Ten Commandments join Isaac Newton's notes online

A copy of The Ten Commandments dating back two millennia and the earliest written Gaelic are just two of a number of incredibly rare manuscripts now freely available online to the world as part of a Cambridge University digital project.
The Nash Papyrus -- one of the oldest known manuscripts containing text from the Hebrew Bible -- has become one of the latest treasures of humanity to join Isaac Newton's notebooks, the Nuremberg Chronicle and other rare texts as part of the Cambridge Digital Library, the university said on Wednesday.
"Cambridge University Library preserves works of great importance to faith traditions and communities around the world," University Librarian Anne Jarvis said in a statement.
"Because of their age and delicacy these manuscripts are seldom able to be viewed - and when they are displayed, we can only show one or two pages."
Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nash Papyrus, was by far the oldest manuscript containing text from the Hebrew Bible and like most fragile historical documents, only available to select academics for scrutiny.
The university's digital library is making 25,000 new images, including an ancient copy of the New Testament, available on its website (http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/), which has already attracted tens of millions of hits since the project was launched in December 2011.
The latest release also includes important texts from Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism.
In addition to religious texts, internet users can also view the 10th century Book of Deer, which is widely believed to be the oldest surviving Scottish manuscript and contains the earliest known examples of written Gaelic.
"Now... anyone with a connection to the Internet can select a work of interest, turn to any page of the manuscript, and explore it in extraordinary detail," Jarvis said.
The technical infrastructure required to get these texts to web was in part funded by a 1.5 million pound ($2.4 million) gift from the Polonsky Foundation in June 2010.

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CERN students make "scientist fiction" zombie film

Murderous zombies are stalking the dark underground passageways of the renowned CERN physics centre near Geneva, hunting young scientists who have survived a devastating failure in its world-famous particle collider.
Gaunt men with peeling faces and stony-eyed women dripping blood from their mouths leer around corners and loom from behind wrecked equipment, impervious to the bullets from a gun wielded by one of their would-be victims.
And it is all happening right at the heart of the multi-billion dollar complex where, last July, physicists announced the discovery of what they think is the particle -- the Higgs boson -- which made life and the universe possible.
Well, happening at least on the Internet (http://www.decayfilm.com/). Scientists at the centre on Wednesday said they were pursuing their efforts to reveal the great mysteries of the cosmos and had not noticed anything unusual.
"But that does explain why my neighbor shouted: 'Watch for the Zombies,' when I left for work this morning," said one puzzled physicist who is part of one of the two large teams which jointly tracked down the Higgs.
The gory action comes in an 80-minute horror film, "Decay", shot in 2010 around open areas of the sprawling CERN complex at weekends by budding young scientists from Britain and the United States, without formal management approval.
"They asked for CERN's endorsement once the whole thing was in the can," said spokesman James Gillies. "Clearly we can't endorse such a thing, but nor were we going to stop it. After all, it's just students doing the kind of thing students do."
The movie burst onto the World Wide Web, itself invented at CERN 20 years ago. A notice on its site and a press release from the makers, H2ZZ Productions, declares: "This film has not been authorized or endorsed by CERN."
FLESH-EATERS
The cinematic mayhem follows a disaster in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), releasing the Higgs and its associated particle field which turn dozens of the technicians working around the subterranean complex into "living dead" flesh-eaters.
A group of scientists is isolated in the control room -- which the filmmakers move underground from its actual location on the surface -- and as they try to break out to safety they are picked off one by one by their zombie colleagues.
"It's a bit of fun in the best tradition of B-series Zombie movies," said a CERN researcher who followed the project. "It's well done, but I can't say the acting is Oscar quality."
"They wanted to make the film as unbelievable as possible, and the scientific 'facts' cited in it are laughable, so no-one could take it seriously."
The producers are at pains to underline that in making their technicolor epic they had no access to the actual 27-km (17-mile) circular tunnel where the LHC and the giant particle detectors and magnets are housed.
The writer and director of the film was Luke Thompson, who apart from his studies at CERN is a physicist and doctoral student at Britain's Manchester University, where the film had an early showing at the end of last month.
Co-producer and director of photography was Burton de Wilde, who holds a physics doctorate from Stony Brook University in the United States. The actors came from among CERN's several hundred doctoral or summer students.
The company set up to market the film says it has showings scheduled for several places in Britain, the United States and Europe.
"It might just turn out to be one of those off-the-wall successes," the CERN researcher said.

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Fandango launches Oscar-themed web series with Dave Karger

 Fandango is elbowing into the Oscar horse race.
The movie-ticket seller launched its first original digital video series Wednesday, "The Frontrunners," which will cover the major contenders for the top awards. The show will feature conversations with a star-studded group of Oscar hunters that includes Richard Gere ("Arbitrage"), Amy Adams ("The Master"), Hugh Jackman ("Les Miserables") and Ben Affleck ("Argo").
During the broadcasts, actors and directors will deconstruct key scenes from their movies, explaining how they crafted a moment of domestic conflict, in the case of Gere, or decided to intercut between a Hollywood script reading and the Iranian Hostage Crisis, as with Affleck.
However, commerce will be mixed in along with the art. Fandango will offer ticketing information along with the digital videos, with the hopes that the clips will inspire users to check out the movie being discussed.
The show, shot at Soho House in Los Angeles, will be hosted by Fandango's Chief Correspondent Dave Karger, the movie guru the company lured over from Entertainment Weekly in September. It's part of a bold bet that Fandango is making on original content.
To that in end, the company tapped former Disney digital executive Paul Yanover to serve in the newly created role of president and tasked him with creating a suite of programming for Fandango and its 41 million unique visitors.
"Our goal with Fandango is to make it the definitive movie-going brand across all platforms," Nick Lehman, the president of digital for NBC Universal Entertainment Networks & Interactive Media, told TheWrap in October. "We want to continue expanding in ways that entertain and inform and video is key to that strategy. Advertisers are clamoring for it because there is a dearth of high quality original video content on the web."
As TheWrap reported exclusively in October, Karger is also planning programs that will center on box office contenders and one program that will boast both A-List actors and below-the-line talent.
New episodes of "The Frontrunners" will air weekly through the Academy Awards on February 24, 2013. The first three installments will be available Wednesday

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Pope needs help sending out blessing in first tweet

After weeks of anticipation bordering on media frenzy, Pope Benedict solemnly put his finger to a computer tablet device on Wednesday and tried to send his first tweet - but something went wrong.
Images on Vatican television appeared to show the first try didn't work. The pope, who still writes his speeches by hand, seems to have pressed too hard and the tweet was not sent right away. So, he needed a little help from his friends.
Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli of the Vatican's communications department showed the pontiff how to do it, but the pope hesitated. Celli touched the screen lightly himself and off went the papal tweet.
"Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart," he said in his introduction to the brave new world of Twitter.
The tweet was sent at the end of weekly general audience in the Vatican before thousands of people.
The pope actually has eight linked Twitter accounts. @Pontifex, the main account, is in English. The other seven have a suffix at the end for the different language versions. For example, the German version is @Pontifex_de, and the Arabic version is @Pontifex_ar.
The tweets will be going out in Spanish, English, Italian, Portuguese, German, Polish, Arabic and French. Other languages will be added in the future.
The pope already had just over a million followers in all of the languages combined minutes before he sent his first tweet and the number was growing.
PAPAL Q AND A
Later on Wednesday after the audience was over and the television cameras turned off, the pontiff answered the first of three questions sent to him at #askpontifex.
The first question answered by the pope was: "How can we celebrate the Year of Faith better in our daily lives?"
His answer: "By speaking with Jesus in prayer, listening to what he tells you in the Gospel and looking for him in those in need."
The pope, who, as leader of the Roman Catholic Church already has 1.2 billion followers in the standard sense of the word, won't be following anyone else, the Vatican has said.
After his first splash into the brave new world of Twitter on Wednesday, the contents of future tweets will come primarily from the contents of his weekly general audience, Sunday blessings and homilies on major Church holidays.
They are also expected to include reaction to major world events, such as natural disasters.
The Vatican says papal tweets will be little "pearls of wisdom", which is understandable since his thoughts will have to be condensed to 140 characters, while papal documents often top 140 pages.
The Vatican said precautions had been taken to make sure the pope's certified account is not hacked. Only one computer in the Vatican's secretariat of state will be used for the tweets.
After Wednesday, Benedict won't be pushing the button on his tweets himself. They will be sent by aides but he will sign off on them.
The pope's Twitter page is designed in yellow and white - the colors of the Vatican, with a backdrop of the Vatican and his picture. It may change during different liturgical seasons of the year and when the pope is away from the Vatican on trips.
The pope has given a qualified welcome to social media.
In a document issued last year, he said the possibilities of new media and social networks offered "a great opportunity", but warned of the risks of depersonalization, alienation, self-indulgence, and the dangers of having more virtual friends than real ones.
In 2009, a new Vatican website, www.pope2you.net, went live, offering an application called "The pope meets you on Facebook", and another allowing the faithful to see the pontiff's speeches and messages on their iPhones or iPods.
The Vatican famously got egg on its face in 2009 when it was forced to admit that, if it had surfed the web more, it might have known that a traditionalist bishop whose excommunication was lifted had for years been a Holocaust denier.

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Selling flak jackets in the cyberwars

When the Israeli army and Hamas trade virtual blows in cyberspace, or when hacker groups like Anonymous rise from the digital ether, or when WikiLeaks dumps a trove of classified documents, some see a lawless Internet.
But Matthew Prince, chief executive at CloudFlare, a little-known Internet start-up that serves some of the Web's most controversial characters, sees a business opportunity.
Founded in 2010, CloudFlare markets itself as an Internet intermediary that shields websites from distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks, the crude but effective weapon that hackers use to bludgeon websites until they go dark. The 40-person company claims to route up to 5 percent of all Internet traffic through its global network.
Prince calls his company the "Switzerland" of cyberspace - assiduously neutral and open to all comers. But just as companies like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook have faced profound questions about the balance between free speech and openness on the Internet and national security and law enforcement concerns, CloudFlare's business has posed another thorny question: what kinds of services, if any, should an American company be allowed to offer designated terrorists and cyber criminals?
CloudFlare's unusual position at the heart of this debate came to the fore last month, when the Israel Defense Forces sought help from CloudFlare after its website was struck by attackers based in Gaza. The IDF was turning to the same company that provides those services to Hamas and the al-Quds Brigades, according to publicly searchable domain information. Both Hamas and al-Quds, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, are designated by the United States as terrorist groups.
Under the USA Patriot Act, U.S. firms are forbidden from providing "material support" to groups deemed foreign terrorist organizations. But what constitutes material support - like many other facets of the law itself - has been subject to intense debate.
CloudFlare's dealings have attracted heated criticism in the blogosphere from both Israelis and Palestinians, but Prince defended his company as a champion of free speech.
"Both sides have an absolute right to tell their story," said Prince, a 38-year old former lawyer. "We're not providing material support for anybody. We're not sending money, or helping people arm themselves."
Prince noted that his company only provides defensive capabilities that enable websites to stay online.
"We can't be sitting in a role where we decide what is good or what is bad based on our own personal biases," he said. "That's a huge slippery slope."
Many U.S. agencies are customers, but so is WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowing organization. CloudFlare has consulted for many Wall Street institutions, yet also protects Anonymous, the "hacktivist" group associated with the Occupy movement.
Prince's stance could be tested at a time when some lawmakers in the United States and Europe, armed with evidence that militant groups rely on the Web for critical operations and recruitment purposes, have pressured Internet companies to censor content or cut off customers.
Last month, conservative political lobbies, as well as seven lawmakers led by Ted Poe, a Republican from Texas, urged the FBI to shut down the Hamas Twitter account. The account remains active; Twitter declined to comment.
MATERIAL SUPPORT
Although it has never prosecuted an Internet company under the Patriot Act, the government's use of the material support argument has steadily risen since 2006. Since September 11, 2001, more than 260 cases have been charged under the provision, according to Fordham Law School's Terrorism Trends database.
Catherine Lotrionte, the director of Georgetown University's Institute for Law, Science and Global Security and a former Central Intelligence Agency lawyer, argued that Internet companies should be more closely regulated.
"Material support includes web services," Lotrionte said. "Denying them services makes it more costly for the terrorists. You're cornering them."
But others have warned that an aggressive government approach would have a chilling effect on free speech.
"We're resurrecting the kind of broad-brush approaches we used in the McCarthy era," said David Cole, who represented the Humanitarian Law Project, a non-profit organization that was charged by the Justice Department for teaching law to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is designated by the United States as a terrorist group. The group took its case to the Supreme Court but lost in 2010.
The material support law is vague and ill-crafted, to the point where basic telecom providers, for instance, could be found guilty by association if a terrorist logs onto the Web to plot an attack, Cole said.
In that case, he asked, "Do we really think that AT&T or Google should be held accountable?"
CloudFlare said it has not been contacted about its services by the U.S. government. Spokespeople for Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, told Reuters they contracted a cyber-security company in Gaza that out-sources work to foreign companies, but declined to comment further. The IDF confirmed it had hired CloudFlare, but declined to discuss "internal security" matters.
CloudFlare offers many of its services for free, but the company says websites seeking advanced protection and features can see their bill rise to more than $3,000 a month. Prince declined to discuss the business arrangements with specific customers.
While not yet profitable, CloudFlare has more than doubled its revenue in the past four months, according to Prince, and is picking up 3,000 new customers a day. The company has raked in more than $22 million from venture capital firms including New Enterprise Associates, Venrock and Pelion Venture Partners.
Prince, a Midwestern native with mussed brown hair who holds a law degree from the University of Chicago, said he has a track record of working on the right side of the law.
A decade ago, Prince provided free legal aid to Spamhaus, an international group that tracked email spammers and identity thieves. He went on to create Project Honey Pot, an open source spam-tracking endeavor that turned over findings to police.
Prince's latest company, CloudFlare, has been hailed by groups such as the Committee to Protect Journalists for protecting speech. Another client, the World Economic Forum, named CloudFlare among its 2012 "technology pioneers" for its work. But it also owes its profile to its most controversial customers.
CloudFlare has served 4Chan, the online messaging community that spawned Anonymous. LulzSec, the hacker group best known for targeting Sony Corp, is another customer. And since last May, the company has propped up WikiLeaks after a vigilante hacker group crashed the document repository.
Last year, members of the hacker collective UgNazi, whose exploits include pilfering user account information from eBay and crashing the CIA.gov website, broke into Prince's cell phone and email accounts.
"It was a personal affront," Prince said. "But we never kicked them off either."
Prince said CloudFlare would comply with a valid court order to remove a customer, but that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has never requested a takedown. The company has agreed to turn over information to authorities on "exceedingly rare" occasions, he acknowledged, declining to elaborate.
"Any company that doesn't do that won't be in business long," Prince said. But in an email, he added: "We have a deep and abiding respect for our users' privacy, disclose to our users whenever possible if we are ordered to turn over information and would fight an order that we believed was not proper."
Juliannne Sohn, an FBI spokeswoman, declined to comment.
Michael Sussmann, a former Justice Department lawyer who prosecuted computer crimes, said U.S. law enforcement agencies may in fact prefer that the Web's most wanted are parked behind CloudFlare rather than a foreign service over which they have no jurisdiction.
Federal investigators "want to gather information from as many sources as they can, and they're happy to get it," Sussmann said.
In an era of rampant cyber warfare, Prince acknowledged he is something of a war profiteer, but with a wrinkle.

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Access to Money-Saving Benefits for Those 60 and Older

It's no secret many Americans are facing tough economic times and perhaps no segment more so than those aged 60 and older who are living on reduced or fixed incomes. The National Council on Aging and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging wants to help connect those individuals with services to help reduce the costs for prescriptions, utilities, food and health care.
Aid Funds Available in the Billions of Dollars
A news release provided by the NCOA and n4a reveals there are assistance funds of more than $20 billion available to the millions of baby boomers and their seniors who qualify for assistance to reduce or eliminate the cost of necessities such as heat, electricity and basic phone service, plus items and services related to health. Brandy Bauer, spokeswoman for the NCOA, told Reuters that $6.8 billion in benefits remains unclaimed by Medicare recipients who qualify for Medicare Part D Extra Help but have not ever filed for this benefit.
Ready Access to Benefits Programs for Seniors
The National Council on Aging and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging have combined their efforts to bring potential benefit recipients and benefit programs together in the You Gave, Now Save program. The intent of the program, as described by Reuters, is to aid the income-eligible of the 57 million Americans who are 60 years old and older, to learn about what benefits are available and provide the information needed to make application. The program provides information for a variety of benefit programs ranging from food assistance to transportation resources to heating and cooling assistance.
Other Resources for Seniors and Their Families
The You Gave, You Save program is provided in addition to the Eldercare Locator program that puts people in touch with resources in their communities and helps long-distance family members learn what is available in their loved one's community. Another program is the Benefits CheckUp program, a program that touts itself as aiding more than 3 million people accessing benefits worth more than $11 billion in the 10 years it has been in existence.
It can be hoped that by getting the information to the people who need it, they will be able to improve their quality of life by being able to afford food and prescription medication. No more having to make choices between the two.
Smack dab in the middle of the baby boomer generation, L.L. Woodard is a proud resident of "The Red Man" state. With what he hopes is an everyman's view of life's concerns both in his state and throughout the nation, Woodard presents facts and opinions based on common-sense solutions.

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Healthy Hollywood: Get Movin' Monday - A Toning Must For 50-Plus Women!

Who says everything goes south after 50? Just look at the rock-solid bodies of Madonna, Christie Brinkley, and Sharon Stone and you know mature women can be and are hotter than ever.
The celebrity magnet, Physique 57, (a favorite toning regimen of Kelly Ripa & Sofia Vergara) has put together a new class/workout for women over 50. "Our 'Fit for Life' classes are small group training sessions (limited to 10 participants) that we developed to meet the specific needs of women fifty and over. These one-hour classes are done twice a week over a four-week period, combine low impact strength training exercises, light cardio, and stretches that are designed to create strong, lean, supple, muscles leaving participants feeling more energized, confident, and youthful," Physique 57 co-founder, Tanya Becker.
Once the ladies finish the four-week session, they'll be up to speed and ready to join the other classes. It's important that older women are extra careful and do the exercises with the proper form since they are more prone to injuries, says Tanya, "Exercises should be modified appropriately, however, you still want to challenge your muscles otherwise you won't achieve your desired results. Physique 57's exercises are non-jarring on the joints (no jumping or pounding), which is also very important to avoid any injuries while still getting a great workout."
Tanya helped create the groundbreaking workout that combines interval training with toning exercises. For now, Physique 57 studios are only in New York and LA, but the training center just released a book, "The Physique 57 Solution: Lose Up To 10 Inches Fast" and there are workout DVDs, so women everyone can learn this celebrity-endorsed secret to a long and lean body.
Physique 57 shares with Healthy Hollywood 4 good reasons to exercise - especially as you age!
1. As we age, our metabolic rate slows down which can lead to extra body fat.
The more lean muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn all day long. Also, the less weight you have to carry on your body, the less stress there will be on your joints- not to mention how fabulous you'll look and feel!
2. Decrease your risk of osteoporosis and loss of bone density.
Keeping your muscles toned and strong will keep your bones strong. You'll be able to stand taller and exude confidence and grace.
3. Reduce your risk of injuries.
Whether you enjoy playing golf, tennis, or just want to stay active for many years, you want a youthful supple body to enjoy life.
4. Keep a good attitude.

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Should Seniors Live Alone or With Family?

Put Grandma in the garage? Yes. But a garage transformed into a well-appointed studio apartment with skylights and a patio for morning coffee.
Home remodeling for those who can afford it is one answer to a growing issue: How do you take care of family members in their late-retirement and twilight years? And then, a tougher question: When a home solution won't work, what assisted-living or nursing home options are available?
[See The Best Places to Retire in 2012.]
Growth of multigenerational households (mostly grandparents, parents, and minor children, but also other extended-family relationships) accelerated during the economic downturn. Some families shared quarters because the unemployment rate (a 30-year high) forced some out-of-work adult children to move back home. Sometimes it was the senior generation that needed a housing solution because they were no longer able to physically or financially go it alone.
The rate of this change is worth noting. In 2008, 6.2 million intergenerational households resided in the United States. That's 5.3 percent of all households. That number jumped to 7.1 million households, or 6.1 percent, by 2010. The two-year increase marked a faster rate of growth than the previous eight years combined, according to AARP's Public Policy Institute.
Even if the economy improves, it's a trend that looks to stick as families address graying baby boomers who may be facing an underfunded retirement, according to aging and financial professionals.
In the best and worst of times, the benefit of companionship and shared household duties, such as childcare, can't be dismissed. For some families, living together is not a solution to a problem but an exercise in bonding. There are also different cultural interpretations of the social value of multigenerational households. But for many families, finances are certainly a factor in their decision to merge under one roof.
Kevin Young, a certified financial planner with Young Wealth Management in Davis, Calif., sees an increasing number of "sandwich generation" clients in his tax practice. "They're taking care of aging parents and children at the same time, sometimes working multiple jobs to accomplish that," he says.
[See How to Avoid Being a Financial Burden on Your Children.]
Young says some boomers and their parents are still playing retirement savings catch-up as corporate America (and the public sector too, in some cases) shifts from defined benefits such as pensions to market-reliant 401(k)s and other individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Others just dropped the ball and didn't save enough.
Options. George Yedinak, editor and publisher of trade newsletter and blog Senior Housing News, sees an industry boom coming to meet the needs of multigenerational and senior housing. This includes concepts such as Greenhouse Project (modest stand-alone homes that include high levels of healthcare), senior villages, co-housing (unrelated seniors sharing space to reduce costs), in-law apartments, and other communal living solutions.
Yedinak notes that regulation of these housing models isn't currently as comprehensive as regulation nursing homes and other traditional care facilities. Regulation catch-up could bring a mixed impact--more scrutiny of care but also reduced incentive for industry growth.
As for home modifications, those are on the rise, too. "Those living in single-family homes will invest capital in their homes as more parents move in with their adult children. Using home office spaces, basements, attics and other existing solutions will make way for more formal renovations including the 'grannie apartment' as either an add-on or standalone," he blogs. "Unlike additions for bathrooms or kitchens, the resale value of 'grannie' renovation should be discounted greatly. Others may opt for pre-fab cottages or PODs as solutions that can be moved, stored, or re-sold when a senior needs to move to a more comprehensive care community."
The longevity conundrum. Healthcare presents a mixed picture for boomers; active lifestyles and treatment developments are helping stave off some disease, but longer living also raises the odds of multiple serious conditions in advanced years and the need for body maintenance, such as joint replacement.
Some households are able to accommodate parents with physical issues and the care industry is responding with more flexibility, often traveling to see patients. But eventually, no matter how welcoming younger generations are to opening their homes to the seniors, they may just not be able to handle the level of care needed.
The home versus care-facility debate welcomes a whole new round of cost concerns. According to Genworth Financial's 2011 Cost of Care Survey, while the cost to receive care in an assisted living facility or nursing home increased over the past year, the cost to receive care in the home, Americans' preferred long-term care setting, remained unchanged. Nationally, the median annual cost of long-term care in an assisted living facility is $39,135, an increase of 2.4 percent from 2010. The comparable cost for a private nursing home room rose 3.4 percent, to $77,745. At $18 per hour for homemaker services and $19 an hour for home-health aide services, the median hourly cost to receive care in the home remained flat over the past 12 months.
[See Should You Buy Long-Term Care Insurance?]
Aging consultancy Age Wave says some older Americans cling too much to the notion of independence in their own home and don't fully weigh the costs and benefits of retirement facilities.
Based on a study, the group offers a list of five myth-busters that may help families make these tough decisions:
-- My current home will be the best place to live in retirement. Many retirees believe remaining in their house gives them the most freedom and independence. But the reality is that by staying at home, they spend twice as much time doing housework and shopping as someone in a retirement center.
-- My current home is the best option to lead an active life and stay connected. Among those over 80, nearly half report suffering from loneliness--twice the rate of younger adults. Depression, alcohol abuse, and obesity can follow.
-- Home is less expensive. Among homeowners older than 65, 84 percent have paid off the mortgage. Still, a house is expensive. Taxes, utilities, upkeep, and insurance really add up.
-- It would be easy to get any care I might need at home. This may be true. But home-health care can further isolate anyone unable to get out. It is also expensive and can add to burdens on extended family.
-- Retirement centers are filled with people who are sick and dying. This may be the most off-putting myth. Today's centers are not where old people go to die. This is partly because most centers require new residents to be in good health and be able to live independently when entering the community.
Let's talk. Families are challenged to communicate their needs and desires for a housing solution. Cultural differences certainly determine the "acceptance" of multiple generations in a single household, but for the most part, the concept has moved in and out of trend in the United States. Needless to say, it's a touchy subject.
In a Metlife Mature Market Institute online survey of 2,123 Americans ages 21 to 65, conducted from June 29 to July 20, 2011, nearly half--46 percent across generations--believe children have a responsibility to provide financial support to their own parents or in-laws if they experience financial difficulty later in life. For many, this means allowing a parent to live with them if he or she is not healthy enough to live alone without caregiving (58 percent overall call this a strong or absolute responsibility), or allowing a parent to live with them if he or she is having financial trouble (50 percent). At the same time, however, many parents say they would not accept financial assistance from their children in old age.
The sad truth is that they may not have much choice. Better to discuss these issues now, when all the stakeholders can play a role in determining what "home" will look like in the future.

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The Baby Boomer Number Game

There are 75 million baby boomers who are on the verge of retirement. For the next twenty years, an average of 10,000 people each day will reach age 65, which has historically been the retirement phase of life.
Between 2000 and 2010, the number of people age 65 to 84 in the U.S. grew by 3.3 million. While 13 percent of Americans are currently age 65 or older, that proportion will jump to 18 percent by 2030. The current 40 million senior citizens will balloon to 89 million by 2050.
These numbers and their impact are awe-inspiring and a bit frightening. Baby boomers entering retirement age will dramatically change today's business and lifestyle landscape. Baby boomers may stay in the workforce longer than their parents did, both because they need the money and they're not ready to leave behind fulfilling careers. And when they finally do retire, their need for health care and assisted living could permanently alter what retirement living arrangements look like for generations to come.
Work. Americans didn't always aim to retire early. Back in 1880, 78 percent of men over age 64 were still in the workforce. In 1934, the official retirement age of 65 was introduced. And by 1990, only 30 percent of men over 64 remained in the workforce. Now the retirement age is increasing again. In today's era of economic uncertainty, many would-be retirees will need to keep working to make ends meet and be considered fortunate if they can find or hold on to jobs.
Delaying retirement will certainly improve the finances of individual baby boomers, but could also lead to intergenerational conflict. Older employees who stay on the job longer than expected could be perceived as standing in the way of younger workers who are in search of their chance to contribute to society and make a living. And senior citizens who take up positions far beneath their experience levels could compete with students and recent graduates looking for a first job.
As more seniors stay active in or re-enter the workforce, older workers will increasingly report to younger supervisors, which can also create tension if both parties don't learn to effectively communicate with one another. Without sensitivity on both sides and a willingness to work together, conflict is likely and the welfare of the company could be jeopardized.
Living arrangements. Once they leave the workforce behind, aging baby boomers will face decisions regarding their living arrangements that will impact family and friends. In the ideal situation, baby boomers will remain able to cope with the responsibilities of home ownership, take care of themselves, and live safely where they are. But they are unlikely to remain healthy enough and sufficiently independent to go it alone indefinitely.
As they continue to age, a growing percentage of baby boomers will reach the point where they cannot completely fend for themselves. At that time, moving in with family may be an option. But challenges are bound to arise when family members must adjust their lifestyle to incorporate the quirks and habits of new residents. Parents may face scrutiny in how they raise their children, with unwanted input from the grandparents. And the physical requirements involved in caring for seniors can tax the patience and finances of the rest of the family.
When boomers require more attention than can be effectively provided by family members, nursing homes and extended care facilities will need to be considered. For families already challenged due to the economy and demands of raising a family, this can be brutal. Assisted living facilities that provide hands-on personal care for those who cannot live alone, but do not require the full-time coverage provided by a nursing home, cost an average of $3,261 per month, according to a Genworth Financial survey. Nursing homes with semi-private rooms are $5,790 per month, while those with private rooms ring in at $6,390 monthly.
Baby boomers changed the world in their youth and as working adults. Their impact continues at a relentless pace and will likely change our notions about retirement as millions move into retirement age.

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How health care law affects lives of 7 Americans

 A father lost his job at a medical device company that is facing a new tax. A young woman got back on her parents' insurance and was able to get surgery for an injury that could have hobbled her. A part-time sales woman stopped putting off a colonoscopy and cancer screenings and saved nearly $3,000 because health plans now must pay for preventive care without co-pays. A business owner received a tax rebate for providing health coverage to her employees.
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, The Associated Press spoke with a variety of people to hear their experiences so far with the landmark legislation, whose major provisions don't take effect until 2014. Reporters asked: How has the health care law affected your life?
Here are snapshots of seven Americans:
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Name: Michael Esch
Home: Warwick, N.Y.
Age: 48
Occupation: Former middle manager for medical device company, now working as a hospital purchasing agent.
Insurance coverage: Paying out of his own pocket for COBRA insurance through his former company.
Esch, a father of three, lost his job in November in a layoff his employer said resulted from President Barack Obama's health care law. Medical device maker Stryker Corp. announced in November it intended to lay off 1,000 workers worldwide to save money ahead of a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices that starts in 2013.
The tax on medical devices is meant to help pay for expanding health coverage to uninsured Americans. The Obama administration argues device companies will gain in the long run as more patients become eligible to receive their products because they have insurance.
Esch was a middle manager who had worked for Stryker for six years. He helped develop a product known as the Triathlon Knee. Since the layoff, he's taken a salary cut to work as a hospital purchasing agent. He's still looking for a job with another medical device company.
He blames the medical device tax for the loss of his job, but he's grateful for the provision in the health care law that will allow his oldest child, now a college sophomore, to stay on his health insurance to age 26.
"We tend to forget that for every great idea there is a ripple effect through other sectors of a business," Esch said.
Economists say most companies should be able to pass on the bulk of the tax to customers, but the industry says it will squeeze profits and chill investment, hiring and innovation.
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Name: Glenn Nishimura
Home: Little Rock, Ark.
Age: 62
Occupation: Consultant to nonprofit groups.
Insurance coverage: Uninsured since COBRA coverage from a previous job expired in May of 2009.
Nishimura has been uninsured for nearly three years. He lost his health coverage after he left a full-time position with benefits in 2007, thinking he could land another good job. The recession destroyed that plan.
He's been denied coverage because of high blood pressure and high blood-sugar levels. A provision in the national health care law gave his state $46 million to insure people like him who've been denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
But Nishimura said he can't afford the coverage. It would cost him about $6,300 a year in premiums with a $1,000 deductible, meaning he would pay the first $1,000 out of his own pocket before coverage kicks in.
He worries about suffering injuries in a car accident or falling ill before he's eligible for Medicare at age 65.
"I don't like feeling vulnerable like this," Nishimura said. "I'm completely vulnerable to some catastrophic problem."
Nationally, about 50,000 people with pre-existing conditions have signed up for the coverage available through the health care law, fewer than expected. The government has offered new options to encourage more to enroll. In another two years, he may be eligible for subsidies under the law for insurance.
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Name: Samantha Ames
Home: Washington, D.C.
Age: 25
Occupation: Law student
Insurance coverage: Got back on parents' insurance, thanks to the health care law.
As a teenager, Ames was prone to ankle injuries playing catcher on baseball and softball teams. Last April, she tripped over her mini bulldog and badly injured her left ankle. Ultimately she needed surgery that cost her insurer $30,000.
But she considers herself lucky.
Only a few months before her accident, Ames had been able to get back on her parents' insurance, thanks to a provision of the health care law that lets young adults keep that coverage until they turn 26. Nationally an estimated 2.5 million young people have gotten insurance as a result.
Ames says it's unclear if the student health insurance she had been relying on previously would have covered her surgery. In any case, the copayments would have been steep. She would have had to postpone the operation, risking another — potentially crippling — injury.
"The fact that I was able to get on their plan is the reason I can walk today," said Ames. "Very rarely have I had something political affect me this personally."
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Name: Sharon Whalen
Home: Springfield, Ill.
Age: 59
Occupation: Publisher of a weekly alternative newspaper
Insurance coverage: Small group plan.
As a co-owner of the Illinois Times, a weekly newspaper, Whalen wants to keep her small staff healthy. So she and her business partner provide them with health insurance and pay half the cost of premiums for their 10 employees.
Keeping that employee benefit is getting more and more expensive. The company saw a spike in premium costs after one employee's child had chronic health problems.
With costs climbing, the company switched to a managed care plan with higher copays for some services in 2009. Whalen's company also contributes less than it once did to cover the premiums of employees' family members.
The health care law brought some relief: a tax credit for small businesses that provide health coverage. The Illinois Times qualified and received a $2,700 tax credit last year.
"We see ourselves putting that money right back into the company," Whalen said.
Whalen heard about the tax credit from a health care advocacy group, not from her accountant.
"I had to practically beg them to look at this," Whalen said. "They weren't familiar with it."
The Obama administration has proposed expanding the number of businesses eligible for the credit, and simplifying the paperwork.
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Name: Melissa Pearson
Home: Prineville, Ore.
Age: 53
Occupation: Retail sales, part time.
Insurance coverage: High-deductible plan purchased on individual market.
A few years ago, Pearson's doctor ordered her to have a routine colonoscopy. It's one of several colon cancer screening methods highly recommended for adults ages 50 to 75.
Pearson kept putting it off, in part because of the cost. Her high-deductible health insurance plan requires her to pay the first $5,600 out of her pocket each year. She knew the colonoscopy would be expensive and figured she'd be paying.
Then she learned that a provision in the health care law requires health plans to cover all costs for preventive care including colon cancer screening — with no out-of-pocket costs to the patient.
"That's what made me make the appointment," she said. She also scheduled a mammogram and cervical cancer screening, which also are covered preventive services under the law. In all, she saved nearly $3,000 in out-of-pocket costs last year because of the Affordable Care Act.
"I said to my sister, 'Thank you Obamacare," Pearson said.
The Obama administration says the Affordable Care Act provided about 54 million Americans with at least one new free preventive service last year through their private health insurance plans.
But Pearson is worried that covering preventive services will mean her insurance premiums and her taxes will go up. "It's being paid for by somebody," she reasoned. She recently talked with a student from Norway who told her about the tax levels in that country. "I'm fearful our world will turn into that."
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Name: David Zoltan
Home: Chicago
Age: 34
Occupation: Field marketing coordinator for a public relations firm.
Insurance coverage: Federally funded health plan for people with pre-existing conditions.
Zoltan lost a job and his health insurance during the recession. His diabetes sent him to the emergency room three times when he ran out of insulin during the two years he was uninsured.
In 2010, he was one of the first to sign up in Illinois for a new health insurance program for people with pre-existing conditions. The Affordable Care Act set aside $196 million for the state of Illinois to start the program.
Zoltan now pays about $1,848 a year for that coverage. The plan has a $2,000 deductible, meaning Zoltan also pays that amount out of pocket before the coverage starts.
Zoltan has found work, but his new job doesn't include health benefits, so he'll stay on the federally funded health plan.
"As a diabetic, I never again want to be without health insurance," Zoltan said. "Anything is better than not having coverage at all."
He is watching the Supreme Court as it considers the law. The requirement that Americans buy health insurance is under constitutional scrutiny. Zoltan believes the individual mandate is needed to spread the risk among the well and the sick, and keep insurance affordable.
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Name: Carol McKenna
Home: Pembroke Pines, Fla.
Age: 70
Occupation: Retired.
Insurance coverage: Medicare Advantage plan.
McKenna and her husband Morty have noticed that Medicare's "doughnut hole" is shrinking. The coverage gap in Medicare's prescription drug program — dubbed the "doughnut hole" — caught Morty in December last year. But once there, he received a 50 percent discount on brand-name drugs and other discounts on generic drugs thanks to Obama's health care law.
Last year, he received a $250 rebate check provided by the new law for people in the doughnut hole. Under the health care law, the gap will be gradually phased out by 2020.
Warnings about possible cuts to Medicare Advantage plans caused by the health care law haven't come true, Carol McKenna said. Their health plan still includes extra benefits such as fitness center membership.
She said she's grown weary of the political debate over the health care law.
"I've been following it somewhat. Then it got so convoluted and out of control during the elections that I stopped paying attention," McKenna said. "I don't want to hear it anymore. All they're doing is sniping at each other."
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Alonso-Zaldivar reported from Washington.
EDITOR'S NOTE _ This is part of a weeklong package of stories previewing the Supreme Court's consideration of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law

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HeroClix, a Fun App using Comic Book Characters, was Recently Featured on the AppWatch Segment of NewsWatch

NewsWatch, a nationwide television show, recently aired a news segment about “HeroClix”, a new app using comic book characters from popular franchises. The segment aired as part of “AppWatch”, a weekly review of the top apps in the marketplace.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) December 20, 2012
NewsWatch, a nationwide television show, recently aired a news segment about “HeroClix”, a new app using comic book characters from popular franchises. The segment aired as part of "AppWatch”, a weekly review of the top apps in the marketplace.
To get started, download the HeroClix TabApp application for free in the Apple App Store. Then unlock new comic stories and missions with each super hero figure. Unlock over 15 maps and follow along the unique storyline of each character while battling known villains. Users can challenge themselves to take out enemies at three separate difficulty levels and achieve the ultimate 3 star rating for each.
Figurines are available across multiple franchises, including Marvel Comics and DC Comics. Marvel figurines include comic book characters Wolverine, Captain America, and Iron Man. Each character has a different storyline that pops up when you place them on the screen. The marvel edition has over 30 villains and 18 different maps that users can play through.
The game has a live action, arcade style of play that is fun for anyone, ages 14+. Unlock special maps and comic scenarios with each figure. Users can take out a swarm of villains with the tap or swipe of a finger as you move on to more challenging levels. Haven’t picked up a figure yet? You can still play HeroClix TabApp by selecting the "Don’t Have A Figure" option from the main menu to play the demo.
HeroClix TabApp is currently available for iOS devices and is compatible with the iPad 2 and newer, as well as the iPad mini. If you don’t have an iPad, HeroClix plans to announce they will be creating an Android compatible version soon. To download the app and begin playing, go to HeroClixTabApp.com or visit your itunes store and search for HeroClix TabApp. The app is currently free on the iTunes Store and figurines can be purchased through the HeroClix website.
NewsWatch is a weekly 30-minute consumer oriented television show that airs on the ION Network Thursday mornings at 5:30am across the nation. NewsWatch regularly features top travel destinations, health tips, technology products, medical breakthroughs and entertainment news on the show. A recent addition to NewsWatch, AppWatch is a weekly segment that provides viewers app reviews and game reviews of the latest and hottest apps and games out on the market for iOS and Android devices. The show airs in 180 markets nationwide as well as all of the top 20 broadcast markets in the country, and is the preferred choice for Satellite Media Tour and Video News Release Distribution.

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Hands-Free Lighting Device Designed by ASF Lightware Solutions Now Offered by Rehabmart.com

It is an LED light that is worn around the neck and offers a wider and brighter light than a typical clip-on book light. The hands-free design is perfect for wheelchair or walker users, and helps to keep hands free for tasks like quilting, knitting, changing diapers and other various forms of work and hobbies.

Elberton, GA (PRWEB) December 20, 2012
Rehabmart.com, an online e-commerce company that sells rehabilitation and medical supplies, has joined into a distribution partnership with ASF Lightware Solutions to offer their hands-free Beam N Read® Lights to a wider consumer marketplace. Headquartered in Merrick, New York, ASF Lightware Solutions was founded by inventor Arthur Friedman who has been awarded 18 patents for his inventions and designs, including the Beam N Read® light. Friedman himself needed a better portable light solution and was disappointed with the available market choices, so he created his own. Both Friedman and his company's co-founder and CKO (Chief Knitting Officer), wife Cynthia Freeman, use the Beam N Read® light in their daily lives.
The Beam N Read® Hands Free Lights are specifically designed for personal light wherever the user might need it, that won't disturb others in the same vicinity. It is an LED light that is worn around the neck and offers a wider and brighter light than a typical clip-on book light. The hands-free design is perfect for wheelchair or walker users, and helps to keep hands free for tasks like quilting, knitting, changing diapers and other various forms of work and hobbies. It is very compatible with books, newspapers, magazines, eReaders and as a Kindle reading light. The range of uses for the Beam N Read® is practically limitless and include utilization for reading, needlework, fine detail artwork and hobbies, camping, travel, emergencies and to help senior citizens with age-related disabilities and adults and children with special needs. The extra long battery life provides useful emergency light during a power outage as well.
Accessories to customize the Beam N Read® vary by model and include night vision filters that help to prevent night blindness and reduce the risk of eyestrain. Recommended for anyone who works in the dark, the Beam N Read® Hands-Free Night Vision Light is perfect for campers and hunters, and for healthcare professionals or caregivers who need to administer to a patient in the dark. “We are proud to introduce these amazing Hands-Free Beam N Read® Lights from ASF Lightware Solutions to more consumers,” said Hulet Smith, OTR/L, MBA and CEO of Rehabmart. “This personal light offers unsurpassed quality, functionality and versatility, enhancing sight for all users. Use it for reading, writing, drawing, painting, all forms of needlework and sewing, crafts and hobbies, traveling and camping, night work, emergencies, and just for seeing a whole lot better whenever and wherever you need to! Testimonials abound for this helpful device and we are so pleased to be able to offer this simple, but profound life enhancement to our customers at Rehabmart.com.”
About Rehabmart.com:
As an Occupational Therapist, the founder of Rehabmart, Hulet Smith, has the breadth of knowledge and experience necessary to match the needs of his customers with the very latest innovative products in the field of medical supplies and rehabilitation equipment. As a parent of special needs children, he has a personal interest in finding the best products to improve the lives of those who are disabled and medically challenged. Rehabmart.com is committed to provide superior customer service, competitive pricing and exceptional product offerings.

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Appconomy Announces Launch of its Jinjin Marketplace in China; Completes Series A Round for $16 Million Total

Appconomy, Inc., developer of the Appconomy Commerce Cloud platform and mobile apps, announced today the launch of its JinjinTM mobile marketplace in China.

Shanghai, China (PRWEB) December 20, 2012
The Jinjin marketplace launched in two of China’s most strategic markets, Beijing and Shanghai, the nation’s capital and the country’s largest city, respectively. Appconomy also announced that it had raised an additional $6 million in venture financing to complete its Series A round, for a final total of more than $16 million, to continue the rapid introduction of the Jinjin marketplace app and its mobile solutions across China’s retail industry.
The Jinjin marketplace features dozens of popular Chinese and global retail brands, with hundreds of locations in Beijing and Shanghai. Merchants include popular food & beverage chains Golden Phoenix Bakeries, Burger King, Pepper Lunch, among many others, as well as a variety of high-end health, beauty, and other goods & services merchants. For consumers, the Jinjin marketplace offers a ground-breaking mobile loyalty and rewards program in China. It is available immediately from the Jinjin website (http://www.jinjinapp.com) and popular Chinese Android app stores, e.g., HiAPK, Wandoujia, and Gfan, and will be available within days in iTunes for iOS users.
“We strongly believe that the launch of the Jinjin marketplace represents a unique milestone in the reinvention of the retail and dining experience for Chinese consumers and merchants,” said Brian Magierski, President and CEO of Appconomy. “Following our announcement early last month of the Jinjin Retail Solution at the China Retail Industry Convention, which we’ve begun the process of piloting for large retailers, Appconomy now offers the only comprehensive, mobile solution, serving both big and small box retailers. Through our Jinjin marketplace, commerce platform, and mobile apps, we enable retailers, in both their physical and online stores, with capabilities like smart shopping list management, in-store geo-fencing technology for precise product location, customizable notifications, discounts, rewards, and loyalty programs.”
“With the launch of the Jinjin marketplace, we are excited to accelerate our market penetration with multiple Chinese national and global brands, in multiple markets,” said Steve Papermaster, Chairman of Appconomy’s Board of Directors. “As we prepare for a next major phase of growth and related financing activity, we are pleased with both the strong interest by current investors to complete our Series A by exercising their rights and the new investors that are participating in the Appconomy opportunity to create value by joining in the round.

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JelliJar – New Online Specialty Food Marketplace in Beta Release

JelliJar is pleased to announce that its online food marketplace is accessible to select food producers and customers. The full site will launch in the first week of January 2013.

Toronto, Ontario (PRWEB) December 20, 2012
JelliJar is pleased to announce that its online food marketplace is accessible to select food producers and customers. The full site will launch in the first week of January 2013.
JelliJar is a marketplace where all types of food products can be discovered and purchased. The marketplace allows small producers that make products in small batches or have dedicated production facilities to be discovered by consumers with discerning tastes.
Small Food Producers, Chefs, Restaurants and Specialty Food Retailers can:

1. List their products, story, recipes, photos, videos, and contact details;

2. List retail locations where their products are sold (Shop Local);

3. Enable ecommerce transactions through PayPal;

4. Have customers subscribe to products;

5. Participate in Tasting Box subscriptions; and

6. Social Media Integration with Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter.
To learn more about JelliJar, please visit: http://www.jellijar.com
About JelliJar:
JelliJar is an online marketplace dedicated to providing food lovers with the ability to discover food that caters to their taste preferences. Its focus is on providing users with the ability to make informed choices when shopping for food for in the following categories: Gourmet and Artisan, Specialty Diets and International Cuisines.
Consumers will be provided with many resources to discover hidden treasures from the following types of producers: Small Food Producers, Independent Restaurants, Chefs and Independent Retailers.

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The sale of the NYSE and the death of stocks

T

o the general public, it's quite a "shocker," says David Weidner at MarketWatch. IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), an upstart derivatives exchange, based in Atlanta, is buying NYSE Euronext, the company that owns the iconic, 220-year-old New York Stock Exchange, in a deal worth more than $8 billion. To long-time market professionals, however, this merger merely confirms something they've known for quite some time. They've been witnessing the slow death of stocks — as the lord of the marketplace — for years, as new regulations and decimalization of trades once done using rounder fractions "effectively squeezed the margins — and the potential for graft — out of the system." Initial public offerings offered healthy profits, but even those have dried up recently, leaving the NYSE and other exchanges "searching the globe for a merger partner," hoping they could buy their way to growth. But the lucrative futures and options exchanges that seemed like natural buyers of the stock exchanges turned up their noses, asking, "Why would we need them?"

There was an exception. The newcomer to the derivatives party, the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) needed something to vault it into the conversation — even though it not only had profits, but market share and a valuation to rival any exchange in the world.

For all of its lackluster financial cosmetics, the NYSE is still the Big Board. It is the venue where the great corporations of the world are listed. The announced deal will have some opportunities for technology sharing and other efficiencies, but mostly its an $8.2 billion deal for a brand.

As if that weren't already humiliating enough for the Big Board, says Felix Salmon at Reuters, "stock trading is a complete afterthought in this deal" for ICE. "The real reason that ICE wants the company is Liffe, NYSE Euronext's London-based financial derivatives subsidiary." Derivatives exchanges, you see, are few. They compete only with each other, so they make money hand over fist. "There are lots of stock exchanges," so they compete fiercely with each other, "and none of them make much money."

You can almost hear ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher rolling his eyes and wondering why on earth he needs to hang on to what at this point is little more than a heavily-guarded tourist attraction... [But] it's actually a good thing that stock trading has become a low-margin, low-value business: that's what's meant to happen when you have lots of competition. Think of it as one of the few areas of the financial-services sector where capitalism works as advertised. 

This deal, once unthinkable, really does underscore "what a dog the stock trading business has become," say Zachary M. Seward and Matt Phillips at Quartz. There's just no denying it. But if all this gloom is driving down the value of stocks in everybody's eyes, maybe equities markets will soon be so undervalued that they'll bounce back.

If we were contrarians, all of this Death of Equities talk — reminiscent of the 1979 Businessweek cover that nearly nailed the bottom of the markets before surges of the 1980s and 1990s — might get us a little more interested in the markets.

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Composición de un grupo de usuarios OpenNMS independiente; conferencia prevista para marzo 2013

Un grupo de usuarios OpenNMS ha creado la OpenNMS Foundation Europe como organización sin ánimo de lucro para promover la gestión de red en general y la plataforma de gestión de red OpenNMS en particular. "La OpenNMS Foundation Europe acoge a todos aquellos usuarios de OpenNMS dentro de la comunidad OpenNMS, no solo a aquellos que contribuyen al código. Hemos integrado con éxito a aquellos que contribuyen al código, pero si uno fuese únicamente un usuario satisfecho que deseara compartir con el resto y aprender de ellos, estaríamos mucho peor organizados", ha explicado Alex Finger, presidente de la OpenNMS Foundation Europe. "Ahora disponemos de un lugar en el que reunir a los seguidores de OpenNMS y difundir nuestros conocimientos y experiencia en relación con el producto. Queremos abogar por el open source y enseñar a los demás a utilizar OpenNMS. La fundación es una forma de ampliar esta comunidad". La agenda de la conferencia de usuarios prevista para el año que viene ya está repleta de las historias y experiencias de estos usuarios, y completada por una formación básica y avanzada de la aplicación. Tarus Balog, CEO del grupo OpenNMS Group (la empresa con ánimo de lucro detrás de OpenNMS), ha declarado: "Una de las plataformas de gestión más exitosa de todos los tiempos fue OpenView, de Hewlett-Packard. En gran medida, este éxito se puede atribuir a la comunidad independiente y activa desarrollada por el grupo de usuarios OpenView Forum. El hecho de que la fundación promueva todavía más OpenNMS y haga hincapié en la naturaleza open source del software nos anima y entusiasma". La conferencia de usuarios OpenNMS está prevista para la semana del 11 de marzo de 2013, y tendrá lugar en la Universidad de Fulda, Alemania. La información completa sobre dicha conferencia y las oportunidades de patrocinio están disponibles en http://opennms.eu. ACERCA DE OPENNMS OpenNMS (www.opennms.org) es la primera plataforma de aplicación de gestión de red de empresa desarrollada siguiendo el modelo open source. Es una alternativa de software totalmente gratuita frente a los productos comerciales como HP Operations Manager, IBM Tivoli, y CA Unicenter. ACERCA DE LA OPENNMS FOUNDATION La OpenNMS Foundation Europe (www.opennms.eu) es una organización registrada sin ánimo de lucro de Alemania. La fundación promueve la educación, investigación, defensa e intercambio de conocimientos en torno a la gestión de red con software open source y, específicamente, OpenNMS. Está abierta para aquellas personas y empresas interesadas en formar parte de dicha comunidad. ACERCA DEL GRUPO OPENNMS El grupo OpenNMS (www.opennms.com) mantiene el proyecto OpenNMS. Dicho grupo también ofrece asistencia comercial, servicios y formación para la plataforma OpenNMS. El comunicado en el idioma original, es la versión oficial y autorizada del mismo. La traducción es solamente un medio de ayuda y deberá ser comparada con el texto en idioma original, que es la única versión del texto que tendrá validez legal.

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Big-data analytics company Cloudera raises $65 million

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Cloudera, a distributor of software that helps companies analyze big data, said it has raised $65 million in new funding. The company is part of a growing group of businesses that help dig into the vast trove of data created by digital sources such as sensors, posts to the Internet, pictures and videos. The field caught investor attention when Splunk, another data analytics firm, held an initial public offering earlier this year and doubled in price on its first trading day. Cloudera's business is based on Hadoop, open-source software that aggregates results from large sets of data. Cloudera provides services that allow companies to easily use Hadoop. The funding round was led by Accel Partners, with participation from Greylock Partners, Ignition Partners, In-Q-Tel and Meritech Capital Partners. All Things D, which first reported the funding, said the company's valuation was $700 million. Cloudera, based in Palo Alto, California, last raised $40 million in November 2011.

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T-Mobile to Offer Cheapest iPhone 5 in 2013

T-Mobile, the smallest of the "big four" wireless carries in the United States, already offers the country's cheapest iPhone service -- if you have an unlocked iPhone. And according to Engadget's Brad Molen, more than a million unlocked iPhones are on T-Mobile's network already. Now, T-Mobile has announced that it will "add Apple products to its portfolio in the coming year," according to parent company Deutsche Telekom AG. And while that could mean anything from the new iPad Mini to an as-yet-unreleased Apple product of some kind, many expect T-Mobile to finally get the iPhone, making it the last major carrier in the United States to get it. If T-Mobile does, and it continues to offer its $30 "Unlimited Web & Text with 100 Minutes" plan, that may make T-Mobile's iPhone the cheapest one out there -- even if it costs hundreds of dollars more up front than on AT&T. Subsidies aren't just for big corporations Most of the big-name wireless carriers in the United States offer what are called "subsidized" smartphones, meaning you don't pay their whole cost up front. Instead, you pay a discounted price (which can be as little as $0.01), but are locked into a wireless contract for up to 2 years. Wireless customers who switch before their contract is up have to pay an "early termination fee," which can go over and above the actual cost of the smartphone. Buy now, save later With prepaid smartphone plans, on the other hand, you pay the whole cost of the phone up front and afterward it's yours to keep (whether its SIM card is locked into one network or not). And with the announcement that T-Mobile is going prepaid-only starting next year, that means any iPhone the company carries will be of the unsubsidized variety. Apple currently sells the 16 GB iPhone 5 for $649, contract-free, on its website. It also sells the 16 GB iPhone 4S for $549, however, while contract-free carrier Virgin Mobile sells the same phone unsubsidized for $449 with a $35 per month data plan -- not too much more expensive than T-Mobile's. Lessons of the past​ It's hard to say how much T-Mobile would offer an iPhone 5 for if the device landed on its network. Virgin Mobile started out charging more up front and offering a $30 plan, while Cricket currently sells the contract-free iPhone 5 for $499 but its service starts at $55. Assuming T-Mobile continues to offer its current "web exclusive" $30 unlimited plan for a hypothetical iPhone 5 on its network, it's not likely to be discounted much if at all from Apple's asking price. Just paying for 5 GBs of data per month from AT&T would cost $1,200 over 2 years, however, plus the $199 cost of a subsidized iPhone (and you have to pay for voice minutes and texting on top of that). Meanwhile, it's possible right now to buy an unlocked iPhone 5 from Apple and get 2 years of T-Mobile's $30 service for $1,369. That includes 5 GBs of data before connection speed throttling, plus unlimited texting and 100 voice minutes per month. ​Looking to the future T-Mobile offers the cheapest iPhone 5 service right now. And if the "Apple products" T-Mobile is getting next year include the iPhone 5, T-Mobile customers may see even better offerings coming their way in the near future. Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

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Hug It Out: Public Charter and District Schools Given $25 Million to Get Along

If you need a loan, ask Bill and Melinda Gates. Or better yet, ask one of the seven cities that are splitting a new $25 million grant courtesy of the couple’s philanthropic foundation. The funds are going to promote cross collaboration between charter and district schools, which have previously operated in a strict and contentious independence from one another. The foundation announced the award this week, and the cities benefiting are Boston, Denver, Hartford (CT), New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia and Spring Branch (TX). How did they get so lucky? They’re among a group of 16 communities that signed the Gates-sponsored “District-Charter Collaboration Compacts” pledging for an open-source collaboration between public charter and district public schools. Communication between these two models is unusual to say the least; they’ve had a long and illustrious history of battling each other over tax dollars, students and even building space. But when charter schools first opened 20 years ago, their original purpose was to create an experimental educational space which would then share its best methods with public district schools. Instead, the two grew into rivals and critics of each are vehemently opposed to the other. Among the complaints, charter schools are seen as selfishly siphoning off the most motivated students from the district while upholding a rich-poor educational divide and failing to live up to the promise of a better education. Others say its district schools that are the issue for their unionized teacher complacency and a consistent inability to keep a large margin of students from falling through the cracks. In truth, neither system is a slam-dunk, and both are experiencing closures nationwide due to underperformance. The goal of the District-Charter Collaboration Compacts is to restore the original relationship of the two camps, effectively establishing a regular protocol of sharing their best practices, innovations and resources. Don Shalvey, the deputy director at teh Gates Foundation told The New York Times, “It took Microsoft and Apple 10 years to learn to talk. So it’s not surprising that it took a little bit longer for charters and other public schools. It’s pretty clear there is more common ground than battleground.” But what will this grand collaboration yield? If all goes according to plan, students from both camps will benefit from new teacher effectiveness practices, college-ready tools and supports, and innovative instructional delivery systems. According to the Gates Foundation, only one-third of students meet the criteria of college ready by the time they graduate. And most of the kids who don’t are often minority students from lower income areas. By creating collaborative aims with charter and district, kids from all over can have access to a wider swath of teaching frameworks and curriculums.

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Composición de un grupo de usuarios OpenNMS independiente; conferencia prevista para marzo 2013prevista para marzo 2013

Un grupo de usuarios OpenNMS ha creado la OpenNMS Foundation Europe como organización sin ánimo de lucro para promover la gestión de red en general y la plataforma de gestión de red OpenNMS en particular. "La OpenNMS Foundation Europe acoge a todos aquellos usuarios de OpenNMS dentro de la comunidad OpenNMS, no solo a aquellos que contribuyen al código. Hemos integrado con éxito a aquellos que contribuyen al código, pero si uno fuese únicamente un usuario satisfecho que deseara compartir con el resto y aprender de ellos, estaríamos mucho peor organizados", ha explicado Alex Finger, presidente de la OpenNMS Foundation Europe. "Ahora disponemos de un lugar en el que reunir a los seguidores de OpenNMS y difundir nuestros conocimientos y experiencia en relación con el producto. Queremos abogar por el open source y enseñar a los demás a utilizar OpenNMS. La fundación es una forma de ampliar esta comunidad". La agenda de la conferencia de usuarios prevista para el año que viene ya está repleta de las historias y experiencias de estos usuarios, y completada por una formación básica y avanzada de la aplicación. Tarus Balog, CEO del grupo OpenNMS Group (la empresa con ánimo de lucro detrás de OpenNMS), ha declarado: "Una de las plataformas de gestión más exitosa de todos los tiempos fue OpenView, de Hewlett-Packard. En gran medida, este éxito se puede atribuir a la comunidad independiente y activa desarrollada por el grupo de usuarios OpenView Forum. El hecho de que la fundación promueva todavía más OpenNMS y haga hincapié en la naturaleza open source del software nos anima y entusiasma". La conferencia de usuarios OpenNMS está prevista para la semana del 11 de marzo de 2013, y tendrá lugar en la Universidad de Fulda, Alemania. La información completa sobre dicha conferencia y las oportunidades de patrocinio están disponibles en http://opennms.eu. ACERCA DE OPENNMS OpenNMS (www.opennms.org) es la primera plataforma de aplicación de gestión de red de empresa desarrollada siguiendo el modelo open source. Es una alternativa de software totalmente gratuita frente a los productos comerciales como HP Operations Manager, IBM Tivoli, y CA Unicenter. ACERCA DE LA OPENNMS FOUNDATION La OpenNMS Foundation Europe (www.opennms.eu) es una organización registrada sin ánimo de lucro de Alemania. La fundación promueve la educación, investigación, defensa e intercambio de conocimientos en torno a la gestión de red con software open source y, específicamente, OpenNMS. Está abierta para aquellas personas y empresas interesadas en formar parte de dicha comunidad. ACERCA DEL GRUPO OPENNMS El grupo OpenNMS (www.opennms.com) mantiene el proyecto OpenNMS. Dicho grupo también ofrece asistencia comercial, servicios y formación para la plataforma OpenNMS. El comunicado en el idioma original, es la versión oficial y autorizada del mismo. La traducción es solamente un medio de ayuda y deberá ser comparada con el texto en idioma original, que es la única versión del texto que tendrá validez legal.

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Cricket-Tsotsobe ruled out of Twenty20 series

DURBAN, Dec 21 (Reuters) - South Africa left-arm pace bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe has been ruled out of the three-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand starting on Friday after suffering an ankle injury, Cricket South Africa said.
Lonwabo, 28 was taken for a scan on Thursday after bowling 10 balls in the nets on the eve of the first international.
His withdrawal follows the news that another pace bowler Vernon Philander in an injury doubt for the first test starting in Cape Town on Jan. 2 after injuring a hamstring in a domestic first class match. (Reporting by Jason Humphries; Editing by John Mehaffey)

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Tsotsobe ruled out of Twenty20 series

DURBAN (Reuters) - South Africa left-arm pace bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe has been ruled out of the three-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand starting on Friday after suffering an ankle injury, Cricket South Africa said.
Lonwabo, 28 was taken for a scan on Thursday after bowling 10 balls in the nets on the eve of the first international.
His withdrawal follows the news that another pace bowler Vernon Philander in an injury doubt for the first test starting in Cape Town on January 2 after injuring a hamstring in a domestic first class match.

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Cricket-South Africa v New Zealand Twenty20 scoreboard

DURBAN, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Scoreboard from the first
Twenty20 International between South Africa and New Zealand at
Kingsmead Stadium on Friday.
New Zealand
R.Nicol c de Kock b Kleinveldt 3
P.Fulton c Morris b Steyn 9
B.McCullum c Steyn b Kleinveldt 6
J.Franklin c de Kock b McLaren 0
C.Munro c and b Morris 23
C.Anderson c Levi b Morris 5
N.McCullum b Peterson 1
J.Neesham b Peterson 10
D.Bracewell not out 21
R.Hira c Kleinveldt b Steyn 5
M.McClenaghan c Peterson b Kleinveldt 0
Extras (lb-1, w-2) 3
Total (all out in 18.2 overs) 86
Fall: 1-9, 2-19, 3-19, 4-27, 5-34, 6-36, 7-54, 8-60, 9-81
Bowling: McLaren 4-0-27-1, Steyn 3-0-13-2 (1w), Kleinveldt
3.2-1-18-3, Morris 3.4-0-19-2 (1w), Peterson 4-0-8-2, Du Plessis
0.2-0-0-0.
South Africa
R.Levi c Fulton b McClenaghan 0
H.Davids b Hira 20
F.du Plessis not out 38
Q.de Kock not out 28
Extras (w-1) 1
Total (for two wickets in 12.1 overs) 87
Fall: 1-0, 2-45
Bowling: McClenaghan 3-1-20-1, Bracewell 2-0-21-0 (1w), Hira
3-0-15-1, Anderson 1-0-11-0, N.McCullum 2-0-7-0, Nicol 1-0-11-0,
Neesham 0.1-0-2-0.
South Africa won by eight wickets and lead three-match
series 1-0.

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Tennis-Robson, Watson to warm up for Australian Open in Hobart

MELBOURNE, Dec 22 (Reuters) - British Olympic silver medallist Laura Robson and compatriot Heather Watson will warm up for the Australian Open at the Jan. 4-12 Hobart International, organisers said on Saturday.
The 18-year-old Robson, who won mixed doubles silver with men's singles champion Andy Murray at the London Olympics, will make her first appearance at the Tasmanian tournament headlined by former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy.
Watson, 20, who became Britain's first WTA champion in 24 years with her win at the Japan Open in October, returns for her second appearance after playing this year's tournament as a qualifier.
The Australian Open starts Jan. 14. (Writing by Ian Ransom; Editing by Frank Pingue)

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Robson, Watson to warm up for Australian Open in Hobart

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - British Olympic silver medalist Laura Robson and compatriot Heather Watson will warm up for the Australian Open at the January 4-12 Hobart International, organisers said on Saturday.
The 18-year-old Robson, who won mixed doubles silver with men's singles champion Andy Murray at the London Olympics, will make her first appearance at the Tasmanian tournament headlined by former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy.
Watson, 20, who became Britain's first WTA champion in 24 years with her win at the Japan Open in October, returns for her second appearance after playing this year's tournament as a qualifier.
The Australian Open starts January 14.

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