CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Venezuelan authorities on Sunday finished evacuating inmates from a prison where 61 were reported killed in one of the deadliest prison clashes in the nation's history.
Penitentiary Service Minister Iris Varela said in a message on Twitter that the evacuation of Uribana prison in the city of Barquisimeto was completed on Sunday morning. Inmates were loaded aboard buses and driven to other prisons.
Varela posted photos of inmates filing out led by authorities, and said that what will come next for the prison is "now the reconstruction!"
Two days after the violence, government officials had yet to provide an official death toll from the fierce gunbattles, which pitted armed inmates against National Guard troops.
Dr. Ruy Medina, director of Central Hospital in the city, told The Associated Press on Saturday that the death toll had risen to 61, while about 120 were wounded in the violence.
Medina said that nearly all of the injuries were from gunshots and that 45 of the estimated 120 people who were wounded remained hospitalized.
Relatives wept outside the prison during the violence, and cried at the morgue as they waited to identify bodies.
The riot was the latest in a series of deadly clashes in Venezuela's overcrowded and often anarchical prisons, where inmates typically obtain weapons and drugs with the help of corrupt guards. Critics called it proof that the government is failing to get a grip on a worsening national crisis in its penitentiaries.
The gunbattles seized attention amid uncertainty about President Hugo Chavez's future, while he remained in Cuba recovering and undergoing treatment more than six weeks after his latest cancer surgery.
Government officials pledged a thorough investigation, while some critics said there should have been ways for the authorities to prevent such bloodshed.
The riot was the deadliest in nearly two decades. In January 1994, more than 100 inmates died in the country's bloodiest prison violence on record when a riot and fire set by inmates tore through a prison in the western city of Maracaibo. In 1992, about 60 inmates were killed in a riot in a Caracas prison.
Varela said that the violence erupted on Friday when groups of inmates attacked National Guard troops who were attempting to carry out an inspection. She said the government decided to send troops to search the prison after reports of clashes between groups of inmates during the past two days.
"No one doubts that inspections are necessary procedures to guarantee prison conditions in line with international standards, but they can't be carried out with the warlike attitude as (authorities) have done it," said Humberto Prado, an activist who leads the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory, a watchdog group.
"It's clear that the inspection wasn't coordinated or put into practice as it should have been. It was evidently a disproportionate use of force," Prado said.
In 2011, when Chavez had been in office for 12 years, he created a Cabinet ministry to focus on prisons and appointed Varela to lead it. The president made that decision following a deadly, weekslong armed uprising at the prisons El Rodeo I and El Rodeo II outside Caracas.
Chavez at the time acknowledged that his government's previous initiatives to improve the prisons hadn't worked, and he pledged changes including building new prisons, improving conditions and speeding trials. Since then, Chavez has approved funds to repair and renovate prisons. But opponents and activists say the government hasn't made real progress at penitentiaries where hundreds continue to die each year.
Venezuela has 33 prisons built to hold about 12,000 inmates. Officials have said the prisons' population is currently about 47,000.
___
Associated Press writers Vivian Sequera in Bogota, Colombia, and Jorge Rueda in Caracas contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON???The hacker-activist group Anonymous says it hijacked the website of the U.S. Sentencing Commission to avenge the death of Aaron Swartz, an Internet activist who committed suicide. The FBI is investigating.
The website of the commission, an independent agency of the judicial branch (http://www.ussc.gov), was taken over early Saturday and replaced with a message warning that when Swartz killed himself two weeks ago "a line was crossed."
The hackers say they've infiltrated several government computer systems and copied secret information that they now threaten to make public.
Family and friends of Swartz, who helped create Reddit and RSS, say he killed himself after he was hounded by federal prosecutors. Officials say he helped post millions of court documents for free online, and that he illegally downloaded millions of academic articles from an online clearinghouse.
The FBI's Richard McFeely, executive assistant director of the agency's?Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch, said in a statement that "we were aware as soon as it happened and are handling it as a criminal investigation. We are always concerned when someone illegally accesses another person's or government agency's network."
Hours after the hijacking, pages on the USSC.gov website were available only sporadically.
This report was updated by NBC News.
? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Actor Seann William Scott has split from his model fiancee Lindsay Frimodt. The “American Pie” star proposed to the former Victoria’s Secret model on Valentine’s Day last year in 2012, but have now ended the engagement and split. Seann William Scott popped the question to Lindsay Frimodt during their beach vacation in February 2012 after ...
We?ve been making lofty predictions about the ways in which social media, mobile, and the cloud are going to change the way businesses operate and interact with consumers for several years. And as more and more studies emerge analyzing both the current business landscape in regards to these trends, as well as predicting the future of the industry, these lofty predictions continue to ring true.
In the latest Salesforce ebook, ?Trends Shaping the Future of Business,? assessments on the way social, mobile and cloud solutions are shaping the way businesses and government will operate are interspersed with data-driven studies that back these assertions. Below are some of the ebook highlights:
?56% of CEOs use web sites and social media for customer relationships today compared to 70% of students who believe businesses should do so, according to a Global CEO Study conducted by IBM. Brian Solis of Altimeter Group notes, ?Social media represents the great bridging of customer expectations and business assumptions.?
Mobile communication is a disruptive phenomenon on a global scale. Just three years ago, mobile traffic accounted for 1% of Internet traffic. Today, it?s 13% and by 2020 is expected to reach 127 exabytes, up 33% over the decade.
By 2020, 20% of the population will be made up of the Millennial Generation, who will be spending more time working but less time in the traditional workplace. Their expectations will include having more feedback, responsibility, and involvement in decision making.
Advances in technology will enable companies to do bigger and faster things with ?big data,? and by 2020 big data solutions will be the new norm. According to Peter Coffee, head of platform research at salesforce.com, ?By 2020, there will be 50 billion devices with Internet connections. Let?s not let them overwhelm us with raw data; rather, let?s filter that flow through social algorithms??
The government is looking to use data as well. Data.gov, a government initiative, has a vision to become a repository of all the information the government collects that is not private or classified. Since the beginning of the decade, it has grown to over 250,000 datasets, being used to drive innovation and improve lives.
You can view the full ebook below!
Tags: cloud computing, ebooks, Future of business, mobile, Salesforce.com, social business, social media trends
Astrophile is our weekly column on curious cosmic objects, from the solar system to the far reaches of the multiverse
Object: Pulsar (pulsing star) Behaviour: Erratic
A split personality can be disturbing, especially when it affects someone you least expected it to. Now it seems stars, too, can have disturbingly fractured personas. The discovery of the first pulsar that shines at different frequencies at different times is tarnishing the reputation of this class of pulsing dead star. Until now, pulsars have been relied upon as cosmic timekeepers, but perhaps we can't take their regularity for granted any longer.
We had thought of pulsars ? the dense remnants of exploded stars ? as emitting radio waves, X-rays or gamma rays in bursts of such regularity that you could practically set your watch by them. Pulsars are spinning neutron stars, with strong magnetic fields that emit beams of radiation from their poles. The poles are offset from the axis of rotation ? just as the magnetic poles on Earth do not line up with true north and south. This offset means the beams sweep around like a lighthouse as the pulsar rotates, giving the star's radiation a distinctive pulse when viewed from a distance.
Individual pulsars can emit radiation at a range of frequencies, from radio waves to gamma rays, and some radio pulsars have been seen to dim or even stop broadcasting all together. That finding had previously cast some doubt on pulsars' otherwise impeccable reputation for dependability.
The latest discovery takes that to a new level, though. When Wim Hermsen of the Netherlands Institute for Space Research in Utrecht and colleagues took the first simultaneous measurements of both the radio and gamma radiation from B0943+10, a pulsar known to emit at both frequencies, they got a shock.
Radio flip
Rather than shining continuously as the team expected, B0943+10 flips at the drop of a hat, toning down its radio emissions for a few hours while pumping out extra X-rays, before switching back as if nothing had happened ? a totally new type of pulsar behaviour. "This variability has never been seen before," says Hermsen.
The pulsar's first personality is similar to that of its more stable siblings. In this mode, the pulsar emits a beam of radio waves from its pole and rotates every 1.1 seconds, while also emitting low-level background X-rays in every direction.
Every few hours though ? exactly when seems random ? the pulsar switches to its second personality. The main radio beam strength halves, though its timing remains the same, and is accompanied by another, even weaker radio signal just before the main pulse. Meanwhile the X-ray output doubles and pulses in time with the star's spin. Some time later, it switches back.
Astronomers already disagree over whether pulsar emissions are created by annihilation of particles close to the surface or further out but still within the pulsar's magnetic field. B0943+10's quirks throw a further spanner in the works because they don't fit either picture. What could be going on?
Cosmic act
One explanation is that what looks a radio-to-X-ray pulsar personality transplant is actually just an act. The object basically remains a radio pulsar, but whenever the radio beam halves in strength, the pulsar's magnetic field switches on a second radio beam in a different direction, which does not sweep past Earth.
In this scenario, the second radio beam is accompanied by increased X-ray emissions. Since they are produced in all directions, they are visible from Earth. If that's true, it would be rather like ascribing a friend's odd behaviour to a personality problem ? only to discover that there was in fact an explanation for the behaviour that was consistent with the person as you normally think of them.
Even this explanation raises obvious questions, such as why a second radio beam is triggered and how that boosts the pulsar's X-ray emissions. That's a problem, given that pulsars are used to search for the effects of gravitational waves - these ripples in spacetime should change pulsars' apparent frequency - and have even been touted as replacing satellites in a kind of GPS for deep space. "Whatever is creating this beam in one mode stops in the other mode, and for that you need something drastic," says Hermsen. "None of the known models can explain it."
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HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) ? As massive swells lumber across the Pacific toward Northern California, nearly two dozen of the world's best big wave surfers will be waiting to meet them Sunday a half-mile offshore at the infamous surfing break Mavericks.
For the first time since 2010, the Mavericks Invitational surf contest ? which requires wave faces of at least 20 feet ? will occur at the bone-crushing break that has claimed the lives of two expert big wave surfers.
Wave forecasters this week saw an excellent mixture of swell, wind, tide and sunny skies. Once the decision was made to run the contest, the call went out to the surfers, giving them a couple of days to pack their boards and wetsuits, and hop a plane.
Surfing the wave at Mavericks is a feat that takes athletic skill, experience and nerve.
The swells travel through deep water for five days before hitting a small, finger-like section of shallow reef that juts out into the sea.
When the swell meets the reef, the wave jumps upward and crashes back down with a fury, eventually washing through a section of craggy rocks.
The takeoff is often so steep that the surfers' big-wave "gun" surfboards leave the wave face, forcing the surfers to land near the bottom and make a quick turn before being pummeled by the wave's lip.
The spot ? named after the dog of Jeff Clark, who is credited with being the first to surf Mavericks ? has earned a nasty reputation. Mark Foo, a legendary big-wave surfer from Hawaii, died while surfing Mavericks in 1994. In 2011, another seasoned waterman, Sion Milosky, died there just weeks after another surfer nearly drowned.
This year's contest will be different: spectators are forbidden access to the beach or bluffs. After a large set of waves crashed into the crowd in 2010, injuring dozens, local officials barred crowds from congregating there.
Also, people congregating on the bluffs and along tide pools during previous contests caused environmental damage.
This year organizers have set up a festival at a nearby hotel, featuring a large screen that will broadcast the surfing live. The surfers will hold the awards ceremony there at the end of the contest.
The Coast Guard has issued a high surf advisory for the weekend, and is warning people throughout the region to watch for "sneaker waves" and other hazards.
___
Follow Jason Dearen on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JHDearen
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Democrats are looking to make new revenue part of the Senate's first budget in almost four years, which will be released soon after the start of President Barack Obama's second term.
Obama has pushed for a "balanced approach" to solving the nation's financial woes, including more tax revenue.
Republicans for years have complained bitterly that Senate Democrats last produced a comprehensive budget in 2009 and say that, if Obama and fellow Democrats want to borrow more money, they'll have to outline a spending plan.
Senate Democrats announced Sunday that they will oblige and produce a budget ? but warned it will include higher taxes that Republicans oppose.
"We're going to do a budget this year," Schumer said hours before Obama officially began his second term. "And it's going to have revenues in it. And our Republican colleagues better get used to that fact."
The tough talk by Schumer, the number-three Democrat in the Senate, follows House Republicans' announcement last week that they would approve a short-term increase in the nation's borrowing limit without linking that to demands for spending cuts. Democrats called it a step in the right direction but also said the extension should be longer than the three months the GOP is offering.
White House senior adviser David Plouffe said the brief extension "is no way to run an economy or a railroad or anything else" and seemed cool on the proposal. Yet he said Obama would review Republicans' ideas once they're in the form of legislation.
"We haven't seen what they're proposing, and they're going to have to pass it," he said, hinting at House Speaker John Boehner's difficulty in rounding up enough votes within his Republican caucus to pass his own party's proposals.
House Republican leaders on Friday offered Obama a three-month increase to the nation's credit card and a dodge to a looming, market-rattling debt crisis. They backed off demands that any immediate extension of the government's borrowing authority be accompanied by stiff spending cuts to confront the nation's $16.4 trillion debt.
They also added a caveat designed to prod Senate Democrats to pass a budget: no pay for lawmakers if there again is no budget passed this year. House Republicans have passed budgets for two consecutive years.
"There is no doubt the Senate hadn't done its job," said Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican and a favorite of tea partyers who was elected to his first term in November. "It's been nearly four years since it's passed a budget. And the Senate should pass a budget."
Democrats are saying they will release a budget, but it won't be what Republicans want.
Asked by ABC's George Stephanopolous whether Obama "will only sign a budget deal if it includes new revenues," Plouffe agreed.
"Yes, it's got to be balanced," said Plouffe, who expects to leave his first-floor West Wing office soon. "We need spending cuts, entitlement reform and revenue. We have to have that."
Schumer and Cruz spoke with NBC's "Meet the Press." Plouffe appeared on CNN's "State of the Union," ''ABC's "This Week" and CBS' "Face the Nation." No House Republicans appeared on the networks' Sunday morning talk shows to represent their proposal.
As waste management, water treatment and air pollution control processes become increasingly complex, managers have some difficult decisions to make, says local company Thuthuka Group. Among these decisions is whether to continue to manage their own waste disposal, treat their own water or clean their own air, or to outsource it to specialist opera- tors.
Most companies invest the bulk of their capital expenditure in their core business processes and com- petences, which directly has a strong effect on their revenue generation capacity and capability.
Capital requirements of noncore processes and competences, such as waste management, water treatment and air pollution control, are more often than not secondary.<bused jaw crusher for sale australia pricesr />
Given that capital in organisations is generally scarce and should earn a good return, such secondary process requirements do not feature high in the capital allocation priority catalogue. Similarly, with skills and management time allocation, a business normally deploys its expertise and management resources to making money and not on managing the by-products emanating from their core processes, which only absorb costs.<br zenith mobile crushing plant supplier cost/>
Further, environmental regul- ations have created significant financial and operating risks for organisa- tions who do not appropriately deal with waste, waste water and air pollutants. The implications for businesses can be dire and can even mean closure and liquidation with prison terms for the executives.
Overseeing this situation, where management has to expend valuable time, expert resources and alsvsi crusher used for sale crusher mining process sello invest capital in a part of the business that does not produce any income while incurring high risk and cost, is indeed a tough dilemma. This headache can, however, be contained and be confidently well controlled through outsourcing.
The decision to outsource waste handling, water treatment and air pollution control processes is made easier by the availability of specialist operators to whom non-core processes cazenith jaw crusher for sale in russia crusher mining process n be outsourced to. These companies employ appropriate specialists in these areas and are well informed, knowledgeable and up to date with the latest technologies to best deal with the respective action areas.
Risks are also reduced as they are managed in the appropriate manner by service agreements, where each risk is identified and addressed. Even the capital investment and the risk of plant obsolescence can be addressed through appropriate project finance structures.
Outsourcing noncore engineering processes offers several advantages to clients, including guaranteed quality, quantity and cost of treatment through agreed monitoring and control systems; preservation of investment capital; the assumption of operating and maintenance risks by the service provider; professionally managed environmental risks; significantly less management time, leading to increased managerial capa- city focussing on the core business operations; and streamlined administration and accounting.
Companies that opt to outsource parts of their operations should ensure that they use business partners with established records and who have the capabilities to meet the varied engineering and operational requirements.
Thuthuka Group is a multidisciplinary engineering business, focused on the process, industrial water, hazardous waste and air pollution control sectors of the market. Major industrial target markets are the mining, chemicals, metal processing, pulp and paper, and petrochemicals industries. Thuthuka Group provides and structures project finance for suitable projects.
I'm excited to see how the Galaxy s4 will do with sales this year, Apple really needs to step it up with iOS 7. Hardware is not so important at the moment as the software experience.
3.shamataaposted on1 hour ago20
I highly doubt it will sell more than that or note 3 just because im not seeing anything from them at all
4.InspectorGadget80posted on1 hour ago16
How is the hand set still rules? and people finally realize it's the SAME POS phone year after year pretty soon they will end up like RIM well eventually
6.cncrimposted on39 min ago10
Like RIM? U must be crazy, Apple ios is bore because it is same thing last five year but still very well constructive and still very modern..........
11.androiddownsouthposted on28 min ago00
No offense, but I bet RIM thought that too, right before the bottom fell out......
5.nofearposted on40 min ago00
All seniors realized and getting caught up with new trend of Android having to offer over the globe.
7.chaoticrazorposted on39 min ago00
or wp8.........android isnt the only other choice
12.androiddownsouthposted on26 min ago10
Apple and Google can underestimate WP8 at their own risk. With some time to mature like Android and iOS have had, it could very well threaten them both.
8.buckyposted on38 min ago20
For a site constantly being accused of bias towards apple, there sure are a lot of insecure android fans on it.
9.MrJerryposted on35 min ago10
So funny
They think US as whole world
I guess Samsung dominates Korean market over Apple product So Korean can say Samsung handset still rulls? Then maybe bunch of US people think it's only in Korea AM I right?
Please US people and so-called professionals...
The world is so much bigger than you think
10.jan25posted on31 min ago00
i think because people start to realize that the iPhone's price is ridiculously high while good or even better alternatives are cheaper. the iPhone is a great phone no doubt and it works great for a lot of people, but it's not the greatest and people are starting to realize that. :)
13.chaoticrazorposted on21 min ago00
whats funny is most who have an iphone dont think its the greatest (there are some that go over the top but thats the same with any phone and os)
14.wendygarettposted on4 min ago00
"and lastly, some good news for Windows Phone 8 users. The latest ChangeWave survey found 54% of those using a device powered by Microsoft's mobile OS to be "Very Satisfied." That compares with 48% of Android users who would say that about Google's open source OS. The leader was iOS with 71% of its users characterizing themselves as "Very Satisfied."
best statement ever :)
15.fanboy1974posted on1 min ago00
If Apple releases a iPhone 5s their stocks will be under $400 by year end. The Samsung S4 will be the proverbial head shot and the Note 3 will take out the rest. Only a larger screen iPhone with redesigned OS will make Android buyers switch.
Earlier this week, Asymco?s Horrace Dediu wrote a wonderful post about the huge differences between Microsoft and Apple in China. He makes a very strong case for how difficult of a position Microsoft is in. I encourage you to the Asymco post in detail to understand his arguments. Pretty compelling stuff.
Tim Cook was recently quoted in the media as saying he believes China will inevitably become Apple?s largest market. Currently China is their #2 market behind the USA. Asymco predicts that the crossover could happen in 2016 given the incredible strength of Chinese growth for Apple. Seems reasonable to me.
The interesting thing about China is the number of mobile users. Asymco points out that China has 3x as many mobile users as the US. Reports from China?s CNIC show that China had 538 million netizens at the end of June 2012, with 388 million of these being mobile users. That leaves only 150 million PC users. Obviously mobile use is growing tremendously, while PC growth is not.
So that?s where things stand right now. But will Microsoft be able to make a dent in the market with Windows Phone? Often, I find a good indicator of success comes from Google Trends. This is Google?s tool to measure search queries on certain phrases. So I compared the term ?iPhone? to various Microsoft-centric keywords like ?Windows Phone?, ?Windows 8? and ?Windows8?. It?s pretty obvious that either nobody in China wants Microsoft powered phones, or they just aren?t searching for information about them using Google.
We?ve all heard the claims that the world is moving towards mobile computing. I think it?s true, but I certainly have no plans to throw away my Macbook Pro. I wouldn?t be happy with just iOS (or Android, or BlackBerry 10, or whatever). But in developing markets I think the transition is happening much faster. Mobile devices are cheaper, always connected, and (obviously) portable. The majority of Internet connections in China are already mobile. This means app development will concentrate towards this larger user base. In emerging markets, I think it?s fair to say that the traditional PC market is dead.
This is what leads me to believe Apple will build a less expensive iPhone. I have no idea if the rumours of a this-year launch are right or wrong. But I do believe it makes great sense for Apple to capitalize on its strong position by taking its price point down somewhat. We?ll just have to wait and see when and if it happens.
If Apple can launch lower-cost (and presumably lower spec) devices specifically in emerging markets, meaning they are not available in the USA or other developed markets, I think it will really help overall sales and profitability. I?m not saying they need to be sub-$200, but I do think Apple can?t maximize profitability at $600+ in China and other markets.
President Barack Obama speaks during the last news conference of his first term in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama speaks during the last news conference of his first term in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama gestures during the final news conference of his first term as he speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama speaks about the debt limit in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama makes congressional Republicans the villains in the government's drama of lurching from crisis to crisis. But he also suggests Americans would "blame all of Washington" if there's a government shutdown or delays in Social Security benefits and other payments.
In his first news conference of the year and last of his first term, Obama said it's up to Congress, ultimately, to decide how to raise and spend money. "And if the Republicans in Congress have made a decision that they want to shut down the government in order to get their way, then they have the votes, at least in the House of Representatives, probably to do that."
Republicans control the House, Democrats the Senate.
Since Obama took office, gridlock on Capitol Hill has been the norm rather than the exception as one fiscal crisis has given way to another.
The government came close to defaulting on some of its obligations in mid-2011 when Republicans balked at raising the ceiling on the government's borrowing authority.
Congress now must again raise the debt ceiling for the government to keep borrowing money to pay its bills ? or face a first-ever default as early as mid-February.
Both sides have dug in. Republicans insist raising the debt ceiling must be combined with big spending cuts. Obama counters he won't negotiate any deal linking the debt limit to spending cuts. It would be "short-sighted" and "profoundly damaging to our economy," he said Monday.
He was asked if he would let the government grind to a halt if he disagreed with spending-cut proposals put forth by Republicans ? and if that happened, who'd be blamed?
Polls show voters are more inclined to blame Republicans than Democrats.
Even so, "I suspect that the American people would blame all of Washington for not being able to get its act together," Obama said.
___
Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum
Another week, another display of dope kicks on the court. This week there is no shortage of retro Jordan heat, some player exclusives and a few surprises in our Best Sneakers in the NBA coverage. If you want to see what the NBA's best players were rocking, hit the jump to check out?The 30 Best Sneakers in the NBA This Week.
Given Ubuntu's recent glitzy and fanfare-accompanied debut on the world's mobile stage, it's beginning to look like limelight and red carpets will increasingly be a part of FOSS' future. You've come a long way, baby! And to think, we knew you back when! Now, what could be a more logical next step than an appearance on the silver screen?
LONDON (AP) ? A British court sentenced two hackers to 100 hours of community service on Friday for stealing a treasure trove of unreleased music ? including Michael Jackson tracks ? from the U.S. servers of Sony Music Entertainment.
Officials said that music aficionados James Marks, 27, and James McCormick, 26, used their home computers to access Sony's servers and scour them for Jackson-related material. The pair downloaded nearly 8,000 files, including completed or partial tracks, artwork, and videos relating to Jackson and other unspecified Sony artists.
The precise nature of the unreleased material hasn't been made clear ? Sony refused to comment on the case. A statement from Britain's Serious and Organized Crime Agency identified some of the material as stems, which are audio tracks that can be used in mixes and overdubs.
Marks and McCormick ?who met online ? were arrested in May 2011 after Sony alerted U.K. law enforcement to the breach. Chat logs recovered from their computers showed that they planned to sell or trade some of the files.
The theft could have been damaging for Sony had the music been released to the Web. The company has a seven-year deal, worth up to $250 million, to sell unreleased recordings by Jackson, who died in 2009 at the age of 50.
Marks and McCormick initially pleaded their innocence in public, releasing a statement saying that they "would never do anything to harm the legacy that is Michael Jackson's music." But the pair later pleaded guilty to two counts of "unauthorized access to computer material" in September.
Their community service order was handed down at central England's Leicester Crown Court on Friday.
___
Online:
Raphael Satter can be reached at: http://raphae.li/twitter
More than five years after the housing market collapsed, the U.S. government's newly created consumer watchdog said Thursday it will force banks to verify a borrower's ability to repay loans to ward off the kind of loose lending that helped push the U.S. economy into recession.?
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said its new guidelines would also protect borrowers from irresponsible mortgage lending by providing some legal shields for lenders who issue safer, lower-priced loan products.?
Lenders and consumer groups have anxiously awaited the new rules, which are among the most controversial the government watchdog is required to issue by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law.?
"When consumers sit down at the closing table, they shouldn't be set up to fail with mortgages they can't afford," Richard Cordray, the bureau's director, said in a statement.?
The new rules are intended to combat lending abuses that contributed to the U.S. housing bubble, when shoddy mortgage standards led American households to take on billions of dollars in debt they could not afford.?
The U.S. economy is still feeling the after-effects of the bubble, which sparked a global credit crisis after it burst in 2006. As the housing market imploded, banks sharply tightened the screws on lending.?
Regulators said the new rules would head off future crises by preventing irresponsible lending, without forcing banks to restrict credit further. Lenders will have to verify a potential borrower's income, the amount of debt they have and their job status before issuing a mortgage.?
And because lenders are likely to want the heightened legal protection that comes with offering certain "plain vanilla" loans, the rules could go a long way in determining who gets a loan and who can access low-cost borrowing rates.?
Safe harbor for lenders Dodd-Frank directed regulators to designate a category of "qualified mortgages" that would automatically be considered compliant with the ability-to-repay requirement. The rule was first set in motion by the Federal Reserve and then handed off to the consumer bureau in July 2011.?
The consumer protection bureau said on Thursday that it would define "qualified mortgages" as those that have no risky loan features - such as interest-only payments or balloon payments - and with fees that add up to no more than 3 percent of the loan amount.?
In addition, these loans must go to borrowers whose debt does not exceed 43 percent of their income.?
These loans would carry extra legal protection for lenders under a two-tiered system that appears to create a compromise between the housing industry and consumer advocates.?
Bank groups had lobbied the bureau to extend a full "safe harbor" to all qualified loans, preventing consumers from claiming in lawsuits that they did not have the ability to repay them. But consumer advocates wanted a lower form of protection that would allow borrowers greater latitude to sue.?
Under the rules announced on Thursday, the highest level of protection would go to lower-priced qualified mortgages. Such prime loans generally will go to less-risky consumers with sound credit histories, the bureau said.?
Higher priced loans would receive less protection. Lenders would be presumed to have verified the ability to repay the loan, but borrowers could sue if they could show that they did not have sufficient income to pay the mortgage and cover other living expenses.?
Credit availability Some lawmakers and mortgage lenders had warned against a draconian rule that could exacerbate the current credit crunch and set back a housing market that has become a bright spot in an otherwise tepid economic recovery.?
Consumer bureau officials said they were sensitive to concerns about credit tightening, and they baked into the rules several provisions meant to keep credit flowing and to smooth the transition to the new regime.?
The new rules establish an additional category of loans that would be temporarily treated as qualified. These mortgages could exceed the 43 percent debt-to-income ratio as long as they met the underwriting standards required by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or other U.S. government housing agencies.?
The provision would phase out in seven years, or sooner if housing agencies issue their own qualified mortgage rules or if the government ends its support of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two housing finance giants it rescued in 2008.?
Regulators also proposed creating a qualified mortgage category that would apply to community banks and credit unions.?
Banks will have until January 2014 to comply with the new rules, the consumer bureau said.
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The slim HXA-00001 Refurbished Microsoft Zune 8GB MP3 Player is good to go with plenty of room for your favorite music, pictures and video. This Microsoft MP3 Player comes complete with a built-in FM tuner and buy-from-FM capabilities, wireless sync, Zune-to-Zune wireless sharing, video playback and more, so you get all that Zune power in one little package.
Microsoft Refurbished Zune 8GB MP3 Player, Black, HXA-00001:
8GB flash memory stores up to 2000 songs, 25 hours of videos or 25,000 pictures on this Refurbished MP3 Player
1.8" color display features video playback for easier navigation and viewing of artist and song titles, or playing your favorite videos and movies
Versatile audio and video playback compatible with the most popular audio, video and image formats
Built-in FM tuner Lets you listen to your favorite radio stations on the go
Interfaces High-speed USB 2.0 connection ensures quick transfer of music, videos and pictures onto the Microsoft MP3 Player (drag-and-drop)
Rechargeable lithium-ion battery Enjoy long battery life with convenient recharging capability
Wireless sharing lets you send your favorite songs, albums, playlists, pictures and podcasts between any Microsoft MP3 Player Zune devices
ITEM_LEVEL_AVAILABILITY_STOCK_THRESHOLD:
7
Battery Type:
Lithium Ion
Supported Audio Playback Formats:
MP3
Primary Color:
Black
Multi Pack Indicator:
No
Model No.:
RBHXA-00001
Shipping Weight (in pounds):
2.35
Product in Inches (L x W x H):
2.7?x?1.6?x?5.5
Walmart No.:
550568109
Rated 4.2 out of 5 by 24reviewers.
Rated 5 out of 5 by j000 Love this one... I have a Zune 80 GB and a HD Zune but since they are not made anymore I saw this and ordered it. I use them for audiobooks. This is one of the handiest and easiest to use. I use it more than my others based on size alone. I would recommend it.... 12/31/2012
Rated 5 out of 5 by Scout477 Good product Really a value for the price, and I love the software as it's Windows compatible and I don't like the fruit brands overpriced products.... 12/29/2012
Rated 1 out of 5 by Drten This item did not come with the software necessary to run. 12/27/2012
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Actor Seann William Scott has split from his model fiancee Lindsay Frimodt. The “American Pie” star proposed to the former Victoria’s Secret model on Valentine’s Day last year in 2012, but have now ended the engagement and split. Seann William Scott popped the question to Lindsay Frimodt during their beach vacation in February 2012 after ...
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