Dayhoff Westminster Soundtrack

Saturday, April 05, 2014

Apple designer's court testimony recalls birth of iPhone | PCWorld

Apple designer's court testimony recalls birth of iPhone | PCWorld:

"Martyn Williams Apr 4, 2014 "The roots of the iPhone can be traced to many corners of Apple’s campus in Cupertino, California, but a Silicon Valley courtroom on Friday heard how some of the most recognizable software features came from a team working in a dark, dirty, windowless room with special security to keep others out.

The story of the iPhone’s software design was related by Greg Christie, an Apple vice president and software designer, as part of Apple’s patent infringement case against Samsung. Christie is one of the inventors listed on the patent for the “slide to unlock” function, which is one of the patents in question in Apple’s lawsuit against Samsung, on trial in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, California.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2140380/apple-designers-court-testimony-recalls-birth-of-iphone.html#tk.nl_today

'via Blog this'

*****

Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

Friday, April 04, 2014

Rejoice! The Start menu is coming back to Windows | PCWorld

Rejoice! The Start menu is coming back to Windows | PCWorld: "
Brad Chacos @BradChacos Apr 2, 2014" You heard right, devout desktop lovers: The Start menu is coming back to Windows, Microsoft operating system head Terry Myerson announced at Build on Wednesday.

The details are hazy, aside from the fact that it's going to be pushed to all Windows 8.1 users as an update at some point in the future. But it's a-coming—though it's not quite the Start menu you're familiar with. Beyond the traditional mouse-friendly features, the Windows 8.1 Start menu will be crammed with Live Tiles, along with the ability to find and install Microsoft's universal Windows apps, also announced Wednesday.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2138443/rejoice-the-start-menu-is-coming-back-to-windows.html#tk.nl_pcwbest

'via Blog this'

*****

Tuesday, April 01, 2014

Baltimore Orioles baseball, celebrating 60 years of Orioles baseball.

March 31, 2014

The Baltimore Orioles have a wonderful website, “Celebrating 60 years of Orioles Baseball” here: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/bal/fan_forum/60_anniversary_mediaguides.jsp Well, at least that is where the media guides, 1954-2013 are located.

I have written quite a number of stories on baseball, baseball in Carroll County, Md., and the Baltimore Orioles, http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/search/label/Sports%20Baltimore%20Orioles, over the years and have attended a few spring trainings in Florida.

Next week’s column will touch upon some of the history of Orioles baseball. That column will be published here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/search/dispatcher.front?Query=Kevin+Dayhoff&target=adv_all

I just spent a great deal of time thoroughly enjoying going through the 1954 media guide which may be found here: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/bal/fan_forum/media_guides.jsp?loc=1954

Please enjoy… Just saying. Play ball.

*****

NetRight Daily» Clouds on the solar horizon

NetRight Daily» Clouds on the solar horizon: "By Marita Noon

Consumers considering installing solar panels on their rooftops have far more to think through than the initial decision to “go solar.”"

http://netrightdaily.com/2014/04/clouds-solar-horizon/?utm_source=WhatCounts+Publicaster+Edition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Can+Obama+give+away+the+Internet+without+Congress%3f&utm_content=Clouds+on+the+solar+horizon%0d+

{...}

Last month, it was reported that solar panels can be “dangerous in an emergency.” Firefighters have been forced to stop fighting a fire due to electrocution concerns. The report quotes Northampton, MA, Fire Chief Brian Duggan as saying electrocution is not their only concern: “cutting through the roof for ventilation would also take a lot longer.” Springfield fire commissioner Joe Conant says: “nothing will stop them if there’s a life to be saved, but if it’s simply to save the structure, solar panels may keep them from going on the roof.

A Fox News story on the risk solar panels pose to fire-fighters states: “Two recent fires involving structures decked with solar panels have triggered complaints from fire chiefs and calls for new codes and regulations that reflect the dangers posed by the clean-energy devices. A two-alarm fire last week at a home in Piedmont, Calif., prompted Piedmont Fire Chief Warren McLaren to say the technology ‘absolutely’ made it harder on firefighters. Weeks earlier, in Delanco, NJ, more than 7,000 solar panels on the roof of a massive 300,000-square foot warehouse factored into Delanco Fire Chief Ron Holt’s refusal to send his firefighters onto the roof of a Dietz & Watson facility.”

In part, due to the increased fire concerns, roof-top solar panels can increase the cost of homeowners insurance

Read more at NetRightDaily.com: http://netrightdaily.com/2014/04/clouds-solar-horizon/#ixzz2xfzOzmQt

'via Blog this'

*****

More Wi-Fi is better: FCC expands use of 5GHz spectrum | Ars Technica

More Wi-Fi is better: FCC expands use of 5GHz spectrum | Ars Technica:

Agency also says it will auction 65MHz of spectrum for mobile broadband. by Cyrus Farivar - Mar 31 2014

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/03/more-wi-fi-is-better-fcc-expands-use-of-5-ghz-spectrum/

*****

Starbucks Retools Pastry Menu After Customers Complain - Bloomberg

Starbucks Retools Pastry Menu After Customers Complain - Bloomberg: "By Leslie Patton Apr 1, 2014"

[...]

Starting this week, the company will begin reverting to selling slices of banana, pumpkin and iced-lemon loaf cake -- old favorites -- in its U.S. stores. Starbucks will be using new La Boulange recipes and existing suppliers to create food that more closely resembles its previous fare.

Getting the menu right is critical to Starbucks’ U.S. growth strategy. In a saturated coffee market, the company is trying to entice more customers to add a pastry or croissant to their latte orders. Starbucks also faces mounting breakfast competition from fast-food chains: McDonald’s Corp. has been offering pastries at some locations this year, and everyone from Taco Bell to Burger King is trying to boost morning sales.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-01/starbucks-retools-pastry-menu-after-customers-complain.html 'via Blog this'

*****

Stephen Colbert's #CancelColbert response: Comedian responds to backlash to Comedy Central tweet. (Video.)

Stephen Colbert's #CancelColbert response: Comedian responds to backlash to Comedy Central tweet. (Video.) By Josh Voorhees

The #CancelColbert push didn't pick up steam until last Thursday, after Stephen Colbert had taped his final show of the week. That means we had to wait for what seemed like forever for the comedian to respond. It was, of course, worth the wait—even if he does lump Slate in with the rest of the "system," something that at first blush I thought was a wee bit unfair to our nuanced and explanatory coverage of the whole thing. (That said, it was hilarious, so I'm happy to largely look the other way.)

Read - and see more: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/04/01/stephen_colbert_s_cancelcolbert_response_comedian_responds_to_backlash_to.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content&mc_cid=0dab8107ae&mc_eid=b27361148d

'via Blog this'

+++++++++++++++

Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Patuxent Publishing Co., The Carroll Eagle: www.explorecarroll.com: http://www.explorecarroll.com/search/?s=Dayhoff&action=GO
The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com http://www.thetentacle.com/author.cfm?MyAuthor=41

Westminster Patch: http://westminster.patch.com/search?keywords=Dayhoff

Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/
Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/
Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
+++++++++++++++

New Virginia law protects farmers from meddling local officials - by By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D

New Virginia law protects farmers from meddling local officials - by By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D

Fauquier County officials forced family farmer Martha Boneta to cease selling produce from her own 64-acre farm, and so she took action and had Commonwealth law changed...

Fauquier County Virginia officials threatened a family farmer, Martha Boneta with $5,000 per-day fines for hosting a birthday party for eight 10-year-old girls without a permit...

… opponents of the bill, including well-funded environmental organizations and power-hungry county governments – both determined to preserve strict land-use controls – reportedly employed lobbyists to kill the bill. In the end, highly motivated citizens triumphed over highly paid lobbyists...

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2014/04/new-virginia-law-protects-farmers-from.html

Labels: Ag, Ag farm markets, Ag issues, Ag Land Planning, Ag Virginia, Big Government, Business Economics, Governance, Urban planning Euclidean Zoning

Read more: New Virginia law protects farmers from meddling local officials at http://netrightdaily.com/2014/03/new-virginia-law-protects-farmers-meddling-local-officials/?utm_source=WhatCounts+Publicaster+Edition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Unions+coming+to+college+football%3f&utm_content=New+Virginia+law+protects+farmers+from+meddling+local+officials+%0d+

By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D. March 31, 2014

In a hard-fought and stunning victory for family farmers and property rights throughout the Commonwealth, Gov. Terry McAuliffe on March 5 signed into law legislation solidifying Virginia’s status as a right-to-farm state by limiting local officials’ ability to interfere with normal agricultural operations.

The governor’s signature marks the latest chapter in a swirling controversy that attracted nationwide attention in 2012 when the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors forced family farmer Martha Boneta to cease selling produce from her own 64-acre farm. No longer allowed to sell the vegetables she had harvested, Boneta donated the food to local charities lest it go to waste.

Fauquier County officials threatened Boneta with $5,000 per-day fines for hosting a birthday party for eight 10-year-old girls without a permit, and advertising pumpkin carvings. Seeing the county’s action against Boneta as a brazen effort to drive her off her land, Virginians from all walks of life rallied to her defense. Supporters gathered in Warrenton, the county seat, for a peaceful “pitchfork protest” to vent their anger over what an out-of-control local government had done to a law-abiding citizen....

[...]

By contrast, opponents of the bill, including well-funded environmental organizations and power-hungry county governments – both determined to preserve strict land-use controls – reportedly employed lobbyists to kill the bill. In the end, highly motivated citizens triumphed over highly paid lobbyists...

Read more at NetRightDaily.com: Read more: New Virginia law protects farmers from meddling local officials at http://netrightdaily.com/2014/03/new-virginia-law-protects-farmers-meddling-local-officials/?utm_source=WhatCounts+Publicaster+Edition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Unions+coming+to+college+football%3f&utm_content=New+Virginia+law+protects+farmers+from+meddling+local+officials+%0d+

*****

+++++++++++++++

Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Westminster Patch: http://westminster.patch.com/search?keywords=Dayhoff

New Virginia law protects farmers from meddling local officials - by By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2014/04/new-virginia-law-protects-farmers-from.html

Labels: Ag, Ag farm markets, Ag issues, Ag Land Planning, Ag Virginia, Big Government, Business Economics, Governance, Urban planning Euclidean Zoning

*****

Report: Smartphone kill-switch could save consumers $2.6 billion per year | PCWorld

Report: Smartphone kill-switch could save consumers $2.6 billion per year | PCWorld: "Technology that remotely makes a stolen smartphone useless could save American consumers up to $2.6 billion per year if it is implemented widely and leads to a reduction in theft of phones, according to a new report."

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2137740/smartphone-killswitch-could-save-consumers-26b-per-year-says-report.html#tk.nl_today

'via Blog this'

*****

Monday, March 31, 2014

London skeletons reveal secrets of the Black Death - The Washington Post

London skeletons reveal secrets of the Black Death - The Washington Post:

'via Blog this'

*****

Washington Post News Alert Exclusive: CIA misled on interrogation program, Senate report says

Washington Post News Alert:

Exclusive: CIA misled on interrogation program, Senate report says

A report by the Senate Intelligence Committee concludes that the CIA misled the government and the public about aspects of its brutal interrogation program for years — concealing details about the severity of its methods, overstating the significance of plots and prisoners, and taking credit for critical pieces of intelligence that detainees had in fact surrendered before they were subjected to harsh techniques.

The report, built around detailed chronologies of dozens of CIA detainees, documents a long-standing pattern of unsubstantiated claims as agency officials sought permission to use — and later tried to defend — excruciating interrogation methods that yielded little, if any, significant intelligence, according to U.S. officials who have reviewed the document.

Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-misled-on-interrogation-program-senate-report-says/2014/03/31/eb75a82a-b8dd-11e3-96ae-f2c36d2b1245_story.html

*****

News from The Hill Caterpillar avoided $2.4B in taxes, charges Sen. Levin By Peter Schroeder

News from The Hill

Caterpillar avoided $2.4B in taxes, charges Sen. Levin By Peter Schroeder

Caterpillar avoided $2.4 billion in taxes thanks to a reorganization that housed its most profitable business in Switzerland, according to a Senate report.

While the report, from the Senate Permanent subcommittee on Investigations, said Caterpillar had done nothing illegal, it criticized the manufacturing giant for trying to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

“Caterpillar is an American success story that produces tremendous industrial machines,” Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the head of the investigatory panel, said Monday. “But it’s also a member of the corporate profit-shifting club that has shifted billions of dollars in profits offshore to avoid paying U.S. taxes."

Read the story here.

*****

The Honorable Joe Getty, Tanya Shewell, Dick Matthews and Robert Ehrlich in a campaign photograph from August 2006

The Honorable Joe Getty, Tanya Shewell, Dick Matthews and Robert Ehrlich in a campaign photograph from August 2006.

http://kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/post/81338803894/aug-2006-the-honorable-joe-getty-tanya-shewell

*****

Sunday, March 30, 2014

History News Network | Dusting off the language of the Cold War

History News Network | Dusting off the language of the Cold War:

Dusting off the language of the Cold War

“The cold war dinosaurs who still tramp the corridors and editorial columns of London and Washington seem almost to pine for the virile certainties of 1945-1989,” the columnist Simon Jenkins writes. http://hnn.us/article/155094

'via Blog this'

*****

HTC's next flagship smartphone needs more than Robert Downey Jr. | PCWorld

HTC's next flagship smartphone needs more than Robert Downey Jr. | PCWorld: "The HTC One: is a good phone not enough?"

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2111121/htcs-next-flagship-smartphone-needs-more-than-robert-downey-jr.html#tk.nl_today

[...]

The second iteration of the One is expected to have a 5-inch full HD screen and a Snapdragon 801 processor with four cores running at 2.3GHz. The phone is also rumored to have two cameras on the back that will work together to produce better images.

[...]

An improved camera has been one of the main themes on smartphones HTC’s newcomer will compete with, including the Sony’s Xperia Z2 and the Galaxy S5 from Samsung, They were launched at Mobile World Congress last month and will go on sale in April, with the S5 starting to ship on the 11th.

The smartphone market is anticipated to heat up further with a successor to the G2 from LG Electronics and a new iPhone as early as May or June.

HTC has already introduced three new phones this year: Desire 310, Desire 610 and Desire 816, which are all part of an increased focus on the midrange of the market. But a successful high-end model is key for any smartphone company, because it can both help improve profits with better margins and create a trickle-down effect for the rest of the portfolio.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2111121/htcs-next-flagship-smartphone-needs-more-than-robert-downey-jr.html#tk.nl_today

'via Blog this'

*****

This blog post won’t be shared on Facebook, and I should be worried

This blog post won’t be shared on Facebook, and I should be worried:

This blog post won’t be shared on Facebook, and I should be worried

“ Journalism can never be silent: That is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.” — Henry Anatole Grunwald That’s a popular quote on journalism from the one-time editor of Time magazine. […]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2014/03/13/this-blog-post-wont-be-shared-on-facebook-and-i-should-be-worried/?wpisrc=nl_inn

'via Blog this' *****

GOP slams VA: 'Bureaucracy run amok' | TheHill: "By Bernie Becker"

President Obama should back a measure to streamline a Veterans Affairs “bureaucracy run amok,” a House Republican said in the party’s weekly address Saturday.

Rep. Jackie Walorksi (Ind.), a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, called on the White House to support a bill that would empower the VA secretary “to fire senior officials who aren’t up to the job,” helping to clean up the department’s current backlog on disability claims that averages 330 days a case.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/202096-gop-on-veterans-affairs-backlog-bureaucracy-run-amok
Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook

'via Blog this'

*****