Nokia Releases Files for 3-D Printing Your Own Phone Case

Nokia has opened its arms to 3-D printing with the release of printable design files and instructions for making your own Nokia phone case — and customizing it however you wish.

The mobile phone giant announced the new endeavor today, which gives Creative Commons-licensed access to the printable files for the Lumia 820′s shell. It’s the largest affirmation of 3-D printing by a major corporation thus far, bringing the world of on-demand product generation and customization one step closer to the desktops of consumers worldwide. That is, to the desktops of those who have printers so far.

In Nokia’s Conversations blog, community and development marketing manager John Kneeland discusses the launch of the project. “We are going to release 3D templates, case specs, recommended materials and best practices—everything someone versed in 3D printing needs to print their own custom Lumia 820 case,” he explains. “We refer to these files and documents collectively as a 3D-printing Development Kit, or 3DK for short.”

The files, in standard 3-D printer formats, are available on the site in three versions of the rendering: two STL options and one in STP. The company also launched a 3-D printing Wiki with material and software suggestions, and possible projects that consumers could design into these CAD files, such as built-in SIM card holders and bike mounts.

There may be more to come from Nokia in this space as well. “In the future, I envision wildly more modular and customizable phones,” Kneeland says. “Perhaps in addition to our own beautifully designed phones, we could sell some kind of phone template, and entrepreneurs the world over could build a local business on building phones precisely tailored to the needs of his or her local community.”

While the printing community has large libraries of user-generated, printable files hosted on sites like Shapeways and Thingiverse, there has been little corporate involvement in the arena.

Last year, Swedish synthesizer manufacturer Teenage Engineering released the design files for replacement knobs and dials for its popular OP-1 synth keyboard, sharing their designs through Shapeways. And while companies like Apple release the design specifications for its products to third-party case makers, no companies of Nokia’s stature have launched a 3-D printing initiative with the actual CAD files for their products.

Nokia’s project could lead to other manufacturers following suit, from car manufacturers to sporting good makers to anything in between. And while there will undoubtedly be discussion about piracy, some feel that offering the files for simple products like cases and knobs is beneficial to a company by moving a low-revenue product out of their supply chain and into the hands of the consumer.

Read More..

Karl Rove re-ups With Fox News channel

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Karl Rove’s election-night brouhaha is apparently water under the bridge at Fox News. Rove, the former senior advisor to President George W. Bush, has extended his run as a contributor with Fox, the network’s CEO, Roger Ailes, said Thursday.

The new deal will keep Rove on through the 2016 presidential election.

Under the extension, Rove will also continue to contribute to Fox Business Channel.

“Karl’s detailed knowledge of state and national politics, as well as fundraising and strategy, makes him an important player in our ongoing political coverage and we look forward to him continuing his analysis across all platforms for Fox News and Fox Business,” Ailes said of the new deal.

Rove, who’s been a contributor for Fox News since 2008, raised eyebrows among viewers – and his onscreen cohorts – on election night. After the network’s analysts called Ohio – and thus the country – for Obama, Rove protested at length that they might be premature. That prompted anchor Megyn Kelly to go down the hall on-air to where the network’s analysts were assembled in order to confirm the prediction.

On Wednesday, Ailes announced that Fox had hired former Democratic congressman and presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as a contributor.

TV News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: Karl Rove re-ups With Fox News channel
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/karl-rove-re-ups-with-fox-news-channel/
Link To Post : Karl Rove re-ups With Fox News channel
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment

Read More..

Well: A Great Grain Adventure

This week, the Recipes for Health columnist Martha Rose Shulman asks readers to go beyond wild rice and get adventurous with their grains. She offers new recipes with some unusual grains you may not have ever cooked or eaten. Her recipes this week include:

Millet: Millet can be used in bird seed and animal feed, but the grain is enjoying a renaissance in the United States right now as a great source of gluten-free nutrition. It can be used in savory or sweet foods and, depending on how it’s cooked, can be crunchy or creamy. To avoid mushy millet, Ms. Shulman advises cooking no more than 2/3 cup at a time. Toast the seeds in a little oil first and take care not to stir the millet once you have added the water so you will get a fluffy result.

Triticale: This hearty, toothsome grain is a hybrid made from wheat and rye. It is a good source of phosphorus and a very good source of magnesium. It has a chewy texture and earthy flavor, similar to wheatberries.

Farro: Farro has a nutty flavor and a chewy texture, and holds up well in cooking because it doesn’t get mushy. When using farro in a salad, cook it until you see that the grains have begun to splay so they won’t be too chewy and can absorb the dressing properly.

Buckwheat: Buckwheat isn’t related to wheat and is actually a great gluten-free alternative. Ms. Shulman uses buckwheat soba noodles to add a nutty flavor and wholesomeness to her Skillet Soba Salad.

Here are five new ways to cook with grains.

Skillet Brown Rice, Barley or Triticale Salad With Mushrooms and Endive: Triticale is a hybrid grain made from wheat and rye, but any hearty grain would work in this salad.

---

Skillet Beet and Farro Salad: This hearty winter salad can be a meal or a side dish, and warming it in the skillet makes it particularly comforting.

---

Warm Millet, Carrot and Kale Salad With Curry-Scented Dressing: Millet can be tricky to cook, but if you are careful, you will be rewarded with a fluffy and delicious salad.

---

Skillet Wild Rice, Walnut and Broccoli Salad: Broccoli flowers catch the nutty, lemony dressing in this winter salad.

---

Skillet Soba, Baked Tofu and Green Bean Salad With Spicy Dressing: The nutty flavor of buckwheat soba noodles makes for a delicious salad.

---

Read More..

The Lede: Inside the Fed's 2007 Deliberations

On Friday the Federal Reserve released the transcripts of its discussions in 2007, the year the housing market, the financial markets, and the broader economy began to unravel. Focusing on the crucial period from August to December, reporters from The Times shared their findings on what the transcripts reveal in the blog entries and tweets below.

---

This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: January 18, 2013

An earlier version of the 12:51 p.m. entry in this post misidentified the speaker at a December 2007 meeting who said, "I’m actually very, very worried," describing his concerns about derivative products. It was Frederic Mishkin, not Eric S. Rosengren.

Read More..

Mali moves to keep militants out of another town; EU mission OKd

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Malian government forces Thursday reportedly pressed to keep Al Qaeda-linked militants out of the village of Banamba as rebels struck fear into nearby Diabaly.

The European Union, meanwhile, authorized sending a noncombat training mission to the West African nation.

Malian officials sent about 100 soldiers to Banamba, 90 miles north of the capital, Bamako, after sightings of suspected Islamist militants in the area, according to news reports.

Al Qaeda militias have already infiltrated Diabaly, in effect using the population as a human shield, moving around in small groups to avoid being targeted in airstrikes by France, taking over homes and preventing residents from leaving, the reports said.

"They stationed themselves outside my house with a heavy weapon. I don't know what sort it was," resident Thiemogo Coulibaly told the Associated Press. "After that came the bombing, which went on from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and after that, one of them [militants] jumped over my garden wall to grab the keys to my car."

African forces from outside Mali are expected to arrive within days. Assistance from Western powers other than France, the former colonial power in Mali and other parts of West Africa, has been limited to logistical and intelligence support.

The EU said its mission would provide instruction to the Malian army on matters of command and control, logistics, civilian protection and humanitarian law.

EU foreign ministers said they hoped to launch the training mission to Mali by mid-February. They condemned the "acts being carried out by terrorist groups against the Malian armed forces," but also warned both sides of the conflict to respect civilian safety and human rights. "All the parties and individuals involved in Mali will be held responsible for their actions," the ministers said.

Although dispatching the training team will require another decision by European leaders, the move Thursday was aimed at bolstering support for the Malian government and came days after major EU power France launched its own military operation.

"The threat of jihadi terrorists is something that should be a matter of great concern to all of us," Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said outside a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels. "And there is not one European country that can hide if this threat would present itself to the European continent."

Malian forces are trying to turn back militants who have established control over much of northern Mali and who have tried pushing south toward Bamako. French airstrikes and troops have backed up the Malian military, which has appealed for outside help.

The EU training mission would last 15 months, cost about $16 million and be based in Bamako. Officials named a French general to head the team, which would comprise about 450 people.

The main weakness in France's bid to oust what it sees as a terrorist threat on its backdoor step, analysts say, is the lack of a large combat and capable ground force strong enough to drive out the well-armed, battle-hardened militias.

Militant forces gained control of Diabaly on Monday, several days after French airstrikes began. The insurgents took Malian forces by surprise, exposing the weakness of the local army.

About 1,400 French forces are in Mali, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said, with an additional 1,100 due to arrive as the battle unfolds.

About 200 Nigerian troops are also expected in Mali within days, the first of 3,300 African forces promised by neighboring countries, many of whom have little experience in the harsh desert terrain they will face in Mali.

France has outlined an ambitious operation to oust Ansar Dine and other Al Qaeda-linked groups and to restore territorial integrity and political stability.

robyn.dixon@latimes.com

henry.chu@latimes.com

Dixon reported from Johannesburg and Chu from London.

Read More..

Facebook Could Bury Video-Calling Partner Skype With a Tiny App Update

Facebook assembled the press Tuesday to announce the launch of its Graph Search. It was big news, but what the company should have announced is the initial launch of a VoIP service to one of the largest customer bases in the world.

On Wednesday, Facebook added a free voice calling feature to its iOS Messenger app in the United States. The feature is iOS-only, and Facebook offered no additional details to The Verge’s inquiries as to when the feature would land on additional operating systems or when it would launch internationally.

Coy question-dodging aside, what Facebook did with Wednesday’s news is take the first step toward leapfrogging its video-calling partner, Skype. Skype is owned by Microsoft, and Microsoft’s Bing search engine powers Facebook’s out-of-network searches.

When asked if Facebook and Skype were partnering to bring VoIP to Facebook apps, a Skype spokesperson told Wired via e-mail a simple “No,” and would not comment beyond that. Does this mean Facebook developed its own VoIP offering? More importantly, is Facebook charging full steam into the VoIP world?

The new feature isn’t exactly easy to find within the iOS app. To access the free voice calls, you need to tap on a friend, then tap on the “i” in the top right corner. The “Free Call” option should appear under your friend’s photo.

In addition to the convoluted process to make a call, there are other hoops in the U.S. and Canada-only initial rollout. If you have a mobile device, chances are you have plenty of minutes on your voice plan to call your friends. A U.S.-only Facebook VoIP service is nice, but it’s not something that will impact many users. On the other hand, once this feature goes international and covers all the major platforms, that’s when Facebook starts cutting into Skype’s bread and butter.

Skype charges for international calls. It’s less expensive than a call from a land or mobile line. If Facebook were to roll its free voice feature out internationally, suddenly all those payphone calls are free. It’s not just the free calls that’ll hurt Skype; it’s the fact that the company can’t compete with Facebook’s 1 billion users on a monthly basis.

“Facebook does have a very big installed base that already uses the instant messaging function within Facebook,” IHS analyst Francis Sideco told Wired. “It definitely has a good base in which to attack this market. It really depends on the business model and how they go to market with it.”

Skype touted 45 million concurrent users in October. That’s a great milestone for the VoIP service, but it pales in comparison to Facebook’s billion users. If all those Facebookers suddenly gained access to free phone calls, it would not only cut into Skype and other VoIP services like Vonage; it’d also cut into the profits of the telecoms that still charge an arm and a leg to call friends and family in other countries.

IHS analyst Ian Fogg told Wired that delivering VoIP over messenger gives the social network another way to get its users to launch an app.

“It helps boost the engagement level of Facebook user base and indirectly supports all of Facebook advertising businesses,” Fogg says.

But, he also notes, “Just because it’s there doesn’t mean they’ll use it. They may just keep sharing events and posting photos.”

Even if you build a something great, it doesn’t mean that subscribers will flock to it. When’s the last time you got an invite to a Facebook Video Call?

Still, Wednesday’s update could be the first step toward changing the way we communicate internationally, and that could be bigger than searching for your friend’s favorite pizza places in Houston.

Facebook representatives were not available for comment by press time.

Read More..

“Dear Abby” advice columnist Pauline Phillips dead at 94

(Reuters) – Pauline Phillips, the “Dear Abby” newspaper columnist who dished out advice to millions of confused, troubled and lovesick readers in America and around the world, has died at the age of 94, her daughter said on Thursday.

Phillips, whose twin sister Esther wrote the rival “Ask Ann Landers” column, died in Minneapolis on Wednesday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

“I have lost my mother, my mentor and my best friend,” daughter Jeanne Phillips said in a statement released by the syndicator of the “Dear Abby” column, Universal Uclick.

“My mother leaves very big high heels to fill with a legacy of compassion, commitment and positive social change. I will honor her memory every day by continuing this legacy,” Jeanne Phillips added

Phillips’ family announced in August 2002 that she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Phillips had brought daughter Jeanne in to collaborate on the syndicated newspaper column in 1987 and in December 2002 turned over all responsibility for it to her.

(Reporting By Eric Kelsey; Editing by Sandra Maler)

(This story corrects name of her sister’s column in 2nd paragraph)

Celebrity News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: “Dear Abby” advice columnist Pauline Phillips dead at 94
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/dear-abby-advice-columnist-pauline-phillips-dead-at-94/
Link To Post : “Dear Abby” advice columnist Pauline Phillips dead at 94
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment

Read More..

Life, Interrupted: Brotherly Love

Life, Interrupted

Suleika Jaouad writes about her experiences as a young adult with cancer.

There are a lot of things about having cancer in your 20s that feel absurd. One of those instances was when I found myself calling my brother Adam on Skype while he was studying abroad in Argentina to tell him that I had just been diagnosed with leukemia and that — no pressure — he was my only hope for a cure.

Today, my brother and I share almost identical DNA, the result of a successful bone marrow transplant I had last April using his healthy stem cells. But Adam and I couldn’t be more different. Like a lot of siblings, we got along swimmingly at one moment and were in each other’s hair the next. My younger brother by two years, he said I was a bossy older sister. I, of course, thought I knew best for my little brother and wanted him to see the world how I did. My brother is quieter, more reflective. I’m a chronic social butterfly who is probably a bit too impulsive and self-serious. I dreamed of dancing in the New York City Ballet, and he imagined himself playing in the N.B.A. While the sounds of the rapper Mos Def blared from Adam’s room growing up, I practiced for concerto competitions. Friends joked that one of us had to be adopted. We even look different, some people say. But really, we’re just siblings like any others.

When I was diagnosed with cancer at age 22, I learned just how much cancer affects families when it affects individuals. My doctors informed me that I had a high-risk form of leukemia and that a bone marrow transplant was my only shot at a cure. ‘Did I have any siblings?’ the doctors asked immediately. That would be my best chance to find a bone marrow match. Suddenly, everyone in our family was leaning on the little brother. He was in his last semester of college, and while his friends were applying to jobs and partying the final weeks of the school year away, he was soon shuttling from upstate New York to New York City for appointments with the transplant doctors.

I’d heard of organ transplants before, but what was a bone marrow transplant? The extent of my knowledge about bone marrow came from French cuisine: the fancy dish occasionally served with a side of toasted baguette.

Jokes aside, I learned that cancer patients become quick studies in the human body and how cancer treatment works. The thought of going through a bone marrow transplant, which in my case called for a life-threatening dose of chemotherapy followed by a total replacement of my body’s bone marrow, was scary enough. But then I learned that finding a donor can be the scariest part of all.

It turns out that not all transplants are created equal. Without a match, the path to a cure becomes much less certain, in many cases even impossible. This is particularly true for minorities and people from mixed ethnic backgrounds, groups that are severely underrepresented in bone marrow registries. As a first generation American, the child of a Swiss mother and Tunisian father, I suddenly found myself in a scary place. My doctors worried that a global, harried search for a bone marrow match would delay critical treatment for my fast-moving leukemia.

That meant that my younger brother was my best hope — but my doctors were careful to measure hope with reality. Siblings are the best chance for a match, but a match only happens about 25 percent of the time.

To our relief, results showed that my brother was a perfect match: a 10-out-of-10 on the donor scale. It was only then that it struck me how lucky I had been. Doctors never said it this way, but without a match, my chances of living through the next year were low. I have met many people since who, after dozens of efforts to encourage potential bone marrow donors to sign up, still have not found a match. Adding your name to the bone marrow registry is quick, easy and painless — you can sign up at marrow.org — and it just takes a swab of a Q-tip to get your DNA. For cancer patients around the world, it could mean a cure.

The bone marrow transplant procedure itself can be dangerous, but it is swift, which makes it feel strangely anti-climactic. On “Day Zero,” my brother’s stem cells dripped into my veins from a hanging I.V. bag, and it was all over in minutes. Doctors tell me that the hardest part of the transplant is recovering from it. I’ve found that to be true, and I’ve also recognized that the same is true for Adam. As I slowly grow stronger, my little brother has assumed a caretaker role in my life. I carry his blood cells — the ones keeping me alive — and he is carrying the responsibility, and often fear and anxiety, of the loving onlooker. He tells me I’m still a bossy older sister. But our relationship is now changed forever. I have to look to him for support and guidance more than I ever have. He’ll always be my little brother, but he’s growing up fast.

---

Suleika Jaouad (pronounced su-LAKE-uh ja-WAD) is a 24-year-old writer who lives in New York City. Her column, “Life, Interrupted,” chronicling her experiences as a young adult with cancer, appears regularly on Well. Follow @suleikajaouad on Twitter.

Read More..

An Insurer, UnitedHealth, Reports a Slight Drop in Income

The UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest health insurer, reported a slight drop in its fourth-quarter net income on Thursday as medical costs rose, but its revenue increased more than 11 percent, helped by growth in its Medicare, care management, technology and international businesses.

The company also outlined its plans to participate in the new health exchanges that will be established under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which are expected to add millions to the ranks of the insured. It said it expected to start by participating in 10 to 25 exchanges, perhaps more, though it has no firm commitment to that range.

“We will only participate in exchanges that we assess to be fair, commercially sustainable, and provide a reasonable return on the capital they will require,” the company’s chief executive, Stephen J. Hemsley, told analysts on a conference call.

The government-subsidized exchanges will offer insurance plans sold by private insurers like UnitedHealth. So far 17 states and the District of Columbia have received conditional approval to establish their own exchanges.

The company said its fourth-quarter profit rose to $1.20 a share from $1.17 a year earlier, as the number of outstanding shares fell. But its net income slipped 1 percent, to $1.24 billion from $1.25 billion a year earlier. Revenue rose to $28.8 billion from $25.9 billion.

Analysts had expected earnings of $1.19 a share and sales of $28.2 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

The company said the unusual number of flu cases this year added $50 million in incremental costs, a figure analysts found reassuring.

“Over all, these results were strong, which should ease market concerns about the impact of the elevated flu season on the group,” said Michael Wiederhorn, an analyst at Oppenheimer, in a research note.

For 2013, UnitedHealth reiterated its forecast for revenue of $123 billion to $124 billion, up from $110.6 billion in 2012. It expects earnings of $5.25 to $5.50 a share, compared with $5.28 in 2012.

Analysts had been expecting earnings of $5.55 a share on revenue of $121.11 billion.

Read More..

Kaspersky Lab reports major malware discovery

MOSCOW — In what is being called a new hunt for Red October, a Russian cyber-security company says it has discovered a major international malware system that has attacked and compromised the computers of government agencies, diplomatic consulates, research centers and defense installations, among other sensitive institutions.

The malware has siphoned off terabytes' worth of information, much of it classified, researchers with Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab said in a report this week. The origin of the program and the motives of the attackers remain elusive, but there are hints that the programmers are Russian, the report says.

"Last October we first received from our clients samples of something we soon gathered was not just a malware program but a multi-component attack platform, initially targeting embassies around the world," Vitaly Kamlyuk, a senior anti-virus expert at Kaspersky, said in an interview Wednesday. "We called the virus 'Red October' because we detected it in October and because it required a level of red-alert attention to tackle."

Similar to the Flame virus, a now-defunct spyware program Kaspersky thwarted last year, the new virus usually infiltrates computers through an email attachment camouflaged to mimic ordinary business correspondence, the expert said.

"One embassy was looking to buy a car and received the virus in a car sale proposal they soon found in their inbox," Kamlyuk said.

Kaspersky, a leading developer of commercial anti-virus software, said it found victims of the malware with IP addresses in 39 countries, led by Switzerland, Kazakhstan and Greece. The most common targets included embassies, government agencies and research institutes, as well as aerospace and energy companies.

Kaspersky said the malware was probably being operated by a government or criminal organization large enough to employ at least two dozen highly trained programmers.

Independent experts in the United States offered differing views on who might be responsible.

"The two primary suspects for this operation would have been either Russia or China, just based on some of the data," said John Bumgarner, research director for the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, a nongovernmental think tank.

But researcher Jeffrey Carr, author of "Inside Cyber Warfare," theorized that the malware was the work of the foreign intelligence service of a NATO or European Union country, and that the intent was to spy on Russian embassies.

"It's a pretty good guess" that Russia's spy service, the FSB, approached Kaspersky and asked the firm to investigate, Carr said. "One of the indications was that they were specifically looking for Russian documents."

Kaspersky researchers said the spyware, when first installed, might be only several hundred kilobytes in size, minuscule by modern computer standards. But as it gets established and communicates with its controllers, it may grow to several megabytes.

The virus records the names of the users, their IP addresses, information stored on their processors and local disks, the history of browsers, logins and passwords, and the records of devices plugged into USB ports, including smartphones, according to the report.

Like the Flame program, the new virus can record screen shots, as well as keystrokes.

Evidence of the Red October virus dates to May 2007, Kamlyuk said. The program was embedded in Microsoft Excel and Word documents that had been used by Chinese hackers against Asian companies and Tibetan political activists, Kamlyuk said.

"But soon enough," he said, "we realized that, despite its obvious Chinese roots and the fact that no agencies in China were in fact targets of the new malicious program, the Chinese hackers had nothing to do with Red October."

The language used in the malware was primarily English, but not that of a native English speaker. It included Cyrillic symbols and transliterations of terms from Russian computer jargon, the researchers said.

For instance, Kamlyuk said, the malware sometimes uses the Russian word "zakladka" for "bookmark" or "marker" and "proga" for "programs."

"Many domain names of the malware were registered under fake Russian names and addresses too," he said.

"Now we have come to the realization that we are dealing with something programmed by Russian-speaking experts, based on Chinese hackers' exploit documents and mostly aimed at embassies of and other targets in Russia and its former Soviet satellites," Kamlyuk said.

Sergei Karaganov, honorary chairman of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, a Moscow-based think tank, said in an interview that such cyber-espionage is increasingly common and that Russia and other countries have attempted to create international protocols to combat it.

"But every time, their attempts have been thwarted by the stiff resistance on the part of the United States, which probably counts too much on its supremacy in this sphere," he said. "On the other hand, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of this being an ingenious trick on the part of Kaspersky Lab to boost their trade."

sergei.loiko@latimes.com

Times staff writer Ken Dilanian in Washington contributed to this report.

Read More..