Now that we know which of Google's Nexus devices will be eligible for an update to Android 4.4 KitKat, other manufacturers are starting to speak up about their rollout plans as well. Jason Mackenzie, president of HTC America, confirmed to us in an interview that the company is going to aggressively push out the latest version of Android to the HTC One. The Google Play edition will be updated within the next 15 days, the Developer edition and unlocked versions will get it within 30 days, and the remaining SKUs in North America (including all carrier variants) will have it in 90 days or less. With the exception of the Google Play edition, HTC plans to keep its signature Sense UI at version 5.5 (which has been available on global devices running Android 4.3); and although Mackenzie couldn't go into details on how the new KitKat features will be implented in Sense, we expect to see plenty of them make an appearance in the update in some way.
HTC is still working on a rollout plan for the other devices in its portfolio, such as the One max and One mini, but Mackenzie assures us that the company will have a statement concerning those other phones in the near future. He also reiterated HTC's commitment to rapidly pushing out updates, telling us that "we're not going to [roll out updates] in a lazy fashion. We're going to make it a priority to have every dot release out on the One within 90 days."
Since Mackenzie spoke to us on behalf of the company's North American branch, we're still awaiting word on HTC's plans for its global devices. Given the fact that US operators are set to push out updates in the next 90 days, we'd be surprised if it doesn't arrive sooner on One units around the world.
It's the most wonderful time of the year for Heidi Klum! The 40-year-old supermodel will be celebrating Halloween on Thursday, Oct. 31 ,with her annual A-list party, this time at Marquee nightclub in New York City. Every year Klum goes all out with her costumes -- and this year appears to be no exception.
The Project Runway host tweeted sneak peek photos of herself getting ready for her holiday bash on Twitter Thursday afternoon. "Ok guys........I am going into the future," she teased with a "before" look of her sitting in a makeup chair.
Heidi Klum shared this photo on Twitter of herself getting ready for Halloween 2013. Credit: Courtesy Heidi Klum
One hour later, Klum shared a photo of herself with her back to the camera while three makeup artists worked on her face. The German model's long blonde hair was covered with a bald cape and her bare back was exposed, revealing a creepy, fake spine.
She later posted a third photo to show fans the progress. In the snapshot, four makeup artists are working on her legs while a fifth one applied makeup to her arm. She appeared to be wearing a short black strapless dress while sitting in a high directors chair. Her team had a large table set up filled with body paint.
Heidi Klum shared this photo on Twitter of herself getting ready for Halloween 2013. Credit: Courtesy Heidi Klum
In a fourth image, Klum shared a closeup shot of her makeup artists Bill Corso and Mike Marino applying a mask to her face and neck to make her look old and wrinkly.
Heidi Klum shared this sneak peek photo of her 2013 Halloween costume on Twitter Oct. 31. Credit: Courtesy Heidi Klum
Klum has previously transformed herself into Cleopatra in 2012, an ape in 2011, an alien robot in 2010, a black crow in 2009 and a Hindu goddess in 2008 -- to name just a few. Last year, Klum decided to postpone her Halloween party until Dec. 1 due to Hurricane Sandy hitting the East Coast. Her 2012 party marked her first Halloween since splitting from husband Seal in January of that year after seven years of marriage.
FILE - In this Oct. 3, 2011 file photo, Dr. Conrad Murray listens to testimony seated near his attorney Nareg Gourjian, right, during Murray's trial in the death of pop star Michael Jackson, in Los Angeles. Murray, who was convicted in Jackson's death is suing the state of Texas for stripping his right to practice medicine, and his attorney said Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, that the cardiologist has former patients eager for him to work again.(AP Photo/Mario Anzuoni, Pool, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 3, 2011 file photo, Dr. Conrad Murray listens to testimony seated near his attorney Nareg Gourjian, right, during Murray's trial in the death of pop star Michael Jackson, in Los Angeles. Murray, who was convicted in Jackson's death is suing the state of Texas for stripping his right to practice medicine, and his attorney said Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, that the cardiologist has former patients eager for him to work again.(AP Photo/Mario Anzuoni, Pool, File)
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas doctor convicted in the death of pop superstar Michael Jackson is suing the state for stripping his right to practice medicine, and his attorney said Thursday that the cardiologist has former patients eager for him to work again.
Conrad Murray, who was released from a California jail this week after serving less than two years for involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death, accuses the Texas Medical Board of prematurely revoking his license. Murray claims in his lawsuit filed in Austin that his 2011 conviction isn't final in California until his appeals are exhausted.
Murray states in an affidavit that he is more than $400,000 in debt and can't afford to pay court costs.
"Anybody who wants to work in this country ought to be able to have the right to do so. Dr. Murray is like everyone else, in that he needs to be able to do his line of work," said Charles Peckham, Murray's attorney.
Texas Medical Board spokesman Jarrett Schneider said the agency cannot comment on pending litigation.
Murray was convicted of causing Jackson's death in June 2009 by providing him with the powerful anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid. Jackson was in the midst of preparations for a series of comeback concerts and Murray was serving as his physician.
Murray filed the lawsuit Friday, three days before he was freed after serving half of a maximum four-year sentence.
Murray previously maintained clinics in Houston and Las Vegas. His medical license is currently suspended in California.
In court papers filed in Texas, Murray expresses concern that the revocation of his Texas license could give California reason to take the same action.
"The Texas Medical Board, in taking my license puts me in imminent harm of irreparable injury," Murray said in court papers.
Brian Panish, an attorney for the Jackson family, has said Murray should not have "a chance to hurt anyone else" by practicing medicine.
___
Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber
UTSA researchers develop prototype football kicking simulator
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: KC Gonzalez kc.gonzalez@utsa.edu 210-458-7555 University of Texas at San Antonio
National Science Foundation-funded project aids football kickers through virtual training system
In football, kicking is a fundamental and vital part of the game. The few points a kicker scores can make a critical difference in the outcome of a game. To help improve a football kicker's performance, University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) mechanical and bioengineering professor Yusheng Feng and seven students have developed the prototype components for a football kicking simulator designed to be a real-time training tool.
Sponsored by the UTSA Center for Simulation, Visualization and Real-Time Prediction (SiViRT) with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Football Kicking Simulation & Human Performance Assessment is a virtual training system that uses real-time wireless feedback and computer sensing to measure football kicking mechanics data. It gives a kicker the ability to practice either on or off the field and receive the same kind of attention to detail he would experience at a training camp. Moreover, the quantitative data collected from the football dynamics and kicker's body motion can not only be used to predict the accuracy of a kick, but also give feedback to maximize the kicking power while mitigating the risk of injury.
In particular, the prototype provides quantifiable measures to improve a football kicker's consistency and reliability by:
Predicting the football's trajectory, incorporating real life factors such as drag, lift and wind factor
Sensing the pressure of the planted foot and angle of contact
Capturing the body motion of legs and joints through high speed cameras and video tracking
Displaying a realistic stadium environment by providing 3D visualization and surrounding sound
Providing dynamic and kinesiological analyses and simulations for coaches and players to design player-specific training programs
UTSA mechanical engineering undergraduate students Alyssa Schaefbauer, Cole Meyers, Jacob Kantor and Michael Lasch, kinesiology undergraduate student Ekow Acquaah, along with electrical and computer engineering graduate student Aaron Stout and computer science graduate student Ehren Biglari, have been developing and testing the virtual training system under the mentorship of Feng since February 2012.
"What sets our product apart from other kicking simulations is that we are using computer sensing and mathematical models to predict the football trajectory along with various training tools. It was designed specifically to be used for training rather than a form of entertainment, and it will be affordable," said Schaefbauer, the student team leader.
The group has been working with UTSA Football place-kicker Sean Ianno and assistant coach Perry Eliano to test the simulator and make necessary adjustments for ideal training. In order to consider the human factors in training and coaching, they are also incorporating feedback from faculty members in the UTSA Department of Health and Kinesiology.
"The simulator is an awesome idea. Although it is not a finished product yet, it has the potential to be on the cutting edge of technology and quite possibly could revolutionize how kickers train," said Ianno.
"The kicking simulator is an incredible project and something I believe can be very beneficial not only for our kickers, but for kickers across the country," stated Eliano. "I'm really humbled and thankful that the College of Engineering and their students who worked their tails off on this project chose us to be a part of it."
The research team has published two papers that were presented at the International Workshop on Computer Science in Sports and the Society for Modeling and Simulation International conference this summer.
"The football kicking simulator is a perfect example of how engineering and science can make improvements beyond the scientific arena, such as football, that are of interest to the greater community," said Feng. "It has been exciting to see these students develop into fine researchers who are determined to make a difference in society."
The research team has filed a patent application for the technology through the UTSA Office of Commercialization and Innovation and the team hopes to make the simulator commercially available for coaches and football teams to use as a training tool.
###
Established in August 2009 as a result of a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the UTSA Center for Simulation, Visualization and Real-Time Prediction is a computation and visualization center that integrates high-performance computing into its activities which include imaging, visualization, modeling and simulation to help faculty and student researchers investigate structural reliability, particle flow, nanotechnology, biomechanics, computational neuroscience and cancer treatment simulation.
The SiViRT Center aims to shape UTSA's research environment by creating and supporting first-hand collaborative research and design experiences for both undergraduate and graduate students year-round. It is an interdisciplinary research center where students can apply their knowledge through teamwork. Learn more about the SiViRT Center at http://www.sivirt.utsa.edu.
For further information regarding the licensing of this or any UTSA technology, contact the UTSA Office of Commercialization and Innovation at oci@utsa.edu or call (210) 458-6963.
Connect online with UTSA at http://www.utsa.edu, http://www.facebook.com/utsa, http://www.twitter.com/utsa or http://www.youtube.com/utsa.
About UTSA
The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is an emerging Tier One research institution specializing in health, energy, security, sustainability, and human and social development. With nearly 29,000 students, it is the largest university in the San Antonio metropolitan region. UTSA advances knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. The university embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property for Texas, the nation and the world.
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UTSA researchers develop prototype football kicking simulator
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: KC Gonzalez kc.gonzalez@utsa.edu 210-458-7555 University of Texas at San Antonio
National Science Foundation-funded project aids football kickers through virtual training system
In football, kicking is a fundamental and vital part of the game. The few points a kicker scores can make a critical difference in the outcome of a game. To help improve a football kicker's performance, University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) mechanical and bioengineering professor Yusheng Feng and seven students have developed the prototype components for a football kicking simulator designed to be a real-time training tool.
Sponsored by the UTSA Center for Simulation, Visualization and Real-Time Prediction (SiViRT) with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Football Kicking Simulation & Human Performance Assessment is a virtual training system that uses real-time wireless feedback and computer sensing to measure football kicking mechanics data. It gives a kicker the ability to practice either on or off the field and receive the same kind of attention to detail he would experience at a training camp. Moreover, the quantitative data collected from the football dynamics and kicker's body motion can not only be used to predict the accuracy of a kick, but also give feedback to maximize the kicking power while mitigating the risk of injury.
In particular, the prototype provides quantifiable measures to improve a football kicker's consistency and reliability by:
Predicting the football's trajectory, incorporating real life factors such as drag, lift and wind factor
Sensing the pressure of the planted foot and angle of contact
Capturing the body motion of legs and joints through high speed cameras and video tracking
Displaying a realistic stadium environment by providing 3D visualization and surrounding sound
Providing dynamic and kinesiological analyses and simulations for coaches and players to design player-specific training programs
UTSA mechanical engineering undergraduate students Alyssa Schaefbauer, Cole Meyers, Jacob Kantor and Michael Lasch, kinesiology undergraduate student Ekow Acquaah, along with electrical and computer engineering graduate student Aaron Stout and computer science graduate student Ehren Biglari, have been developing and testing the virtual training system under the mentorship of Feng since February 2012.
"What sets our product apart from other kicking simulations is that we are using computer sensing and mathematical models to predict the football trajectory along with various training tools. It was designed specifically to be used for training rather than a form of entertainment, and it will be affordable," said Schaefbauer, the student team leader.
The group has been working with UTSA Football place-kicker Sean Ianno and assistant coach Perry Eliano to test the simulator and make necessary adjustments for ideal training. In order to consider the human factors in training and coaching, they are also incorporating feedback from faculty members in the UTSA Department of Health and Kinesiology.
"The simulator is an awesome idea. Although it is not a finished product yet, it has the potential to be on the cutting edge of technology and quite possibly could revolutionize how kickers train," said Ianno.
"The kicking simulator is an incredible project and something I believe can be very beneficial not only for our kickers, but for kickers across the country," stated Eliano. "I'm really humbled and thankful that the College of Engineering and their students who worked their tails off on this project chose us to be a part of it."
The research team has published two papers that were presented at the International Workshop on Computer Science in Sports and the Society for Modeling and Simulation International conference this summer.
"The football kicking simulator is a perfect example of how engineering and science can make improvements beyond the scientific arena, such as football, that are of interest to the greater community," said Feng. "It has been exciting to see these students develop into fine researchers who are determined to make a difference in society."
The research team has filed a patent application for the technology through the UTSA Office of Commercialization and Innovation and the team hopes to make the simulator commercially available for coaches and football teams to use as a training tool.
###
Established in August 2009 as a result of a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the UTSA Center for Simulation, Visualization and Real-Time Prediction is a computation and visualization center that integrates high-performance computing into its activities which include imaging, visualization, modeling and simulation to help faculty and student researchers investigate structural reliability, particle flow, nanotechnology, biomechanics, computational neuroscience and cancer treatment simulation.
The SiViRT Center aims to shape UTSA's research environment by creating and supporting first-hand collaborative research and design experiences for both undergraduate and graduate students year-round. It is an interdisciplinary research center where students can apply their knowledge through teamwork. Learn more about the SiViRT Center at http://www.sivirt.utsa.edu.
For further information regarding the licensing of this or any UTSA technology, contact the UTSA Office of Commercialization and Innovation at oci@utsa.edu or call (210) 458-6963.
Connect online with UTSA at http://www.utsa.edu, http://www.facebook.com/utsa, http://www.twitter.com/utsa or http://www.youtube.com/utsa.
About UTSA
The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is an emerging Tier One research institution specializing in health, energy, security, sustainability, and human and social development. With nearly 29,000 students, it is the largest university in the San Antonio metropolitan region. UTSA advances knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. The university embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property for Texas, the nation and the world.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Terrorists "found a second chance" to thrive in Iraq, the nation's prime minister said Thursday in asking for new U.S. aid to beat back a bloody insurgency that has been fueled by the neighboring Syrian civil war and the departure of American troops from Iraq two years ago.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told a packed auditorium at the U.S. Institute of Peace that he needs additional weapons, help with intelligence and other assistance, and claimed the world has a responsibility to help because terrorism is an international concern.
"If the situation in Iraq is not well treated, it will be disastrous for the whole world," said al-Maliki, whose comments were translated from Arabic. "Terrorism does not know a single religion, or confession, or a single border. They carry their rotten ideas everywhere. They carry bad ideas instead of flowers. Al-Qaida is a dirty wind that wants to spread worldwide."
The new request comes nearly two years after al-Maliki's government refused to let U.S. forces remain in Iraq with legal immunity that the Obama administration insisted was necessary to protect troops. President Barack Obama had campaigned on ending the nearly nine-year war in Iraq and took the opportunity offered by the legal dispute to pull all troops out.
Nearly 4,500 U.S. troops were killed in Iraq between the 2003 invasion and the 2011 withdrawal. More than 100,000 Iraqi were killed in that time.
Al-Maliki will meet Friday with Obama in what Baghdad hopes will be a fresh start in a complicated relationship that has been marked both by victories and frustrations for each side.
Within months of the U.S. troops' departure, violence began creeping up in the capital and across the country as Sunni Muslim insurgents lashed out, angered by a widespread belief that Sunnis have been sidelined by the Shiite-led government. The State Department says at least 6,000 Iraqis have been killed in attacks so far this year, and suicide bombers launched 38 strikes in the last month alone.
"So the terrorists found a second chance," al-Maliki said — a turnabout from an insurgency that was mostly silenced by the time the U.S. troops left.
Al-Maliki largely blamed the Syrian civil war for the rise in Iraq's violence, although he acknowledged that homegrown insurgents are to blame for the vast number of car bombs, suicide bombings and drive-by shootings that have roiled Baghdad and the rest of the nation.
The prime minister warned about the consequences of a political power grab by al-Qaida fighters who are aligned with the Sunni rebellion that is seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. But al-Maliki insisted Iraq is remaining neutral in the Syrian unrest, although Baghdad has been accused of allowing Iranian aid to Assad's forces through its country. The Syrian civil war largely breaks down along sectarian lines.
Sectarian tensions also have been rising in Iraq, but al-Maliki vehemently denied they are the cause for the spread of violence and noted that Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds all have been killed by insurgent attacks.
"There is no problem between Sunnis and Shiites," al-Maliki said flatly. He added: "Al-Qaida believes they should kill all those who do not think alike."
Al-Maliki said he will ask Obama for new assistance to bolster Iraq's military and fight al-Qaida. That could include speeding up the delivery of U.S. aircraft, missiles, interceptors and other weapons, and improving national intelligence systems. Separately, Iraq's ambassador to the U.S. also did not rule out the possibility of asking the U.S. to send military special forces or additional CIA advisers to Iraq to help train and assist counterterror troops.
Shortly after al-Maliki's speech, White House spokesman Jay Carney called continued U.S. aid to Iraq "necessary" and said "denying that assistance would be contrary to our interests."
Obama is expected to raise concerns about Iraq's violence — and ways to reduce it — in his Friday meeting with al-Maliki, Carney said. "And inclusive democratic governance is a key piece of the picture there and always has been," he said.
"What's important to remember, though, is that the violence we're talking about, the attacks we're talking about, are not coming from within the political system," Carney said. 'They're coming from al-Qaida and its affiliates."
Administration officials consider the insurgency, which has rebranded itself as the Islamic State of Iraq in the Levant, a major and increasing threat both to Iraq and the U.S.
Al-Maliki has been accused for years of a heavy-handed leadership that refuses to compromise and, to some, oversteps his authority against political enemies. "I never stepped on the Constitution," he responded Thursday to a question about his government, and defended Iraq's warming relationship with Iran's Shiite clerical regime as necessary for a government looking to work amicably with its neighbors.
He sidestepped a question about whether he will seek another term as prime minister in national elections scheduled for April 2014, calling it a decision best left to the Iraqi people.
Anthony Cordesman, a longtime Iraq scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the U.S. must convince al-Maliki to move toward a more inclusive government to stabilize Iraq and the rest of the region.
"We have to be careful to set clear lines, and not arm Maliki against the growing mass of legitimate Sunni opposition and the much smaller mix of violent Sunni Islamist extremists," Cordesman wrote in an analysis released Thursday. "But, we need to try."
___
Follow Lara Jakes on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/larajakesAP
POLACCA, Ariz. (AP) — When it comes to consecutive high school cross-country championships, no boys team in the nation is as dominant as Hopi High School.
The Bruins are shooting for their 24th title in a row this year at the state meet.
Running is deeply rooted in the northern Arizona tribe's tradition as a way to carry messages from village to village and bless the reservation that gets little moisture with rain.
Coach Rick Baker insists there's nothing special about his program. He says he simply wants athletes who believe in themselves and the school, and who are disciplined and dedicated.
The girls team also is a source of pride for Hopi. It has the fifth most state championships in the country at 21, and is looking to earn a seventh consecutive this year.
___
Follow Felicia Fonseca on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/FonsecaAP
It's the job of celebrities to wear costumes for a role, but even in their downtime, they still love to dress up -- especially during Halloween! Even before they were stars, celebs like Kate Bosworth and Channing Tatum had fun getting into the spirit of the holiday, and we've got the pictures they shared in their yearbooks to prove it! Check them out:
"We often become numb to the numbers when discussing breaches, but 38 million is a vastly different scale of breach -- it's massive," explained Tim Erlin, director of IT risk and security strategy with Tripwire. "It surpasses last year's 24 million record Zappos breach and will undoubtedly cost Adobe tens of millions of dollars."
After initially estimating that a mere 3 million customers had been affected by the security breach it announced at the start of October, Adobe on Wednesday admitted that the actual number now looks to be closer to an eye-popping 38 million. In addition, the breach seems to be more far-reaching than initially thought, extending to the Photoshop family of products as well.
In its original announcement, Adobe said hackers stole 3 million encrypted customer credit card records and login data for Adobe user accounts. This past weekend, however, AnonNews.org posted a file that appears to include more than 150 million username and hashed password pairs taken from Adobe, according to Krebs on Security.
So far, Adobe's investigation has confirmed that the attackers obtained access to Adobe IDs and what were at the time valid, encrypted passwords for approximately 38 million active users, the company said in a statement provided to the E-Commerce Times by spokesperson Marissa Hopkins.
"We have completed email notification of these users," Adobe said. "We also have reset the passwords for all Adobe IDs with valid, encrypted passwords that we believe were involved in the incident -- regardless of whether those users are active or not."
Adobe believes the attackers obtained access to many invalid Adobe IDs, inactive Adobe IDs, Adobe IDs with invalid encrypted passwords, and test account data as well, the company added: "We are still in the process of investigating the number of inactive, invalid and test accounts involved in the incident. Our notification to inactive users is ongoing."
There's no indication so far, however, that there has been unauthorized activity on any Adobe ID account involved in the incident, the company pointed out.
38 Million!
As with most security hacks, information is limited and experts are left filling in the blanks with speculation. For example, there is the question of how one breach could encompass so many people.
"We often become numb to the numbers when discussing breaches, but 38 million is a vastly different scale of breach -- it's massive," Tim Erlin, director of IT risk and security strategy at Tripwire, told TechNewsWorld. "It surpasses last year's 24 million record Zappos breach and will undoubtedly cost Adobe tens of millions of dollars.
"As more information about the attack vector and details emerges, we'll be able to understand what Adobe might have done to prevent this compromise," Erlin added.
A breach of this size doesn't happen overnight, noted Craig Young, also a security researcher with Tripwire.
"Clearly, attackers were on Adobe's networks for a prolonged period of time without being detected," Young told TechNewsWorld. "In fact, the attacks were only brought to light when researchers found Adobe's data on a server used by organized cybercriminals."
Very likely, the hackers attacked an account management server that contained most if not all Adobe accounts, suggested Dodi Glenn, a security researcher with ThreatTrack Security.
Adobe has acknowledged publicly that the breach was possible in part due to server-side accessibility and consolidation of security credentials, noted Lockbox CEO Peter Long.
If nothing else, what this breach has served to highlight "is that a strategy of attempting to secure the infrastructure ultimately can be overwhelmed by a consistent and focused attack," Long told TechNewsWorld.
'Should Have Been Prevented'
Given the magnitude of the numbers involved, it is fair to rethink Adobe's after-the-fact approach to the breach.
When it was first revealed, Adobe apologized and offered free yearlong credit monitoring for affected customers. It also made sure the passwords were encrypted and issued a password reset for the accounts that were compromised, Glenn told TechNewsWorld -- all to the good.
However, "the damage is already done," he added. "The leak occurred, and should have been prevented in the first place."
Where Adobe's response could stand improvement is in providing more transparency about what happened, he concluded, "instead of letting people and security groups speculate."
Maintenance work on Outlook.com's calendar application is now in its second week, and the lengthy, ongoing tune-up could be causing problems for users.
The maintenance began on Oct. 23, according to a note posted on Microsoft's Live Status dashboard, where people can check on the status of the company's consumer online services.
"You might see error messages when creating/editing birthdays. The checkbox to get notifications in the Options page may also be disabled during this time," the announcement says.
Asked for an update, a Microsoft spokesman confirmed on Wednesday that the work hasn't been finished. "We apologize for any inconvenience and expect the updates to be completed soon," he wrote via email.
It's not clear in what ways Outlook.com's calendar is being improved.
Outlook.com is Microsoft's new Webmail service. It made its debut in mid-2012 and has since replaced Hotmail.
Microsoft describes Outlook.com as a total reinvention of webmail, from the user interface to the back-end platform. It's supposed to give Microsoft a stronger competitor to Google's Gmail and Yahoo Mail.
It malfunctioned in August in various ways for several days and experienced a prolonged outage in March.
Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.
Prime Instant Video Greenlights First-Ever Drama Pilots
ollowing Amazon Studios' pilot announcement earlier this month, Amazon today announced it has given the green light for the production of its first two hour-long drama pilots: Bosch, based on Michael Connelly's best-selling Harry Bosch book series and written by Emmy-nominated Eric Overmyer (The Wire, Treme) and Michael Connelly, and The After, written and directed by Emmy-nominee Chris Carter (The X-Files).
Customers will be invited to watch the pilots on Amazon Instant Video at no cost and can provide feedback that will help determine which pilots should be produced as series to air exclusively on Prime Instant Video and Amazon's LOVEFiLM in the UK in early 2014.
"We are very excited to be working with creators like Michael Connelly and Chris Carter, both epic storytellers in their own right," said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. "For the first time we are bringing Amazon customers hour-long programming and we can't wait to hear what they think of these new stories."
Bosch
Based on Michael Connelly's best-selling Harry Bosch series and written by Eric Overmyer and Michael Connelly, Bosch follows a relentless LAPD homicide detective as he pursues the killer of a 13-year-old boy while standing trial in federal court on accusations that he murdered a suspected serial killer in cold blood. Bosch will be played by Titus Welliver (Argo, The Good Wife) and the pilot will also star Annie Wersching, Amy Price-Francis and Jamie Hector. Henrik Bastin of Fabrik Entertainment (The Killing) is producing and Jim McKay will direct.
"Sharing this story with television audiences is very exciting, something that's been twenty years in the making," said author Michael Connelly. "It is amazing to have it come together with the synergy of Amazon-the world's largest bookstore-along with accomplished creator and showrunner, Eric Overmyer, and Fabrik, a production company dedicated to loyalty to the books. Harry Bosch can be in no better hands."
The After
Written and directed by Emmy-nominee Chris Carter (The X-Files) executive produced by Marc Rosen of Georgeville Television and produced by Gabe Rotter, The After follows eight strangers who are thrown together by mysterious forces and must help each other survive in a violent world that defies explanation. Sharon Lawrence, Jamie Kennedy, Aldis Hodge, Andrew Howard, Arielle Kebbel, Jaina Lee Ortiz, Adrian Pasdar, and Louise Monot will star.
"I'm very superstitious about talking about what I'm working on before it's finished, and it's more fun if it's kept a mystery! So let me just say that this is a show that explores human frailty, possibility, terror, and the triumph of the human spirit," said Chris Carter, creator of The After. "I'm so excited to be telling this story with Amazon in this new frontier of television."
Recently Apple released its second update to the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. These Late 2013 MacBook Pros keep the same 2880 by 1800 resolution Retina display as its predecessor, but use the latest quad-core Haswell processors, Iris Pro graphics and PCIe connected flash.
Image: Michael Homnick
Externally identical to the 4.46 pound, 15-inch models released in February 2013 and June 2012, the changes to this edition of the MacBook Pro are all beneath the aluminum surface. You’ll find Intel’s fourth generation Core processors (Haswell)—specifcally, a quad-core 2.0GHz Core i7 in the $1999 laptop and a quad-core 2.3GHz Core i7 in the $2599 model. They replace the 2.4GHz and 2.7GHz quad-core Ivy Bridge processors, repsectively, that powered the systems that launched earlier this year. The low-end model ships with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of fast PCIe-connected flash storage. The high-end model doubles both the RAM and storage capacity.
Two Thunderbolt 2 ports replace the Thunderbolt ports on the previous Retina models. Thunderbolt 2 is backwards compatible with Thunderbolt, but you need Thunderbolt 2 devices to see the increased bandwidth.
The rest of the connections remain from previous models: two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, headphone jack and MagSafe 2 power connector. Wireless connections have been updated to the latest specs: 802.11ac WiFi, which as we’ve seen in the MacBook Airs, offers much faster wireless transfer rates; and Bluetooth 4.0.
Image: Michael HomnickWhile the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro models got thinner and lighter, the 15-inch models remain the same size and weight.
Graphical differences
In a first for Apple, the $1999 15-inch MacBook Pro has no discrete graphics. It relies solely on Intel’s Iris Pro (equipped with Crystalwell) integrated graphics. The $2599 model has two graphic cards, the aforementioned integrated Iris Pro as well as Nvidia GeForce GT 750m discreet graphics with 2GB of dedicated video memory.
As our tests of the 13-inch MacBook Pro show, the Iris graphics are considerably faster than the Intel Integrated Graphics 4000 used in the Ivy Bridge MacBook Pros. Unfortunately, the new integrated graphics still have a ways to go before they can match the performance of discrete graphics. In our tests, the Iris Pro graphics in the $1999 MacBook Pro were 33 percent faster than the Iris graphics in the 13-inch MacBook Pro. The discrete graphics in the high-end 15-inch MacBook Pro posted frame rates as much as twice that of the new low-end’s Iris Pro.
With the new MacBook Pro, Apple brings the PCIe connected flash storage the company introduced with the mid-2013 MacBook Air. And it’s fast. The new low and high-end MacBook Pros were 34 and 41 percent faster, respectively, in our 6GB folder copy test than the high-end early 2013 MacBook Pro and its 512GB SATA-connected flash storage.
Image: Michael HomnickSDXC slot, HDMI port, and USB 3.
Macworld Lab is close to finishing up our new Speedmark 9 overall system performance benchmark, but for now, we’re running a dozen application tests to compare performance between Macs. In those tests, the new high-end 15-inch MacBook Pro was faster in eight of our 12 tests and tied in three of the tests. Highlights include a 19 percent higher MathematicaMark 9 scores and 9 percent improvements in Photoshop Creative Cloud and Cinebench R15 OpenGL tests. The previous high-end was 2 percent faster in our 6GB file compression test.
The new low-end 15-inch Retina couldn’t keep up with the early-2013 high-end, trailing in 7 of the twelve tests and tying in one. Comparing the new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro and the new low-end 15-inch model, the 15-inch was considerably faster across the board. The 15-inch’s quad-core i7 was about twice as fast in CPU intensive tests like Handbrake, MathematicaMark 9 and Cinebench r15’s CPU test, but there were improvements in graphics, storage and productivity applications.
One place where both of the new MacBook Pros shined was in our battery life tests. The new low-end lasted 9 hours and 36 minutes on a single charge. The new high-end lasted 9 hours and 26 minutes, about two hours longer than the early 2013’s 7 hour and 30 minute result. The new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro lasted a little longer: 10 hours and 11 minutes.
Image: Michael Homnick
Bottom line
Much improved battery life and fast internal storage are both welcome improvements to this latest iteration of the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro. The $1999 2.0GHz MacBook Pro’s lack of discrete graphics took a toll on its Cinebench and 3D game performance, but it’s a much faster system than the high-end 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro. The $2599 2.3GHz Retina MacBook Pro was faster in just about every way than the system it replaces and would be a great fit for owners of older Mac portables looking for a high-performance laptop.
Next page: Complete benchmark results
James Galbraith , Macworld
James is the director of Macworld Lab. More by James Galbraith
FILE - In this June 22, 2012 file photo, former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky arrives at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa. Penn State said Monday, Oct. 28, 2013 that it is paying $59.7 million to 26 young men over claims of child sexual abuse at the hands of Sandusky. The university said it had concluded negotiations that have lasted about a year. The school said 23 deals are fully signed and three are agreements in principle. The school faces six other claims, and the university says it believes some do not have merit while others may produce settlements. Sandusky, 69, is serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence at a state prison in southwestern Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
FILE - In this June 22, 2012 file photo, former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky arrives at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa. Penn State said Monday, Oct. 28, 2013 that it is paying $59.7 million to 26 young men over claims of child sexual abuse at the hands of Sandusky. The university said it had concluded negotiations that have lasted about a year. The school said 23 deals are fully signed and three are agreements in principle. The school faces six other claims, and the university says it believes some do not have merit while others may produce settlements. Sandusky, 69, is serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence at a state prison in southwestern Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 9, 2012 file photo, former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, center, is taken from the Centre County Courthouse after being sentenced in Bellefonte, Pa. Penn State on Monday Oct. 28, 2013 said it is paying $59.7 million to 26 young men over claims of child sexual abuse at the hands of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, concluding negotiations that have lasted about a year. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2013, file photo, former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky arrives at the Centre County Courthouse for a post-sentencing hearing in Bellefonte, Pa. Penn State said Monday, Oct. 28, 2013 that it is paying $59.7 million to 26 young men over claims of child sexual abuse at the hands of Sandusky. The university said it had concluded negotiations that have lasted about a year. The school said 23 deals are fully signed and three are agreements in principle. The school faces six other claims, and the university says it believes some do not have merit while others may produce settlements. Sandusky, 69, is serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence at a state prison in southwestern Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A lawsuit by Joe Paterno's family and others against the NCAA was heading to court, one day after Penn State announced settlements with 26 young men over claims of abuse by Jerry Sandusky.
Judge John Leete scheduled the Tuesday court session in Bellefonte to hear lawyers argue over whether the breach of contract, defamation and commercial disparagement claim should be thrown out.
Penn State said Monday it was paying 26 young men $59.7 million over claims of child sexual abuse at the hands of Sandusky, the school's former longtime defensive coach.
The school said 23 deals are fully signed and three are agreements in principal. There are six other claims, and it believes some of them are meritless.
It did not disclose the names of the recipients.
University president Rodney Erickson issued a statement calling the announcement a step forward for victims and the school.
"We cannot undo what has been done, but we can and must do everything possible to learn from this and ensure it never happens again at Penn State," said Erickson, who announced the day Sandusky was convicted in June 2012 that Penn State was determined to compensate his victims.
The settlements have been unfolding since mid-August, when attorneys for the accusers began to disclose them. Penn State has not been confirming them, waiting instead to announce the deals at once.
Harrisburg lawyer Ben Andreozzi, who helped negotiate several of the settlements, said his clients were satisfied.
"They felt that the university treated them fairly with the economic and noneconomic terms of the settlement," said Andreozzi, who also represents some others who have come forward recently. Those new claims have not been presented to the university, he said.
One client represented by St. Paul, Minn., attorney Jeff Anderson signed off on an agreement in the past week and the other is basically done, he said. Anderson counts his two clients as among the three that have been classified as agreements in principle, which Penn State said means final documentation is expected to be completed in the next few weeks.
Anderson said his clients were focused on Penn State's changes to prevent future abuse.
"I have to applaud them, because they said 'not until we're satisfied that no one else will get hurt,'" Anderson said. "The settlement of their cases in no way heals, in no way lessens the wound that remains open and the scars that are deep."
Penn State has spent more than $50 million on other costs related to the Sandusky scandal, including lawyers' fees, public relations expenses, and adoption of new policies and procedures related to children and sexual abuse complaints.
It said Monday that liability insurance is expected to cover the payments and legal defense, and expenses not covered should be paid from interest paid on loans by Penn State to its self-supporting units.
Clifford Rieders, a Williamsport attorney who negotiated one of the settlements, said the average payout matched other cases involving child abuse in educational or religious settings.
Rieders said the cases raised the specter of embarrassing revelations if they went to trial, and a university would have to consider the effect on the victims, its overall reputation, its ability to pay and its wider objectives.
"There are many considerations whenever you resolve a high-profile case involving serious misconduct, and I'm sure all of those and more came into play here," Rieders said.
Sandusky, 69, has been pursuing appeals while he serves a 30- to 60-year sentence on 45 criminal counts.
He was convicted of abusing 10 boys, some of them at Penn State facilities. Eight young men testified against him, describing a range of abuse they said went from grooming and manipulation to fondling, oral sex and anal rape when they were boys.
The 32 claimants involved in negotiations with Penn State include most of the victims from the criminal trial and some who say they were abused by Sandusky many years ago. Negotiations were conducted in secret, so the full range of the allegations wasn't disclosed publicly.
Sandusky did not testify at his trial but has long asserted his innocence. He has acknowledged he showered with boys but insisted he never molested them.
The abuse scandal rocked Penn State, bringing down football coach Joe Paterno and leading college sports' governing body, the NCAA, to levy unprecedented sanctions against the university's football program.
Three former Penn State administrators await trial in Harrisburg on charges they engaged in a criminal cover-up of the Sandusky scandal. Former president Graham Spanier, retired vice president Gary Schultz and retired athletic director Tim Curley deny the allegations, and a trial date has not been scheduled.
Get in on the ground floor as we look at the most exciting crowdfunded tech projects out there right now. This week: IdealFuture's IF Convertible, a device that combines phone, tablet and dual-screen laptop in one. The device will weigh in at less than one pound and feature an 18-hour battery; ports consist of USB, HDMI, Ethernet and memory card; RAM comes in at 4 GB and storage at 512 GB.
Back in 2011, in the dark, pre-tablet days of the netbook, Motorola introduced a phone and laptop combo called the "Atrix." The then-powerful 4G, dual-core AT&T phone slotted into a unique receptacle on the back of the optional laptop's clamshell hinge -- a bit like a game cartridge slides into a console. The phone then powered the Chromebook-like, highly stripped-down laptop.
Let's put it this way: Despite intriguing phone-heads of the day and garnering prominent in-store displays at RadioShack, the device didn't take the world by storm.
The permutation was perceived as expensive: At launch, it sold for US$500, including phone, and you had to buy a $20-per-month tethering plan from AT&T to get that price. Plus, like much hardware of the time, it was a bit clunky, it was underpowered, and -- other than placing Android on a large-ish screen -- it didn't do anything more than the kit we already had. It was kind of pointless.
However, like today's Chromebook fan base, there was a small, mobile, keyboard-requiring user group who swore by them.
Fast forward to 2013, and IdealFuture thinks it's building the next must-have mobile device permutation. It says it has the mobile future of computing in the first "superphone, hypertablet and dual-display laptop," to quote its own hyperbole.
What Is It?
If funded, the IF Convertible range of laptops will provide a laptop/phone/tablet combo with dual 7-inch screens. It's almost a mobile-desk concept, rather than a classic laptop, or phone/tablet combo like the current Asus PadFone -- which resembles Atrix, with its slot-in phone.
The left screen is always attached to the device; the phablet-sized phone, which IdealFuture calls a Slingshot, is attached to the right-side of the laptop, creating dual displays.
The operating system is Windows when the Slingshot is docked, but dual Android and Windows when the Slingshot is removed -- the Slingshot being Android-driven.
Tagline: "Think of it as the Swiss Army knife of computing devices."
Technical Details
The IF Convertible will weigh in at less than one pound and feature an 18-hour battery; ports consist of USB, HDMI, Ethernet and memory card; RAM comes in at 4 GB and storage at 512 GB. Radios include LTE and WiFi.
The Numbers
As of this writing, IdealFuture has nine funders for the IF Convertible contributing $4,009 of a $100,000 goal. The funding period ends on Dec. 4, 2013.
A contribution of $799 gets you an IF Convertible Alpha in silver with engraving and a T-shirt; a $1,499 contribution gets you the Elite package, which includes premium finish, including gold, engraving, special metal-flake covers and a leather carrying case.
The estimated shipping date is July 2014.
The Upsides
It's a compelling idea to have phone and laptop combined in one. Primarily, we think, because, unlike with Atrix, it should mean that the user shouldn't have to buy into the crazy wireless carrier tethering and data device nickel-and-diming common in many markets.
It's one device, according to the creator, so it requires just one data plan -- not two or three spread out among tablet, laptop and phone.
Plus, there is evidence that dual-displays do improve productivity.
The Downsides
We're seeing a slightly slower uptake in funding for this project compared with some of the other successful campaigns we've watched.
Even though this campaign will receive all funds raised when it's done, as is customary in Indiegogo flexible funding projects, the creator needs to get with it on the fundraising in order to make the required funding threshold -- and that doesn't just mean social networking and T-shirts.
We need to see some component specifications -- currently nonexistent -- as well as some more concrete plans relating to engineering like screen sourcing, manufacturing promised to be in the U.S., distribution and even prototyping plans -- which also don't appear to exist.
Patrick Nelson has been a professional writer since 1992. He was editor and publisher of the music industry trade publication Producer Report and has written for a number of technology blogs. Nelson studied design at Hornsey Art School and wrote the cult-classic novel Sprawlism. His introduction to technology was as a nomadic talent scout in the eighties, where regular scrabbling around under hotel room beds was necessary to connect modems with alligator clips to hotel telephone wiring to get a fax out. He tasted down and dirty technology, and never looked back.
Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 267 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner with the audio player below.
Culturefest is on the radio! “Gabfest Radio” combines Slate’s Culture and Political Gabfests in one show—listen on Saturdays at 7 a.m. and Sundays at 6 p.m. on WNYC’s AM820.
On this week’s show, the critics discuss the death of Lou Reed, his generation-defining music, and his eternal brand of cool. Next, they turn to the Broadway production of Romeo and Juliet, starring Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad. One among many Shakespeare revivals in theater and on film this season, the production allows the gabbers to grapple with the merits of this canonical play. Finally, the critics discuss the poetry and artistry of Internet memes—can Twitter be a platform for 21st-century conceptual art?
Links to some of the things we discussed this week follow:
Dana: Aftermath, a new World War II film by Polish director Wladyslaw Pasikowski
Julia: Shakespeare reading parties (wine, cheese, and inviting Dana recommended)
You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.
This podcast was produced by Sally Herships and engineered by Chris Wade. Our intern is Anna Shechtman.
Did someone's foot get stuck on the accelerator? The worldwide smartphone market raced ahead at an astonishing growth rate of 38.8 percent in the third quarter, a number that reflected shipments of 467.9 million units, according to a report released this week by IDC. To put that number in perspective, the population of the United States is just 316.9 million. So you could sell a smartphone to every single person in the U.S., plus one to each of the 142 million people living in Russia, and still have about 8.5 million left over.
That's great news for the five leading smartphone vendors -- Samsung, Apple, Huawei, Lenovo, and LG -- not to mention all the suppliers and developers that live in their ecosystems. Great news for now, that is. But I threw those statistics at you to make a point: The smartphone market could well be approaching saturation. "That rate of growth can't be supported, unless Verizon and AT&T start selling smartphones to extraterrestrials," quipped columnist Carl Weinschenk.
Indeed, there are already early signs that the market is running out of headroom. In South Korea, home to Samsung and one of the most connected places on Earth, each quarter of this year has seen about 1.35 million new smartphone subscriptions, compared to nearly twice that number a year ago, according to that country's Ministry of Science. And smartphone sales in Australia and New Zealand actually shrank in the second quarter of the year. Meanwhile, profit growth at companies like Apple and LG Electronics is slowing as price competition takes hold.
The mobile industry is hardly on the edge of an abyss, and the sky is not falling. But all this reminds me of the PC market in the 1990s, which also grew at a phenomenal rate. When the PC market approached saturation, profits declined as vendors fought for market share, and innovation slowed to the point where PCs became commodities. We may be headed in that direction yet again.
The long upgrade cycle There use to be a fairly regular PC upgrade cycle in business: Companies would upgrade their systems every three years or so, and individuals more or less followed suit. That's been changing. Although I don't have hard numbers on that, I suspect the cycle is moving closer to five years.
Maybe systems are somewhat sturdier these days. But more important is the lack of significant innovation. Laptops have gotten lighter and more powerful over the years, but until touchscreens and Windows 8 debuted, you could hardly tell one generation of PC from the other. (Not that Windows "Frankenstein," aka Windows 8, will revive the market; in fact, Windows 8 is hurting the PC market.)
Computer buyers are no dummies. Why spend money on a new PC when the old one does everything you need quite well? PC makers reacted by cutting prices, a fratricidal strategy that resulted in shrinking margins for everybody and the deaths of major companies (remember Gateway?) up and down the supply chain. Now, even Mac sales are declining.
This undated photo provided by Google shows a Google data center in Hamina, Finland. The Washington Post is reporting Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, that the National Security Agency has secretly broken into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world. The Post cites documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and interviews with officials. (AP Photo/Google)
This undated photo provided by Google shows a Google data center in Hamina, Finland. The Washington Post is reporting Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, that the National Security Agency has secretly broken into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world. The Post cites documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and interviews with officials. (AP Photo/Google)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Security Agency has secretly broken into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
A secret accounting dated Jan. 9, 2013, indicates that NSA sends millions of records every day from Yahoo and Google internal networks to data warehouses at the agency's Fort Meade, Md., headquarters. In the last 30 days, field collectors had processed and sent back more than 180 million new records — ranging from "metadata," which would indicate who sent or received emails and when, to content such as text, audio and video, the Post reported Wednesday on its website.
The latest revelations were met with outrage from Google, and triggered legal questions, including whether the NSA may be violating federal wiretap laws.
"Although there's a diminished standard of legal protection for interception that occurs overseas, the fact that it was directed apparently to Google's cloud and Yahoo's cloud, and that there was no legal order as best we can tell to permit the interception, there is a good argument to make that the NSA has engaged in unlawful surveillance," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of Electronic Privacy Information Center. The reference to 'clouds' refers to sites where the companies collect data.
The new details about the NSA's access to Yahoo and Google data centers around the world come at a time when Congress is reconsidering the government's collection practices and authority, and as European governments are responding angrily to revelations that the NSA collected data on millions of communications in their countries. Details about the government's programs have been trickling out since Snowden shared documents with the Post and Guardian newspaper in June.
The NSA's principal tool to exploit the Google and Yahoo data links is a project called MUSCULAR, operated jointly with the agency's British counterpart, GCHQ. The Post said NSA and GCHQ are copying entire data flows across fiber-optic cables that carry information between the data centers of the Silicon Valley giants.
The NSA has a separate data-gathering program, called PRISM, which uses a court order to compel Yahoo, Google and other Internet companies to provide certain data. It allows the NSA to reach into the companies' data streams and grab emails, video chats, pictures and more. U.S. officials have said the program is narrowly focused on foreign targets, and technology companies say they turn over information only if required by court order.
In an interview with Bloomberg News Wednesday, NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander was asked if the NSA has infiltrated Yahoo and Google databases, as detailed in the Post story.
"Not to my knowledge," said Alexander. "We are not authorized to go into a U.S. company's servers and take data. We'd have to go through a court process for doing that."
It was not clear, however, whether Alexander had any immediate knowledge of the latest disclosure in the Post report. Instead, he appeared to speak more about the PRISM program and its legal parameters.
In a separate statement, NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said NSA has "multiple authorities" to accomplish its mission, and she said "the assertion that we collect vast quantities of U.S. persons' data from this type of collection is also not true." At no point did the NSA deny the existence of the MUSCULAR program.
The GCHQ had no comment on the matter.
The Post said the NSA was breaking into data centers worldwide. The NSA has far looser restrictions on what it can collect outside the United States on foreigners and would not need a court order to collected foreigners' communications.
Cybersecurity expert James Lewis said it is likely that the Google and Yahoo data was part of a larger collection of communications swept up by the NSA program from the fiber-optic pipeline. He said that while the collection was probably legal, because it was done overseas, the question is what the NSA did with the data linked to U.S. citizens.
To meet legal requirements, the NSA has to distinguish between foreign and U.S. persons, and must get additional authorization in order to view information linked to Americans, said Lewis, who is with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He said it's not clear from the reports what the NSA did with the U.S. data, and so it's difficult to say whether the agency violated the law.
David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer said the company has "long been concerned about the possibility of this kind of snooping."
"We do not provide any government, including the U.S. government, with access to our systems," said Drummond. "We are outraged at the lengths to which the government seems to have gone to intercept data from our private fiber networks, and it underscores the need for urgent reform."
Google, which is known for its data security, noted that it has been trying to extend encryption across more and more Google services and links.
Yahoo spokeswoman Sarah Meron said there are strict controls in place to protect the security of the company's data centers. "We have not given access to our data centers to the NSA or to any other government agency," she said, adding that it is too early to speculate on whether legal action would be taken.
The MUSCULAR project documents state that this collection from Yahoo and Google has led to key intelligence leads, the Post said.
Congress members and international leaders have become increasingly angry about the NSA's data collection, as more information about the programs leak out. A delegation from the European Union Parliament came to Washington this week to conduct intense talks about reported U.S. spying on allied leaders, including the collection of phone records. And a German delegation met with U.S. officials over allegations that the NSA was monitoring Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone.
Alexander told lawmakers that the U.S. did not collect European records, and instead the U.S. was given data by NATO partners as part of a program to protect military interests.
Congress members, however, are working on plans that would put limits data collection. And Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has called for a "total review of all intelligence programs"
More broadly, Alexander on Wednesday defended the overall NSA effort to monitor communications. And he said that as Congress considers proposals to scale back the data collection or provide more transparency to some of the programs, it's his job to lay out the resulting terrorism risks.
"I'm concerned that we give information out that impacts our ability to stop terrorist attacks. That's what most of these programs are aimed to do," Alexander said. "I believe if you look at this and you go back through everything, none of this shows that NSA is doing something illegal or that it's not been asked to do."
Pointing to thousands of terror attacks around the world, he said the U.S. has been spared much of that violence because of such programs.
"It's because you have great people in the military and the intelligence community doing everything they can with law enforcement to protect this country," he said. "But they need tools to do it. If we take away the tools, we increase the risk."
___
Associated Press writers Mike Liedtke in San Francisco and Raphael Satter in London contributed to this report.
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