, and coffee prepared by a machine that is programmed to make it perfectly time and time again.

The latest company to present such a coffee kiosk is Austin-based Briggo. As Quartz recently reported, Briggo opened its first kiosk on the University of Texas' Austin campus in July of this year. The kiosk — dubbed "The Coffee Haus" — takes up about 50 square feet of space, has a nice exterior wood design, and accepts orders either on-site or across campus via a website, informing the customer precisely when the drink will be ready.

Customers are able to control every detail to their liking, including the flavor, the type of sweetener and milk, and the amount of each ingredient. A variety of choices are offered, from espressos and lattes to iced coffees and hot chocolate. If customers create an account online, the system will remember their favorite order (of course, your friendly neighborhood barista probably does the same thing).

While the convenience of such a machine is probably its biggest selling point, consumers who've sampled Briggo's brew tell The Salt that the quality of the coffee is nothing to sniff at, either.

Unlike baristas in training, who need to figure out the tricks of the trade, their robotic counterparts have been programmed to control every aspect of the process, with the goal of creating a consistently tasty product.

"The coffee tastes good and it always tastes the same," Yamit Lavi, a student at UT Austin, tells us. "I would say the consistency of the taste makes it better than a standard coffee shop."

The machine, after all, can measure humidity, temperature, water pressure, timing and other such factors to a T. And while institutions host the coffee kiosks, Briggo retains ownership of the machines so it can closely manage the entire process, from origin of its direct-trade beans to cup in hand.

Briggo isn't the only company to pursue a robotic coffee venture. There's also the Marley Coffee Machine, which croons Bob Marley tunes while the robot within the box prepares coffee from freshly ground beans. And Starbucks' satellite brand, Seattle's Best, is pairing with the company that owns Redbox to set up one-dollar coffee kiosks in hundreds of supermarkets across the country.

And yet, although students at UT Austin enjoy the Briggo "Coffee Haus," many of them still hold on to the value of a real coffee shop experience.

"At coffee shops you can build relationships with the people making your drink and have a more personal interaction," says Mina Ghobrial, another student at UT. "I believe that's very important in today's society, especially since electronics have taken over face-to-face interactions."

The coffee kiosks don't have to eliminate coffee shops altogether. Instead, they can be a nice addition: something there when we need it — and not bad-tasting to boot.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/10/22/239789038/coffee-coming-up-nice-and-hot-and-prepared-by-a-robot?ft=1&f=1008
Tags: Brad Culpepper bo pelini Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Spring High School Espn.com

JPMorgan's $5B settlement doesn't end its troubles

WASHINGTON (AP) — The $5.1 billion that JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay hardly ends its legal troubles over mortgage securities it sold.

It's merely a down payment.

JPMorgan still faces heavy financial burdens. The bank has set aside $23 billion to cover legal costs — and it may need it all.

In a statement Friday night, JPMorgan called its latest settlement an "important step" toward resolving allegations over mortgage-backed securities it sold. The $5.1 billion would resolve federal claims that it misled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about risky home loans and securities they bought before the housing market collapsed.

Fannie and Freddie were rescued in a taxpayer bailout in 2008 as they sank under the weight of mortgage losses.

Between 2005 and 2007, JPMorgan sold $33 billion in mortgage securities to Fannie and Freddie, according to their regulator. That was the second-most sold to Fannie and Freddie ahead of the crisis, behind only Bank of America. The securities soured after the housing bubble burst in 2007, losing billions in value.

Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee about half of all U.S. mortgages, worth about $5 trillion. The two don't directly make loans to borrowers. They buy mortgages from lenders, package them as bonds, guarantee them against default and sell them to investors. This system helps make loans widely available to borrowers.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie and Freddie, announced Friday's settlement with JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank.

The deal is expected to be followed by a broader agreement with the Justice Department that's still being negotiated. Last weekend, JPMorgan reached a tentative deal with Justice to pay $13 billion.

The $13 billion tentative deal included $4 billion to resolve the FHFA claims. Even reduced by that amount, it would be the largest penalty the government has extracted from a company for actions related to the financial crisis. It's unclear when the broader agreement will be finalized.

The bank still faces local, state and federal investigations into its sale of the mortgage-backed securities. Most of the trouble stems from JPMorgan's acquisition of Bear Stearns in March 2008.

In September, JPMorgan agreed to pay $920 million and admit that it failed to oversee trading that led to a $6 billion loss last year in its London operation. That combined amount, in settlements with three regulators in the U.S. and one in Britain, is one of the largest fines ever levied against a financial institution.

In another case, the company agreed to pay a $100 million penalty and admitted that its traders acted "recklessly" with the London trades.

If that weren't enough, JPMorgan is tied up in litigation over the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme. JPMorgan has said it's responding to investigations by Justice and other regulators. The bank hasn't given details. But it has previously faced accusations that it and other banks ignored signs that Madoff was a con artist.

Edward DeMarco, the FHFA's acting director, said the settlement with JPMorgan "provides greater certainty in the marketplace and is in line with our responsibility for preserving and conserving Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's assets on behalf of taxpayers."

The FHFA sued 18 financial institutions in September 2011 over their sales of mortgage securities to Fannie and Freddie. The total price for the securities sold was $196 billion.

The government rescued Fannie and Freddie during the financial crisis when both were on the verge of collapse. The companies received taxpayer aid totaling $187 billion. They have since become profitable and repaid $146 billion.

Of the $5.1 billion it's agreed to pay, New York-based JPMorgan will pay about $2.74 billion to Freddie and $1.26 billion to Fannie for mortgage bonds it sold. JPMorgan is paying a separate $1.1 billion for home loans it sold them.

The mortgage securities that JPMorgan sold to Fannie and Freddie included billions that were packaged by two institutions that failed in 2008: Wall Street bank Bear Stearns and Seattle-based Washington Mutual, the largest U.S. savings and loan. JPMorgan bought Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual in deals brokered by the government.

A number of big banks, including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, previously have been accused of abuses in sales of securities linked to mortgages in the years leading up to the crisis. Together, they have paid hundreds of millions in penalties to settle civil charges brought by the SEC, which accused them of deceiving investors about the quality of the bonds they sold.

But no high-level Wall Street executives has been sent to jail over charges related to the financial crisis. And the banks in all the SEC cases were allowed to neither admit nor deny wrongdoing — a practice that brought criticism of the agency from judges and investor advocates. Some lawmakers and other critics have demanded that the big bailed-out banks and senior executives be held accountable.

JPMorgan had long enjoyed a reputation for managing risk better than its Wall Street competitors. The bank came through the financial crisis in better shape than most of its rivals.

But in recent months, it has been engaged in a number of embarrassing and costly settlements. In September, the bank agreed to pay $920 million and admit that it failed to oversee trading that led to a $6 billion loss last year in its London operation. That combined amount, in settlements with three regulators in the U.S. and one in Britain, is one of the largest fines ever levied against a financial institution.

In another case, the company agreed to pay a $100 million penalty and admitted that its traders acted "recklessly" with the London trades.

And in a first for a major company, JPMorgan admitted in the agreement with the SEC over the trading loss in London that it failed in its oversight.

___

Sweet contributed to this report from New York.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jpmorgans-5b-settlement-doesnt-end-troubles-041118731--finance.html
Similar Articles: tom brady charlie hunnam castle marshawn lynch Apple.com

Germany is sending intelligence officials to the U.S. capital today, to discuss this week's allegati

Germany is sending intelligence officials to the U.S. capital today, to discuss this week's allegations that the NSA hacked German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone. [CNN]