GemMan
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Posts posted by GemMan
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the same tabs should work on XP although screens are of windows 7
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World's First Bionic Eye Launches in U.S., FDA Declares Breakthrough Technology Safe [PHOTO and VIDEO]The Argus II is the world's first bionic eye to be launched in the United States. It can treat patients suffering from retinitis pigmentosa which is a rare genetic condition.
The FDA approved the world's first bionic eye in February, after 20 years in the making. The Argus II developer Second Sight says it has chosen 12 clinical centers in the U.S. to offer the breakthrough technology in the later part of 2013.
Adults ages 25 and up afflicted with severe to profound retinitis pigmentosa will have the chance to improve their vision with the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System. The world's first bionic eye does not actually restore a patient's vision but gives them the ability to identify light and dark. This helps patients identify the location and movement of objects around them.
Patients suffering from the rare and degenerative disease have slight or no light perception in both eyes despite having inner layer retinal function and ability to see forms. The rare condition affects 100,000 people in the U.S. which can result to partial or total loss of vision. Retinitis pigmentosa has no known cure.
The world's first bionic eye works using a set of electrodes implanted into the retina. The electrodes will transform images transmitted wirelessly from a video camera of an eyeglass-like device. Electrical impulses are converted to stimulate the retina to create images.
Director of University Hospital Eye Institute Center for Retina and Macular Disease Suber Huang said the Argus II is a "remarkable" treatment. Huang's institute will also be one of the first clinical centers to offer the retinal implant.
World's first bionic eye Image credit: Second SightSecond Sight boasts of more than 20 years of research for Argus II, three clinical trials and funding of over $200 million from private and public investors.
The FDA classifies the world's first bionic eye system as a device for safe humanitarian use. There is reasonable assurance that the Argus II's probable benefits outweigh the risk of injury or illness.
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Approved Apple Patents Confirm 4 Killer Features for iPhone 6, iPhone 5S: Gesture-Control, 3D Apps, HDR Imaging & Smart BezelApple won the nod this week for a bunch of new mobile device technologies that likely will see deployment on future iOS 7-powered gadgets, with the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 heading the 2013 release date pack.
AppleInsider
Apple won the nod this week for a bunch of new mobile device technologies that likely will see deployment on future iOS 7-powered gadgets, with the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 heading the 2013 release date pack.New device control concepts
First on the list of fresh Apple inventions, published by Patently Apple, is the ability to control iPhones or iPads by mere user gestures, similar to one of the smart features that Samsung showcased via the Galaxy S4 in early 2013.
The new method, according to Apple, will allow users to manipulate "graphical user interface (GUI) objects displayed on a touch sensing device."
Once implemented the cutting-edge control system will introduce new ways of navigating though "floating menus, virtual knobs, e-book page turning, virtual keyboards and virtual scroll wheels," which by themselves are emerging concepts for mobile device functions.
Must Read
The advent of 3D-rendered applications
Also lumped with the batch patent approval is Apple's capability of rendering screen contents, applications in particular, in three-dimension or 3D.
The exciting invention will soon usher mobile devices "with touch screen ... that display three-dimensional virtual objects." The most practical application seen for this technology is mobile gaming, which covers offline and network modes, the Patently Apple report said.
iOS camera with advanced digital imaging
Apple will continue to enhance user-experience with the on-board camera features that come with the iPhones and iPads. The company's fresh shooting offerings will soon include high dynamic range (HDR) imaging techniques, which specifically will enable users to digitally align captured images.
This further enhances the cam features - like motion-blur reduction and low-light shooting capability - that Apple has presented with the iPhone 5.
Mobile device with smart bezel
Lastly, the tech giant could soon push gadgets with a touch-sensitive bezel that "extends over a portion of a portable device display, and can hide or reveal that area on command," Apple Insider said in a report.
Governing this device are the so-called 'interactive bezels' that are sensitive to touch inputs, interpreting them as commands to perform specific actions. The patent, according to the same report "outlines a number of bezel state changes, including simple color-changes and light transmission, to more complex embodiments where the bezel itself turns from opaque to transparent."
Note that this technology is acquired by Apple from Kodak. The main purpose for its use is to deliver aesthetics and functionality in a single embodiment, which in theory is any iOS device with multi-touch capabilities.
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End of July is the Google Nexus 7 2 Release Date: 3 Key Android Tablet Specs to ExpectGoogle, it appears, will release the Nexus 7 2 later this month minus the fanfare but the vanilla Android device to hit consumers' hands is nothing short of spectacular, both in the hardware and software departments.
Second Generation Nexus 7 Specifications Revealed: Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU, 1080p Display and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
It is a matter of weeks, indeed, and rumours about the popular stock Android slate are flooding the net, the latest of which came from a supposed Reddit conversation thread that showed an Asus representative spewing juicy specs of the 7-inch tablet.
Asus, of course, is the Taiwanese manufacturer responsible for the first Nexus 7. Apparently, Google was impressed by the initial build that it re-engaged the device maker for the tablet's second coming.
And the three things listed below are the main Nexus 7 2 specs we can expect from the fresh Google and Asus collaboration.
Nexus 7 2 is the first native Jelly Bean 4.3 tablet
Last week, reports of Jelly Bean 4.3 going live by June emerged and as expected the smartphones singled out as the first in line to flash the latest Android form the flagship devices coming from Samsung, Sony and HTC - namely the Galaxy S4, the HTC One and the Xperia Z.
Also mentioned, which is not surprising at all, is the Nexus 7 2, thus making it the proud carrier of what Google has to offer in the freshly revised platform. While experts regard this Jelly Bean build as no major upgrade, it will definitely deliver better stability and performance out of the Nexus slate.
Plus, of course, two bonuses: great amounts of flexibility since this is Android is raw and free and bloatwares and the assurance that Nexus 7 2 will get first the more awaited jump to Key Lime Pie, which experts said land by December this year.
Nexus 7 2 has a complete camera package
Unlike the first Nexus 7, the second edition will bring in a camera mix of 5MP in the main snapper and 1.2MP for video calls. To come out of the box is the enhanced Android shooting experience that is expected to best the previous Jelly Bean environment, which should further climb up one KLP makes its dramatic entry in the few months ahead.
No specifics on the camera software side for now but as one Google executive boasted earlier this year, Nexus devices will have access to insanely great camera features, likely levelled up from previously seen.
Nexus 7 2 comes with solid power and price tag
Looking at the following specs glimpsed via the Reddit leak, this Android tablet is potentially an iPad Mini killer:
- 7-inch LED with 1980 x 1200 screen resolution
- Quad-Core Snapdragon 600 CPU
- 2GB of RAM
- 32GB internal storage
- 4000mAh battery
- Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC enabled
- LTE/WCDMA/GSM support
And these capabilities can be had starting at $199 or $220, which is a bargain when compared to the iPad Mini 2. Based on analysts' projections, the small iOS 7 tablet will sell $329 for the Retina version and $249 for the cheaper make.
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Why the 64-bit Version of Windows is More Secure
Most new PCs have been shipping with the 64-bit version of Windows — both Windows 7 and 8 — for years now. 64-bit bit versions of Windows aren’t just about taking advantage of additional memory. They’re also more secure than 32-bit versions.
64-bit operating systems aren’t immune to malware, but they do have more security features. Some of this also applies to 64-bit versions of other operating systems, such as Linux. Linux users will gain security advantages by switching to a 64-bit version of their Linux distribution.
Address Space Layout Randomization
ASLR is a security feature that causes a program’s data locations to be randomly arranged in memory. Before ASLR, a program’s data locations in memory could be predictable, which made attacks on a program much easier. With ASLR, an attacker has to guess the correct location in memory when trying to exploit a vulnerability in a program. An incorrect guess may result in the program crashing, so the attacker won’t be able to try again.
This security feature is also used on 32-bit versions of Windows and other operating systems, but it’s much more powerful on 64-bit versions of Windows. A 64-bit system has a much larger address space than a 32-bit system, making ASLR that much more effective.
Mandatory Driver Signing
The 64-bit version of Windows enforces mandatory driver signing. All driver code on the system must have a digital signature. This includes kernel-mode devices drivers and user-mode drivers, such as printer drivers.
Mandatory driver signing prevents unsigned drivers provided by malware from running on the system. Malware authors will have to somehow bypass the signing process through a boot-time rootkit or manage to sign the infected drivers with a valid certificate stolen from a legitimate driver developer. This makes it more difficult for infected drivers to run on the system.
Driver signing could also be enforced on 32-bit versions of Windows, but it isn’t — likely for continued compatibility with old 32-bit drivers that may not have been signed.
To disable driver signing during development on 64-bit editions of Windows, you would have to attach a kernel debugger or use a special startup option that doesn’t persist across system reboots.
Kernel Patch Protection
KPP, also known as PatchGuard, is a security feature only found on 64-bit versions of Windows. PatchGuard prevents software, even drivers running in kernel-mode, from patching the Windows kernel. This has always been unsupported, but it’s technically possible on 32-bit versions of Windows. Some 32-bit antivirus programs have implemented their antivirus protection measures using kernel patching.
PatchGuard prevents device drivers from patching the kernel. For example, PatchGuard prevents rootkits from modifying the Windows kernel to embed themselves in the operating system. If an attempt at kernel patching is detected, Windows will immediately shut down with a blue screen or reboot.
This protection could be put into place on the 32-bit version of Windows, but it hasn’t been — likely for continued compatibility with legacy 32-bit software that depends on this access.
Data Execution Protection
DEP allows an operating system to mark certain areas of memory as “non-executable” by setting an “NX bit.” Areas of memory that are supposed to hold data only will not be executable.
For example, on a system without DEP, an attacker could use some sort of buffer overflow to write code into a region of an application’s memory. This code could then be executed. With DEP, the attacker could write code into a region of the application’s memory — but this region would be marked as not-executable and could not be executed, which would stop the attack.
64-bit operating systems have hardware-based DEP. While this is also supported on 32-bit versions of Windows if you have a modern CPU, the default settings are more stringent and DEP is always enabled for 64-bit programs, while it’s disabled by default for 32-bit programs for compatibility reasons.
The DEP configuration dialog in Windows is a bit misleading.
As Microsoft’s documentation states, DEP is always used for all 64-bit processes:“System DEP configuration settings apply only for 32-bit applications and processes when running on 32-bit or 64-bit versions of Windows. On 64-bit versions of Windows, if hardware-enforced DEP is available it is always applied to 64-bit processes and kernel memory spaces and there are no system configuration settings to disable it.”
WOW64
64-bit versions of Windows run 32-bit Windows software, but they do it through a compatibility layer known as WOW64 (Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit). This compatibility layer enforces some restrictions on these 32-bit programs, which may prevent 32-bit malware from functioning properly. 32-bit malware will also be unable run in kernel mode — only 64-bit programs can do that on a 64-bit OS — so this may prevent some older 32-bit malware from functioning properly. For example, if you have an old audio CD with the Sony rootkit on it, it won’t be capable of installing itself on a 64-bit version of Windows.
64-bit versions of Windows also drop support for old 16-bit programs. In addition to preventing ancient 16-bit viruses from executing, this will also force companies to upgrade their ancient 16-bit programs that could be vulnerable and unpatched.
Given how widespread 64-bit versions of Windows now are, new malware will likely be capable of running on 64-bit Windows. However, the lack of compatibility can help protect against old malware in the wild.
Unless you use creaky old 16-bit programs, ancient hardware that only offers 32-bit drivers, or a computer with a fairly old 32-bit CPU, you should be using the 64-bit version of Windows. If you’re not sure which version you’re using but you have a modern computer running Windows 7 or 8, you’re likely using the 64-bit edition.
Of course, none of these security features is foolproof, and a 64-bit version of Windows is still vulnerable to malware. However, 64-bit versions of Windows are definitely more secure.-
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Switch to OpenDNS or Google DNS to Speed Up Web Browsing
Your local internet service provider probably doesn’t have the fastest DNS servers, and that can slow down your browsing, since your browser needs to look up the IP address of every web site you try to view. Here is how to switch to either OpenDNS or Google DNS for faster browsing times.
Switching to a Better DNS Provider
The first thing we need to do is right-click on the network status notification icon and choose to Open the Network and Sharing Center from the context menu.
Then click on the Change adapter settings hyperlink on the left-hand side of the Network and Sharing Center.
Now right-click on the network adapter you wish to change the DNS settings for and select properties from the context menu.
When the properties for your network adapter open, you will need to select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP / IPv4) from the list, then click properties.
Our example will have opened the IPv4 settings for your network adapter. You will see in the bottom half of the dialog that your PC is set to get its DNS settings “automatically”. You will need to change that so that we can manually specify the DNS servers we want to use. Now simply choose a service below and enter the DNS server addresses.
Google DNS
Preferred: 8.8.8.8
Alternate: 8.8.4.4
OpenDNS
Preferred: 208.67.222.222
Alternate: 208.67.220.220
We opted to go with Google DNS for now — while they could use this data to track your browsing habits, personally we’re not that worried about it.
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Celebrity Chef Choked/Abused by Husband
The Torment of Nigella: Police probe after husband 'attacks' her in restaurant- Charles Saatchi repeatedly grabbed wife Nigella Lawson by the neck
- TV cook and her husband, 70, were sat at favourite Mayfair restaurant
- At one point, Nigella seemed to plead with him as he held her throat
- Later it was claimed the 53-year-old left Scott's restaurant in tears
Even for a couple whose relationship is said to be volatile, the pictures are shocking.
Sat at their favourite Mayfair restaurant, Charles Saatchi repeatedly grabs his wife Nigella Lawson by the neck.
At one point, the TV cook seems to plead with her 70-year-old husband as he holds her throat and her eyes widen. Later it was claimed she left the restaurant in tears.
Alarming: Shocking pictures have emerged of Nigella Lawson, right, apparently being choked by her husband millionaire Charles Saatchi, left, during a row in a restaurant. Yesterday morning the couple both remained tight-lipped as they left their multi-million pound London home, pictured, separately
Anxious: Nigella Lawson looked stressed as she climbed into a waiting taxi with her teenage son Bruno. The photos appear to show the couple embroiled in a major dispute as they sit outside Scott's in Mayfair
Yesterday, the pair declined to comment after they left their converted brewery home separately by taxis. However, police revealed that they were likely to question them about the incident.
The Metropolitan Police said that although no official complaint had been made by Miss Lawson, officers were ‘aware’ of the pictures and ‘inquiries are in hand to establish the facts of the incident’.
This means Mr Saatchi is almost certain to be questioned by detectives within weeks about exactly what took place in the restaurant.
The apparent assault is said to have put huge strain on their ten-year marriage, his third and her second. A witness was quoted in a Sunday newspaper as saying: ‘It was utterly shocking to watch.
Charles Saatchi arriving at his Chelsea Flat yesterday morning. He re-emerged a short time later, leaving their mansion off the King's Road in Chelsea, west London, shortly after 10am
Leaving home: On four occasions, Mr Saatchi, 70, appears to reach over and grab TV chef Nigella around the throat
‘I have no doubt she was scared. It was horrific, really. She was very tearful and was constantly dabbing her eyes. Nigella was very, very upset.
‘She had a real look of fear on her face. And yet she kissed him. She appeared to be a woman who loves him but was clearly unable to stop him being abusive, frightening and disrespectful to her.’
Neighbours of the couple also spoke of their ‘volatile’ relationship. One said they had previously heard the pair having a bitter argument loudly in the street.
But the neighbours dismissed talks of a split saying they had been spotted walking happily hand-in-hand during the weekend.
One said: ‘They’re both characters and if they did this I’m sure they made up straight away as I’ve seen them together looking happily recently.
Shock: The couple, pictured above during a visit to Scott's in April this year, where the alleged attack took place
Fiery: In the past Miss Lawson has admitted she and Saatchi have their fiery moments. 'I'll go quiet when he explodes, and then I am a nest of horrible festeringness.
Dining out: The couple frequently dine out in the capital as seen in a photo taken earlier this year. The famous couple always choose an outside table at Scott's so the art collector can smoke copious cigarettes
‘They argue in the streets and are volatile at times but that could just be their form of passion. Those pictures do look unpleasant though.’
The couple, who are thought to be worth £128million, had just finished eating outdoors at their favourite seafood restaurant Scott’s last Sunday when Mr Saatchi is reported to have started a heated and angry exchange with his wife.
Miss Lawson, 53, looked tearful as he grabbed her neck four times, first with his left hand and then both. As he held her neck, they clutched hands across the table before Mr Saatchi tweaked her nose and used both wrists to push her face.
Afterwards, Miss Lawson dabbed her tearful eyes in a napkin as he tapped his cigarettes impatiently upon the table.
She then gulped a whole glass of wine before appearing to attempt to pacify him with a trembling voice. During the attempted reconciliation, she leaned over the table and kissed his right cheek.
Mr Saatchi, who helped mastermind former prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s election campaigns, then marched off from the table before his wife followed while wiping away her tears.
It is not the first time the couple have been seen arguing publicly, but the first that has apparently involved him manhandling her.
Miss Lawson has recently spent a lot of time travelling across the US promoting her new book and successful television series.
The couple live in a £12million former 18th century brewery and gas engineer works that they have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds converting since they bought the seven-bedroom home in 2010.
Fame: Miss Lawson studied at Oxford University and is estimated to have earned £15million from her cookery career
Fame: Famous for her flirty cooking shows, the mother-of-two rose to fame in 1999 when she began hosting Nigella Bites on Channel 4.
Tension: The television chef has previously been seen arguing with her husband in London
Tension: Miss Lawson looked angry as she spoke to Mr Saatchi at their home in Eaton Square a few years ago
First marriage: Miss Lawson married Mr Saatchi after her first husband journalist John Diamond died in 2001 aged 41, from throat cancer - she had her two children with him, Cosima, now 19, and Bruno, 17
Nigella says that she has a happy family life after finding love again with Charles Saatchi
Second marriage: Before marrying the famous chef Charles Saatchi was married to Kay Saatchi. Kay was granted a divorce on the grounds of his unreasonable behaviour
Miss Lawson has two children, Cosima, 19, and Bruno, 17, with her husband John Diamond, who she met while they worked at The Sunday Times.
She moved in with Mr Saatchi, who was a friend of her first husband, nine months after he died of throat cancer aged 41 and shortly after her debut cooking television show Nigella Bites aired.
Bruno yesterday helped his mother into a black taxi before Mr Saatchi left in another cab shortly afterwards.
Both refused to answer questions about the incident but they were photographed together at the same restaurant on Saturday.
In a recent interview, Miss Lawson revealed that she was physically abused by her mother when she was a child.
A violent and depressive woman, Vanessa Salmon – who married former Conservative Chancellor Nigel Lawson, would lash out at her and her brother, former Sunday Telegraph editor Dominic, when they made too much noise, she claimed.
A spokesman for Miss Lawson also declined to comment.
Domestic violence is a top priority crime in the capital, and senior officers will want to investigate even without a complaint from the victim.
A Met Police spokesman said: ‘Officers are aware. Inquiries are in hand to establish the facts of the incident.’
A Scott’s spokesman said: ‘The staff at Scott’s are aware of the allegations in the media today but did not see anything untoward happen within the restaurant. As this is now a police matter we cannot comment further.’
END
Disturbing: The pictures, published in the Sunday People, (shown below), appear to show Mr Saatchi grabbing Nigella by the throat
Nigella Lawson photos: See shocking pictures of Charles Saatchi repeatedly squeezing TV chef's throat
The Mirror UK, 18 June 2013
Glamorous TV cook left distraught after *multimillionaire other half turns violent during vicious row, the Sunday People can reveal
Nigella Lawson
Her eyes are transfixed as she struggles to prise away the powerful hand squeezing around her throat.
Her eyes are transfixed as she struggles to prise away the powerful hand squeezing around her throat.
Glamorous TV cook Nigella Lawson looks stunned to be *attacked by her art collector husband Charles Saatchi during a vicious row at their *favourite London restaurant.
Fellow diners and passers-by at Scott’s in Mayfair were shocked to see the *advertising *multimillionaire reduce his celebrity wife to tears.
Saatchi launched a tirade of angry words. Four times he grasped her around the neck with Nigella, 53, looking powerless and petrified.
At first he used only his left hand, then both. At one stage he tweaked her nose then pushed both hands in her face. Twice Nigella jerked her head backwards as if in fear.
Several times she nodded *intently while the conversation became more and more heated.
By the end of the meal she was clearly distraught and in tears.
Now there are fears of severe problems in their 10-year marriage – his third and her second.
Nigella has been abroad *frequently promoting her latest book and TV series while Saatchi, 70, has become *ever more reclusive and tetchy.
Saatchi leaves the restaurant
The bust-up came after the *couple had just finished eating at the *specialist seafood restaurant, a *popular haunt for *celebrities *including Pippa Middleton, Jeremy Clarkson and Simon Cowell.
Nigella and Saatchi always ask for the same table, which is outside *because he likes to smoke.
It is partly sheltered by olive trees and box bushes. But the attack could be clearly seen and heard by other customers and those passing by the restaurant in the busy street.
Nobody intervened although the incident looked brutal.
A couple on the adjacent table, who briefly chatted with Nigella earlier, turned round and gasped in alarm as they saw her in distress.
She dabbed her eyes on a linen napkin as Saatchi tapped his *cigarettes impatiently on the table.
Nigella then downed her glass of red wine in one gulp and began to talk, her voice trembling.
She seemed to be trying to pacify her husband, placing a hand on his left wrist as it lay on the table.
At that moment she leaned over and kissed his right cheek.
“It was utterly shocking to watch,” said one onlooker. “I have no doubt she was scared. It was horrific, *really. She was very tearful and was *constantly dabbing her eyes.
“Nigella was very, very upset. She had a real look of fear on her face. No man should do that to a woman. She raised her voice and got angry but at the same time was trying to calm him down, almost like you would try to calm down a child.
"The kiss was a strange thing. He was being *intimidating, *threatening.
“And yet she kissed him. She *appeared to be a woman who loves him but was clearly unable to stop him being abusive, *frightening and *disrespectful to her.”
Saatchi, 6ft and 17 stone, marched off, leaving his wife sobbing at the table and *grasping her mobile phone as he got into a car the couple had waiting.
The onlooker said: “He looked guilty. It was clear he knew he’d done something wrong. He was menacing, there’s no *question. She had been abused and *humiliated in public.”
As Nigella walked to the car she put a hand to her mouth and bit her lip while wiping away tears.
Picture of misery: Nigella flees the scene of the attack Jean-Paul
The *pair returned to the *£12million converted warehouse in Chelsea, central London, where they live with his daughter Phoebe, 19, and her children Cosima, also 19, and Bruno, 17 – all from *previous marriages.
Earlier Nigella *tweeted a *picture of her *breakfast – scrambled egg and smoked salmon – without a hint of any trouble at home.
The couple, due to celebrate their 10th *anniversary in September, went out for lunch last Sunday with Saatchi in his trademark black suit and crisp white shirt.
Nigella wore a black jacket with matching tight leggings and a top with red dots. Earlier this year her *voluptuous look and sensuous style made her a hit in Hollywood – as a judge on foodie talent show Taste.
Saatchi, who describes himself as a control freak and at times “cringingly vain” has also said his wife’s cookery is wasted on him and he *prefers *nursery food such as eggs and beans on toast.
Nigella once said of him: “Charles doesn’t really like proper food. He prefers a bowl of cereal.”
One acquaintance who had a *conversation with Nigella recently said: “For Saatchi, Nigella has eclipsed him and he’s grumpier.
“His ultimate act of rebellion has been to reject her food. I have a *feeling that drinking and smoking come into this as well. Her first *husband John Diamond died of throat cancer in 2001. Yet Saatchi smokes.
“She’d never say anything about it though. She wouldn’t like to do *anything to upset him.
“Nigella is in awe of him and *surprisingly lacking in confidence herself. She has been thrilled by the *reaction she has been getting in America after appearing on TV.
“And with the popularity in Britain it’s boosted her self-esteem.”
A spokesman for Scott’s said last night: “We do not comment on the private matters of customers.”
Neither Nigella nor Saatchi *responded to requests for a comment when *asked by the Sunday People.
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Saatchi pinches her nose
Tearful Nigella after the restaurant row
Nigella gets in a cab away from restaurant
Saatchi and Nigella dining at Scotts in 2009
Nigella and Saatchi at Joe's restaurant in London in 2012
Nigella and her first husband John Diamond who died in 2001 aged 41, from throat cancer - she had her two children with him, Cosima, now 19, and Bruno, 17
Nigella back in 1983 modelling
Nigella during the TV show 'Around the world in 80 plates'
Nigella promoting her book in Australia in 2008
Nigella back in May 2013 at her book launch in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Nigella in 2010
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Lady In Red: Nigella, at a Vivienne Westwood catwalk show -
Owners go Too Far with Dog Grooming: Hysterical Pictures as owners dress their pets as Film and TV Characters
- Dogs dressed as characters from Star Wars, Disney and Sesame Street feature in 'extreme dog grooming' contests
- Winners of the competitions can scoop more than $30,000 in prize money for single event
- Animal photographer Ren Netherland travels thousands of miles every year to capture the images
By Daily Mail, 18 June 2013
A lot of people will have dressed up as a character from a Disney or Star Wars film at some point in their lives but not many will have dressed their dog as one.
These astonishing pets were all contestants at different 'creative dog grooming' contests across America, where winners can scoop over $30,000 in prize money for a single event.
The images were taken by animal photographer Ren Netherland, from Florida, who travels thousands of miles every year to the country's most extreme grooming competitions.
May the paws be with you: The Star Wars character Yoda is the inspiration for this dog at a creative grooming competition in Hershey, Pennsylvania
A dog dressed as characters such as Big Bird and Elmo from Sesame Street at a creative grooming competition in Pasadena, California
All of the dogs have been sheared and coloured to achieve the final look. Contestants at the grooming competitions visited by Mr Netherland included a dog dressed as the characters of Sesame Street, one dressed as Yoda from Star Wars and another dressed as different Disney characters.
Other dogs were dressed as tigers, elephants, robots, lions, dragons, and exotic birds. It takes two intense hours for the groomers to produce their masterpieces before facing judges.
Miss Piggy on a Poodle's bottom. Behind-the-scenes at Creative...
Mr Netherland said: 'The owners have to grow out their dog's hair in preparation for the show - so that it's long enough for them to make something. 'They train and rehearse throughout the year in preparation for the competition, whittling their creation down to a fine art.
'The best thing for spectators is that when the poodles fist come onto the stage, they just look like normal poodles. Suddenly they are transformed before your eyes into something colourful and completely different. The dogs seem to enjoy the pampering and all the attention.'
A dog dressed with the head of a lion and adorned with drawings of other animals including a penguin at a creative grooming competition in Seacaucus, New Jersey
This dog - at a creative grooming competition in Hershey, Pennsylvania - has been impressively dressed by his owner as a half tiger and half elephant
Walt Disney: Another dog entered into the grooming competition in Seacaucus, New Jersey is adorned with designs of Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse
Hershey, Pennsylvania: These two dogs at the same competition feature an impressive floral design and image of a shark swimming through the sea
Other dogs included one with a dragon design in Pasadena, California, and one adorned with images of exotic birds in Seacaucus, New Jersey -
Here’s Why Firefox is Still Years Behind Chrome
Firefox has a problem. It has fallen behind, with development stalled on the most crucial, most difficult problems. Many of the most significant improvements in Firefox over the past few years have simply been copying changes made in Chrome.
We wish Firefox was better, but the reality is that it’s still not as good as Chrome. With so many former Firefox developers now working on Chrome at Google, perhaps it makes sense that the innovation has been happening in Chrome, not Firefox.
No Multi-Process Architecture
CPUs are gaining more and more cores, becoming capable of doing more work in parallel. Single-core CPUs have become unheard of, and even the lowest-power computers have dual-core CPUs at the least. The future is an ever-increasing amount of CPU cores, and computer programs will have to become capable of doing more work in parallel to take advantage of all this processing power.
Chrome deals with this by having a multi-process architecture. Every website you have open runs in its own process. Background processes, like extensions and apps doing work in the background, run in their own process. Browser plug-ins also run in their own process. Crucially, Chrome’s user interface runs in its own process, as well.
if you have a modern multi-core CPU, Chrome will use it intelligently and perform well, dividing work up between CPUs. It can do many things at once and Chrome’s interface should never stutter and hiccup as pages load in the background.
Firefox is another matter. Firefox uses a single-process architecture, although plugins now run in a separate process. If you open five browser tabs, the main Firefox process has to load and render them as well as handle the Firefox user interface, so the browser will be nowhere near as responsive as Chrome. If one of the pages crashes, it will bring the whole browser down with it.
This is still extremely noticeable — on a powerful Intel Core i7 CPU, Chrome performs perfectly yet Firefox’s interface stutters and slows down as multiple pages load, at least in my experience. It just isn’t as smooth, and it’s because of Firefox’s dated architecture.
Mozilla was working on a solution for this. It was called Electrolysis, development began in 2009, and it was a project to make Firefox into a proper multi-process browser. Electrolysis was “put on hold for the foreseeable future” in 2011, with Mozilla stating that “Electrolysis is a huge undertaking” and that they would be pursuing “a number of smaller initiatives” to improve browser responsiveness in the short term.
Mozilla recently restarted the Electrolysis project in May 2013, so if we’re lucky we’ll see a multi-process Firefox at some point. Even Internet Explorer has multi-process features as of Internet Explorer 8, so Firefox is way behind — and just now starting the hard work of catching up after stopping the project in 2011.
Years Behind Chrome: 4.7 and counting
Firefox Doesn’t Use a Security Sandbox
Chrome and Internet Explorer use a modern Windows feature called “low integrity mode” or “protected mode” to run browser processes with as few user permissions as possible. If a browser vulnerability was discovered and exploited in Chrome or IE, the exploiter would also have to use some sort of additional vulnerability to escape the security sandbox and gain access to the rest of the system.
This feature has been around since Windows Vista, which was released over six years ago. However, Mozilla is still working on the “low rights Firefox” feature and there’s no time-frame for when sandboxing features will roll out to users. Sandboxing isn’t a cure-all, but it’s an important security feature found in other modern browsers.
Comments on Firefox’s bug tracker indicate that developers will be looking at sandboxing the Windows 8 Modern Firefox app, Firefox OS, and experimental Servo browser on OS X. There’s no indication that anyone is working on sandboxing the Windows desktop version of Firefox at the moment. That’s clearly the most popular, most vulnerable version of Firefox that needs the most protecting.
Years Behind Chrome: 4.7 and counting
Firefox Wants a Desktop Web App Store
Mozilla is adamant that web apps and web technologies will replace the need for desktop software and native mobile apps, offering a cross-platform future where HTML5 apps run on every platform.
To this end, Mozilla wants to create its own web app store, known as the Firefox Marketplace. This feature is available in Firefox for Android and will be part of Firefox OS. Firefox OS is itself a mobile operating system that’s launching years after it should have — later than even Microsoft’s Windows Phone and BlackBerry’s BlackBerry 10, two mobile operating systems that have a long uphill fight ahead of them because they were launched so late.
However, you can only use the Firefox Marketplace on Firefox for Android at the moment. Mozilla has been talking about releasing a Firefox Marketplace for the desktop for years, but they’ve decided to focus only on mobile for now. The desktop Firefox Marketplace will be released in the future. In the meantime, Chrome has had the Chrome Web Store for years. New Chrome packaged apps will soon extend the functionality of Chrome web apps, making more of a splash.
Mozilla wants to be pushing web apps and open web technologies on the desktop, but they’re not doing it — Google is.
Years Behind Chrome: 2.5 and counting
Examples of Firefox Lagging Behind Chrome
Firefox has caught up in many ways over the years, but many of its changes have simply been copying the way Google Chrome works:
- Multi-Window Private Browsing: Firefox recently gained the ability to open a private-browsing window alongside a normal browsing window, a much-wished-for feature that has been in Chrome since the beginning.
- Frequent Updates: After Chrome launched, Firefox moved to a more frequent release schedule, like Chrome’s.
- Extensions That Can Handle Browser Upgrades: Firefox then had to work on updating its extension API, allowing extensions to install without restarting and to function seamlessly without breaking after browser-version upgrades — just like how they worked on Chrome.
- PDF Viewer: Firefox recently gained an integrated PDF viewer, long after such a feature launched in Chrome.
- User Interface Design: All browsers have followed Chrome’s lead in switching to a more minimal browser interface, including Firefox. Recent UI mockups suggest even more Chrome-like interface may be in Firefox’s future.
- Out-of-Process Plugins: While Firefox doesn’t have proper multi-process features like Chrome, it did add a feature that allows plug-ins like Flash to run in their own process so they don’t crash the rest of the browser.
- JavaScript Performance: Like all other browsers, Firefox was pushed to dramatically improve its JavaScript performance after Chrome showed up with its huge lead in JavaScript performance over everyone.
We Wish Firefox Was Better
We’re not just trying to attack Firefox here. It was once the best browser, and Mozilla deserves credit for eating into Internet Explorer 6′s market share, showing Microsoft that they could lose their place and forcing them to restart their halted Internet Explorer development. They also deserve credit for making the web more standardized, eliminating websites that say they’re “Designed for Internet Explorer.” This has allowed other browsers to step in — the most popular ones being Chrome and Safari. Firefox laid the groundwork, and Mozilla has been a tireless fighter for open standards.
It’s good for the web to have Mozilla as a browser vendor that isn’t tied to a single large corporation, as Microsoft, Google, and Apple own the other top browsers. The fact that we have an open-source browser created by a non-profit organization only looking to make the web a better is great for the web.
That’s why it’s a shame Mozilla has allowed Firefox to fall so far behind. Halting development on Electrolysis and still having not implemented sandboxing security features are signs that Mozilla hasn’t been prepared to knuckle-down and do the really hard low-level work to improve Firefox’s performance and security. Many of the other changes they’ve made have imitated changes made in Chrome much earlier.
Firefox is still the best browser in some ways. For example, if you need the most powerful browser extension framework, Firefox has it. But we wish Firefox was more competitive in other ways. In 2013, a browser should be a multi-process application with proper security sandboxing. But Firefox isn’t — in fact, it has fallen behind Internet Explorer when it comes to these two important features.
There was once a powerful browser known as the Mozilla suite. It was too big and bloated for its own good, so a group of developers decided to create a new, minimal browser from its core technologies. They called it Phoenix, and it evolved into the Firefox we know today. If Mozilla can’t turn Firefox into a modern browser because of all the legacy code getting in the way, perhaps we need a Phoenix 2.0.
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Marines’ $22.2 Billion Mistake?
By Mark ThompsonJune 04, 201324 Comments
The Marines' CH-53K (in case you were wondering, the "CH" doesn't stand for "cheap").
It used to be the Marines were the most penurious of the military services:
– The Army replaced its AH-1 Cobras with AH-64 Apaches, but the Marines kept flying Cobras.
– The Army replaced its UH-1 Hueys with UH-60 Black Hawks, but the Marines kept flying Hueys (and buying them, as we noted last week).
– The Navy replaced its F-18C/D jets with F-18E/F models, while the Marines kept flying F-18C/Ds.
Heck, Battleland can recall writing a story – probably shortly after vulcanization was perfected — quoting Marines boasting that their service was the only one that used retreaded tires on their vehicles.
But things changed a generation or so back. Perhaps it was something in the water at Camp Lejeune.
Doing things cheaply no longer seemed a part of the Marine ethos:
– First came the V-22 Osprey, a tilt-rotor troop carrier that costs about $120 million a copy.
– Then came the F-35B, the costliest version of the costliest airplane in history, starting at $160 million a pop.
The Marines wanted both of these – capable of taking off and landing from their cramped amphibious ships – because without them they’d have to rely on the Navy, or, even worse, the Air Force, for air support (so much for the joint operations mandated under Goldplated-Plugged-Nickels).
But that “requirement” doesn’t explain the Defense Department inspector general’s report released Monday into the Marines’ CH-53K Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopter.
The report is labeled “For Official Use Only” – screw you, taxpayers – but the IG did generously provide the folks who pay for it a synopsis of what it believes is wrong with the program (Battleland took note of its cost last Friday).
The Marines, you see, recently boosted the number of CH-53Ks it wants to buy from 156 to 200.
In the IG’s first look at the Sikorsky CH-53K, it concluded:
The Marine Corps procurement quantity for CH-53K Heavy Lift Helicopters in the DoD FY 2013 President’s Budget was overstated by up to 44 aircraft.
The Marine Corps could not support the need to procure a total of 200 aircraft because Headquarters Marine Corps Department of Aviation officials:
– did not follow the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System Instruction and obtain Joint Requirements Oversight Council approval for the increase;
– did not have requirement studies prepared to determine a procurement quantity in consideration of program affordability;
– incorrectly relied on a 2008 memorandum from the Deputy Commandant for Aviation directing the increase of the procurement quantity to 200 aircraft, without support;
– incorrectly used the 2010-2011 Force Structure Review’s war-gaming scenarios as justification for the quantity increase; and
– did not justify or appropriately consider the impact of the Marine Corps personnel reductions effect on Heavy Lift quantity requirements.
As a result, the Marine Corps risks spending $22.2 billion in procurement and operating and support funding for 44 additional aircraft that have not been justified and may not be needed to support future Marine Corps mission requirements.
The Pentagon‘s most recent price list for its weapons estimates the Marines will spend $28.5 billion on the 200 CH-53Ks, or about $140 million apiece; the IG’s total of $22.2 billion for 44 (not price-)choppers — about $500 million each– includes lifetime operating costs, as well.
Twenty-two billion dollars?
Can’t anybody here play this game?
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Danish TV Show Has Women Strip As Men Critique Their Bodies
May 02, 2013
Is this for real? Possibly the most sexist TV program in history? In this Danish chat show, women walk out in a bathrobe and stand in front of two men – host Thomas Blachman and his male guest. The women then strip as Blachman and his guest assess their naked figures, oftentimes with humiliating comments.
Blachman, a judge of the Danish X-factor, insists that he is doing women a favor since the “female body thirsts for the words of a man.” Riiiiight.
Blachman goes further to say that the higher object of the show is allow for a discussion of “the aesthetics of a female body without allowing the conversation to become pornographic or politically correct.” The entire idea of the show “is to let men talk about the bodies of naked women while the woman is standing right in front of them.”
Thankfully, no one seems to like the show and Blachman has been widely criticized as being sexist and demeaning towards women, and rightly so. His comments towards women, such as “I’ve always been an ass man” and “very animated nipples,” are sophomoric and insulting. Author Knud Romer states, “The program’s so-called intention of breaking down taboos or challenging stereotypes is rubbish. It’s more like a claustrophobic strip club which only serves to cement classic concepts of male dominance.”
One of Denmark’s top bloggers, Lotte Hansen, has started a campaign demanding the cancellation of the show “before this goes any further.”
However, Blachman, who has since retreated from the controversy to his home in New York, remains ambivalent to the critiques. “Ungratefulness is the only thing that can really wear down the few geniuses who reside in our country. Remember, I am giving you something that you have never seen before. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”
Check out a clip below of the TV show. Though it’s in Deutsch, the message is pretty clear…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VABxnDXoYQ4
Source: The Daily Mail
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On-the-Job Nap Leads to $293M Banking Error
June 15, 201322 Comments
How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?
Dozing at your desk can be costly CNN Money
Cashier asleep with finger on keyboard launched a €222,222,222 transaction The Independent
As one German banker can tell you, nodding off at your desk can cost you. In this case, a quick workplace nap almost cost one woman her job and caused a $293 million banking error.
The clerk “momentarily fell asleep” on the job and accidentally held down the number 2 button on his keyboard for a little too long — think 222,222,222.22 — causing that much money (in Euros) to be transferred out of the bank.
(MORE: Oregon Burglar Falls Asleep While Robbing a House)
While the mistake was eventually noticed and corrected, the on-duty supervisor originally approved the payment request, allowing the funds to go through. On further review of the supervisor’s records, it was discovered that the 48-year-old woman had spent less than 1.4 seconds to examine a total of 603 payments. She was fired for not catching the glaring error — although after bringing her case to court was given her job back — while the snoozing clerk was only handed a slap on the wrist.
So the next time you’re feeling a little drowsy on the job, you might want to take an extra cup of coffee instead of a power nap.
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Omaha suffers rash of shootings in less than 1 hour; 3 dead
By CNN Staff
June 16, 2013 -- Updated 1736 GMT (0136 HKT)
(CNN) -- Four shootings in less than an hour left three people dead in Omaha, Nebraska, police said.
Two shooting victims were killed, as was one gunman, who was not identified, police said. Two other people were critically wounded.
The shootings all took place in south Omaha on Saturday, the same day the city kicked off the College World Series -- the NCAA championship for baseball.
Officers responded at 2:03 p.m. to the first shooting, which left 31-year-old Aaron Anderson in critical condition, police said.
At 2:23 p.m., police responded to another shooting across town, which critically injured 46-year-old Angel Cabrera.
Four minutes later, officers arrived at the scene of a third shooting. Pascual Bautista-Raymundo, 25, was hospitalized but later died, police said.
Around 2:30 p.m., there was a fourth shooting, in which 25-year-old Anthony Vazzano died. A neighbor followed the suspect and gave police his location.
When officers caught up with the suspect, a gunbattle ensued. Police fatally shot the suspect; no officers were injured.
Omaha police said at a Sunday news conference that it appeared Anderson was targeted and the other shootings were random, CNN affiliate KETV reported.
Police also are looking for the driver of a 1995 Ford Thunderbird who was seen near Anderson's apartment before the shooting, the station said.
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Watermelon weighing 50 kilograms takes the crown
（Xinhua） 09:33, June 16, 2013
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MEXICO CITY -- A moderate earthquake hit southern Mexico early Sunday, shaking buildings in the capital of Mexico City and sending frightened people into the streets.
Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera reported via his Twitter account that there were no early reports of damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 and struck at 12:19 a.m. local time Sunday (0519 GMT) about 122 kilometers (76 miles) south of the Mexican capital. The epicenter was 22 kilometers (14 miles) west of the town of Jolalpan in Puebla state. It had a depth of 54 kilometers (33 miles).
Mancera said electrical service had gone out in parts of the city, and that it was being attended to.
The epicenter was in Guerrero state near the border of Puebla. The governors of both states also reported no early indications of damage.
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Scientists have discovered a previously unknown layer lurking in the human eye.
The newfound body part, dubbed Dua's layer, is a skinny but tough structure measuring just 15 microns thick, where one micron is one-millionth of a meter and more than 25,000 microns equal an inch. It sits at the back of the cornea, the sensitive, transparent tissue at the very front of the human eye that helps to focus incoming light, researchers say.
The feature is named for its discoverer, Harminder Dua, a professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Nottingham. Dua said in a statement that the finding will not only change what ophthalmologists know about human eye anatomy, but it will also make operations safer and simpler for patients with an injury in this layer.
Harminder Dua, professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Nottingham in England.
"From a clinical perspective, there are many diseases that affect the back of the cornea, which clinicians across the world are already beginning to relate to the presence, absence or tear in this layer," Dua said in a statement.
Dua and colleagues, for example, believe that a tear in the Dua layer is what causes corneal hydrops, which occurs when water from inside the eye rushes in and leads to a fluid buildup in the cornea. This phenomenon is seen in patients with keratoconus, a degenerative eye disorder that causes the cornea to take on a cone shape.
Dua's layer adds to the five previously known layers of the cornea: the corneal epithelium at the very front, followed by Bowman's layer, the corneal stroma, Descemet's membrane and the corneal endothelium at the very back.
Dua and colleagues found the new layer between the corneal stroma and Descemet's membrane through corneal transplants and grafts on eyes donated for research. They injected tiny air bubbles to separate the different layers of the cornea and scanned each using an electron microscope.
The research was detailed in the journal Ophthalmology.
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Woman Who Has Everything
What do you give the woman who has everything?
Your phone number.
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Equations! - This is the best ...................
Equations! - This is the best
I have read in a LONG time !!!!
Equation1
Human = eat + sleep + work + enjoy
Donkey = eat + sleep+work
Therefore:
Human = Donkey + enjoy
Therefore:
Human-enjoy = Donkey
In other words,
A Human that doesn't know how to enjoy = Donkey that
works.
Equation 2
Man = eat + sleep + earn money
Donkey = eat + sleep
Therefore:
Man = Donkey + earn
money
Therefore:
Man-earn money = Donkey
In other words
Man who doesn't earn money =
Donkey
Woman= eat + sleep + spend
Donkey = eat + sleep
Therefore:
Woman = Donkey + spend
Woman - spend = Donkey
In other words,
Woman who doesn't spend = Donkey
To Conclude:
From Equation 2 and Equation 3
Man who doesn't earn money = Woman who doesn't
spend
So Man earns money not to let woman become a donkey!
And a woman spends not to let the man become a donkey!
So, We have:
Man + Woman = Donkey + earn money + Donkey + Spend money
Therefore
from postulates 1 and 2, we can conclu de
Man + Woman = 2 Donkeys that
live happily together!
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A FIREMAN came home from work one day and told his wife, "You know, we have a wonderful system at the fire station:
BELL 1 rings and we all put on our jackets,
BELL 2 rings and we all slide down the pole,
BELL 3 rings and we're on the fire truck ready to go.
"From now on when I say
BELL 1, I want you to strip naked.
When say BELL 2, I want you to jump in bed. And
when I say BELL 3, we are going to make love all night."
The next night he came home from work and yelled,
"BELL 1!" The wife promptly took all her clothes off.
When he yelled "BELL 2!", the wife jumped into bed.
When he yelled "BELL 3!", they began making love.
After a few minutes the wife yelled "BELL 4!"
"What the hell is BELL 4?" asked the husband?
"ROLL OUT MORE HOSE," she replied, "YOU'RE NOWHERE NEAR THE FIRE."
funny-captions
in The Fun & Laughs Section
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