Everyone's favorite electronics hobby shop, Adafruit has posted instructions for building your own HAL 9000 replica out of a big red button, an Arduino board, and some cleverly cut plastic. Best of all? With the press of a button you can make HAL tell you what to do - until you kill it.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/zZRuVleobq4/
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Google Demonstrates How To Use Google Glass In The Shower
www.seroundtable.comYesterday, I shared a revealing picture of Robert Scoble using Google Glass while showering. Today, I wanted to share Google's official recommendations on how to wear Google Glass while in the shower
Source: http://www.facebook.com/seoroundtable/posts/10151425217894702
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Fasting Week
Detox your body!
A lighter, brighter, healthier you in one week.
By Zo? Palmer-Wright ND, BA (Hons), Ad Dip Nut
Join our guided juice/broth fasting programme which will deeply cleanse your body tissues of waste and toxins leaving you rejuvenated and energised!
Attendance at 5 evening classes over a 7 day period with the reassurance of having email and telephone support in between will allow you to undertake a safe and effective home-based fast under the guidance of fasting expert Zo? Palmer-Wright.
Please note that acceptance on this course is subject to the passing of a health check.
Times: 6:30 - 9:00pm, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20 November 2013.
Cost: ?175 (includes email and telephone support between sessions)
Bookings and info: Contact us on 01342 410 505 or Click here to pay online
Location:
CNM London 41 Riding House Street, London W1W 7BE
Source: http://www.naturopathy-uk.com/blog/2013/11/13/fasting-week/
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Gengo, an increasingly popular online translation service that uses a network of more than 7,500 pre-screened and rated translators to provide high-quality translations in 33 languages, announced that it has raised a $12 million funding round. The round was led by Intel Capital, with participation from Iris Capital, Infocomm, NTT-IP?and Saudi Telecom Ventures, as well as?returning investor?Atomico. The service previously raised a total of $6.8 million, including a $5.25 million series A round led by Atomico and Dave McClure’s 500 Startups.?McClure is also a Gengo board member. The fact that a number of telecom companies are part of this round, Gengo’s CEO and founder Robert Laing told me in an email earlier today,?”shows how telecoms companies ‘get’ the global opportunity of Gengo.” ?The Gengo team is excited about working with investors from Asia, the USA, Europe, and the Middle East, led by Intel Capital, because of their global experience and track record helping entrepreneurs,? Laing writes in today’s announcement. Added Matthew Romaine, CTO and co-founder of Gengo:??There?s a significant technology component to human translation at scale, so it?s great to work with a firm with the pedigree of Intel Capital.? Currently, Japan and the U.S. account for about 40 percent of Gengo’s revenue each.?The company currently has a staff of 30 in its Tokyo office and nine employees in San Mateo. According to Laing, the company has been growing rapidly. Gengo’s translators have already translated more texts in 2013 than they did during 2012. Part of this growth, of course, is due to the recent partnership with Google’s YouTube, which has now made Gengo one of its two integrated paid translation services, as well as a recent partnership with 3Play Media. Besides video, Laing says, Gengo is also seeing a huge volume of translations from travel and e-commerce sites, including from a number of “leading e-commerce, online travel, and community portals” that are currently powered by its translation platform. The Gengo team plans to use this new round of funding to accelerate its global expansion and improve both its translation platform and increase the speed of the translation process.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/C5T_AJqa-a4/
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You?d never know it if you looked at his stats ? the Angels? slugger is hitting .317 with eight extra-base hits ? but Albert Pujols has been bothered by plantar fasciitis in his left foot. With another start at DH this afternoon, he has now started more games as the DH (nine) than as the first baseman (eight). Pujols himself admits the injury is bothering him.
?I?m dying,? Pujols said according to Bill Shaikin. ?It?s hurting real bad.?
The Angels will continue to use Pujols until he cannot handle the pain anymore.
?You?re always picking at a scab a little bit, when you?re trying to play and trying to run,? Manager Mike Scioscia said. ?Certainly, you don?t want it to regress. He?s swinging the bat real well.
?You want to keep it to where he can still DH and hopefully get him to first base at some point.?
The Angels have used Mark Trumbo at first base when Pujols has been the DH, which should be the case for the foreseeable future.
Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/21/albert-pujols-is-hurting-real-bad/related/
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Sure, Omni-directional treadmills are nothing new, but Virtuix's take is worth a mention now that it's been shown off working in conjunction with the Oculus Rift. The company's been posting videos of its Omni treadmill working with Kinect for months, but last Thursday it upped the ante by adding the Rift. All told, it makes for what looks to be an intense VR session of Team Fortress 2 -- officially one-upping SixSenses Razer Hydra demo for the VR headset. The company's been working on this unit as an affordable solution for households, aiming to eventually try for funding via Kickstarter. Catch the video demo after the break and try to resist throwing money at the screen in an attempt to get in on the action early.
Filed under: Gaming
Via: Mashable
Source: Virtuix (YouTube)
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The amount of malware aimed at infecting Android devices worldwide more than doubled last year, according to a new report from a mobile-security firm.
The sheer number of pieces of malware for the Android platform rose from less than 25,000 in 2011 to more than 65,000 in 2012.
The annual report, published by mobile security company NQ Mobile, also estimated that nearly 33 million devices were infected in 2012, up from just under 11 million the year before ? an increase of more than 200 percent.
The bulk of the Android infections ? 25.5 percent ? occurred in China, followed by India with 19.4 percent and Russia with 18 percent.
The United States accounted for less than 10 percent of the world's Android infections. The report noted that the Android infection rate in the U.S. was essentially unchanged from 2011 to 2012.
NQ Mobile said the most popular way of infecting Android devices was through app repackaging, which involves taking popular apps from the official Google Play store, adding malicious code and then uploading the corrupted app onto an unofficial app market.
Middle Kingdom malware
Infections often occur when Android users download cut-rate apps from unofficial markets to avoid paying full price, the NQ report noted.
In China, Google Play does not sell paid apps, thanks to the company's opposition to Chinese government privacy policies, and most users must "sideload" apps from dozens of unofficial app stores.
Ironically, malware hidden in corrupted apps usually steals victims' personal data. For non-Chinese users, the risks and headaches involved with getting apps from unofficial sources often outweigh the benefits, but tens of millions of Chinese Android users don't have a choice.
Even legitimate Chinese Android apps are vulnerable to malware. A recent study by four Chinese researchers working at the University of California, Davis, found that Chinese-language social-networking apps often had sloppy coding practices that could easily be exploited by malware.
In March, a Chinese government study found that two-thirds of Chinese-language Android apps were reading users' private data, including locations, address books and text and calling logs.
One-third of all the apps were reading user data that had no discernible connection to the apps' stated purposes, and about 15 percent were making calls and sending texts without the user's knowledge. [See also: 10 Tips to Keep Your Android Phone Safe ]
Untrustworthy URLs, sinister smishes
Cybercriminals also steal Android users' personal data through malicious websites. Subtle changes in URLs can redirect users to nefarious clones of the sites they think they're accessing.
On the malicious sites, users are often prompted to populate a form field with a combination of personal information, including names, email addresses, passwords and more, or to download a piece of malicious software.
Mobile cyberthieves also use a technique called "smishing," a combination of "SMS" and "phishing." It involves sending an unsolicited text message, or SMS, to a target and persuading the target to click a link in the message, which in turns downloads and installs a malicious Android app.
Some of the apps, especially in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe, clandestinely access premium text-message services that can cause a victim's phone bill to skyrocket.
Android whack-a-mole
Android users can avoid becoming victims of malware and fraud by being very careful about clicking on links and installing apps.
Access the Internet on your Android device with the same level of seriousness you would on a Windows PC. If an email message seems sketchy, don't open the links or attachments it contains. If any link in your email or browser seems suspect, stay away.
By that same token, make sure you're really on the webpage you seek before giving up your password or your personal information. Small screens may make it harder to see a website's full URL, but in the end, taking a moment to check could be a huge timesaver.
TechNewsDaily recommends that users download apps only from the Google Play store, which puts them through a vetting process. Apps on most third-party sites are not screened and could contain very nasty code.
Android users outside of China should also go into the Security sections of their Settings menus and make sure "Unknown sources" is unchecked. That will prevent most Android drive-by downloads of unwanted software from the Internet.
Users of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean should check "Verify apps," which will run downloaded apps through a screening process before installing them. (Sadly, NQ Mobile noted that nearly 40 percent of Android phones still run the 2-year-old 2.3 Gingerbread version, which has fewer security features.)
Finally, read up on the different brands of Android anti-virus software, some of which cost nothing, and install one. Make sure to keep it updated with the latest malware definitions.
Follow us @TechNewsDaily, on Facebook or on Google+.Originally published on TechNewsDaily.com.
Copyright 2013 TechNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: Andre Miller #24 of the Denver Nuggets lays in the game winning shot against Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors with 1.2 seconds remaining in the game during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Warriors 97-95. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Denver Nuggets guard Andre Miller is swarmed by teammates after his game-winning basket in Game 1 in the first round of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, April 20, 2013, in Denver. The Nuggets won 97-95. (AP Photo/Chris Schneider)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: Evan Fournier #94 of the Denver Nuggets puts up a shot against Stephen Curry #30 and Andrew Bogut #12 of the Golden State Warriors during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Warriors 97-95. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: Evan Fournier #94 of the Denver Nuggets lays up a shot against Festus Ezeli #31 of the Golden State Warriors as Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors and Kosta Koufos #41 of the Denver Nuggets follow the play during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Warriors 97-95. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: Ty Lawson #3 of the Denver Nuggets lays up a shot against Harrison Barnes #40 of the Golden State Warriors and Andrew Bogut #12 of the Golden State Warriors during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Warriors 97-95. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: Harrison Barnes #40 of the Golden State Warriors, JaVale McGee #34 of the Denver Nuggets, Andris Biedrins #15 of the Golden State Warriors, Ty Lawson #3 of the Denver Nuggets and David Lee #10 of the Golden State Warriors battle for a rebound during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Warriors 97-95. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors turns the ball over to the defensive pressure of Wilson Chandler #21 of the Denver Nuggets and Ty Lawson #3 of the Denver Nuggets during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Warriors 97-95. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: David Lee #10 of the Golden State Warriors leaves the court after an injury against the Denver Nuggets during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Warriors 97-95. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: JaVale McGee #34 of the Denver Nuggets dunks the ball as he was fouled by Festus Ezeli #31 of the Golden State Warriors during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Warriors 97-95. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors reacts after a play against the Denver Nuggets during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Warriors 97-95. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: Andre Iguodala #9 of the Denver Nuggets dishes the ball off while under defensive pressure from Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Warriors 97-95. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: Head coach George Karl leads the Denver Nuggets to a 97-95 win over the Golden State Warriors during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors and his teammates leave the court after being defeated by the Denver Nuggets in Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Warriors 97-95. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: Andre Miller #24 of the Denver Nuggets steals the ball from Jarrett Jack #2 of the Golden State Warriors during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Warriors 97-95. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: Andrew Bogut #12 of the Golden State Warriors battles for rebounding position against Wilson Chandler #21 of the Denver Nuggets and JaVale McGee #34 of the Denver Nuggets during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors sits on the court following a play against the Denver Nuggets during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Warriors 97-95. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 20: Fans support the Denver Nuggets as they face the Golden State Warriors during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 20, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Warriors 97-95. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson, right, lays in the ball past Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson, center, after a steal in the second half of Game 1 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Saturday, April 20, 2013, in Denver. Nuggets guard Andre Miller is at left. The Nuggets won 97-95. (AP Photo/Chris Schneider)
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In this Monday, April 15, 2013, photo, spectators make pictures with camera phones during the Boston Marathon in Boston, before two bombs exploded at the finish line in an attack that killed 3 people and wounded over 170. As the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombings illustrates, getting lost in the crowd is no longer an easy feat. There are eyes _ and cameras _ everywhere. (AP Photo/Kenshin Okubo)
In this Monday, April 15, 2013, photo, spectators make pictures with camera phones during the Boston Marathon in Boston, before two bombs exploded at the finish line in an attack that killed 3 people and wounded over 170. As the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombings illustrates, getting lost in the crowd is no longer an easy feat. There are eyes _ and cameras _ everywhere. (AP Photo/Kenshin Okubo)
This image taken from video released by the FBI on Thursday, April 18, 2013 shows what the FBI are calling suspect number 1, front, in black cap, and suspect number 2, in white cap, back right, walking near each other through the crowd in Boston on Monday, April 15, 2013, before the explosions at the Boston Marathon. (AP Photo/FBI)
As the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombings illustrates, getting lost in the crowd is no longer an easy feat. There are eyes ? and cameras ? everywhere.
Investigators swiftly obtained a vast quantity of amateur photos and videos taken by onlookers, often with their cell phones, as well as extensive footage from surveillance cameras in the area of the blasts. The FBI released images Thursday from one of those cameras, zeroing in on two men in caps who have become the suspects in the case. They're seen walking together; the FBI said one of them later set down a backpack where the second explosion occurred.
If indeed the video provides the crucial break in the Boston case, surveillance cameras ? which have proliferated in London, Chicago and elsewhere ? may take on new allure. Informal surveillance by private citizens may proliferate as well; the FBI says it expects the public to be its "eyes and ears" as the investigation continues.
The upside of this expanding surveillance network is clear ? a greater potential for law enforcement to solve crimes and, in some instances, to prevent them. David Antar of New York-based IPVideo Corporation says video surveillance can be set up to trigger warnings if bags are left unattended or suspicious activity takes place before or during a large-scale event.
Is there a downside?
Some civil libertarians say yes. While they welcome any tools that can help solve a crime as brutal as the bombings, they worry about an irrevocable loss of privacy for anyone venturing into public places.
"It's now harder and harder to go about our lives without being tracked everywhere," said Ben Wizner, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who specializes in privacy and technology issues.
"The ACLU doesn't object to cameras at high-profile public places that are potential terrorist targets," he said. "What we do object to is a society in which cameras are so pervasive that we can't go about our lives anywhere without them being recorded and stored in data bases forever."
Within the past decade, the scope of surveillance ? both private and government ? has increased incalculably. Just this week, security video helped lead to the arrests of a Texas couple in the slayings of two prosecutors and the wife of one of them. Authorities say the accused man, a former justice of the peace, was embittered because he had been convicted of stealing government computer monitors ? an offense which was itself captured on security video.
And then there is self-surveillance. Millions of people check in regularly with Foursquare to communicate their whereabouts; many millions more passively enable themselves to be tracked simply by carrying their cell phones.
Photographs and videos can rocket through cyberspace, instantly viewable by strangers on the other side of the world or by law enforcement agencies, courtesy of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and other social media.
Attitudes toward surveillance and privacy may be shifting. There's a generation of teens and young adults who have grown up with social media and may be more reconciled than older Americans to the prospects of being tracked.
"Americans still cite privacy as one of the core values they cherish, but what's happening is this slow, insidious erosion of it," said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University.
"Humans need at times to feel they can exist freely and without constant observation ? it is essential to our right to association and expression," he said. "And yet we have a generation being raised in a fishbowl society. They're more tolerant of government surveillance, and that can be a danger to a free society."
Compared to the United States, surveillance cameras are far more pervasive in Britain, where they were first used decades ago to protect against attacks from Irish militants. Up to 4 million or so cameras are now in place, including some around the house of George Orwell, the author of "1984," which foretold of a "Big Brother" society.
Among the British public, the cameras seem to be widely accepted ? especially in the aftermath of the 2005 suicide bombings that killed 52 commuters during morning rush-hour traffic in London. Evidence from closed-circuit cameras helped crack that case.
"If you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to be worried about," said Joseph Clarke, 32, a London banker. "I'm out all of the time and I don't even notice them. We need them."
Nonetheless, a London-based organization called Big Brother Watch has been campaigning to cut back on the surveillance network.
"While it provides a sometimes useful tool after an event, it doesn't address the root causes of crime and doesn't protect the public," said the group's director, Nick Pickles. "The public has been desensitized, and so have the perpetrators of crime. The initial deterrent effect has largely disappeared because people just take it for granted."
Last year, Big Brother Watch issued a report revealing that more than 200 high schools had installed surveillance cameras in bathrooms and locker rooms. School officials defended the initiative, saying it was needed to combat bullying and did not reveal images of students using the toilets.
In the United States, Chicago has the most comprehensive network of surveillance cameras, estimated at more than 10,000. They are mounted on street poles and skyscrapers, aboard buses and in train tunnels; the rail system alone has more than 3,600 cameras.
Police credit the network for thousands of arrests in recent years. Cameras have recorded drug deals, bike thefts and other crimes; footage from a camera on a city bus helped convince a suspected gang member to plead guilty to shooting a high school student in 2007.
After the Boston Marathon bombings, Mayor Rahm Emanuel was quick to tout Chicago's surveillance cameras.
"They serve an important function for the city in providing the type of safety on a day-to-day basis ? not just for big events like a marathon," he said.
Police say they get few complaints about the network. And even the local branch of the ACLU says Chicagoans generally seem at peace with the system ? except when they get a traffic ticket for a camera-recorded infraction.
Police have not always had their way in expanding surveillance networks. In Washington, D.C, the city council balked at appropriating money in 2008 for a network of more than 5,000 cameras after privacy and civil liberties groups campaigned against the plan.
Attorney Hanni Fakhoury of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for online free speech and privacy rights, said the data amassed by police from surveillance cameras and personal devices has enormous crime-solving potential. But he said there were worrisome questions about how long such data would be stored, and who could access it.
"There seems to be a suggestion, that just by walking in a city square, you give up your rights to be anonymous," he said. "We could stop all sorts of crime ahead of time if we monitored everything everywhere. But do we want to live in that kind of society?"
___
Associated Press writer Paisley Dodds in London contributed to this report.
Follow David Crary on Twitter: http://twitter.com/CraryAP
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Brits accustomed to catching up on their shows with Sky Go likely don't want that seamless viewing experience broken just because they bought that latest 1080p-capable Android flagship. Thankfully, they won't have to. An update to the Android app now supports the HTC One, Xperia Z and the upcoming Galaxy S 4: while none of them will stream in 1080p, the software will at last do more than take up space. Those on the "merely" 720p-native RAZR HD can also tune in with the upgrade. Swing by Google Play for the update if you're a Sky subscriber with a shiny new device.
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile, Samsung, Sony, HTC, Google
Source: Google Play
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/18/sky-go-for-android-now-streams-to-the-htc-one-and-galaxy-s-4/
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The change in New Zealand's law could pressure neighbors such as Australia to consider revising their laws.
New Zealand lawmaker Louisa Wall, who sponsored the gay marriage bill, stands on the steps of Parliament in Wellington before voting for the same-sex marriage Tuesday. New Zealand has become the 13th country in the world and the first in the Asia-Pacific region to legalize same-sex marriage. Hundreds of jubilant gay-rights advocates celebrated at New Zealand's Parliament today after lawmakers vote 77 to 44 in favor of the gay-marriage bill.
Nick Perry/AP
EnlargeNew Zealand has become?the 13th? country and the first in the Asia-Pacific region to legalize same-sex marriage. Its Parliament voted 77 to 44 Wednesday in favor of allowing same-sex marriage, prompting cheers, applause, and singing among those watching the process from the gallery.
Skip to next paragraph Jenna FisherAsia editor
Jenna Fisher is the Monitor's Asia editor, overseeing regional coverage for CSMonitor.com and the weekly magazine.
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New Zealand gave same-sex partnerships partial recognition in 2005 with civil unions. But the new law, which goes into effect in August, will allow couples who consider themselves gay, lesbian, and transgendered to marry, jointly adopt children, and have their marriages to be recognized in other countries, reports Al Jazeera English.
"It shows that we are building on our human rights as a country," Louisa Wall, an opposition Labour Party member of Parliament who campaigned in favor of the bill, told the Guardian.
New Zealand joins Canada, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, Norway, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina, Denmark, Mexico City, and some US states in recognizing same-sex marriage.
Uruguay passed a law last week. And Uruguay's President Jos? Mujica is expected to sign the bill into law within the next few weeks.
France is also close to legalizing same-sex marriage ??even though many French have taken to the streets to oppose it, The Christian Science Monitor reported earlier this year.
New Zealand?s law faced strong opposition by the Roman Catholic Church and other conservative groups, which said it would undermine the institution of the family.
Supporters of the bill said that they recognized it wouldn?t stop discrimination, but said it gave people hope.
??This is for the young people?... this is for them.?? Labour Deputy Leader Grant Robertson told Fairfax Media.?
On news of the court?s result, politicians promised the "sky would not cave in" because of the bill.
??I give a promise to those people who are opposed to this bill right now... the sun will still rise tomorrow, your teenage daughter will still argue back with you as if she knows everything, your mortgage will not grow, you will not have skin disease or rashes or toads in your bed,? [said Customs Minister Maurice Williamson.]
??So don?t make this into a big deal, this is fantastic for the people it affects but for most of us life will go on.???
The change in New Zealand could put pressure on some of its neighbors to consider changing their laws. Australia rejected a similar proposal to allow same-sex couples to wed last year. In Australia, there has not been much political momentum for a change at a federal level. However, some Australian states are considering gay-marriage legislation, according to Al Jazeera.?
"With marriage equality now just three hours away by plane, those Australian same-sex couples who are tired of waiting will marry in New Zealand instead," group leader Rodney Croome said, though NPR reported that such marriages wouldn?t be recognized in Australia.?
Other countries situated in Asia have seen movement that promises to bolster rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.
Vietnam has recently repealed regulations to fine same-sex couples who marry, according to the Bangkok Post. And in April, the first sitcom to feature openly gay characters aired in the conservative country, becoming a nationwide hit.
The success of the sitcom comes on the heels of a $6,000 grant for a Gay Pride celebration in Vietnam this year to draw attention to issues of discrimination. Campaigners are working on getting it sanctioned by the state.?
And earlier this year,?the Monitor reported?that in Thailand, which has one of the most tolerant attitudes toward homosexuality in?Asia?but no specific laws designed to protect same sex couples from discrimination, a bill was in the works to allow civil unions. It is expected to be presented to parliament soon.
Back in the courtroom in New Zealand, as the news was announced, people started singing the New Zealand love ballad "Pokarekare Ana" in the indigenous Maori language, according to multiple news outlets.
"For us, we can now feel equal to everyone else," Tania Penafiel Bermudez, a bank teller told Al Jazeera. She said she already considered herself married to partner, Sonja Fry, but "This means we can feel safe.?
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Lionfish, like this one spotted in the Bahamas, are a non-native predatory fish that can decimate native fish populations.
Cammy Clark/MCT/LandovA gluttonous predator is power-eating its way through reefs from New York to Venezuela. It's the lionfish.
And although researchers are coming up with new ways to protect some reefs from the flamboyant maroon-striped fish, they have no hope of stopping its unparalleled invasion.
Lad Akins has scuba dived in the vibrant reefs of the Bahamas for many years. But when he returned a couple years ago, he saw almost no fish larger than his hand.
"Seeing the lack of small reef fish that used to inhabit those sites was very startling to me," says Akins, the director of special projects at Reef Environmental Education Foundation, a conservation group for scuba divers.
The lionfish are native to the coral reefs of the South Pacific and Indian Ocean.
They were first spotted off Florida in 1985. But it wasn't until the past decade that large numbers were spotted in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. The fish may have been transported by the aquarium trade.
A recent study found that in just two years, reefs in the Bahamas lost on average 65 percent of their small prey fish. Larger fish, like red snapper and grouper, decreased by more than 40 percent.
Researchers warn that similar devastation could be expected throughout the region.
Why are lionfish such phenomenal invaders?
They reproduce every few days and eat anything that fits into their mouths. And nothing eats them because they're covered with venomous spines.
Akins now spends most of his time studying lionfish, organizing groups of volunteer divers to capture or kill them, and trying to come up with other ways to get rid of them. His group published a cookbook full of lionfish recipes and tries to encourage restaurants and the fishing industry to see them as food.
This map, from the U.S. Geological Survey and NOAA, shows where lionfish populations have been between 1985 and 2013.
Scientists hope that removing lionfish one by one may help preserve native fish populations in some reefs that are important for tourism, conservation or fishing. But it can't stop the lionfish's explosive foray into the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.
"We know that we cannot control them in the entire ocean," says James Morris, an ecologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "It's just too big."
Morris says invasive species are biological pollution. "It's like an oil spill that keeps reproducing and will keep reproducing forever," he says.
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By Louise Egan and Randall Palmer
OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada on Wednesday chopped its economic growth forecast for the country and left interest rates unchanged but still insisted the next move in interest rates would likely be a hike.
In the last Monetary Policy Report before Governor Mark Carney leaves for the Bank of England, the Bank of Canada sharply downgraded growth expectations for the first and second quarters to below its 2.1 percent estimate of potential growth, meaning slack was continuing to grow.
It cut its prediction for 2013 annual economic growth to 1.5 percent -- matching this week's International Monetary Fund forecast -- from the 2.0 percent it saw in January, and hopes for 2.8 percent growth in 2014.
Nonetheless, as it has over the past year, the central bank warned of the prospect of higher interest rates down the road.
"With continued slack in the Canadian economy, the muted outlook for inflation, and the constructive evolution of imbalances in the household sector, the considerable monetary policy stimulus currently in place will likely remain appropriate for a period of time, after which some modest withdrawal will likely be required..." the central bank stated.
RATE HIKE PUSHED OUT?
The bank's governing council reached its interest rate decision on Tuesday and released it on Wednesday with its quarterly Monetary Policy Report.
In the report, the Bank of Canada figured the economy's spare capacity grew to 1-1/4 percent in the first quarter, from the 1 percent it saw in January for the fourth quarter of 2012.
As a result, it will take longer for the economy to hit full capacity and for total and core inflation to rise to the bank's 2 percent target. It now sees this happening by mid-2015, whereas in January it had predicted the second half of 2014.
"It likely pushes (an interest rate hike) out even further. It's likely we won't have higher rates in Canada until well into 2015," said Bank of Nova Scotia chief currency strategist Camilla Sutton.
Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said the market had already pushed out its expectations for the next hike. "We still look for the bank to remain on hold until the second half of next year," he said.
The culprits for the lower growth this year are downward revisions to growth in government spending, more contraction in housing than forecast, and less-than-expected business investment. It saw signs that factors weighing on business investment were "likely to persist for some time."
Concern over housing is one reason Carney has not dropped the bank's year-long tightening bias as some economists have suggested. But the insistence that the next movement in interest rates is likely up rather than down has also boosted the Canadian dollar.
The bank said the currency's persistent strength was influenced by safe-haven flows and spillovers from global monetary policy, and this continued to restrain export growth.
Despite the export troubles, one bright prospect is the U.S. housing recovery, which the bank projects will boost Canadian export growth by 1 percentage points per year.
Canada has been an outlier among major developed economies, eschewing the unconventional quantitative easing used by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and now the Bank of Japan.
Before Wednesday's statement, global forecasters pushed back their forecasts for the Bank of Canada's next hike to the third quarter of 2014 from the first quarter in a poll in February.
Yields on overnight index swaps, which trade based on expectations for the policy rate, showed traders slightly scaled back their bets of a rate cut later this year.
The Canadian dollar moved was little changed after the announcement at C$1.0265 to the U.S. dollar, or 97.42 U.S. cents, but weaker than Tuesday's North American close of C$1.0205, or 97.99 U.S. cents.
Canadian inflation has long been below the 2 percent target -- overall annual inflation was 1.2 percent in February. The Bank of Canada said that in addition to spare capacity, inflation was subdued by competitive pressures on retailers.
Among those competitive pressures, it noted the expansion of big-box stores, the arrival of large U.S. retailers, and increased online and cross-border shopping, stimulated by the strong Canadian dollar.
(Additional reporting by Alastair Sharp, Cameron French and Solarina Ho in Toronto; Editing by W Simon)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bank-canada-cuts-forecast-again-still-sees-higher-140613872--business.html
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APESPN analyst Jon Gruden sees potential in former Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray.
But Gruden also sees a QB prospect who has considerable work to do.
Speaking on a media conference call Monday, Gruden indicated that Bray?s approach to and understanding of the game need to improve.
?I just think there?s a lot of refinement that needs to take place,? Gruden said of Bray. He?s got to learn how to manage some situations better. He?s got to deliver at crunch time. He?s got to polish his game.
?He?s got to do better in terms of handling pressure. He?s not a mobile quarterback. He?s got to know where his hot receivers are. He?s got to know what audible to get to.?I think his preparation needs to increase so he can be all that he can be.?
On the positive side of the ledger, Gruden likes Bray?s arm strength.
?I just think this kid has a rare ability to throw the football, and a lot of what he did at Tennessee I think is overshadowed with their won-and-loss record,? Gruden said.
Gruden isn?t the only NFL observer who?s both intrigued and reserved about Bray, who left Tennessee after his junior season. In March, NFL Network?s Mike Mayock said ?several? league coaches he communicated with had ?concerns? about Bray.
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Sony has been friendlier than many of its mobile rivals toward outside code, backing AOSP efforts even when it has had to shoulder most of the responsibilities. It's only fitting, then, that five of its more recent smartphones just received their first nightly CyanogenMod 10.1 builds, all in one fell swoop. Support for the Xperia Z and ZL is no doubt the highlight, although experimenters who stand just short of the cutting edge can get CyanogenMod releases for the Xperia T, TX and V. As always, nightlies of custom OS code redefine risky -- but those who can't wait for Sony to push a safe Android 4.2 release can now do more than just twiddle their thumbs.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony
Via: Phone Arena
Source: CyanogenMod (Xperia Z), (ZL), (T)
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/MjTtxbhxs90/
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Microsoft sees Windows 8 as a prime delivery vehicle for its online services, so it's rather important that the company polishes the Bing apps at the heart of its experience. Accordingly, each and every one of them is receiving a tune-up. We'd argue that the biggest upgrade is coming to News: the information app now supports both RSS feeds and offline reading, quite possibly to catch newshounds who need a home once Google Reader goes dark. The refresh also introduces livelier content across the board, including dynamic maps in Weather, real-time US stock updates in Finance, 29 new leagues in Sports and live traffic updates in Maps. Travel users may be equally happy to see new content from Fodor's, Frommer's and Lonely Planet. With the exception of the soon-to-come Weather release, all the app updates should be ready and waiting in the Windows Store -- get cracking if you live in Microsoft's online world.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Microsoft
Source: Bing Search Blog
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/rmR0Q6v0inQ/
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Following the confusion and panic caused by the Boston Marathon bomb blasts, websites have been set up for people to report that they're safe, or check in on a loved one.
The best mainstream resource is the Red Cross' Safe and Well site, where you do two things: register yourself as being "safe and well," or find out other people's status. Those people will have to register with the site first, of course.
Google has activated its Person Finder service to help people locate each other. The search giant has used this in the past, for both U.S. and international crises, such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake and Japan's 2011 tsunami strike.
If you have loved ones who ran in the Boston Marathon, you can check on their last check-ins at the marathon's website here. (A marathon enthusiast set up an independent Facebook page where some are checking in, too.)
Families searching for loved ones can call this number at the Boston mayor's office for information: 1-617-635-4520. Anyone with information about the blasts that can lead to an arrest are encouraged to call 1-800-494-TIPS.
Hotlines aside, if you can avoid using your cellphones to call in and out of Boston, and instead use text messaging and social media, you will reduce strain on the cellular networks, and help improve essential communication.
If you do live in the Boston area, update your own status on Twitter or Facebook, to let others know you're OK.
On Twitter, the #runchat hashtag can be used to learn about updates about runners, as well as more information from the Red Cross by following the organization on Twitter using @RedCrossEastMA and @MassEMA. And on Reddit, a user set up a resource page, continuously aggregating many sources and tools from around the Web.
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By Debra Bogstie, NBCConnecticut.com
A mother caught on cell phone video apparently throwing her baby across the aisle of a bus, prompting a police investigation, says she didn't do it.
"I didn't toss my baby. I set her down," said the woman when NBC Connecticut confronted her at her Hartford home.
The startling scene was caught on tape by a concerned passenger during a bus ride on Albany Avenue Wednesday morning. It's since gone viral with internet postings on YouTube, Facebook, and elsewhere.
The two minute video shows a woman screaming obscenities at another passenger, as her baby sits on her lap at times holding her little ears.
The woman repeatedly asks other passengers to take her child so she can fight the woman. "I will thrash you. Somebody grab my baby. I'm going to beat the... of you on this bus," she's heard saying in the video. Then, it gets worse.
The woman is seen throwing the baby across the aisle into the arms of another passenger. Then, she heads up front and gets into a fist fight.
Read more stories on NBCConnecticut.com
The bus driver pulled over to the side of the road and opened the doors, according to CT Transit. As he called for help, the woman retrieved her baby and left the bus. So did the other passenger involved in the fight.
When NBC Connecticut arrived at her home Friday night, police and child welfare workers were inside talking to her. After they left, we knocked on the door and the woman answered.
When asked if she had any comment on the situation, the woman said, "No. Connecticut Transit, get the full video. I didn't toss my baby. Get the full video."
She then closed the door, only to open it once again.
"I never tossed my baby," she said. "Get the full video from Connecticut Transit. I didn't toss my baby. I set her down."
The video was so shocking that an NBC Connecticut viewer brought it to our attention. We asked Hartford police if they knew about it, and they launched an investigation.
Hartford police have not filed any charges in the case.
As part of their ongoing investigation, they're reviewing a second cell phone video from a different angle. The camera on board the bus was not working at the time of the incident, so there is no surveillance video available from CT Transit.
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FILE - In this April 7, 2013 file photo Pope Francis waves to faithful upon his arrival for his installation Mass at the St. John in Lateran Basilica, in Rome. Pope Francis has named nine cardinals to advise him on running the church and reforming the Vatican bureaucracy. The Vatican announced Saturday, April 13, 2013 the members of the advisory panel and said they would hold their first meeting Oct. 1-3. They include current Vatican officials but more importantly cardinals from Europe, the Americas, Australia and Asia. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia,File)
FILE - In this April 7, 2013 file photo Pope Francis waves to faithful upon his arrival for his installation Mass at the St. John in Lateran Basilica, in Rome. Pope Francis has named nine cardinals to advise him on running the church and reforming the Vatican bureaucracy. The Vatican announced Saturday, April 13, 2013 the members of the advisory panel and said they would hold their first meeting Oct. 1-3. They include current Vatican officials but more importantly cardinals from Europe, the Americas, Australia and Asia. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia,File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, April 10, 2013 file photo cardinals line up to salute Pope Francis, not pictured, at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican. Pope Francis has named nine cardinals to advise him on running the church and reforming the Vatican bureaucracy. The Vatican announced Saturday, April 13, 2013 the members of the advisory panel and said they would hold their first meeting Oct. 1-3. They include current Vatican officials but more importantly cardinals from Europe, the Americas, Australia and Asia. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
VATICAN CITY (AP) ? Pope Francis marked his first month as pontiff on Saturday by naming eight cardinals from around the globe to a permanent advisory group to counsel him on running the Catholic Church and reforming the Vatican bureaucracy ? a bombshell announcement that indicates he intends a shift in how the papacy should function.
The panel includes only one current Vatican official; the rest are cardinals from North, Central and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia ? a clear indication that Francis wants to reflect the universal nature of the church as he goes about governing.
The church is growing and counts most of the world's Catholics in the southern hemisphere while it's shrinking in Europe, yet the Vatican and the 200-strong College of Cardinals, traditionally the pope's primary advisers, remain heavily European.
In the run-up to the conclave that elected Francis the first Latin American pope one month ago, cardinals demanded the Vatican be more responsive to their needs on the ground, and said the bureaucracy itself must be overhauled. Including representatives from each continent in a permanent advisory panel to the pope would seem to go a long way toward answering those calls.
In its announcement Saturday, the Vatican said Francis got the idea to form the advisory body from the pre-conclave meetings where such complaints were aired. "He has formed a group of cardinals to advise him in the governing of the universal church and to study a revision of the apostolic constitution Pastor Bonus on the Roman Curia," the statement said.
Pope John Paul II issued Pastor Bonus in 1988, and it functions effectively as the blueprint for the administration of the Holy See, known as the Roman Curia, and the Vatican City State. The document metes out the work and jurisdictions of the congregations, pontifical councils and other offices that make up the governance of the Catholic Church.
Pastor Bonus itself was a revision of the 1967 document that marked the last major reform of the Vatican bureaucracy, undertaken by Pope Paul VI.
A reform of the Vatican bureaucracy has been demanded for decades, given that both John Paul and Benedict XVI essentially neglected in-house administration of the Holy See in favor of other priorities. But the calls for change grew deafening last year after the leaks of papal documents exposed petty turf battles within the Vatican bureaucracy, allegations of corruption in the running of the Vatican city state, and even a purported plot by senior Vatican officials to out a prominent Catholic as gay.
Francis' advisory group will meet in its inaugural session Oct. 1-3, the Vatican said in a statement.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, stressed that the cardinals are a consultative body, not a decision-making one, and that they don't take the place of the Vatican bureaucracy. His comments appeared aimed at reassuring Vatican bureaucrats that they weren't being sidelined by a counterweight advisory body that better reflects the geographic distribution of today's church.
The members of the panel include Italian Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Vatican city state administration ? a key position that oversees, among other things, the Vatican's profit-making museums. The non-Vatican officials include Cardinals Francisco Javier Err?zuriz Ossa, the retired archbishop of Santiago, Chile; Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai, India; Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany; Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Congo; Sean Patrick O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston; George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia; and Oscar Andr?s Rodr?guez Maradiaga, archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, who will serve as coordinator.
Monsignor Marcello Semeraro, bishop of Albano, Italy will be the panel secretary.
In theory, all popes have cardinals at their disposal to serve as advisers; advising the pope is a cardinal's main job aside from voting in conclaves. But neither John Paul nor Benedict made frequent use of their cardinal advisers, in part because they were so far away and numbered more than 200.
With such a small group of men hand-picked by the pope to specifically advise him in running the church and reforming the Vatican, it appears Francis wants a more collegial type of governance. That also would meld with his reluctance to call himself pope in favor of his other main title, bishop of Rome.
That said, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is on record saying that when it comes time to actually making decisions, he is very much a loner.
"One can ask for advice but, in the end, one must decide alone," he said in the 2010 book "The Jesuit" written by his authorized biographer. Doing so means making mistakes, and Bergoglio acknowledged he had made plenty in his lifetime.
"That's why the important thing is to ask God," he said.
In the run-up to his election, cardinals were very clear that the status quo of the Vatican was untenable.
Prelates said they wanted term limits on Vatican jobs to prevent priests from becoming career bureaucrats. They wanted consolidated financial reports to remove the cloak of secrecy from the Vatican's murky finances. And they wanted regular Cabinet meetings where department heads actually talk to one another to make the Vatican a help to the church's evangelizing mission, not a hindrance.
They also said they wanted the Vatican to serve the bishops in the field, and not the other way around.
"It just doesn't work either very quickly or very efficiently," U.S. Cardinal Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago, said in an interview soon after Francis was elected. "Take marriage cases: People shouldn't have to be asked to wait three, four, five, six years to get a response" for a request for an annulment.
Aside from Saturday's announcement, Francis has made one Vatican appointment so far, naming a member of his namesake Franciscan order to the important No. 2 spot at the Vatican's congregation for religious orders.
His most eagerly-watched appointment has yet to come: that of the Vatican secretary of state, who runs the day-to-day administration of the Holy See. Currently, the position is held by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, a 78-year-old canon lawyer whose administrative shortcomings have been blamed for many of the Vatican's current problems today.
George Weigel, a papal biographer who interviewed Bergoglio last May for his new book "Evangelical Catholicism," said Francis understands well the problems of the curia, saying he "displayed a shrewd, but not cynical, grasp of just what was wrong with the church's central bureaucratic machinery, and why."
"I think we can expect the new pope to lead the church in a purification and renewal of the episcopate, the priesthood, the religious life, and the curia, because he understands that scandal, corruption, and incompetence are impediments" to the mission of spreading the faith, Weigel wrote in a recent essay.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, who has become something of the ringleader of the reform group, said he had high hopes that Francis would turn the Holy See into a model of good governance given his background and no nonsense style.
"Sometimes in the past the curia has been an example of what not to do, instead of what to do," Dolan said in an interview after Francis' installation. "We need to look to the Holy See and the Roman Curia as a model of good governance, of honesty, of simplicity, of frugality, of transparency, of candor, of raw Gospel service, of a lack of careerism, of people who are driven by virtue."
Dolan suggested that one crucial area of reform would be imposing term limits on Vatican bureaucrats to prevent them from becoming lifers. He said there was also no reason why more laymen and women couldn't be brought into the Vatican bureaucracy, and that the administration itself could shrink.
Archbishop Claudio Mario Celli, who heads the Vatican's social communications office, wants greater communication within the various Vatican departments, including regularly scheduled meetings of department heads.
"We need a more synergetic activity," Celli said in an interview. "If we want to have a more effective service in the church, we need to have a symphonic approach."
George, the archbishop of Chicago, dismissed speculation that one area of Francis' reforms would involve closing the Vatican bank, the Institute for Works of Religion, which has long been a source of scandal for the Vatican.
Doing so would be financial suicide for the Vatican, since it currently provides the pope with about 50 million euros ($65 million) a year in income investing, among other things, assets of its account holders that would have to be returned if it were to close.
The Vatican spokesman, Lombardi, has said any speculation about the IOR's possible closure "is purely hypothetical and isn't based on any believable or concrete facts."
___
Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield
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