Sheridan House 5k walk to benefit kids, families




















Organizers of The Sheridan House’s fifth annual 5k run, “Stepping out for Kids and Families,” have announced the event will take place Saturday, Feb. 2 at 9 a.m.

In the past, the event has attracted several hundred people who both run and walk to benefit the organization.

Sheridan House’s mission is to offer community services for children and families to meet their potential despite challenging circumstances at home or with their finances.





Individuals may register for the event now at http://www.sheridanhouse.org/web/events/5k.





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Hackers claim attack on Justice Department website






WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Hackers sympathetic to the late computer prodigy Aaron Swartz claimed on Saturday to have infiltrated the website of the U.S. Justice Department’s Sentencing Commission, and said they planned to release government data.


The Sentencing Commission site, www.ussc.gov , was shut down early Saturday.






Identifying themselves as Anonymous, a loosely organized group of unknown provenance associated with a range of recent online actions, the hackers voiced outrage over Swartz’ suicide on January 11.


In a video posted online, the hackers criticized the government’s prosecution of Swartz, who had been facing trial on charges that he used the Massachusetts Institute of Technology‘s computer networks to steal more than 4 million articles from JSTOR, an online archive and journal distribution service.


Swartz had faced a maximum sentence of 31 years in prison and fines of up to $ 1 million.


The FBI is investigating the attack, according to Richard McFeely, of the bureau’s Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch.


“We were aware as soon as it happened and are handling it as a criminal investigation,” McFeely said in an emailed statement. “We are always concerned when someone illegally accesses another person’s or government agency’s network.”


(Reporting by Deborah Zabarenko; Editing by Vicki Allen)


Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Buzzmakers: Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs and Carrie Underwood Premieres Two Black Cadillacs Music Video

What had ET readers buzzing this week?

1. First Clip: Ashton Kutcher Becomes 'JOBS'

Ashton Kutcher takes on the role of a lifetime in JOBS, and we have your first look at the movie.

In the clip, Jobs (played by Ashton Kutcher) is raving about the operating system that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (played by Josh Gad) created. While Jobs is certain that this will become a ubiquitous product for mass consumption, Wozniak needs convincing.

"Nobody wants to buy a computer," says Wozniak.

"How does somebody know what they want if they've never even seen it?" Jobs replies.

Steve Jobs lost his battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 56 in October 2011 and as April 2013 marks the 37th anniversary of the founding of the Apple Computer Company, Open Road Films has decided to release JOBS on April 19.

Directed by Joshua Michael Stern, written by Matthew Whitely, shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Russell Carpenter and produced by Mark Hulme, JOBS details the major moments and defining characters that influenced Steve Jobs on a daily basis from 1971 through 2001, according to a press release.

Click here for the video!

2. World Premiere: Carrie's 'Two Black Cadillacs'

Carrie Underwood's inner bad girl is darker than ever in the singer's latest music video for Two Black Cadillacs.

Clad in head-to-toe black, the Grammy nominee takes a turn for the wicked as she croons a juicy tale of infidelity and murder at her cheating husband's funeral.

Click here to watch the world premiere of Carrie's latest single Two Black Cadillacs (off her Blown Away album).

3. Pics: Obama's Inauguration Day Diary

The second-term inauguration of President Barack Obama saw Washington D.C. politicians rubbing elbows with Hollywood's elite. From Beyonce Knowles performing the national anthem to Alicia Keys behind the keys at the inaugural ball, Click here for a recap of the historic, star-studded day.

4. Taylor Swift Stuns As Rapunzel in New Disney Ad

Like Jennifer Lopez, Gisele Bundchen, Beyonce, Jessica Biel, Julianne Moore, Scarlett Johansson, Olivia Wilde and countless other A-Lister ladies before her, Taylor Swift is now starring in Disney Parks ad where she brings to life one of the Mouse House's most memorable characters for their ongoing Disney Dream Portrait campaign.

Slipping into Rapunzel's shoes (errrr, hair extensions) for this "Where A World of Adventure Awaits" spot was a dream come true for the Grammy winner. "When Disney came to me and said we want you to play Rapunzel, I was just so honored," Swift said. "It's such a wonderful character to get to play, a childhood fantasy come into reality for me."

Turns out, the gig couldn't have been a better fit because Swift got her start singing Disney songs! "My parents realized I was really obsessed with [singing] when I'd go up to strangers and sing Lion King songs," Swift laughs. "I think about all the times me and my little brother went to Disney World and we were able to escape to that place anytime we had a hard time. Any time you're going through something rough, you can go back into your imagination and you're at Disney World."

Click here for the video!

5. Leo DiCaprio Taking a 'Long Break' From Acting

Unless something was lost in translation, Leonardo DiCaprio has revealed to a German publication that he will be taking a hiatus from acting.

The 38-year-old A-lister told Germany's daily Bild (via Deadline), "I am a bit drained. I'm now going to take a long, long break. I've done three films in two years and I'm just worn out."

DiCaprio's Django Unchained just came out this past month and he also has The Great Gatsby hitting theaters this year (May 10th) as well as The Wolf of Wall Street. So, what does DiCaprio plan to do with his free time? "I would like to improve the world a bit. I will fly around the world doing good for the environment."

The actor added, "My roof is covered with solar panels. My car is electric. A normal person does not drive more than 50 kilometers (31 miles) a day. That can be done with a plug."

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Justin Bieber being investigated for Nerf Gun 'assault'

A Canadian security guard claims pop star Justin Bieber assaulted her with a Nerf Gun.

Cops in Ottawa are investigating the baby-faced singer on charges that he pelted the guard with foam bullets backstage on Nov. 23, according to TMZ.

Biebs and his 3-and-4-year-old siblings were reportedly goofing around with the toy guns after a performance, when the guard got caught in the squishy “crossfire” at Scotiabank Place.

She then threw a tantrum and filed a police report, prompting cops to question several employees at the popular hockey and music arena, TMZ reports.




FilmMagic



Justin Bieber performs at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.



An Ottawa Police Service officer on Saturday said he had no information immediately about the incident.

“I haven’t heard anything about it — but then again, I’m not a fan,” the sergeant said.

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Fed aims for a 6.5% jobless rate




















Six and a half percent unemployment in America would mean almost 2.1 million more people working than today. At the rate the country has been creating new jobs each month, it would take more than a year to find work for that many people.

Keep 6.5 percent in mind this week when the Federal Reserve meets Tuesday and Wednesday to talk about its efforts to push interest rates down. The hope is that the cheap cash will spur on investment leading to job creation. After all, the central bank has promised to keep its target interest rate near zero as long as more than 6.5 percent of Americans in the workforce are without work. The Fed has put other conditions on maintaining its historically low interest rate such as low inflation, but official measures remain tame. So its job growth the Fed is looking for.

It won’t have to wait long for the latest update. On Friday the first jobs report of 2013 will be released. Hiring has been a slow grind but it has been positive.





Finding work in January, though, can be tricky. Winter weather, a hangover from the holidays and seasonal work ending can slow down hiring.

It will be months, maybe even a couple of years before the U.S. unemployment rate hits 6.5 percent. There is nothing magical about that number, but as long as the Federal Reserve has it in its sights, so should we.

Tom Hudson is anchor and managing editor of Nightly Business Report, produced by NBR Worldwide and distributed nationally by American Public Television. In South Florida, the show is broadcast at 7 p.m. weekdays on Channel 2. Follow him on Twitter, @HudsonNBR.





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Former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz considering bid for governor.




















Former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz looks ready to run for governor and has spent the past three weeks lining up support from strategists, financiers and elected officials.

Diaz, who hasn’t returned calls from The Miami Herald for three weeks about his plans, finally returned a text message on Friday and said he wasn’t ready to speak about the matter, in part because he was attending a charity golf tournament.

Diaz met Friday morning with top Democratic strategist Jeff Garcia, who said he’d like the former mayor to run.





"His potential candidacy presents a unique opportunity for Democrats and Floridians to take the state in a completely new and positive direction," said Garcia, U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia’s chief of staff who met Friday morning with Diaz. "I’m excited he’s considering running. It adds something new and fresh to the field."

Diaz, mayor from 2001-2009, would be the only Democratic Hispanic candidate among those who have announced or are considering a bid to challenge Republican Gov. Rick Scott. Hispanics, the fastest-growing segment of the electorate, helped President Obama win his reelection campaign in Florida.

If elected, Diaz would be the first Democratic Hispanic governor. The state’s first Hispanic governor was a Republican, Bob Martinez.

Diaz has made no formal announcement for the election, which is still nearly two years away.

Former Democratic state Senate leader Nan Rich, of Weston, has announced her intention to run. Former state CFO and the last Democratic governor’s candidate, Alex Sink, is mulling a run as is former Gov. Charlie Crist, a former Republican, who helped President Obama’s campaign in Florida this year.

Diaz was a big help to Obama’s Florida campaign as well. In the waning days of the election when he cut a Spanish-language ad rebutting a spot from Republican Mitt Romney’s campaign, which suggested the president was a socialist.

As a past leader of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Diaz has some close allies in top spots. He has approached Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown for support and wants to hire some of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s campaign team.

New York Mayor and media tycoon Michael Bloomberg wrote the forward to Diaz’s book, Miami Transformed, which Diaz is promoting.

Diaz is also on good terms with former Baltimore Mayor and current Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who recently stepped down as head of the Democratic Governor’s Association.

One Democratic source said the DGA is nervous about a potential Crist candidacy because of the former Republican governor’s "baggage."

But Diaz has some, too, according to his critics in Miami-Dade, home of the largest block of voters in the state.

His successor, Republican Tomas Regalado, faulted Diaz for leaving the city’s budget in bad condition.

Regalado noted that as mayor, Diaz spent more money than Miami took in, draining the reserves from $120 million at the beginning of his tenure to just $20 million by the end.

"He’s going to have a hard time explaining the way he left Miami," Regalado said.

Regalado also faulted Diaz for pushing for a new stadium for the Miami Marlins baseball team.

Diaz won’t, however, need to explain anything after recently changing his party affiliation from independent to Democrat, Regalado said.

"Thankfully, Charlie Crist has already done that," he said.

Other Miami movers and shakers, though, say Diaz did an excellent job in trying times.

"Manny is a visionary leader who has never lost his footing or his roots," Eduardo J. PadrĂ³n, Miami Dade College president, said in blurb about Diaz’s book. "He epitomizes the immigrant success story and the fruition of the American Dream."

At a recent Miami fundraiser for a Los Angeles candidate for mayor, Eric Garcetti, Diaz was introduced as "Gov. Manny Diaz." Diaz did nothing to quiet the talk, according to people in the room.





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Everything You Need to Know About Kim Dotcom’s Mega






Click here to view the gallery: Hands On With Mega


Mega — the long-anticipated file sharing and cloud storage site from Kim Dotcom — is now open to the public.






[More from Mashable: Google Glasses Spotted and Two Other Stories You Need to Know]


Thanks to its association with the now-defunct Megaupload — and the legal issues facing its founder Kim Dotcom — the amount of press, user interest and hype surrounding Mega is greater than any file hosting/cloud storage launch in recent memory.


According to Dotcom, more than 1 million users signed up for Mega in the first 24 hours. On Twitter, the larger-than-life entrepreneur has continued to share usage stats and traffic graphs that compare Mega with perennial cloud favorite, Dropbox.


[More from Mashable: 9 Fresh YouTube Shows You’ll Love]


If you’re curious about the inner workings of Mega, how it works and how it handles security, we’ve got you covered.


The Phoenix of Megaupload


Mega is the spiritual successor to Kim Dotcom’s last business, the insanely popular file-hosting service Megaupload. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice shut down Megaupload and pursued criminal charges against Dotcom. Dotcom, a New Zealand citizen, is actively fighting U.S. extradition orders.


Megaupload was targeted by the DoJ because of its role in illegally distributing copyright material — including digital copies of movies, TV shows, books, music and software.


Rather than try to start a new service eschewing the potential for copyright material to be uploaded and shared, Dotcom is positioning Mega as a service that cares about and protects its user’s privacy. In fact, Mega’s tagline is “the privacy company.”


How It Works


On the surface, Mega is a bare-bones cloud storage host. After signing up for accounts, users can upload files and folders of all types to the service. Those files can then be shared with others.


The free plan gives users 50GB of file storage. There are no hard limits on file size, meaning users can use Mega as a way to back up photos, documents and other data. Obviously, this means users can use Mega as a way to store media content — video files, music, DVD images — as well.


For now, Mega is optimized to work on desktop web browsers. Mega strongly encourages users to use Google Chrome. And while Mega has big plans for developers and client-side apps, for now, the only way to access files is via the web browser.


Files can be uploaded to the service using drag and drop or a file-upload menu. Users can create folders in the file manager.


Uploads and downloads take place in parallel. If you upload a large number of files at once, each file uploads one at a time. In the future, Mega says users will be able to change the upload order. If you need to upload or download multiple files at once, simply open a new Mega tab in your browser and select that file.


You can upgrade to a higher-tiered storage plan from within your account. Mega doesn’t sell these plans itself; instead it has resellers who sell vouchers for a service. A 500GB storage plan with 1TB of enhanced bandwidth is 9.99 euros a month or 99 euros a year (a little over $ 110 U.S. dollars). That’s cheaper than most of its competitors.


The Importance of Passwords


It’s very important to remember the password you select when setting up your Mega account. The password is a big part of how Mega encrypts data on both ends.


During the sign-up process, Mega uses your password to create a 2,048-bit RSA key. This is the key that tells the system you are who you say you are. If you forget your password, you’re not going to be able to get into your account.


Right now, Mega doesn’t even have a password reset or recovery feature. In the future, Mega says it will have a reset mechanism but it will only allow users access to files or folders they have file keys for (more on file keys below). Users won’t be able to access other files until or unless they remember their password.


Because your Mega password is also your master encryption key, it’s important that users choose a secure password. We recommend using a password manager and printing a copy of the password to store in a safe place.


Understanding File Security


Mega is focused on end-to-end encryption. This means that files are encrypted both on upload and on download. With most traditional file hosts or cloud storage lockers, a public link to a file also includes a file path. With Dropbox, for example, the public or shared link includes the file name.


With Mega, things are a bit different. While users can share specific files to other Mega users or via email, the URL to a file doesn’t contain a file name; instead, a cryptographic key is appended to the URL. Without this key, you can’t access the file. Once decrypted by the server, a user has the option to download the linked file.


Mega’s promise, in other words, is that users control who has access to their files and accounts and no one else.


For important files or folders, users might want to make a note of the file key and keep it in a safe place — if they are worried about getting locked out of their account.


How Safe Are Your Files


Since Mega is touting itself as “the privacy company,” it’s important to look at how the company stores files and content.


The end-to-end encryption scheme is only part of how Mega secures data. Still, some are already criticizing the service, noting that it’s not as secure as it says it is. An article for Forbes cites two professionals who have problems with Mega’s security.


Matthew Green, a cryptography professor at John Hopkins University, is particularly critical of the way Mega uses JavaScript to verify its encryption method telling Forbes that “it makes no sense.”


Mega has responded to Green’s claims on its own blog, noting that its scheme “basically enables us to host the extremely integrity-sensitive static content on a large number of geographically diverse servers without worrying about security.”


Meanwhile, at Ars Technia Lee Hutchinson raises concerns about how Mega comes up with its crypto key at sign-up, as well as how the company handles deduplication, or how it eliminates duplicate copies of data.


Again, Mega has taken to its blog to attempt to clarify its policies and the way it handles data.


While Mega’s crypto system certainly doesn’t seem any less secure than any other file locker, we do agree with critics who note that the system might be more about giving Mega culpability against claims that it knows infringing content is on its servers, rather than about protecting that data itself.


The service is still in beta and much of its code is available via open source, so security purists might want to watch how Mega’s system evolves before trusting it with important, sensitive data.


Will Mega Stick Around?


While security experts can quibble and argue over the way Mega uses cryptography and how it stores data on its array of servers, the bigger issue, for us, is long-term survival.


While I would argue that most users who actively used Megaupload were not using it as a traditional cloud service, the fact remains that when the service was shut down, user files went with it.


Already anti-piracy groups are campaigning to shut down payment processors to Mega’s resellers. One of the reasons Mega isn’t taking payments itself and is instead using resellers is to prevent those groups from shutting down payment processors or trying to seize funds.


This is worrisome because in addition to outside capital, Mega needs professional accounts to keep its site working.


It’s too early to say if Mega will be around for the long haul or not, but our advice is not to use Mega as your only file storage solution. Keep backups of crucial files on disk or other cloud-based services.


What do you think of Mega? Let us know in the comments.


This story originally published on Mashable here.


Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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J.J. Abrams, Five Facts About Star Wars Director

J.J. Abrams is reportedly set to direct the new Star Wars, but who is this super force in Hollywood? Here are five facts about the acclaimed 46-year-old movie man:

5. Though he's most known for his sci-fi shows and films, Abrams started out co-creating the television series Felicity (1998–2002), starring Keri Russell. He also composed the music for the opening credits.

4. Other TV shows Abrams has had his hands in include: Alias (2001–2006), Lost (2004–2010), Fringe (2008–2013), Undercovers (2010), Person of Interest (2011–present), Alcatraz (2012) and Revolution (2012–present).

3. Abrams first job in the biz was reportedly when he was 16 when he wrote the music for Don Dohler's film Nightbeast.

2. Abrams got into the family business. He is the son of television producer Gerald W. Abrams and executive producer Carol Abrams. His sister is screenwriter Tracy Rosen.

1. He founded the production company Bad Robot that produces many of his TV shows.


Do you think Abrams is the right man for the Star Wars job?

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Ex-Senator Huntley will cop to mail fraud; pol still faces charges in $30G charity 'sham'








Former New York state Sen. Shirley Huntley is planning to plead guilty to mail fraud charges in a new federal case leveled against her, The Post has learned.

The Queens Democrat is expected to admit that she used funds from a non-profit organization to benefit herself and family members, a source said.

The embattled ex-legislator was indicted originally on Aug. 27 by state authorities on charges that she falsified documents to conceal the fact that her niece and an aide allegedly siphoned $30,000 from a sham charity she created. She pleaded not guilty to those state charges.





Ellis Kaplan



Former Sen. Shirley Huntley.





But Brooklyn federal prosecutors working in the US Attorney's Office's public corruption unit quietly opened a mail fraud case against Huntley — and now she is poised to surrender to authorities soon with the intention of entering a guilty plea, sources said.

A spokesman for the US Attorney's Office in Brooklyn declined to comment on the case against Huntley.

Several months ago, Huntley was bounced out of office by voters who rejected her in a Democratic primary vote.

The Queens lawmaker was trounced by Councilman James Sanders, who got 4,979 votes, or 57 percent of the tally, to 3,477 votes, or 40 percent, for Huntley, records show.

On her way out the door, Huntley paused long enough as a lame-duck legislator, however, to showered loyal staffers with lucrative pay raises.

The Queens Democrat promoted several pet staffers and granted them salary hikes, records show.

mmaddux@nypost.com










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JP Morgan CEO set for Miami talk




















After a bruising start to 2013, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon will be a keynote speaker of an upcoming business conference in Miami.

Dimon, once Wall Street’s top-paid executive, saw his compensation cut in half on the heels of the so-called “London Whale” trading loss that cost the company $6 billion. He will be a keynote speaker at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s “Economic Summit” conference scheduled for Monday, Feb. 4. The event starts at 8 a.m. at Jungle Island and costs between $75 and $200 to attend.

JP Morgan’s bad bet on derivatives last year in its London trading office cost shareholders more than $6 billion, and fueled criticism that JP Morgan and other major banks were still free from the kind of regulations needed to prevent another global banking crisis. Directors cut Dimon’s compensation and Dimon called the incident “a terrible mistake” while pointing out the bank continues to produce record profits.





Eric Silagy, president of the FPL utility company, will share keynoting duties with Dimon at the half-day event.

DOUGLAS HANKS





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