Chrome browser will block malware downloads

Google has developed a security feature for Chrome that lets the browser detect and stop malware downloads.

Browser hijacking and other browser-based malware infections are on the rise and Google needs to protect Chrome users with native security features, the company said. It is testing the feature in a pre-release version of the browser.

[ Find out how to block the viruses, worms, and other malware that threaten your business, with hands-on advice from expert contributors in InfoWorld's "Malware Deep Dive" PDF guide. | Keep up with key security issues with InfoWorld's Security Adviser blog and Security Central newsletter. ]

"Online criminals have been increasing their use of malicious software that can silently hijack your browser settings. This has become a top issue in the Chrome help forums; we're listening and are here to help," wrote Linus Upson, a Google vice president, in a blog post.

The security feature will trigger an alert, displayed in the download tray at the bottom of the screen, saying that Chrome blocked a malware file from being downloaded. Malicious hackers typically disguise these files as harmless applications, like screensavers and even security updates, to trick users into downloading them.

When installed, this type of malware software wrests control of the browser from users, changing settings, such as the default home page, and displaying unwanted ads.

Google has added the capability to Chrome Canary, a very early pre-release version of the browser that is intended for developers and tech-savvy end users because it "can sometimes break down completely."

Google didn't immediately respond to a request for more details about the way this feature works. Since antivirus products often step over each other when run simultaneously on the same computer, it remains to be seen if this new Chrome functionality will trigger conflicts for people who use other security software.

Chrome already lets users reset their browser settings and alerts them when they're about to visit a site that the company has identified as dangerous.

Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/d/security/chrome-browser-will-block-malware-downloads-230032
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Boston rejoices in World Series victory at home

Boston Red Sox fans celebrate in the street near Fenway Park following Game 6 of baseball's World Series between the Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Boston. The Red Sox won 6-1 to win the series. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Boston Red Sox fans celebrate in the street near Fenway Park following Game 6 of baseball's World Series between the Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Boston. The Red Sox won 6-1 to win the series. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Boston Red Sox fans celebrate after winning the championship over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 of baseball's World Series Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, in Boston. The Red Sox won 6-1 to win the series. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Boston Red Sox fans celebrate in the street near Fenway Park following Game 6 of baseball's World Series between the Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Boston. The Red Sox won 6-1 to win the series. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Boston Red Sox fans celebrate after Boston defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 of baseball's World Series Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Boston. The Red Sox won 6-1 to win the series. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Boston Red Sox fans celebrate after Boston defeated St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 of baseball's World Series Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Boston. The Red Sox won 6-1 to win the series. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

BOSTON (AP) — The Red Sox have now won three World Series in the past decade — but not since the days of Babe Ruth had Boston won a fall classic in its beloved Fenway Park.

The victory sent Boston fans spilling into the streets Wednesday night to celebrate the team's 6-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6. Amid the cheers and high-fives, the white lights of Boston's Prudential Tower read "GO SOX."

"Words cannot describe how I feel," Red Sox fan Sam D'Arrigo said. "This is what being a Boston fan is all about."

The win capped an emotional season for the Red Sox, one heavy with the reminder of the Boston Marathon bombings in April, which left three people dead and more than 260 wounded. Players wore "Boston Strong" logos on their left sleeves and a giant "B Strong" logo was mowed into Fenway's outfield.

"We needed this," said Mark Porcaro of Boston. "They were an easy team to get behind because they stood up for us when we needed them most."

An excited Mayor Tom Menino tweeted: "Get the ducks ready, we're having a parade." He was referring to the duck boat parades the city had had during previous sports celebrations.

Menino and Red Sox officials later announced that the parade would begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Fenway Park and travel down Boylston Street — where the Marathon attack occurred — before going on to the Charles River. Organizers said they wanted the parade to be held at a time when as many fans, including families with children, could attend.

After the deciding game, police set up barriers to funnel the crowds away from Fenway Park and mounted police and officers on bicycles patrolled the area. Some fans were obviously intoxicated. A few young men climbed a pole holding a traffic light.

A large group gathered near the marathon finish line, chanting and blocking traffic until police arrived.

The Suffolk District Attorney's office reported that Boston and state police made 10 arrests in the city, mostly for disorderly conduct.

Throughout the night, the Boston police department had tweeted cautionary messages, encouraging fans to "Celebrate with pride" and "Celebrate responsibly." Police later thanked the "tens of thousands" of Red Sox fans who took their warnings seriously.

There were no reports of serious damage but at least one car was overturned.

Officials at the University of Massachusetts said 15 people — all but one of them students — were arrested after thousands gathered on the Amherst campus to celebrate the Red Sox win. Most of those arrested were charged with failing to disperse and two also with assault and battery on a police officer. No injuries were reported.

In New Hampshire, celebrations turned destructive at several college campuses. In the largest incident, University of New Hampshire officials say police used pepper spray and pepper balls to break up a crowd of several hundred students that had gathered at the Durham campus. Officials said some of the students threw bottles and cans at officers; five were arrested on disorderly conduct charges.

At Keene State College, police also used pepper spray after students flipped over a vehicle and threw rocks, glass bottles and ice. No one was arrested.

Boston has hosted several celebrations over the last decade as the Celtics, Patriots, Bruins and Red Sox have all won titles since 2004, but some of the post-championship partying has caused problems. In 2004, a 21-year-old college student was killed by a pepper pellet fired by Boston police during crowd-control efforts following the Red Sox win in the American League Championship Series. In 2008, a 22-year-old man died after police took him into custody during street celebrations of the Celtics' title.

In St. Louis, fans were disappointed that the Cardinals lost.

Ed Moreland watched the game while cleaning offices at a downtown bank building. "We had a good team. We fought for it," he said. "Boston was just a bit stronger."

At The Dubliner, an Irish pub near the St. Louis Convention Center, bartender David Fitzgibbons suggested that collective excitement in the city dissipated after a 3-1 loss in Game 5 that left the Cardinals needing a two-game sweep in Boston to prevail.

"I don't think people's expectations were that high," he said.

Wednesday's game was a triumphant end to a hectic day in Boston — hours before the game, President Barack Obama delivered a talk at historic Faneuil Hall on his embattled heath care reform.

With the World Series and a presidential visit, police were on high alert. The marathon bombing prompted the deployment of extra dogs and undercover officers.

For the citizens of Red Sox Nation, the extra security, the traffic and the closed streets were a small price to pay for baseball glory.

"Since 1918, no one has experienced this," said Russ Stappen of Rockland, Mass., who shelled out several hundred dollars for his ticket. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

___

Associated Press writers Jay Lindsay and Bob Salsberg in Boston and Alan Scher Zagier in St. Louis contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-31-World%20Series-Boston/id-8ec47fcc5c3d4fe4be496b2d6ad90c02
Tags: world series game 4   jordy nelson   dolly parton   columbus day   hell on wheels  

Twitter Forcing Media Previews On Web Client Users Is Not Cool - But Feels Inevitable As It Preps IPO

And so it begins. Twitter, now firmly on the road to IPO, has equally firmly turned its attention to monetisation — which means it’s turning on new features that are designed, first and foremost, with advertisers in mind. And with the goal of attracting a more mainstream user-base.

Exhibit A: in-stream photo and video previews on the Twitter web client and Android and iOS apps.

(This being timed to coincide with Halloween is probably not at all coincidental. The disproportionate pull of people dressing up for Halloween on apps and services would make a fascinating study — see also FrontBack recently tweaking its offering so you can compose a shot with two images from the rear camera — thereby enabling  users to take lots of shots of other people’s costumes).

Returning to Twitter, what that means in practice is the densely packed wall of 140-character tweets which allowed Twitter to be an exceptional information delivery mechanism is now being interrupted by visual media.

Pictures, as countless photo-sharing apps prove, draw the eye and the attention. They crowd out words. Which means that the Twitter timeline has become less functional, and more trivial.

Pictures are distracting. That’s why advertisers love them. The big bold image can grab you, even if the product itself isn’t something you’d go looking for yourself. Images by their nature are arresting.

But if your primary product is an information network, then injecting visual media necessarily dilutes the offering.

Literally in the physical space sense. These visual media tweets take up more room than a typical text tweet (unless it’s stuffed with line breaks) — so users’ screen real estate is getting disproportionately hogged by anyone choosing to tweet out Twitter photos or Vine videos.

Obviously, Twitter users should expect vast amounts of visual media to be spewed out by advertisers all too soon — giving them a neat workaround to make an advert stand out in a sea of 140-characters.

Twitter’s core product is also now being diluted. The density of the information conveyed by the timeline is being watered down by whatever random visual imagery your followers are tweeting at any given moment (real-time events like popular TV broadcasts and big sports matches could easily end up overwhelming Twitter, more so than they already do).

It’s not that images and videos can’t be interesting; of course they can. But by forcing users to view media before deciding whether it is worth viewing (i.e. by reading the context provided by the accompanying text tweet before they click on the media link), Twitter is removing a vital content filter from its own network.

Now, if you’re using Twitter’s web client, there is no opt out of this visual clutter. And that makes Twitter step a little closer to the kind of content you’re forced to eyeball on Google+ or Facebook. So basically:

You can turn off the new media injection ‘feature’ in Twitter’s mobile apps (perhaps for download speed/data conservation reasons), but Twitter has confirmed to TechCrunch there is no off switch in its web client.

At the time of writing Twitter had not responded to a question asking why it is not offering an opt out to users of its web client.

What this means is that if you value Twitter as a fast information resource on your desktop device then the only option is to use an alternative Twitter client such as Tweetbot (which costs £14 on the Mac App Store vs Twitter’s free web client).

(On that point, Twitter has previously limited its API, thereby throttling the growth potential of third party clients, so opt-out options are being limited too.)

In my view, Twitter forcibly injecting media previews is not cool and makes the service less useful to me. But on the flip side — and there is a flip-side — pictures are very accessible, and are more likely to appeal to a mainstream user vs a dense wall of text that needs to be filtered and unpicked on the fly. So it’s easy to see their rational here.

A wall of tweets is great for busy journalists, but likely somewhat alienating for a first time user trying to figure out what Twitter is for. And attracting more users, and more mainstream users, is a key challenge for Twitter — being as it has a growth problem.

Injecting visual media is not the only recent change Twitter has made that tweaks its product to do a bit more hand-holding for newbies and less techie folk, either.

Back in August, for instance, it flipped the format of the timeline by adding a new conversation view that displays @replies in sequence to the tweets that generated them. For seasoned Twitter who knew how to follow the @reply trail, this change was an irritation — because it also dilutes the density of and interrupts the flow of the timeline.

But for newbies it probably helps to generate context on the fly, and also signposts how the service works. In other words: two Twitter birds, one stone.

I recently went through the process of setting my mum up on Twitter, and when you revisit the process of starting again from scratch with zero followers it’s easy to see how hard it is for a newcomer to hook into the service.

A lot of effort is required to ‘get’ Twitter, in terms of finding other users who are tweeting about things you’re interested in. And, unlike Facebook, none of my mum’s peer group is using Twitter. It become evident that a big portion of Twitter’s efforts at the new user sign-up stage are focused on pushing newcomers to follow celebrity accounts, as a way to offer a mainstream way into its service.

As Twitter prepares to IPO, and becomes answerable to a new influx of investors, it’s inevitable that it’s going to have to find more and more ways to make its service more mainstream. And that’s going to change its core product — in ways that long-time users are going to struggle with.

Add to that, with so much energy and attention still being sucked into photo-sharing services/visual social networks like Instagram, Twitter is evidently feeling a need to diversify beyond text.

Prettying up the timeline with pictures is therefore an obvious next step — it’s just a shame Twitter can’t throw a bone to the subsection of long-time users that value its service as an information resource and give us an opt-out of these mainstream changes.

By all means bury that off switch deep in settings where mainstream users will never find it. But give us an out so we can keep on using the Twitter we know and love.

After all, if we wanted to spend our time idly eyeballing a stream of random eye candy, we’d have long since migrated to Google+…

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/M6g6tBcUVOQ/
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Google says it's cracking down on third-party Google Voice apps, expanding SMS support in Hangouts early next year

Google didn't have much to say about Google Voice integration in its Hangouts app when it announced the latest version earlier this week, but the company's Nikhyl Singhal has filled in a few more details on his Google+ page today. Singhal notes that while the update (and its SMS support) only works ...

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/UkwKl7JegVI/
Tags: banksy   glee   amber alert   Ronan Farrow   Katy Perry Vma 2013  

Toronto police say they have mayor drug video

Mayor Rob Ford walks past Halloween decorations on his way to talk to media at City Hall in Toronto on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. Ford says he has no reason to step down despite police confirmation that they have seized a video that appears to show him smoking a crack pipe. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

Mayor Rob Ford walks past Halloween decorations on his way to talk to media at City Hall in Toronto on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. Ford says he has no reason to step down despite police confirmation that they have seized a video that appears to show him smoking a crack pipe. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

Mayor Rob Ford talks to media at City Hall in Toronto on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. Ford that appears to show him smoking a crack pipe. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford addresses media outside his office in Toronto on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. Ford says he has no reason to step down despite police confirmation that they have seized a video that appears to show him smoking a crack pipe.(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)

These annotated video frame grab images provided by the Toronto Police Service on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, show Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, left, and his close friend, Alexander Lisi. Police say they rummaged through Ford's garbage and conducted a massive surveillance operation monitoring him and Lisi following drug use allegations. The marks seen on the images were drawn by the police. (AP Photo/Toronto Police Service via The Canadian Press)

This annotated video frame grab image provided by the Toronto Police Service on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, shows Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, left, and his close friend, Alexander Lisi. Police say they rummaged through Ford's garbage and conducted a massive surveillance operation monitoring him and Lisi following drug use allegations. The marks seen on the images were drawn by the police. (AP Photo/Toronto Police Service via The Canadian Press)

TORONTO (AP) — Toronto police said Thursday they have obtained a video that appears to show Mayor Rob Ford smoking a crack pipe — a video that Ford had claimed didn't exist and has been at the core of a scandal that has embarrassed and gripped Canada for months.

Police Chief Bill Blair said the video, recovered after being deleted from a computer hard drive, did not provide grounds to press charges. Ford, a populist mayor who has repeatedly made headlines for his bizarre behavior, vowed not to resign.

Speaking outside the door his office, where visitors were free to check out the Halloween decorations, Ford said with a smile: "I have no reason to resign." He said he couldn't defend himself because the affair is part of a criminal investigation involving an associate, adding: "That's all I can say right now." Toronto police discovered the video while conducting a huge surveillance operation into a friend and sometimes driver suspected of providing Ford with drugs.

Ford faced allegations in May that he had been caught on video puffing from a glass crack pipe. Two reporters with the Toronto Star said they saw the video, but it has not been released publicly. Ford maintained he does not smoke crack and that the video did not exist.

The scandal has been the fodder of jokes on U.S. late night television and has cast Canada's largest city and financial capital in an unflattering light.

Ford was elected mayor three years ago on a wave of discontent simmering in the city's outlying suburbs. Since then he has survived an attempt to remove him from office on conflict-of-interest charges and has appeared in the news for his increasingly odd behavior. Through it all, the mayor has repeatedly refused to resign and pledged to run for re-election next year.

But the pressure ramped up on Thursday with all four major dailies in the city calling on Ford to resign.

Cheri DiNovo, a member of Ontario's parliament, tweeted: "Ford video nothing to celebrate Addiction is illness. Mayor please step down and get help?"

On Thursday, Blair said the video of the mayor "depicts images that are consistent with those previously reported in the press."

"As a citizen of Toronto I'm disappointed," Blair said. "This is a traumatic issue for citizens of this city and the reputation of this city."

Blair said the video will come out when Ford's associate and occasional driver, Alexander Lisi, goes to trial on drug charges. Lisi now also faces extortion charges for trying to retrieve the recording from an unidentified person. Blair did not say who owned the computer containing the video.

Blair said authorities believed the video is linked to a home in Toronto, referred to by a confidential informant as a "crack house" in court documents in Lisi's drug case.

The prosecutor in the Lisi case released documents Thursday showing they had rummaged through Ford's garbage in search of evidence of drug use. They show that they conducted a massive surveillance operation monitoring the mayor and Lisi following drug use allegations.

The documents show that friends and former staffers of Ford were concerned that Lisi was "fuelling" the Toronto mayor's alleged drug use.

The police documents, ordered released by a judge, show Ford receiving packages from Lisi on several occasions.

"Lisi approached the driver's side of the Mayor's vehicle with a small white gift bag in hand; he then walked around to the passenger side and got on board," reads one document dated July 30, 2013. "After a few minutes Lisi exited the Escalade empty handed and walked back to his Range Rover."

Another dated July 28 says Lisi "constantly used counter surveillance techniques" when he met with Ford that day.

On August 13 documents say Lisi and Ford met and "made their way into a secluded area of the adjacent woods where they were obscured from surveillance efforts and stayed for approximately one hour."

Ford recently vouched for Lisi in a separate criminal case, praising his leadership skills and hard work in a letter filed with the court. The letter was part of a report prepared by a probation officer after Lisi was convicted of threatening to kill a woman.

Ford said previously that he was shocked when Lisi was arrested earlier this month, calling him a "good guy" and saying he doesn't abandon his friends.

The documents also say that Ford met Lisi through Payman Aboodowleh, a volunteer football coach at Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School, where Ford coached the team while also serving as mayor. He told police he was "mad at Lisi because he was fuelling the mayor's drug abuse," the document says.

Ford's controversies range from the trivial to the serious: Walking face-first into a TV camera. Falling down during a photo op while pretending to play football. Being asked to leave an event for wounded war vets because he appeared intoxicated, according to the Toronto Star. Being forced to admit he was busted for marijuana possession in Florida in 1999, after repeated denials. Making rude gestures at Torontonians from his car.

Ford was fired earlier this year from his beloved volunteer job coaching football over disparaging remarks he made to a TV network about parents and their kids at the school.

"The mayor has said there wasn't a video," Toronto councilor Paula Fletcher said. "He has said there is a conspiracy against him. With Chief's Blair's press conference I think that's put to rest."

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-10-31-Canada-Toronto%20Mayor/id-45dff419b74240959ed40163412d183b
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Whole bevy of official Nexus 5 cases also available in Google Play

Stylish (and expensive) ways to protect your new Nexus 5

Along with the announcement of the Nexus 5 on Google Play, Google is rolling out an assortment of different cases for the phone. There's both a "bumper" case available for $34.99 (£24.99 in the U.K.) and "QuickCover" for $49.99 (£34.99). The bumper isn't much of a bumper at all, and actually covers the back of the phone as well. it is made of a "hard outer shell and soft rubber lining," and is offered in black, grey, red and yellow — while it seemed to actually be on sale for a moment, it is dropped to "coming soon" in all colors.

The QuickCover case is much the same, but has a flap that covers the screen as well. Both black and white varieties are "coming soon" at this point in the US, with the black version currently shipping in the U.K.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/50EUPbxcI24/story01.htm
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WCW's 15 greatest losers

All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. © 2013 WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This website is based in the United States. By submitting personal information to this website you consent to your information being maintained in the U.S., subject to applicable U.S. laws. U.S. law may be different than the law of your home country. WrestleMania XXIX (NY/NJ) logo TM & © 2013 WWE. All Rights Reserved. The Empire State Building design is a registered trademark and used with permission by ESBC.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/classics/wcw/wcw-15-greatest-losers
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Canon Pixma MG7120 review: All this gorgeous printer needs is cheaper ink

We weren't expecting to like the Pixma MG7120 as much as we did, as we're predisposed against printers with high black ink costs. But the overall experience and print quality softened our stance. At $200 (as of 10/30/2013) it's about as good as you'll get in a photo-oriented MFP, but yes, we'd prefer pay a bit less per page for ink.

Design includes front-loading cartridges

The Pixma MG7120 has a beveled-edge design distinct to certain Canon printers of the last several years, and other design improvements that were introduced last year with its cousin, the Pixma MG6320. You control the printer using an upper front touch panel: A 3.5-inch touchscreen display contains most functions, with contextually lit buttons that show up as needed. It has a very short learning curve. You lift that panel to access the ink cartridges, instead of lifting up the entire scanner bed, as with most multifunctions. You can connect via Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or USB.

Paper capacity is limited: 125 sheets of plain paper in the bottom cassette, and 20 sheets of 4-by-6-inch or 5-by-7-inch photo paper in the photo tray found directly above that. Flip over the photo tray, and you'll find the optical media tray, which inserts into a slot just above the output tray. The output tray itself is immediately above the paper trays and opens automatically when printing or copying. There's no automatic document feeder (ADF) for scanning or copying multi-page documents, which isn't unusual for a home-oriented printer, but we like it when we see it. The HP Photosmart 7520 is a like-priced competitor that has an ADF (and—ahem—cheaper ink).

Next to the ouput tray, another front panel folds out to reveal three card slots: Secure Digital, Compact Flash, and Memory Stick. You may print via any of them as well as Wireless Pictbridge.

The Pixma MG7120 comes with the usual array of remote printing features (email, Wi-Fi, though no NFC), and Canon has apps for both Android and iOS. The top-mounted scanner bed is A4/letter-sized with a lid that telescopes an inch or so to accommodate thicker materials.

Canon's My Image Garden is the main software application used for scanning, editing, printing to optical discs, and keeping track of images, But the company also provides utilities for viewing images on the desktop and launching various features of the printer (scan, copy, edit, etc.) They're especially handy if you're dedicating an office PC for printer chores, limiting the amount of time you must spend hunting through the applications for the feature you need. For occasional use, they're probably overkill.

Six-ink system produces great photos

To get the best results from the Pixma MG7120, you'll need to use good photo paper, which will always set you back a few dimes. But Canon could do better with the ink costs.The Pixma MG7120 uses a six-color system: black, pigment black, cyan, gray, magenta, and yellow. All are available in both standard and high-yield ('XL') capacities. In standard capacity, black pages cost about 5 cents, and four-color pages 16.6 cents. This is not counting the extra photo-black and photo-gray, which contribute miniscule amounts to a non-photo page. The XL-capacity cartridges are only slightly cheaper: 4.6 cents per page for black, and 12.7 cents for all four colors. If you print occasionally—tickets, web pages, and the like—then the MG7120 has decent costs. If you print lots of monochrome business documents, not so much.

The quality of the Pixma MG7120's output is where it earns its keep. Photos are superb for a $200 photo printer, and the color palette is nicely balanced, neither overly warm or cold. Text is sharp, and there was nary a defect in large areas of black, which is where you'll usually spot any problems with a print system. No striations, no banding, no muddled edges. Good stuff here.

Performance is better than average for a photo printer. Subjectively, we never felt like we were waiting an overly long time for output to arrive—especially when using draft mode, whose quality is good enough for most everyday applications (and will stretch your ink a lot further). By the numbers, the Pixma MG7120 printed text and mixed monochrome pages at an aggregate 8.6 pages per minute on the PC and 7.9 on the Mac. 4-inch by 6-inch photos printed at 2.7 per minute to plain paper and 1.7 per minute to glossy stock. A full 8.5-inch by 11-inch photo printed on the Mac took just over two minutes.

Scans were decently fast, at just under a half-minute at 600 dpi and just under a minute at 1200 dpi. Copies arrived at a sprightly 5 pages per minute.

The good outweighs the ink

The Canon Pixma MG7120 color inkjet multifunction delivers extremely nice photos, and text quality that's just this side of laser. It also automatically duplexes and has some of the easiest controls the company has produced to date. It's a printer well worth considering, even with its somewhat pricey inks.

Jon L. Jacobi Jon Jacobi, PCWorld

Jon L. Jacobi has worked with computers since you flipped switches and punched cards to program them. He studied music at Juilliard, and now he power-mods his car for kicks.
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Melissa Riofrio Senior Editor, PCWorld

The daughter of a mechanical engineer, Melissa grew up playing with machine parts and still loves getting into the nuts and bolts of how things work. She is never happier than when she is on a factory tour.
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US unearths new drug 'supertunnel' under Mexican border

Los Angeles (AFP) - US and Mexican authorities have unearthed another sophisticated "supertunnel" used to smuggle drugs beneath their common border, the third since 2011, officials said Thursday.

Zig-zagging for a third of a mile beneath the border between San Diego and Tijuana, the newly-constructed tunnel was equipped with an electric-powered rail system to carry the drugs, as well as ventilation.

For the first time, agents seized cocaine intended to be smuggled through the tunnel as well as more than eight tons of marijuana, indicating that Mexican drug cartels are getting increasingly "desperate," they said.

"These cartels are foolish to think they're shoveling under the radar," said US Attorney for Southern California Laura Duffy at a press conference outside the San Diego warehouse where the US end of the tunnel was found Wednesday.

Investigators released video footage of the tunnel, which they stressed was uncovered before it had been been used.

In a message to drug smugglers including notably Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, Duffy vowed: "If you continue to build and attempt to use these tunnels, we are determined to make this a big waste of your dirty money."

Three people were arrested and authorities seized the huge marijuana haul as well as 325 pounds of cocaine, which is usually transported in smaller quantities and does not come through tunnels.

"Their traditional routes are failing at this point. They're very desperate. They'll do anything they can to get into the US," said Bill Sherman, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)'s San Diego office.

As with two other "supertunnels" discovered in 2011, agents pounced before it had even become operational. "They did not move one gram of narcotics thru that tunnel," said Sherman.

Law enforcement authorities were increasingly seeing attempts to bring narcotics including cocaine and methamphetamines over the border through tunnels, or micro-light aircraft.

"Those are acts of desperation," he said.

The tunnel was built at an average depth of 35 feet, and was 4 feet high by 3 feet wide, said Derek Benner of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Construction likely took a year or more, officials said, adding that it was the work of "engineers and architects." It included hydraulically-controlled steel doors.

Of the three arrested, two were detained in connection with the cocaine seized, and one, a Mexican national, was held over the marijuana haul. All face a maximum of 10 years to life in jail, officials said.

In Tijuana, a Mexican security source said the tunnel was accessed at the southern end by a metal stairway down to a depth of 20 meters, from a building about 80 meters from the border fence.

Discoveries of such underground passageways along the US-Mexico border are not uncommon and authorities say they are used by organized crime groups to traffick drugs and people into the United States.

The tunnel was the eighth large scale such structure discovered since 2006, and the fifth intercepted since 2010.

Over 77,000 people have died in drug-linked violence since 2006, when troops were deployed to battle drug cartels, including under ex president Felipe Calderon and his successor Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office last year.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-mexico-unearth-sophisticated-border-drug-tunnel-191557173.html
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Kim Kardashian, Kanye West Sue YouTube Co-Founder Chad Hurley for Allegedly Leaking Proposal Video

Kim Kardashian is used to living her life on camera -- but some things aren't meant for public viewing. Among them? Kanye West's marriage proposal to her on Oct. 21. Now, the reality star and her fiance are suing YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley for allegedly leaking video of the romantic moment, TMZ reports.

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According to the site, Kardashian and West claim in the lawsuit that Hurley schemed to post the video of the proposal on his new site, MixBit. They also allege that the tech-savvy entrepreneur wasn't invited to the celebration at AT&T Park but somehow found a way in anyway.

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Per TMZ, Hurley signed a confidentiality agreement, which he reportedly broke by posting the video of the proposal on MixBit and then tweeting it out to his followers. He also allegedly issued a press release on the clip.

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"Hurley proceeded to try to turn the event into one starring himself, broadcasting the images he knew were the exclusive property rights of someone else," the site quotes the lawsuit as saying.

TMZ reports that Kardashian and West suing for unspecified damages. The lawsuit doesn't say how much the video is worth, but it does note that the footage was supposed to go to MC Cable Television.

Source: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/kim-kardashian-kanye-west-sue-youtube-co-founder-chad-hurley-for-allegedly-leaking-proposal-video-20133110
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Africa to lead the world in international bandwidth demand

Africa’s demand for Internet links to the rest of the world will grow by an average of 51 percent every year until 2019, ahead of all other regions, according to a forecast by research company Telegeography.

Rapid economic growth and wider Internet use will drive the increase in demand, which will be met mostly by turning on unused capacity in existing cables, according to Telegeography analyst Erik Kreifeldt. Terrestrial links are in demand partly because much of Africa still relies on satellite, which is far more expensive per bit than wired broadband, he said.

Most Internet bandwidth between continents is provided by undersea cables built and financed by groups of service providers. From Africa, most of those links go to Europe. Other carriers pay to tap into those cables and link their customers to the Internet. In some parts of Africa, running cables from coastal areas to the interior is a challenge so satellite remains the major Internet source, Kreifeldt said.

The capacity of international cables landing on African shores is just a fraction of the bandwidth available between Europe, the U.S. and Asia. After seven years of the growth that Telegeography forecasts, from 2012 through 2019, Africa will have 17.2Tbps (bits per second) of links to the outside world. That’s up from just 957Gbps in 2012 but will still be only about one-quarter of the international capacity of Latin America and less than that of Canada, according to Telegeography.

The hunger for the Internet varies among African countries. Through 2019, bandwidth demand is expected to grow fastest in Angola, at 71 percent per year; Tanzania, at 68 percent; and Gabon, at 67 percent.

Many new cables have been built to Africa and around the continent in the past several years, giving service providers excess fiber capacity that can be turned on when needed, Kreifeldt said. As that fiber gets lit up and supply rises, prices should fall for enterprises and other users in African countries, he said.

However, due to relative scarcity, a given amount of bandwidth between Africa and Europe costs about 10 times as much as the same size connection between Europe and North America, he said. Africa’s bandwidth gains aren’t expected to shrink that gap.

While Africa leads in growth, demand for international network links will rise at a fast pace in all parts of the world, Telegeography says. It projects Latin America and the Middle East to grow at 37 percent per year, while Asia exceeds 30 percent and even Europe and North America, the best-served and slowest-growing regions, will boost their bandwidth by nearly 30 percent per year.

Africa is home to some of the fastest-growing economies in the world, including Ethiopia, Cote d’Ivoire and Rwanda, according to the World Bank. In April, the bank forecast average annual growth of more than 5 percent in sub-Saharan Africa through 2015.

Stephen Lawson, IDG News Service , IDG News Service

Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for the IDG News Service.
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Hagel blasts states on same-sex benefits policy

FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2013 file photo, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks during a media conference after a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013 sharply criticized U.S. states that are defying the Pentagon by refusing to allow National Guard facilities to issue ID cards that enable same-sex spouses of military members to claim benefits. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2013 file photo, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks during a media conference after a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013 sharply criticized U.S. states that are defying the Pentagon by refusing to allow National Guard facilities to issue ID cards that enable same-sex spouses of military members to claim benefits. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday sharply criticized U.S. states that are defying the Pentagon by refusing to allow National Guard facilities to issue ID cards that enable same-sex spouses of military members to claim benefits.

"This is wrong," Hagel said in a speech in New York.

"Not only does this violate the states' obligation under federal law, their actions have created hardship and inequality by forcing couples to travel long distances to federal military bases to obtain the ID cards they're entitled to," he said.

Hagel said this is causing division among the military ranks.

In his remarks to an Anti-Defamation League centennial dinner speech, Hagel did not name the states that are defying Pentagon policy on this issue. But the Pentagon has cited nine: Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia.

The Pentagon says there are 114 Army and Air National Guard sites in those nine states that are not providing ID cards to eligible same-sex spouses.

Hagel also used his speech to announce that he has directed the Marine Corps to expedite the manufacture and delivery to Israel of V-22 Osprey aircraft, hybrids that take off and land like a helicopter and cruise like an airplane. It is to be the first overseas sale of the Osprey.

Hagel also offered assurances that the Obama administration's interest in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program is a way of testing Iranian intentions for a diplomatic solution to a matter that has been in dispute for years.

"If we can find ways to resolve disputes peacefully, we are wise to explore them," he said. Israel is skeptical of any negotiation with Iran.

Convinced Iran is pursuing the development of nuclear weapons to threaten his country, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Iranians are trying to trick the West into easing economic sanctions while still pushing forward with their nuclear program. Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes.

Hagel focused much of his dinner speech on the gay rights matter, which was a central issue during the tenure of his predecessor at the Pentagon, Leon Panetta. Panetta, who retired in February, was honored at the dinner for his long career in public service.

Under Pentagon policy that took effect Sept. 3, same-sex spouses of military members are eligible for the same health care, housing and other benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex spouses. That decision followed the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in June on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Some states, however, have refused to allow issuance of the necessary Pentagon ID cards on National Guard facilities.

In Oklahoma, for example, Gov. Mary Fallin ordered her state's National Guard to stop processing requests, making legally married gay couples apply for benefits on federal facilities like Tinker Air Force Base. Oklahoma in 2004 approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting giving benefits of marriage to gay couples.

Hagel said these states' policies are unfair. He said he ordered the chief of the National Guard Bureau, Gen. Frank Grass, to "take immediate action to remedy this situation."

It was not immediately clear what legal authority Grass has to force the states to change course.

Hagel said he instructed Grass to meet with the adjutants general from the nine states where the ID cards are being denied at state facilities. He said those adjutants general, who work for their states' governor, "will be expected to comply" with Pentagon policy on this issue.

The American Military Partner Association, an advocacy group for gay and lesbian military members, praised Hagel's remarks.

"Secretary Hagel has made it clear the National Guard in these few rogue states are failing to live up to their obligations to military families under federal law," said Stephen Peters, the association's president. "We applaud him in showing strong leadership by ordering the National Guard in these states to comply and follow lawful direction and DoD policy."

Defense officials estimate there are 18,000 same-sex couples in the active-duty military, National Guard and Reserves and among military retirees. It's unclear how many of those are married. The Pentagon policy on equal access to benefits does not apply to unmarried gay partners of military members.

A Pentagon ban on gays serving openly in the military was dropped in September 2011.

Austin American-StatesmanSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-10-31-Hagel-Gay%20Rights/id-b526bb275870434cb382a66b9fa9dff7
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Driver expects to fight Google Glass ticket

This undated photo released courtesy Cecilia Abadie shows Cecilia Abadie a software developer from Temecula, Calif., during a presentation. Abadie was pulled over for speeding on Tuesday Oct. 29, 2013, in San Diego, when a California Highway Patrol officer noticed she was wearing Google Glass and tacked on a citation usually given to drivers who may be distracted by a video or TV screen. (AP Photo/Courtesy Cecilia Abadie)

This undated photo released courtesy Cecilia Abadie shows Cecilia Abadie a software developer from Temecula, Calif., during a presentation. Abadie was pulled over for speeding on Tuesday Oct. 29, 2013, in San Diego, when a California Highway Patrol officer noticed she was wearing Google Glass and tacked on a citation usually given to drivers who may be distracted by a video or TV screen. (AP Photo/Courtesy Cecilia Abadie)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An early adopter of Google's Internet-connected eyeglasses plans to fight a citation for wearing the device while driving in San Diego, saying the technology makes navigation easier than smartphones and GPS devices.

Driver Cecilia Abadie was pulled over for speeding Tuesday evening, when a California Highway Patrol officer noticed she was wearing Google Glass and tacked on a citation usually given to drivers who may be distracted by a video or TV screen.

A challenge to what may be a first-of-its-kind citation could force authorities to re-examine laws and consider how best to regulate evolving gadgetry that will one day become mainstream.

The lightweight eyeglasses, which are not yet widely available to the public, feature a hidden computer and a thumbnail-size transparent display screen above the right eye. Users can scan maps for directions — as well as receive Web search results, read email and engage in video chats — without reaching for a phone.

About 10,000 have been distributed so far in the United States to "explorers" like Abadie, and this week Google announced another 30,000 would be available for $1,500 apiece. Abadie, a software developer, got what she describes as the life-changing technology in May.

In an interview Thursday, she said she was not using her Google Glass when she was pulled over for allegedly going about 80 mph in a 65 mph zone on the drive home to Temecula after visiting a friend.

"The Glass was on, but I wasn't actively using it" to conserve the battery, she said. The device becomes inactive if it's not asked to perform a task.

Abadie expressed surprise that wearing the glasses while driving would be illegal and said she's "pretty sure" she will fight the ticket. First, she said, she needs to seek legal counsel. In the flurry of online commentary her traffic stop has generated, several people saying they are attorneys offered their services.

"The law is not clear, the laws are very outdated," Abadie said, suggesting that navigating with the device could be less distracting than with a GPS unit or phone because drivers don't have to glance down.

"Maybe Glass is more a solution to the cellphone problem than a problem," she said.

It's unclear whether a citation for Google Glass has been issued before. The CHP said it is not sure whether an officer within its own ranks has written one, and an agency spokesman pointed out hundreds of law enforcement agencies in California alone can write traffic tickets.

What is clear, CHP Officer Marc Hale said, is that drivers should not use Google Glass.

"Anything that takes your attention away from the motoring public in front of you is a distraction," Hale said.

Though Google Glass users can continue looking ahead, by glancing at the screen they still divert attention from the roadway and that can make the headgear dangerous, according to David Strayer, director of the University of Utah's Center for the Prevention of Distracted Driving.

"Your eyes aren't looking where they need to look," said Strayer, who has tried Google Glass (though not behind the wheel). Like Abadie, he noted that the law lags far behind the technology.

Legislators in at least three states — Delaware, New Jersey and West Virginia — have introduced bills that would specifically ban driving with Google Glass.

A spokesman for Google Inc. did not reply to a request for comment. On its website, Google says this about using the headgear while driving: "Read up and follow the law. Above all, even when you're following the law, don't hurt yourself or others by failing to pay attention to the road."

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Associated Press researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.

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Follow Justin Pritchard at https://twitter.com/lalanewsman

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-10-31-Google%20Glass%20Ticket/id-c729b0ee5b8c409cbfe9ecc955a353a6
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