NEW YORK (AP) — About a year ago, Lindsey Gort's name came up for a part but the casting director said she wasn't right for it because she was more of a young Kim Cattrall-type.
Now Gort is playing a young Samantha Jones — Cattrall's character in "Sex and the City" — on The CW's "The Carrie Diaries" (Friday, 8 p.m. EDT).
"When the part came up, my manager was like, 'Hey, remember when you said she was a young Kim Cattrall-type? Well, you're looking for that right now so you should come see her,'" Gort said in a recent interview.
"It's such an iconic character, and I'm such a huge fan of the show," she said.
Set in the 1980s, "The Carrie Diaries" stars AnnaSophia Robb as teen Carrie Bradshaw, who lives in Connecticut with her widowed father and younger sister. The show is based on novels by Candace Bushnell, as was "Sex and the City."
Gort's version of Samantha Jones is a lot like the one in the '90s HBO series and the two movies that followed.
The big difference, Gort says, is that Samantha is "in her early 20s and is not a career woman yet, so she doesn't have her Birkin bags and her Manolos yet. She's figuring herself out, trying to figure out where she belongs in this world and having a good time while doing that."
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Alicia Rancilio covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow her online at http://www.twitter.com/aliciar
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A patent filing shows Samsung Electronics Co. is working on a device it calls sports glasses in a possible response to Google's Internet-connected eyewear.
A design patent filing at the Korean Intellectual Property Office shows a Samsung design for smartphone-connected glasses that can display information from the handset.
It said the glasses can play music and receive phone calls through earphones built into the eyewear's frame. It also gives hands-free control over the smartphone.
Reminiscent of the Google Glass design, Samsung's sketch shows a thumbnail-sized display over the left eyeglass. Google's eyewear has a tiny display over the right eyeglass that shows information and websites.
It was not clear from Samsung's sketch and description whether its eyewear would be equipped with a touch control and a camera like Google Glass nor whether it would connect directly to the mobile Internet or be a slave to a smartphone.
The name and the description specify the Samsung product is designed for outdoors activities or sports.
Samsung did not respond to an email and a call seeking comment.
Google Inc. is testing an early version of Google Glass with 10,000 people in the U.S. after giving the public a first look at its Internet-connected eyewear in June last year. The early version can take pictures, record videos, navigate maps and works without a smartphone.
Other tech companies are also exploring ways to bring mobile computing to everyday objects such as watches and glasses.
Samsung introduced a smartphone-connected watch called the Galaxy Gear last month. Sony also announced a smart watch.
Samsung filed the application for the eyewear design patent on March 8.
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Follow Youkyung Lee on Twitter: www.twitter.com/YKLeeAP
Study explores the role of uncertainty in infectious disease modelling
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
21-Oct-2013
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Contact: Sarah Stamper sarah.stamper@liv.ac.uk 01-517-943-044 University of Liverpool
Research by scientists at the University of Liverpool has found that greater consideration of the limitations and uncertainties present in every infectious disease model would improve its effectiveness/usefulness and value.
Infectious disease dynamical modelling plays a central role in planning for outbreaks of human and livestock diseases, in projecting how they might progress and guiding and informing policy responses.
Modelling is commissioned by governments or may be developed independently by researchers. It has been used to inform policy decisions for human and animal diseases such as SARS, H1N1 swine influenza, foot-and-mouth disease and is being used to inform action in the campaign to control bovine TB.
In a study published in PLOS One, researchers analysed scientific papers, interviews, policies, reports and outcomes of previous infectious diseases outbreaks in the UK to ascertain the role uncertainties played in previous models and how these were understood by both the designers of the model and the users of the model.
They found that many models used to respond to epidemics provided only cursory reference to the uncertainties of the information and data or the parameters used. Whilst the models were uncertain many still informed action.
Dr Rob Christley, from the University's Institute of Infection and Global Health, said: "It is accepted that models will never be able to predict 100% the size, shape or form of an outbreak and it is recognised that a level of uncertainty always exists in modelling. However, modellers often fear detailed discussion of this uncertainty will undermine the model in the eyes of policy makers.
"This study found that the uncertainties and limitations of a model are sometimes hidden and sometimes revealed, and that which occurs is context dependent.
"Whilst it isn't possible to calculate the level of uncertainty, a better understanding and communication of the model's limitations is needed and could lead to better policy."
A model is produced by individuals who have to decide what is important and need to bring together data and information which could include population data, age of population, proximity, type of disease. Uncertainty can occur at all stages of the process from weaknesses in the quality and type of data used, assumptions made about the infectious agent itself, and about the world in which the disease is circulating, all the way through to the technical aspects of the model.
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The research team comprised veterinary scientists and epidemiologists, sociologists, microbiologists and environmental scientists.
The research, undertaken in collaboration with the University of Lancaster and funded by the UK Research Councils' Rural Economy and Land Use is, is published in PLOS One.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Study explores the role of uncertainty in infectious disease modelling
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
21-Oct-2013
[
| E-mail
| Share
]
Contact: Sarah Stamper sarah.stamper@liv.ac.uk 01-517-943-044 University of Liverpool
Research by scientists at the University of Liverpool has found that greater consideration of the limitations and uncertainties present in every infectious disease model would improve its effectiveness/usefulness and value.
Infectious disease dynamical modelling plays a central role in planning for outbreaks of human and livestock diseases, in projecting how they might progress and guiding and informing policy responses.
Modelling is commissioned by governments or may be developed independently by researchers. It has been used to inform policy decisions for human and animal diseases such as SARS, H1N1 swine influenza, foot-and-mouth disease and is being used to inform action in the campaign to control bovine TB.
In a study published in PLOS One, researchers analysed scientific papers, interviews, policies, reports and outcomes of previous infectious diseases outbreaks in the UK to ascertain the role uncertainties played in previous models and how these were understood by both the designers of the model and the users of the model.
They found that many models used to respond to epidemics provided only cursory reference to the uncertainties of the information and data or the parameters used. Whilst the models were uncertain many still informed action.
Dr Rob Christley, from the University's Institute of Infection and Global Health, said: "It is accepted that models will never be able to predict 100% the size, shape or form of an outbreak and it is recognised that a level of uncertainty always exists in modelling. However, modellers often fear detailed discussion of this uncertainty will undermine the model in the eyes of policy makers.
"This study found that the uncertainties and limitations of a model are sometimes hidden and sometimes revealed, and that which occurs is context dependent.
"Whilst it isn't possible to calculate the level of uncertainty, a better understanding and communication of the model's limitations is needed and could lead to better policy."
A model is produced by individuals who have to decide what is important and need to bring together data and information which could include population data, age of population, proximity, type of disease. Uncertainty can occur at all stages of the process from weaknesses in the quality and type of data used, assumptions made about the infectious agent itself, and about the world in which the disease is circulating, all the way through to the technical aspects of the model.
###
The research team comprised veterinary scientists and epidemiologists, sociologists, microbiologists and environmental scientists.
The research, undertaken in collaboration with the University of Lancaster and funded by the UK Research Councils' Rural Economy and Land Use is, is published in PLOS One.
[
| E-mail
| Share
]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Taking a break from "X Factor" and "Glee," Demi Lovato soaked up the spotlight by covering the November 2013 issue of Glamour Mexico.
During her Q&A session with the publication, the "Heart Attack" hitmaker dished about the support she received from her friends and family and also shared her plans for the future.
"Everyone has problems... I have to learned to ask for help from the people around me," Miss Lovato explained. "I let them know [where] I'm going or [how] I feel."
"I think the most important thing is that there is no reason to suffer alone," she added.
In regards to her future, Demi stated, "You never decide what you want to do for the rest of your life... Let alone in ten years! These type of decisions are made when you're older and aware of your surroundings."
For more on Miss Lovato's interview, be sure to visit Glamour Mexico!
A fun idea in theory, OMG Life's Autographer is a wearable camera you clip to your shirt or wear around your neck to capture photos at set intervals. An accompanying app facilitates GIF and video creation with your images, and tags your photos with GPS and other information. But at £299 (approx. $480 USD) the Autographer is way too expensive given its poor photo quality and unrefined user experience. You're better off with an inexpensive wearable video camera like the $50 Mecam to document the world around you.
Design Reminiscent of a department store security tag, the 2-ounce Autographer measures 3.54 by 1.47 by 0.90 (HWD) inches. It's not huge, but when it's clipped to the middle of your chest, you're instantly aware of how bulky and awkward it looks. When wearing the camera walking around the New York City streets, I got plenty of confused looks.
A yellow camera lens cover juts out a few millimeters from the glossy black plastic body, while the sturdy plastic clip to attach the camera to your clothes is around back; underneath there's a metal connector for the included lanyard. The cover doesn't fully rotate, but turning it clockwise reveals the camera lens, a counterclockwise turn hides it.
Hidden seamlessly underneath the plastic is a tiny OLED display showing battery level, number of photos taken, and other vital stats, and a capture indicator flashes each time a photo is taken. Two buttons on the side let you toggle through the various settings.
Sensors The Autographer is loaded with environmental sensors to add context to the hundreds of images you capture each day. There's a light sensor to automatically adjust camera exposure, a magnetometer to determine your direction, a thermometer for recording ambient temperature, a GPS radio for saving location data, and an accelerometer for measuring movement. All of this information is supposed to accompany each photo you snap, but that's not what I experienced. GPS tagging, for example, was sporadic at best. During my tests indoors, I didn't expect the GPS to work, but when I was outside the Autographer tagged only 24 of 260 of my images. On another day it didn't tag any outdoor photos.
Camera The Autographer has a 5-megapixel sensor and a wide-angle lens with a 136-degree field of view, giving every photo a fisheye-lens effect. It does not record video. Holding one of the two side buttons activates a sequence mode that captures a series of images in rapid succession until you stop it. On its highest-frequency setting, the Autographer takes a photo every 8-10 seconds. On medium it takes one every 25-30 seconds, and on low it's every 60-70 seconds. At high frequency with GPS enabled, I was able to get about six hours of photos before the battery died, a poor showing for a camera that's supposed to capture your whole day. On the bright side, the onboard storage (8GB) was less than 10 percent full after taking more than 2,000 photos.
Even though it costs more than many point-and-shoot cameras, the Autographer's photos are akin to those you'd shoot with a low- to midrange smartphone. They're not great. Most of my well-lit outdoor shots were plagued with lens flare that washed out the photos, making them look like they were filtered through Instagram. There's no flash either, so photos in low light are very grainy. And since the camera and the subjects are often moving when shots are taken, most of the photos I captured were blurry.
There are no options to adjust photo quality, or any camera settings besides frequency of photo capture. Given you're wearing the Autographer all the time, it's bound to grab some awkward and hilarious shots, but when the photos themselves are unusable, it's less amusing—especially for over $400.
Software and Sharing There are Autographer apps for PC and Mac, as well as an iOS app that let you scroll through your imported photos, create GIFs and videos from the pictures you've captured, and share them online. The company says an Android app is in the works.
Plugging the camera into your computer, via the micro USB port and included cable, opens Autographer's desktop app for importing your captured photos. (The install files for the app are included in the Autographer itself.) In my tests, scrolling through the wide expanse of two days' worth of images was choppy and slow. Bringing the scrollbar to the top of the window sometimes caused the app to freeze, and then it would load a new crop of photos instantly, moving the scrollbar to the middle of the window and causing me to lose my place. Also, elements that should fade away after a short time (like tips or alerts) remain on the screen, so you have to minimize the window or hover over them to make them disappear.
You can create GIFs and videos (at 480p, 720p, or 1080p) from your still images, and adjust the frame rate from one to 12 frames per second. When creating a GIF of about 900 images (about two hours of photos), the progress bar remained at 0 percent for more than 35 minutes, with no indication of whether or not it was processing the photos. Restarting the app twice allowed me to finally create my large GIF and video in about 5 minutes. Creating a GIF on a Mac with about 100 images caused the application to crash more than once. Selecting fewer images (about 75) made creating GIFs or video more smooth, and the end result was surprisingly delightful, making me wish I could use more images without running into errors. The GIF you're seeing below is a set of 12 images from New York Comic Con at 8 frames per second.
Sharing in Autographer's desktop apps, on the other hand, is easy. To do so, select your photos, videos, or GIFs, and click the Sharing button. You can upload to Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, or Autographer's own service, which stores photos and creations on the Web for free.
In the mobile app, meanwhile, you can share to Autographer, Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr, copy the photos to your camera roll, assign one to a contact, print, or email them. GIF or video creation in the iOS app is limited to 50 photos of the thousands you take throughout the day, which is too restrictive. Pairing the camera with my iPhone 4s via Bluetooth for using the iOS app, however, was quick and easy.
Conclusion In the end, the Autographer seems more like a gimmicky social experiment than a genuine attempt at creating a quality hardware and software experience. With products like Google Glass on the horizon, inexpensive inconspicuous video recorders like the MeCam, and the small niche of people who want to relentlessly record their lives, the Autographer seems doomed. The way-too-high price and poor design and execution make it a product to pass on.
AT&T's love of Samsung-made Windows Phones seemingly turned sour after it skipped last year's ATIV S. It's clear that any ill will was short-lived, however, as the carrier just unveiled its version of Samsung's ATIV S Neo. The Windows Phone 8 device is a close match for its Sprint counterpart, ...
Stepping out to get the first look at some of the best red carpet fashions, stars of all kinds attended the Giorgio Armani One Night Only event in New York City on Thursday (October 24).
Also grabbing front row seats to check out the latest runway trends were "101 Dalmations" actress Glenn Close and "Livin' La Vi Da Loca" crooner Ricky Martin.
Although the name of the event is One Night Only, the entire shindig will actually last one weekend. The first night, Mr. Armani will show off his latest Armani Prive line, Nude, and he’ll later follow that up with a retrospective exhibition called “Eccentrico,” which will showcase his work from 1985 to the present.
(Reuters) - Twitter hired NBC News digital executive Vivian Schiller as the head of news after months of speculation since the social media platform posted a job listing for the position last spring.
"Excited to join @Twitter as Head of News in January. Leaving @NBCNews at year's end. Grateful to my beloved colleagues for 2+ great years," Schiller tweeted on Thursday.
Schiller has been considered the front runner for the role meant to be a liaison between Twitter and news organizations. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Many news organizations use Twitter to reach readers who are increasingly using social media platforms to consume news.
Schiller has an extensive background as an executive in charge of digital news. At NBC News, she served as senior vice president and chief digital officer. Prior to that, she was the CEO of National Public Radio. She left NPR in 2011 after a series of controversies including an NPR fundraising executive who slammed conservatives.
Schiller was also an executive at the New York Times Co, leading day-to-day operations of the newspaper's website.
Twitter also announced on Thursday that it is seeking to raise up to $10.9 billion in its hotly anticipated initial public offering.
(Reporting by Jennifer Saba in New York; editing by Matthew Lewis)
LONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Thursday that he would have to see whether a recent spike in British inflation expectations would persist, adding that he did not want to raise interest rates before the economy gains strength.
"We have to see on the specific survey what persistence there is, and fortunately it's a monthly survey so we'll look at that," Carney said after a survey earlier on Thursday showed inflation expectations at a two-year high.
"We are not going to withdraw monetary stimulus until it's really gained that traction," he added, stressing that the Bank of England had not committed to a specific timetable for raising interest rates.
"We're using that 7 percent unemployment threshold ... as the staging post for when we reassess monetary policy and begin to think about raising interest rates," he said. "If we make it there faster because the economy's growing more rapidly, because more jobs are being created, we will then make that assessment more rapidly."
(Reporting by William Schomberg, writing by David Milliken, additional reporting by Joshua Franklin; editing by Ron Askew)
Microsoft's revenue and earnings per share grew more than 15 percent each in its first fiscal quarter of 2014, during which enterprise server software products sold particularly well, the company said Thursday.
Microsoft generated revenue of $18.5 billion in the quarter, ended Sept. 30, up 16 percent compared with last year's first quarter and topping the $17.8 billion consensus estimate of Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Financial.
Net income came in at $5.2 billion, or $0.62 per share, up from $4.5 billion, or $0.53 per share, in last year's first quarter. That comes out to about a 17 percent increase in earnings per share.
These numbers include the deferral of $113 million of revenue primarily related to Windows 8.1 pre-sales, the company said. Meanwhile, last year's first-quarter report included the deferral of $1.4 billion of revenue related to several Windows and Office offers and pre-sales.
On a pro forma basis, which excludes certain one-time items, earnings per share were $0.63, down 3 percent year on year but exceeding the consensus expectation of analysts by 9 cents.
"Our devices and services transformation is progressing and we are launching a wide range of compelling products and experiences this fall for both business and consumers," said CEO Steve Ballmer in a statement.
Ballmer, who is slated to retire at some point in the coming 10 months or so, was referring to the company's ongoing effort to reinvent itself from a provider of packaged software into a provider of hardware devices and cloud-hosted services.
In this quarter, Microsoft is introducing a new financial reporting format for breaking down its revenue and profits. The format splits the company's business into two main buckets: Devices & Consumer and Commercial. The first bucket in turn has three subcategories, and the other one has two subcategories.
Devices & Consumer revenue grew 4 percent to $7.46 billion. Microsoft highlighted that in this category Windows OEM revenue fell 7 percent year on year, while revenue from the company's Surface tablets grew to $400 million, including an increase in revenue and units sold compared sequentially with the fourth fiscal quarter of 2013. Search advertising, provided via websites like the Bing search engine, grew 47 percent year on year.
In the Commercial category, revenue grew 10 percent to $11.2 billion, helped by strong sales of server software products like SQL Server, Lync, SharePoint and Exchange, as well as by a jump of more than 100 percent in revenue from enterprise cloud services.
When it announced the new reporting format last month, Microsoft said that it would provide more transparency and clarity into its business. The company also said the new format better represents the company's transformation into a provider of hardware devices and cloud services.
However, some critics pointed out at the time that the new format might accomplish just the opposite, making it more difficult to evaluate how certain products are faring in the market, because of two main reasons.
First, the new format mixes very different products into the same subcategories, complicating efforts to single out how a particular product performed. Second, the new format also splinters the results of certain key products like Windows and Office into several subcategories, making it hard to get a unified view of their sales.
Indeed, in the press release Microsoft issued to announce the first-quarter results, the company didn't provide enough granular data in it for investors, customers, analysts and other interested parties to get a clear view of how many of its products did during the period.
It remains to be seen if the company will provide more details later Thursday afternoon during the conference call to discuss the results.
Get in on the ground floor as we look at the most exciting crowdfunded tech projects out there right now. This week: Neurio, a learning, home-intelligence-gathering technology. Elements include a hardware power monitor installed in the breaker panel; cloud-based servers to process the data; a smartphone app called Wattson that provides access to power-consumption data broken down by appliance; and optional Trigger apps.
Many of us are about to face higher winter heating bills this winter. Some suppliers, like the predominant British Gas in the UK, are raising prices by up to 8 percent. The U.S. Energy Information Administration, meanwhile, reckons on a staggering 13 percent increase this year for those using mainly natural gas to heat homes in the U.S.
There's not much one can do about it. We need heat.
Stop-gaps have always included the politician-suggested wearing of a sweater; dropping the thermostat a few degrees; using a gym to shower; or stopping off at a home improvement megastore, grabbing a few rolls of adhesive-backed foam draft-strip and turning it all into a weekend project.
Energy Aware Technology, which is now promoting its Neurio home intelligence product on Kickstarter, wants to throw some algorithms at the problem.
What Is It?
Neurio is a learning, home-intelligence-gathering technology. It collects data related to your electricity use to learn what you and your appliances are doing. The idea is that your home learns to adjust to your requirements and therefore becomes more efficient.
Elements of Neurio include a hardware power monitor installed in the breaker panel; cloud-based servers to process the data; a smartphone app called Wattson that provides access to power-consumption data broken down by appliance; and optional Trigger apps.
An application example includes using a power pattern-matching software Trigger that detects when the garage door opens, indicating that you are arriving home, and then ups your WiFi-connected thermostat on your furnace. The furnace could use any fuel.
Additional examples include a Neurio-switched coffee machine that can tell when you've woken up. The algorithms can tell that you've turned on the light.
How It Works
Neurio's sensor takes a new power measurement every second and sends it for processing via an API over WiFi. Proprietary, server-side algorithms identify appliances' behaviors.
Algorithms are based on machine learning, mathematical models and appliance libraries. When the algorithms detect an appliance event, like turning on or off, Neurio notifies apps or services. An open API and third-party support are available.
The Numbers
Canadian Energy Aware Technology currently has close to 700 backers for its Neurio project, contributing almost CA$85,000 of a CA$95,000 goal. The funding period ends on Nov. 15, 2013.
A pledge of CA$129 gets you Neurio Home Package, which includes a sensor, access to cloud services, and Trigger and Wattson apps. You also get access to the open APIs and the source code.
A CA$239 contribution gets you two sensors, required for certain kinds of home wiring, and the package.
The estimated shipping date is April 2014.
The Downsides
Neurio's creators need to be very clear in their marketing to convey exactly what this is. Is it a device for an end user to save money with a learning home, or is it a geek's plaything?
The Kickstarter blurb is sending out mixed messages where a lot of the cool elements, like the automated coffee brewer, for example, are dependent on Trigger, Neurio's open-source API for Raspberry Pi and Android. Trigger development is, in turn, dependent on coders getting involved.
Or is this a next-generation smart meter? Electric utilities are widely installing smart meters at residences that record overall electricity consumption over short time periods. That useful, but still rough, data is provided to consumers in the bill.
The Upsides
Turning appliances off undoubtedly saves on energy. Conceivably this product, if it were to manage appliances automatically and efficiently and be superior to utility-provided smart meters as well as commercially available per-appliance watt meters, could capture the consumer's imagination if savings were great enough.
Neurio needs to get its message straight.
Patrick Nelson has been a professional writer since 1992. He was editor and publisher of the music industry trade publication Producer Report and has written for a number of technology blogs. Nelson studied design at Hornsey Art School and wrote the cult-classic novel Sprawlism. His introduction to technology was as a nomadic talent scout in the eighties, where regular scrabbling around under hotel room beds was necessary to connect modems with alligator clips to hotel telephone wiring to get a fax out. He tasted down and dirty technology, and never looked back.
Most low-priced color lasers are big disappointments: slow, with mediocre color images and costly toner prices. The Samsung Printer XPress C410W rises above some of the stereotypes, offering impressively good print quality and decently priced black toner. However, its color toners are costly, and print performance is agonizingly slow. Its ability to print via near-field communication (NFC) is interesting, though still somewhat niche. Call it an adequate low-volume printer for the home or small office, with a couple of bonus features.
Typical low-end color laser in most respects
Physically, there's not a lot to talk about with the XPress C410W. It's your standard, boxy laser printer that's been with us since the first HP Laserjet. There's a 150-sheet paper cassette at the bottom of the unit and a 50-sheet output tray integrated into the top. The front panel folds down to reveal the four svelte toner cartridges and other replaceable parts. There's no automatic duplexer. Dialog boxes coach you through manual two-sided printing. The controls on top of the XPress C410W are simple and easy to use. The printer may be connected via Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or USB so you can place it wherever you see fit.
It took me a while to get the NFC printing to work—basically because I didn't read the manual, which instructs you to match the tag on the back of your mobile device with the tag on the top of the printer. The lab guys got quite the kick out of my tapping manically everywhere except where I should have been.
Obviously, you must have a mobile device capable of NFC (Samsung provided a Galaxy SIII). Match tags, select what you want to print, match the tags again, and you're golden. How often you'll be standing next to a printer to match tags is questionable. Most of the time, printing via Wi-Fi will be more useful.
Color toner is costly
Whether the XPress C410W's pricey toner costs will ever catch up with you depends on how much you print. The cartridges don't last long—just 2,000 pages for black and 1,000 pages for each color. Samsung was selling them for $63.99 (black) and $54.99 (each color) at this writing, which comes out to a good 3.2 cents per page for black and a pricey 5.5 cents per color, per page. A four-color page would cost 19.7 cents. We saw lower prices for the same cartridges at other sources, so shopping around might save you a bit. This printer is designed for people who don't print much, so it could take you a while to get through even these modest-sized cartridges. Still, you're going to feel it when you re-supply—and that will be soon, as the Xpress C410W ships with 700-page black, and 500-page color starter cartridges.
Additional costs include a $98 imaging unit, which is good for 16,000 black pages and 4,000 color pages, as well as a $13 toner waste container that's good for 7,500 black pages and 1750 color pages. Eventually those replacements will add another 0.8 cents per page. Not the stuff of a bargain hunter's dreams.
Very slow performance
The XPress C410W's speed is strictly ho-hum for a laser printer, but acceptable for the printer's intended small- or home-office role.Text and monochrome graphics pages printed at an aggregate 8.2 per minute on the PC and 7.9 on the Mac. Small (4-by-6-inch) photos printed at about 2 pages per minute in graphics mode and 1.5 pages in photo mode. A full-page photo printed on the Mac took about 54 seconds.
What makes this all arguably worthwhile is the print quality, which is surprisingly good for a low-end model. Although we sometimes had to fiddle with settings to get the best possible quality, even the default colors printed smoothly and looked fairly realistic, whether they were fleshtones, landscapes, or objects. An inkjet in this price range, such as the HP OfficeJet Pro 8100 ePrinter, will deliver even better color quality—and likely, better ink prices and speed—but if you must stick with color laser, you could do worse than the XPress C410W.
Though the Samsung Printer XPress C410W's NFC printing is a neat trick, it's compelling only in a world where NFC is everywhere. It's not. Of its other qualities, the look of the XPress C410W's output is its best suit and may compensate for the unit's mundane speed. We'd like this printer a lot better with more reasonable supply costs, though—at least a half-star better.
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. More by Jon L. Jacobi
Oh you know, he just wants a few tennis tickets and signed memorabilia!
Kaley Cuoco has been gushing about her fiancé Ryan Sweeting ever since they announced their engagement in September, but we wonder, what is Ryan REALLY like?
Andd that's where Jim Parsons comes in handy. LOLz!
The Big Bang Theory star spilled the deets on the actress' fiancé:
"First off, she's engaged to Ryan and he is wonderful. As I made very clear, I'm a big big tennis fan and he's a tennis player, so I expect to exploit this relationship for all it's worth."
HA! Spoken like a true friend.
So, just what Sheldon Jim expect from pouring out all the compliments about Ryan?
Microsoft said it improved Kinect on the Xbox One, and now a leaked setup manual indicates how little space it requires to operate. The PDF NeoGAF spotted notes that a minimum 1.4 meters (just over 4.5-feet) between the user and Microsoft's new do-all sensor is all that's required. For those of us ...
Small businesses have been called the lifeblood of our economy, and today a financial services startup has picked up a significant round of funding to help it circulate better. Funding Circle, a UK-based peer-to-peer lending platform that lets individuals and institutions loan money to small businesses, has picked up a $37 million round of funding. Along with this, it’s announcing plans to take its business to the U.S., its second market, in a merger with San Francisco-based Endurance Lending Network. Its ambition, in the words of co-founder and CEO Samir Desai, is to become the “NYSE for small business lending.”
Going into the U.S. will also bring Funding Circle a fresh wave of competition. Today, by virtue of the JOBS Act, there are already a number of platforms for crowdfunding initiatives, with Kickstarter and Indiegogo among the more popular. Now, new, more relaxed crowdfunding rules being proposed by the SEC could see the number of companies increase.
Funding Circle’s Series C round was led by new investor Accel Partners, along with participation from Ribbit Capital (another new investor) and Union Square Ventures (also a Kickstarter supporter) and Index Ventures. The latter two also clubbed together in a $16 million Series B round in April 2012. It brings the total raised by Funding Circle to $58 million.
Samir Desai, the co-founder and CEO, tells me that as part of its merger deal, Endurance will be rebranding as Funding Circle USA. It’s a convenient union: Endurance will give Funding Circle regulatory and country-specific knowledge, while Funding Circle will come with experience-based risk modeling and the capital to take on the U.S. more aggressively. Desai estimates that today there is some £14 million ($23 million) lent each month in the UK, “and we think it’s three to four times as much in the U.S.”
“Like Funding Circle, Endurance Lending Network was created to help the millions of small businesses being starved of the money they need to grow,” said Alex Tonelli, the co-founder of the U.S. startup, in a statement. “As small business owners ourselves, we know how acute the need is for a viable alternative to bank loans.” (Tonelli, who co-founded the company with fellow Stanford grad Sam Hodges, says he was spurred to start it when he was turned down for a $75,000 loan to expand an existing fitness center business.)
The smaller U.S. company had raised some $1.5 million from angels, including Barry Silbert, the founder and CEO of Second Market.
Since 2009, Funding Circle says that it has facilitated over $250 million in loans in the UK, the only market where it has operated up to now. While it got its start as a platform for ordinary people to lend money, it has over time expanded to include accredited investors, institutional investors, the UK government (which put £20 million/$32 million into its marketplace in December 2012) and even the banks that it was originally set up to shake up and disrupt. That’s because it’s become financially unfeasable for banks to make small loans to small businesses, but they still want to keep those companies as larger customers.
“A lot has changed for banks since 2008. High capital requirements have led them to pull away from the low end of the market, and so £50 investments” — the average amount lended on Funding Circle — “are too expensive for them to do. But rather losing those businesses as customers altogether it’s good to partner with Funding Circle. It means they can still serve customers they can’t serve themselves.” Typical turnaround time for a loan is days from application, compared to 15-20 weeks if the same loan was requested from a bank.
In the U.S., the model will be modified somewhat: lending will only be open to accredited investors; unaccredited individuals will not be able to invest. Desai says that this is partly because of regulatory issues (although that can change, per today’s news from the SEC), but he also points out that this doesn’t mean a small pool of lenders, since there are some 10 million accredited investors in the U.S. today.
So far, the business model behind Funding Circle has been an effective one for getting money to businesses that need it to grow. It turns out that there are a lot of small businesses out there that need capital for projects that haven’t been able to raise it elsewhere. “These aren’t the types of small businesses that you read about on TechCrunch,” he told me, saying they are on average 10 year-old companies. “The market size in the UK alone has felt gigantic to us. That’s the reason why we haven’t had to go to other countries. We didn’t have to go to the U.S. but we felt it was a huge opportunity and are quite excited.” Indeed, figures from the Small Business Administration (provided by Funding Circle) estimate that there is a $100 billion funding shortfall in the U.S. economy with small businesses.
Desai says that typical loan periods for deals on its platform are around 48 months, but with a range of between six months and five years, with an average interest rate of 9%, small compared to traditional banks. He says that over 70% of the companies that have borrowed through the platform return for more.
“We have a lot of marketplace investments, and we see that you need one side working well to get the flywheel going,” says Kotting at Accel. “Here, we have it going on both sides, for the borrowers and the lenders. It’s a situation that is extremely advantageous.”
Indeed, on the lending side, it’s proven to be a success as well. Using the risk modeling and credit profiling algorithms created by Funding Circle, investors are able to invest directly in specific companies and projects, or can spread their bets across a range they select or choose Funding Circle to select on their behalf. In all, these investors are typically seeing returns of 6-10% per year. Not rock star returns but a steady and positive rate that comes with the knowledge that you’re doing something to help push along the wider economy in the right direction.
Longer term, the plan for Funding Circle will be to expand its platform to cover more lending services for businesses. That will start in part with this latest round of funding in the UK market, where the company will start to offer lending services specifically for asset finance and real estate.
As part of the investment, Harry Nelis, a partner at Accel, will be joining the board of Funding Circle.
After brief test runs in Australia and New Zealand, EA and PopCap have released Plants vs. Zombies 2 for Android users worldwide. The new version is virtually identical to the iOS game released this summer, letting players fend off the undead hordes on both phones and tablets. The biggest change (apart from the platform) is a switch from Apple's Game Center to Google Play Game Services for tracking achievements and leaderboards. As before, PvZ2 is free to download -- gamers only pay if they want a fast track to victory. If you're eager to plant some Bonk Choy on your Galaxy Note, you can grab the Android port through the source link.
In this Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2013 photo, Matthew Cordle enters court for his arraignment on a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide in Columbus, Ohio. Attorneys are seeking a reduced sentence for Cordle, who confessed in an online video to causing a fatal wrong-way crash after a night of drinking. (AP Photo/Mike Munden)
In this Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2013 photo, Matthew Cordle enters court for his arraignment on a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide in Columbus, Ohio. Attorneys are seeking a reduced sentence for Cordle, who confessed in an online video to causing a fatal wrong-way crash after a night of drinking. (AP Photo/Mike Munden)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man was sentenced Wednesday to 6½ years in prison for causing a fatal wrong-way crash after a night of heavy drinking, which he had confessed to in an online video.
Matthew Cordle, 22, had faced up to 8½ years in prison. "Whatever my sentence may be, there's no fair sentence when it comes to the loss of a life," Cordle told the judge before the sentence was handed down.
Franklin County Judge David Fais sentenced Cordle to six years for aggravated vehicular homicide and six months for driving under the influence of alcohol. He also revoked his driving privileges for life.
Cordle apologized to the family of his victim, Vincent Canzani, who was killed in the June crash. "It should have been me that night, the guilty party, instead of an innocent man," he said.
His guilty plea last month came just a week after he was indicted in a speedy process absent of the numerous court filings that usually cause such cases to drag on for weeks or months.
Canzani's daughter asked Fais for the maximum sentence. "My father got a death sentence and did nothing wrong," Angela Canzani told the judge.
Vincent Canzani was a talented artist and photographer who enjoyed working out and spending time with friends and family, she said. She said her children and her sister's children will never get to see their grandfather again.
The judge also read a letter from Vincent Canzani's ex-wife who said she believed Vincent Canzani would not have wanted a maximum sentence. She said she believes Cordle will keep his promise never to drink and drive again.
Cordle's father, Dave Cordle, told the judge he was "disappointed, disgusted and heartbroken" at the choices his son made that night. He did not ask for leniency, and told Canzani's family his heart was filled with sorrow at their loss and hopes someday they can forgive his son.
In a 3½-minute video posted in early September, Cordle admitted he killed a man and said he "made a mistake" when he decided to drive that night. "My name is Matthew Cordle, and on June 22, 2013, I hit and killed Vincent Canzani," he says somberly. "This video will act as my confession."
Cordle acknowledged having a drinking problem after the crash and entered a treatment program as prosecutors gathered evidence against him. He told his attorneys early on that he wanted to plead guilty but made the video against their advice.
Prosecutors say a heavily intoxicated Cordle denied causing an accident or killing anyone when he was first taken to a hospital after the crash, in which he suffered broken ribs and a fractured skull. His attorneys say he may have suffered a brain injury.
Cordle, who lives in Powell, a Columbus suburb, told Fais last month that he had no recollection of the crash, how much he'd had to drink that night or whether he'd had anything to eat.
"I drank so much I was blacked out," Cordle said at the Sept. 18 hearing where he pleaded guilty.
Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said he believed Cordle's remorse in the video was genuine, but he said any further interviews would be self-serving. He also disputed Cordle's assertion in the confessional video that he could have fought the case against him, which O'Brien called "a slam dunk."
O'Brien sought the maximum sentence of 8½ years. Cordle's attorneys asked for a sentence that was fair.
The video posted on YouTube has been viewed more than 2.3 million times. It begins with Cordle's face blurred as he describes how he has struggled with depression and was simply trying to have a good time with friends going "from bar to bar" the night of the accident. He then describes how he ended up driving into oncoming traffic on Interstate 670. Cordle's face becomes clear as he reveals his name and confesses to killing Canzani.
He ends the video by pleading with viewers not to drink and drive.
___
Online:
Matthew Cordle's video confession: http://bit.ly/1dWug8i
Heavy Internet traffic and system problems plagued the launch of the new HealthCare.gov insurance exchange site.
Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images
Heavy Internet traffic and system problems plagued the launch of the new HealthCare.gov insurance exchange site.
Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images
President Obama is putting former CEO Jeff Zients in charge of the "tech surge" — the administration's emergency effort to fix the Web portal at the heart of the federal government's new health care market. But what about the contractors that built the system? What's their responsibility?
You may have never heard of CGI, but it's the Canadian information technology company that had the biggest piece of the project. In its hometown of Montreal, it's a big deal.
The company "got started a number of years ago with a couple of guys from Quebec City who didn't even speak English," says Karl Moore, a business professor at Montreal's McGill University who knows the company well.
"They've gone from those humble roots, moved to Montreal, and then started to grow. And they grew a lot through acquisition," he says.
CGI is now Canada's biggest tech company, and it sells IT services around the world. Moore says the company has a good reputation. But there have been some problems. Just last year, the province of Ontario fired CGI for failing to deliver a health care-related IT project on time.
Some in Washington now wonder whether CGI's U.S. subsidiary, CGI Federal, deserves blame for fumbling on the Obamacare project.
"I think that's grossly unfair. I think they're a victim of their circumstances," says Sanjiv Augustine, president of LitheSpeed LLC, a training and software development company in Washington.
He says federal rules require projects to be divvied up among too many contractors — in this case, 54 other companies besides CGI. The idea is to spread the wealth and avoid overcharging. But, he says, it's no way to build software.
"What folks attempt to do is to use the same model ... to build a cruise missile and to develop a smaller software system," Augustine says. "And it just doesn't work."
He says software is best designed by small teams, and unlike a cruise missile, the whole project doesn't need to be ready at the same time. It's easier to put up a Web portal in stages — that's what happened in Colorado.
Cammie Blais is the chief financial officer for that state's health insurance market, which went online at the same time that the federal one did, on Oct. 1.
"We knew that there would be some things that would be delayed in rolling out," Blais says. "There would be some enhancements — some customer decision tools — that we would actually not be able to do until after 'go-live.' "
Blais says there were only about eight contractors working on Colorado's system, and one company was clearly in charge. That company was another subsidiary of CGI.
"We trusted them to manage the other technology vendors that they were integrating, and we worked in a close partnership with them," Blais says.
That's in contrast with the development of the federal website, where no single contractor was in charge.
CGI Federal wouldn't give NPR an interview, but in an email, a spokesperson said the company was not the "lead" contractor. In fact, he said, none of the companies were the lead, and none were capable of testing the system end-to-end. That responsibility was left to the government.
Suzuka, another of the “classic” F1 tracks and a regular stop on the F1 calendar since the late eighties, aside from a couple of trips to Fuji – and another firm fan favourite.
A decent average score of 7.338 out of ten puts the last race smack in the middle of the first 15 rounds – an indication that the season has been a decent one so far. It ranks second out of the last six Japanese races.
During the race it briefly seemed we might see a new winner in Romain Grosjean[1], who took an early lead ahead of the Red Bull pair, and went on to a well deserved podium finish.
The race also saw Sauber’s first double points haul of the year and drive through penalties for Felipe Massa[2], Nico Rosberg, Daniel Ricciardo and Charles Pic – the latter earning his before the race had even begun.
Here’s what F1 Fanatic readers had to say about the Japanese Grand Prix:
Again I have to say, this was a good race for 2013 standards. The battle for the lead was a charade: during the first stint, it was a matter of maintaining the gap and looking after the tyres.
In the second stint, it became apparent how much better Red Bull was. Vettel just breezed past Grosjean, while Webber did the same, with a little bit more effort. It looked exciting, but it really wasn’t.
There were a lot of passes, too bad most of them DRS-assisted, but thankfully there were others too: Raikkonen on Hulkenberg round the outside of the chicane was great, as were some into 130R.
So a good race, but it felt more like a smoke screen than an actual race @Andae23[3]
Plenty of action down the field, but the result was inevitable and predictable (the top three at least). Good results for Sauber and Grosjean, not a bad recovery from Rosberg but in all honesty – and it pains me to say this – I don’t know why I bothered getting up early this morning to watch this race.
I’m lucky enough to watch the race on Sky and believe they have the better show, but I’m tending to agree with a couple of my mates (who don’t have Sky and are big fans of the sport) and may just start watching the highlights show of the races for the rest of the year. @Jamesf1[4]
Some great midfield action, a brilliant battle for the lead with mixed two versus three stop strategies and all around a classic grand prix track. I would have loved to see either Webber or Grosjean win, but still a very entertaining afternoon of racing. @Quadquantum[5]
Grosjean’s remarkable start and gutsy driving won many plaudits:
Given that the Red Bulls are over 30 seconds ahead of everyone else, it is pretty impressive for Grosjean to be able to challenge them at all in the first place. Besides, the benefit of clear air for Grosjean was only because he qualified much better than Raikkonen.
Grosjean is outperforming the Lotus and/or Raikkonen is underperforming in qualifying, likewise for Alonso. Either way, it doesn’t look good on both Alonso and Raikkonen who need to step up their game in qualifying. @Woshidavid95[6]
Brilliant strategic race from vettel. Watching Grosjean grow as a driver is a great sight indeed. A genuine three way battle for the lead… what more can I ask for? @Anele-mbethe[7]
I was hoping that Grosjean and Hamilton could make good starts and take advantage of the Red Bulls because Webber was first and he usually has poor starts, too bad Hamilton had a flat tyre, but Grosjean did a great job. @Jcost[8]
The lack of authenticity in the racing has been a recurring theme this year:
Had some good battles but still far too much tyre management. A lot of it didn’t feel like proper racing, though occasionally the tyres did give some good train battles.
They say you should take the good with the bad, but these tyres are more bad than good. One of the best strategy races though. @Philereid[9]
It might not be remembered as an all-time classic, but the mere doubt that Vettel would have to work for the win was enough to keep the excitement. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Vettel fan, but his best races have been where he’s had to fight for it (Whether he’s won or lost) and he certainly had a challenge on his hands.
However, I did feel DRS was a bit too strong in the race today. Very few overtakes happened outside the DRS zone, but maybe that’s the drivers who should be looking to attack elsewhere (I know a few had a go at 130R). Tyres might have been fragile as some have said, but if they were completely flat-out, then we wouldn’t have had Grosjean being anywhere near the Red Bulls, and Webber wouldn’t have been near Vettel either. Having to limit the tyres is the best way of keeping the pack together (And can also allow strategy to have drivers build gaps should it be needed e.g. Vettel Singapore)
Tight racing all down the field, a few surprising results in Grosjean and Gutierrez (both of whom have long been deserving this) and some lovely tactical decisions resulting in a decent race @Keeleyobsessed[10]
Very enjoyable. A good strategic race and a brave fight from Grosjean in an inferior car. There were some good battles and the nature of the track neutered DRS to the point where it was pretty much irrelevant. @lin1876[11]
Dizzy felt DRS ruined what could have been the high point of the race:
Vettel’s pass for the lead showed why DRS should be banned.
He slip-streamed alongside Grosjean without using DRS and that would have been a thrilling side by side fight into turn 1, However he then remembered he had DRS and was then driven clean past really easily.
DRS made what could have been a thrilling fight into turn one somewhat less thrilling. Dizzy
But above all, many fans simply enjoyed seeing the cars in action on a great track:
I always enjoy watching races at Suzuka, one of the three best tracks along with Spa and Interlagos. Superb track, great atmosphere and challenging driving conditions.
Today’s race was excellent from a strategic point of view and a well-deserved win for Vettel. He showed precisely why Webber is unable to match him despite having the same kit (nonsensical conspiracy theories ignored).
While Vettel overcame a relatively poor start to make the best of the situation, Webber failed to take advantage of his pole position. As usual, his tyre management was not as good as Vettel’s and unlike his team mate, Webber repeatedly put his car in an unfavourable position while trying to pass Grosjean on the DRS straight.
Some interesting battles at the back as well. Gutierrez seems to be a young man to watch; he certainly has talent. @Loup-garou[12]
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AT&T's love of Samsung-made Windows Phones seemingly turned sour after it skipped last year's ATIV S. It's clear that any ill will was short-lived, however, as the carrier just unveiled its version of Samsung's ATIV S Neo. The Windows Phone 8 device is a close match for its Sprint counterpart, ...
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