VMware campaign to kill off desktop PCs picks up steam

News has been trickling out steadily from VMware's Barcelona conference about its new acquisitions and network virtualization offerings. But it's the desktop that VMware is attacking -- sorry, "virtualizing" -- aggressively, giving enterprises fewer incentives than ever to replace existing desktop hardware. Which, in enterprises that are fast becoming populated with tablets and smartphones, might not be such a bad idea after all.

Some of the pieces for this assault have been in place for a while now, courtesy of VMware's Horizon View product. Back in March, the company introduced a new feature called HTML Access, which allowed people using any HTML5-compliant browser to access a Horizon View desktop: no plug-ins, nothing to download. The protocol VMware created for this -- named Blast -- now also supports streaming audio and works on Google Chromebooks. It still doesn't support attached USB devices, but that's a hurdle I doubt can be overcome without the use of a native client or, at the very least, plug-ins.

The 5.3 revision of VMware Horizon is said to bring a slew of user-experience improvements that are designed to make working on a virtualized desktop as close as possible to the real thing -- such as using VMware's vDGA technology for high-performance graphics, where GPUs on the vSphere host can be assigned to specific virtual desktops and perform direct pass-through to the host. (vDGA even supports CUDA and OpenGL.) Apparently, among the folks who gave VMware the most feedback about this were people doing CAD and other high-end graphics work on their systems, and they wanted as close to a native desktop experience as possible.

Most of the complaints about virtual desktops have revolved around end-user performance. Obviously, the best performance for vDGA comes when you use a platform-native VMware access client, but given the way HTML5 continues to advance by leaps and bounds, I wouldn't be surprised if in time the performance available through a browser comes close enough to the VMware client to make picking one over the other trivial. What will not happen any time soon -- barring some kind of major revolution in the way browsers can talk to their hosts -- is, again, support for the kind of advanced hardware connectivity only possible with a native client or browser add-ons.

Still, all this adds up to one fewer reason to pick a particular kind of machine to provide access to a virtual desktop, especially if the enterprise in question happens to have plenty of tablets lying around with better graphics power than its last fleet of (now-aging) desktops. Those machines almost certainly will have native clients available for them as well.

The other half of the assault on the desktop -- the admin side -- comes by way of VMware's Horizon Mirage 4.3, which makes the management process for virtual desktops a lot easier for the folks in IT. Mirage lets you split a system image into multiple layers: a base image that's standard throughout a company, for instance, with an app image layered over that for applications, and yet another layer for a user's initial preferences and apps. Removing the management headaches for virtual desktops makes one less reason to not use them. (It comes as no surprise that CEO Pat Gelsinger has said that VMware's next frontiers are automation and management.

Conventional wisdom has been there would always be a reason to have full-blown desktop systems: the form factor, the local processing power, the difficulty of providing all that across the wire from a back end. VMware is not likely to ever completely displace all that -- especially not in the minds of users who simply want a full desktop with none of the hitches of virtual delivery -- but it's making it that much more difficult for an organization to justify replacing or even purchasing PCs at all.

This story, "VMware campaign to kill off desktop PCs picks up steam," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Get the first word on what the important tech news really means with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/virtual-desktop/vmware-campaign-kill-desktop-pcs-picks-steam-228857?source=rss_infoworld_blogs
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Mickey Rooney's Stepson SETTLES Elder Abuse Suit for MILLIONS

Mickey Rooney
Stepson Settles Elder Abuse Suit
FOR MILLIONS

Exclusive

Mickey Rooney's stepson now concedes he owes the famed actor $2.8 million for allegedly siphoning off a ton of money from Mickey's financial accounts, but there's a GIGANTIC catch.

Christopher Aber and his wife, Christina, have just settled with Mickey's conservators, after allegations they played funny with Mickey's money.  There were also allegations the couple deprived Mickey of food, meds, and even blocked him from leaving his home.

The whole thing escalated when the 93-year-old actor testified before Congress on elder abuse.

So now Christopher and Christina -- who have declared bankruptcy -- have folded.  So how, you ask, can Mickey get $2.8 mil?  Well under the settlement, Christopher and Christina have a homeowner's insurance policy that arguably covers this type of wrongdoing.  So Mickey's lawyers think they can use the settlement to go after the insurance company and get their dough.

Here's the rub.  The insurance company has already made it clear ... it's not paying anything because the alleged abuses were intentional, and that's not covered under the policy.

So Mickey's lawyers are now going to sue the insurance company and demand not only the $2.8 mil but also punitive damages for bad faith denial of coverage.

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Source: http://www.tmz.com/2013/10/16/mickey-rooney-settlement-lawsuit-elder-abuse-insurance/
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Study shows how Staph toxin disarms the immune system

Public release date: 16-Oct-2013
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Contact: Lisa Greiner
lisa.greiner@nyumc.org
646-592-3044
NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine

Findings point the way to new class of antibiotics

Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have discovered a new mechanism by which the deadly Staphylococcus aureus bacteria attack and kill off immune cells. Their findings, published today in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, explain a critical survival tactic of a pathogen that causes more skin and heart infections than any other microbe, and kills more than 100,000 Americans every year.

"What we've found is that Staph unleashes a multi-purpose toxin capable of killing different types of immune cells by selectively binding to surface receptors," says Victor J. Torres, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology, and senior author of the study. "Staph has evolved the clever ability to target the immune system at different stages."

Scientists have long known that Staph releases an arsenal of toxins to puncture immune cells and clear the way for infection. But only recently have they begun to understand exactly how these toxins work. Earlier this year, Dr. Torres and his team published a paper in Nature explaining how one of those toxins, a protein called LukED, fatally lyses T-cells, macrophages and dendritic cells, all types of white blood cells that help fight off infection. The LukED toxin, they showed, binds to a surface receptor called CCR5 (the same one exploited by HIV). "It attaches to the surface receptor and then triggers pore formation," says Dr. Torres. But their discovery failed to explain how the bacterial toxin kills other types of white blood cells, such as neutrophils, that lack the CCR5 receptor.

Their most recent work solves this puzzle, showing for the first time how receptors on neutrophils (a common type of white blood cell) also enable binding of the LukED toxin. The researchers found that LukED latches onto surface receptors called CXCR1 and CXCR2, creating the same deadly pores that it does when it latches onto CCR5 receptors. "The mechanism is the same," says Dr. Torres. "The strategy makes Staph deadlier in mice."

Neutrophils are the first responders. Upon infection, they race through the bloodstream to kill off the invading pathogen. "They're like the marines of the immune system," Dr. Torres says. T-cells, macrophages and dendritic cells rush in later, mounting a secondary attack to help the body clear the pathogen and remember it in the future. "Killing off the first responders completely disarms the immune system," Dr. Torres says.

LukED is just one piece of the puzzle, and more research is needed to understand other Staph toxins and how they work together to make the microbe deadlier. However, these recent insights hold promise for new medications that target LukED. Better treatments against Staph are desperately needed. In 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that more than half of the 478,000 people hospitalized for staph infections were resistant to methicillin, one of the most potent antibiotics available.

One therapeutic strategy is to block CCR5 receptors and spare the secondary immune response. "We know we can block CCR5 receptors without crippling the rest of the immune system. Some people lack CCR5 and they are perfectly healthy and immune to HIV as well," Dr. Torres says. "But just blocking CCR5 isn't enough." Drugs are available to block CXCR1 and CXCR2 receptors, but those will impair neutrophil recruitment and function. "The lesson is to target the toxin itself and prevent it from attaching to any receptors," Dr. Torres adds. "We have to think globally."

###

Other NYU School of Medicine researchers contributing to the study are Tamara Reyes-Robles, Francis Alonzo III, PhD, Lina Kozhaya and Derya Unutmaz, MD.

The study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the NYU School of Medicine Development Funds, and an American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant.

---

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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.

Public release date: 16-Oct-2013
[


| E-mail



| Share

]

Contact: Lisa Greiner
lisa.greiner@nyumc.org
646-592-3044
NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine

Findings point the way to new class of antibiotics

Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have discovered a new mechanism by which the deadly Staphylococcus aureus bacteria attack and kill off immune cells. Their findings, published today in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, explain a critical survival tactic of a pathogen that causes more skin and heart infections than any other microbe, and kills more than 100,000 Americans every year.

"What we've found is that Staph unleashes a multi-purpose toxin capable of killing different types of immune cells by selectively binding to surface receptors," says Victor J. Torres, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology, and senior author of the study. "Staph has evolved the clever ability to target the immune system at different stages."

Scientists have long known that Staph releases an arsenal of toxins to puncture immune cells and clear the way for infection. But only recently have they begun to understand exactly how these toxins work. Earlier this year, Dr. Torres and his team published a paper in Nature explaining how one of those toxins, a protein called LukED, fatally lyses T-cells, macrophages and dendritic cells, all types of white blood cells that help fight off infection. The LukED toxin, they showed, binds to a surface receptor called CCR5 (the same one exploited by HIV). "It attaches to the surface receptor and then triggers pore formation," says Dr. Torres. But their discovery failed to explain how the bacterial toxin kills other types of white blood cells, such as neutrophils, that lack the CCR5 receptor.

Their most recent work solves this puzzle, showing for the first time how receptors on neutrophils (a common type of white blood cell) also enable binding of the LukED toxin. The researchers found that LukED latches onto surface receptors called CXCR1 and CXCR2, creating the same deadly pores that it does when it latches onto CCR5 receptors. "The mechanism is the same," says Dr. Torres. "The strategy makes Staph deadlier in mice."

Neutrophils are the first responders. Upon infection, they race through the bloodstream to kill off the invading pathogen. "They're like the marines of the immune system," Dr. Torres says. T-cells, macrophages and dendritic cells rush in later, mounting a secondary attack to help the body clear the pathogen and remember it in the future. "Killing off the first responders completely disarms the immune system," Dr. Torres says.

LukED is just one piece of the puzzle, and more research is needed to understand other Staph toxins and how they work together to make the microbe deadlier. However, these recent insights hold promise for new medications that target LukED. Better treatments against Staph are desperately needed. In 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that more than half of the 478,000 people hospitalized for staph infections were resistant to methicillin, one of the most potent antibiotics available.

One therapeutic strategy is to block CCR5 receptors and spare the secondary immune response. "We know we can block CCR5 receptors without crippling the rest of the immune system. Some people lack CCR5 and they are perfectly healthy and immune to HIV as well," Dr. Torres says. "But just blocking CCR5 isn't enough." Drugs are available to block CXCR1 and CXCR2 receptors, but those will impair neutrophil recruitment and function. "The lesson is to target the toxin itself and prevent it from attaching to any receptors," Dr. Torres adds. "We have to think globally."

###

Other NYU School of Medicine researchers contributing to the study are Tamara Reyes-Robles, Francis Alonzo III, PhD, Lina Kozhaya and Derya Unutmaz, MD.

The study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the NYU School of Medicine Development Funds, and an American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant.

---

[


| E-mail



| Share

]

 

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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/nlmc-ssh101113.php
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Watch: Zac Efron Bares His Bum In The Red Band Trailer For ‘That Awkward Moment’

"Just get horizontal"

Posted by: Trent on October 16, 2013|

Zac Efron has got a new movie coming to theaters in January that I think some of you might be interested in seeing. In the just-released red band trailer for the film That Awkward Moment, Zac gets completely nekkid. I mean, duh, that’s the obvious draw but once you get past the nekkid part of the trailer, you see that the movie actually looks kind of funny. Believe me, I know it’s very difficult to get past the notion of a nekkid Zac Efron to think of anything else regarding this movie (like plot, co-stars, etc.) but … trust me, the movie looks funny. It probably won’t help matters if I reveal that Efron also gets his, ahem, “cock out” in the trailer so … why don’t we just click below, watch the NSFW red band trailer and see what all the hubbub is about.

First things first … here is nekkid Zac Efron with his ass in the air:

With that out of the way, here’s the red band trailer for That Awkward Moment in full:



Okay, you laughed out loud, right? I know I did. Yes, when I learned that Zac is bare assed in the trailer I watched the trailer only to see that scene but I unexpectedly enjoyed the rest of the trailer, too. That Awkward Moment won’t hit theaters until January but it looks like it’ll be worth the wait. Does this look like a movie that you would enjoy seeing in theaters? If so, I’ll prolly see you there ;)

[Source]

Source: http://www.pinkisthenewblog.com/2013-10-16/watch-zac-efron-bares-his-bum-in-the-red-band-trailer-for-that-awkward-moment
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Supercell Dominates The Realm: Game Maker Sells A 51%, $1.53B ...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/15/softbank-teams-up-with-gungho-online-to-buy-51-of-gaming-giant-supercell-for-1-5b/
Category: jets   NFL Sunday Ticket   miley cyrus   big brother spoilers   megyn kelly  

Yahoo's 3Q results drop along with ad prices

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Yahoo is regaining its appeal among investors a lot faster than with the online advertisers who generate most of its revenue.

The company's third-quarter numbers released Tuesday are the latest to underscore the challenges facing CEO Marissa Mayer even as Yahoo's stock continues to soar under her leadership. The shares have more than doubled since Yahoo lured Mayer away from rival Google Inc. 15 months ago, largely because investors prize Yahoo's 24 percent stake in Chinese Internet star Alibaba Group Holding.

Alibaba is already making far more money than Yahoo while growing at a rapid pace that bodes well for the future.

Yahoo Inc., meanwhile, is still struggling to revive its revenue growth even though advertisers are spending more on online ads. Most of that money, though, is flowing to search leader Google and social networking leader Facebook Inc.

Mayer, 38, has been pleading patience, saying it may take another year or two before Yahoo's sales are growing at the same rate as the overall market. In the first half of this year, Internet ad spending climbed 18 percent from the same period in 2012.

Yahoo's revenue slipped in the three months ending in September as the company saw declines in two advertising categories. It sold fewer display ads and fetched lower prices, and although the text ads next to the search results on Yahoo's website drew more clicks, the amount of money marketers paid for those commercial pitches declined.

The Sunnyvale, Calif. company earned $297 million, or 28 cents per share, in the three months ending in September. That's a 91 percent drop from nearly $3.2 billion, or $2.64 per share, at the same time last year.

It wasn't an apples-to-apples comparison because last year's profit was lifted by a $2.8 billion windfall from Yahoo's sale of part of its stake in Alibaba Group.

If not for certain items unrelated to its ongoing business, Yahoo said it would have earned 34 cents per share. That figure was a penny above the average estimate among analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Revenue fell 5 percent from last year to $1.1 billion.

After subtracting ad commissions, Yahoo's revenue stood at $1.08 million to match analyst projections.

Yahoo's stock dipped 26 cents to $33.12 in extended trading after the results came out.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/yahoos-3q-results-drop-along-ad-prices-212345013--finance.html
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Anne Rice's Wolves Are Worth Catching Up To

The phrase "previously on..." has become quite familiar to American TV audiences. Whether you're devoted to Battlestar Galactica, to Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad, you need to be able to catch up to a narrative when you've missed an installment or two. Novelists were there first, of course — the notion of a chain of novels focusing on the same characters goes back to Trollope and Proust – but it's less common to find a recap at the beginning of a book.

Luckily for readers, the publisher has tacked on just such a recap page at the beginning of the latest installment in Anne Rice's "Wolf Gift" series, so before you plunge into The Wolves of Midwinter you'll learn the history of San Francisco journalist Reuben Golding. Namely, that he's been bitten by a strange wild animal and undergone what Rice calls "the Chrism," or the sea-change that turns him into a werewolf. In this way he becomes a member of a near-eternal clan of similar folks known as the Morphenkinder.

That's one of the good things that come of Reuben's monstrous transformation. The Morphenkinder do very well in garnering interest on savings over a couple of hundred years or so. Reuben has been doing okay as a writer for a San Francisco daily newspaper, but as a long lived bitee he's going to acquire a lot of cash and property over the many years of his existence.

There are a few difficulties, as you may imagine. When the change comes over him — and even in volume two of the series he's still not completely certain of how to handle it — he grows long hair and fangs and claws, and suffers a big hankering for human flesh. But for all the hair, claws, and hunger, Rice's Man Wolf, as she calls him, has a lot of affinities with a comic book super-hero. He solves nasty situations — kidnappings, and other similar dire events — by changing into his wolf form to track down the perpetrators and devour them, right down to just about the last rib. If you're into running with the wolves and hearing about all the tasty human bits they chomp down, this can be a lot of fun.

This second volume opens a bit quietly, and seems almost bland compared to the rough justice of the first book. Reuben has moved to the fictional town of Nideck Point — where he was bitten — and dumped his mean-spirited former fiancee for a more understanding human woman who herself is toying with the idea of converting to wolf. He tries to smooth things over with his family, especially his poet father Phil and his brother Jim, a priest (to whom he has confessed his new state in the privileged exchange of confession).

Since it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas while all this is going on, the Morphenkinder cook up a mid-winter festival in rainy Nideck, long descriptions of which seemed so fussy that I was ready to pull the plug on the entire enterprise. Fortunately Reuben soon goes a-hunting, and in one wolfen caper actually gets the elders of the Morphenkinder to lope along with him so that together they make a midwinter feast of the flesh of a lot of terrified criminals.

As I recap all this from the second volume — trying not to spoil it for you, of course — I've tried to keep wolf puns to a minimum and stop short of making fun of the theology-lite discussions among the Morphenkinder, Reuben, and the band of forest folk (don't call them elves! They're quite sensitive) who roam the winter woods around Nideck. That's the fussy part.

But there's also a tussle among the Morphens over a plan for human sacrifice, some rough sex wolf-style, a lot of human meals to go and a neat plot turn at the end that increases Reuben's sense of family. The dialogue now and then seems a little stilted, but it becomes quite clear overall that from her Jesus novels to this new pagan series, Rice herself seems to have undergone quite a transformation.

My own hope of heaven (or not) aside, I'd much rather see her band of werewolves tuck into a gang of outlaws and devour them — right down to the last hair follicle — than read moon-struck passages about the way a Man God turns water into wine. I confess that I really enjoyed watching Rice create yet another world of strangeness and transformations along the lines of her greatest achievements, and I'm awfully glad I got in on the ground floor. But if I had to play catch-up I would.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/10/15/230153837/anne-rices-wolves-are-worth-catching-up-to?ft=1&f=1032
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