Is the iPad Mini as Good as the iPad?

The iPad Mini‘s screen doesn’t have the same “resolutionary” Retina display as its bigger brother, but don’t worry: the Apple snobs appear to have gotten over that. After spending time with his new baby-tablet, The New York Times‘s Nick Bilton gave in, calling the gadget his new “Desert Island Device.” (It replaced his iPhone, by the way.) The inferior screen had worried Bilton like it had others, but no longer: ”I used it for two weeks and my concerns about the screen’s quality are completely irrelevant.” It’s not that Bilton prefers the “fuzzy” screen, as he called it. But the portability of the lightweight Mini outweighs that for him, making this tablet, in his opinion, really the best tablet Apple has ever made.

RELATED: Prepare for an iPad Mini This Month

Considering all the fawning over the Retina display on the iPad proper, it’s pretty amazing to see reviewers toss that upgrade for something that Steve Jobs forbid the company to create. Bilton’s not the only one to prefer the new cousin, even if it is technically worse. Noted Apple-phile Jonathan Gruber said he hadn’t touched the fourth-generation iPad that Apple released this year as well “I’ve gone small and fuzzy,” he wrote. When the Retina display first came out, Gruber called it “pure joy” for his “dream iPad.” But a funny thing happened on the way out of the hype cycle: Apple put out something the masses were supposed to like more than the techies, and that just made everyone like it even more. Call it a holiday miracle, but the Apple snobs may be snobs no more.

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Holly Madison: I Want Six Kids

Mom & Babies
Celebrity Baby Blog

12/03/2012 at 01:00 PM ET

AKM-GSI

With a daughter on the way in March, Holly Madison switched it up by wearing blue to Saturday’s Animal Foundation Happy Anniversary Hour, held at the House of Blues Foundation Room in Las Vegas.

It was a welcome change for the former reality star, who admits she was hit with “a tide” of pink product upon announcing the sex of her baby. Not that it’s unwelcome, of course — Madison has been patiently awaiting the bundle of joy she’s now expecting with boyfriend Pasquale Rotella.

“We knew we wanted to try to have kids, but probably next year,” she tells Las Vegas Weekly. “I don’t know why this is, maybe because I am 33, but I didn’t think it would be that easy for me to get pregnant. But it was.”

And if Madison has it her way, it will continue to be. “I want six kids,” she says. “We’ll see how it goes, but I want a big family.”

Read More..

CDC says US flu season starts early, could be bad

NEW YORK (AP) — Flu season in the U.S. is off to its earliest start in nearly a decade — and it could be a bad one.

Health officials on Monday said suspected flu cases have jumped in five Southern states, and the primary strain circulating tends to make people sicker than other types. It is particularly hard on the elderly.

"It looks like it's shaping up to be a bad flu season, but only time will tell," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The good news is that the nation seems fairly well prepared, Frieden said. More than a third of Americans have been vaccinated, and the vaccine formulated for this year is well-matched to the strains of the virus seen so far, CDC officials said.

Higher-than-normal reports of flu have come in from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. An uptick like this usually doesn't happen until after Christmas. Flu-related hospitalizations are also rising earlier than usual, and there have already been two deaths in children.

Hospitals and urgent care centers in northern Alabama have been bustling. "Fortunately, the cases have been relatively mild," said Dr. Henry Wang, an emergency medicine physician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Parts of Georgia have seen a boom in traffic, too. It's not clear why the flu is showing up so early, or how long it will stay.

"My advice is: Get the vaccine now," said Dr. James Steinberg, an Emory University infectious diseases specialist in Atlanta.

The last time a conventional flu season started this early was the winter of 2003-04, which proved to be one of the most lethal seasons in the past 35 years, with more than 48,000 deaths. The dominant type of flu back then was the same one seen this year.

One key difference between then and now: In 2003-04, the vaccine was poorly matched to the predominant flu strain. Also, there's more vaccine now, and vaccination rates have risen for the general public and for key groups such as pregnant women and health care workers.

An estimated 112 million Americans have been vaccinated so far, the CDC said. Flu vaccinations are recommended for everyone 6 months or older.

On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.

Flu usually peaks in midwinter. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, head and body aches and fatigue. Some people also suffer vomiting and diarrhea, and some develop pneumonia or other severe complications.

A strain of swine flu that hit in 2009 caused a wave of cases in the spring and then again in the early fall. But that was considered a unique type of flu, distinct from the conventional strains that circulate every year.

__

Online:

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly

Read More..

Decapitated body of man found at hospital

About L.A. Now

L.A. Now is the Los Angeles Times’ breaking news section for Southern California. It is produced by more than 80 reporters and editors in The Times’ Metro section, reporting from the paper’s downtown Los Angeles headquarters as well as bureaus in Costa Mesa, Long Beach, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Riverside, Ventura and West Los Angeles.

Have a story tip for L.A. Now?

Can I call someone with news?

Yes. The city desk number is (213) 237-7847.

Read More..

David Oliver Relin, Co-Author of ‘Three Cups of Tea,’ Dies at 49

David Oliver Relin, a journalist and adventurer who achieved acclaim as co-author of the best seller “Three Cups of Tea” (2006) and then suffered emotionally and financially as basic facts in the book were called into question, died Nov. 15 in Multnomah County, Ore. He was 49.

David Oliver Relin was a co-author of “Three Cups of Tea.”

Some readers questioned details in the best-selling book, "Three Cups of Tea."

His family said Mr. Relin “suffered from depression” and took his own life. The family, speaking through Mr. Relin’s agent, Jin Auh, was unwilling to give further details, but said a police statement would be released this week.

In the 1990s, Mr. Relin established himself as a journalist with an interest in telling “humanitarian” stories about people in need in articles about child soldiers and about his travels in Vietnam.

“He felt his causes passionately,” said Lee Kravitz, the former editor of Parade who hired Mr. Relin at various magazines over the years. “He especially cared about young people. I always assigned him to stories that would inspire people to take action to improve their lives.”

So it made sense when Viking books tapped him to write a book about Greg Mortenson, a mountain climber who had an inspiring story about building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Elizabeth Kaplan, the agent for the book, acknowledged that the relationship between the two men was difficult from the start. Mr. Mortenson, who was traveling to remote areas, could be hard to track down, and Mr. Relin spoke publicly about how Mr. Mortenson should not have been named a co-author. Still, the book was a huge success, selling more than four million copies.

Some readers, however, found details of the heartwarming tale suspicious. In 2011, the CBS News program “60 Minutes” and the best-selling author Jon Krakauer in an e-book called “Three Cups of Deceit” questioned major points in the book. This included a crucial opening anecdote about Mr. Mortenson’s being rescued by the townspeople of Korphe, Pakistan, after stumbling down a mountain when he was dehydrated and exhausted. It was their care and concern, the book said, that inspired Mr. Mortenson to build schools.

The reports also said some of the schools that Mr. Mortenson’s charity, the Central Asia Institute, said it had established either did not exist or were built by others. There were also charges that the institute had been mismanaging funds and that a substantial portion of the money it raised had been used to promote the book, not for schools.

Mr. Mortenson acknowledged that some of the details in the book were wrong. Mr. Relin did not speak publicly about the charges, but he hired a lawyer to defend himself in a federal lawsuit that accused the authors and the publisher of defrauding readers. The suit was dismissed this year.

In April, the Montana Attorney General’s office announced that Mr. Mortenson had agreed to repay the charity more than $1 million in travel and other expenses used to promote the book, including “inappropriate personal charges.”

David Oliver Relin was born on Dec. 12, 1962, in Rochester to Lloyd and Marjorie Relin. His father died when he was young. Mr. Relin graduated from Vassar College in 1985, and was later awarded a fellowship at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

In addition to his mother, he is survived by his wife, Dawn; his stepfather, Cary Ratcliff; and his sisters Rachel Relin and Jennifer Cherelin.

Mr. Relin had completed a new book on two doctors working to cure cataract-related blindness in the developing world. It is scheduled for publication by Random House in spring 2013.

Read More..

Nokia Siemens to sell optical networks unit

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Mobile telecoms equipment joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks, which is focusing on its core business, is to sell its optical fiber unit to Marlin Equity Partners for an undisclosed sum.

Up to 1,900 employees, mainly in Germany and Portugal, will be transferred to the new company, NSN said on Monday.

The company, owned by Nokia and Siemens, has sold a number of product lines since it last year announced plans to divest non-core assets and cut 17,000 jobs, nearly a quarter of its total workforce.

Nordea Markets analyst Sami Sarkamies said he expected more divestments after the optical unit deal. This disposal was a small surprise, he said, because NSN needed some optical technology – where data is transmitted by pulses of light – for its main mobile broadband business.

The move may hint the company is preparing itself for further consolidation in the sector by cutting overlaps with other players, Sarkamies said.

The telecom equipment market is going through rough times with stiff competition. French Alcatel-Lucent is also cutting costs.

($ 1 = 0.7689 euro)

(Reporting by Harro ten Wold; Editing by Greg Mahlich and Dan Lalor)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Alison Eastwood Is Engaged

12/03/2012 at 01:45 PM EST

Stacy Poitras and Alison Eastwood

Vivien Killilea/FilmMagic

There's more excitement for Clint Eastwood!

Fresh off the heels of Friday's news that his daughter Francesca Eastwood was named Miss Golden Globe 2013, one of his other daughters, Alison Eastwood, 40, is ready to go public with the longtime engagement to her Chainsaw Gang costar Stacy Poitras.

"I actually asked for [Clint's] permission three years ago at a Thanksgiving dinner in Pebble Beach that was attended by Alison's mom Maggie [Johnson], too," Poitras tells Celebuzz.

Having been with Alison for five years, Poitras calls himself "the luckiest guy in the world," to be engaged to "an angel."

As for a reaction from the Academy Award winner, 82, "Clint is a cool guy ... but he’s definitely a man of few words," Poitras says. "I quietly asked him when we were alone if it would be all right if I asked for his daughter's hand in marriage. He coolly looked me in the eye and softly said, 'You better take that up with her,' to which I replied, 'So, I have your permission?' And he said, 'Yes.' "

Read More..

US flu season starts early, could be bad, CDC says

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials say flu season is off to its earliest start in nearly 10 years — and it could be a bad one.

The primary strain circulating is one that tends to cause more severe illness, especially in the elderly.

But officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the nation seems to be fairly well prepared. More than a third of Americans have been vaccinated, and the vaccine is well matched to the strains of flu so far.

Officials said Monday that suspected flu cases have jumped in five southern states — Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. An uptick in flu reports like this usually doesn't occur until after Christmas.

The last time a typical flu season started this early was the winter of 2003-04.

Read More..

Girl, 12, held as sex slave, forced into prostitution by couple, police allege

An Oceanside couple are scheduled to be in court Monday to face accusations that they kept an underage
Mexican immigrant as a sex slave, forcing her into prostitution and
beating her severely.

Marcial Garcia Hernandez, 45, and Inez Martinez Garcia, 43, were
arrested Thursday on suspicion of 13 felony counts of aggravated sexual
assault of a child under age 14.

The girl had been smuggled into the U.S. at age 12, and the abuse by
Hernandez and Garcia occurred over a 21-month period, the Sheriff's
Department said.

Hernandez and Garcia forced the girl to care for their three children
and cook and clean for the family, as well as have sex with Hernandez,
according to Deputy G. Crysler, an investigator with the North County
Human Trafficking Task Force.

"When the girl victim refused to participate in the sex acts or did
not complete her tasks in a timely or correct manner, she was beaten,"
Crysler said.

The couple forced the victim into lying about her age so she could
work at a local restaurant, with Garcia and Hernandez keeping the money
she earned, according to the arrest documents. She was also forced into
having sex with older men, with Garcia and Hernandez keeping the money
paid by "johns," the documents said.

Authorities were called after the victim was allegedly beaten by
Garcia. Reunited with her family, she returned to Mexico. Recently,
she returned to the U.S. and is assisting in the criminal investigation,
according to the Sheriff's Department.

ALSO:

Lindsay Lohan is 'victim' despite criminal charges, lawyer says

Teacher pleads guilty to having sex with 17-year-old ex-student

Inmate charged in 1991 slaying, rape of 16-year-old Compton girl

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Read More..

Taliban Bombers Attack Air Base in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban forces attacked a large coalition airfield in eastern Afghanistan early Sunday, detonating three car bombs near the entrance and engaging in a two-hour gun battle that killed nine insurgents, four Afghan guards and at least four civilians whose vehicle was caught in the cross-fire, Afghan officials and witnesses said.

Noorullah Shirzada/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Taliban attackers detonated three car bombs near the entrance of a coalition airbase in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday.

Disguised in coalition military uniforms, the Taliban fighters attempted to enter the airfield, known as Forward Operating Base Fenty, after the initial explosions, which occurred just before 6 a.m., but were repelled by firepower that included helicopter gunships, officials said. Fewer than 10 coalition service members were wounded, according to official reports, though by late Sunday it remained unclear exactly how many had been hurt, and how severely. At least one of the guards killed in the fighting was a member of the Afghan military.

The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the operation, saying it had killed “tens” of foreign forces, though the insurgents routinely overstate the deadliness of their attacks.

But the coordinated assault, which left the entry to the base strewn with the remains of the bombers, was a potent reminder of the Taliban’s determination to continue the fight. As the coalition forces wind down the 11-year war, and with Western combat troops already withdrawing, the attacks serve as a reminder that the Taliban are not going anywhere — and that their firepower remains undiminished. How successful the nation’s defenses will be after the 2014 withdrawal of coalition forces is a question on the minds of many Afghans.

Forward Operating Base Fenty is primarily run by American and is one of the larger airfields in eastern Afghanistan. Like other large coalition bases, Fenty has been attacked before, including in February, when a suicide blast killed nine Afghans. The assaults have, in most cases, been repulsed before the insurgents could fight their way inside bases, and coalition casualties have been minimal, as appears to have been the case on Sunday.

But the Afghans who work or live near the base have not been so fortunate. Afghan officials said that two of the civilians killed were doctors, their car riddled by gunfire about 50 yards from the base. The doctors had been on their way to work in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar Province, said Hajji Niamatullah Khan, the district governor of Behsood. In addition, at least three private security guards on duty at the outer perimeter were killed, he said.

Coalition forces had few details about the extent of the damage from the Taliban assault.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said medical evacuation helicopters could be seen ferrying dead and wounded American soldiers from the scene, “which shows that heavy casualties were inflicted” by the attackers.

He also claimed that a Toyota sport utility vehicle packed with explosives had leveled one of the guard towers. He said that some of the attackers were wearing “foreign” military uniforms, a tactic that the Taliban have employed in previous assaults on coalition bases. An official from the American-led coalition confirmed that at least some of the attackers wore coalition uniforms.

The last major assault against a coalition base was in September, when the Taliban blew up eight Harrier attack jets and killed two Marines at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province. The militants, wearing American Army uniforms, caused more than $200 million in damage in that attack.

Sharifullah Sahak contributed reporting.

Read More..