Google+ got a slew of photo-oriented features at a special event on Tuesday, including much-improved Instant Upload on iOS, Auto Awesome Action and new HDR controls in Snapseed. However, the occasion also provided new insights into the performance of Google's young social network. The company now ...
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Before signing herself, a woman looks at a large board with supportive messages for victims of Superstorm Sandy in the Midland Beach section of Staten Island, New York, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. Candles and flashlights will light up the shore along the East Coast as survivors of Superstorm Sandy's devastation pay their respects to what was lost when the storm roared ashore one year ago. In Staten Island, where Sandy roared ashore and killed 23 people, there are still plenty of reminders of the storm. Wallboard and debris are piled on front lawns. Bungalows are covered in plywood. "Restricted Use" signs are plastered on many front doors. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Before signing herself, a woman looks at a large board with supportive messages for victims of Superstorm Sandy in the Midland Beach section of Staten Island, New York, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. Candles and flashlights will light up the shore along the East Coast as survivors of Superstorm Sandy's devastation pay their respects to what was lost when the storm roared ashore one year ago. In Staten Island, where Sandy roared ashore and killed 23 people, there are still plenty of reminders of the storm. Wallboard and debris are piled on front lawns. Bungalows are covered in plywood. "Restricted Use" signs are plastered on many front doors. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Volunteers plant beach grass on a newly constructed sand dune along the beach in the Breezy Point neighborhood in the Queens borough of New York, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. A year ago Superstorm Sandy ravaged the region. The beach grass will protect the new dune, 1200 feet in length, from erosion. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Volunteers plant beach grass on a newly constructed sand dune along the beach in the Breezy Point neighborhood in the Queens borough of New York, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. A year ago, Superstorm Sandy ravaged the region. The beach grass will protect the dune, 1200 feet in length, from erosion. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
In early morning darkness, workers prepare heavy machinery for the day as rebuilding work continues on the beach area of Seaside Heights and Seaside Park, N.J., Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. Tuesday marks the one-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy. A large Sandy-related fire on the boardwalk in September has slowed progress in the area. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
In early morning darkness, workers prepare heavy machinery for the day as rebuilding work continues on the beach area of Seaside Heights and Seaside Park, N.J., Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. Tuesday marks the one-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy. A large Sandy-related fire on the boardwalk in September has slowed progress in the area. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
NEW YORK (AP) — A year after Superstorm Sandy deluged coastal communities with seawater, many people still can't believe they're not back in their homes. Others are thankful for small victories in the long, arduous recovery process.
Devastated residents on Tuesday recalled the help they got from strangers in the days and months after Sandy. Some have mostly recovered from the storm, while others are still homeless or living without heat. In one touching moment, mothers sang "Happy birthday" to their 1-year-old babies who were rescued from darkened hospitals at Sandy's peak.
Sandy came ashore on Oct. 29, 2012, sending floodwaters pouring across the densely populated barrier islands of Long Island and the Jersey shore. In New York City, the storm surge hit nearly 14 feet, swamping the city's subway and commuter rail tunnels and knocking out power to the southern third of Manhattan.
The storm was blamed for at least 182 deaths in the U.S. — including 68 in New York and 71 in New Jersey — and property damage estimated at $65 billion.
Here is a look at anniversary observances through a series of vignettes detailing how people are commemorating the unprecedented storm:
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Myra Camacho's home in the Rockaways still has no electricity.
She spent nearly two months after Sandy trying to survive in her frigid, powerless home with her boyfriend, Walter Negron.
"We wrapped ourselves in blankets. We ate out of the churches," Negron said.
They moved out after Camacho had a heart attack. She moved in with relatives. He's been staying elsewhere.
Workers restored the home's heating system and did some electrical work, but it wasn't enough to fix the building's ruined circuitry. Camacho had no flood insurance and can't work because of poor health. Negron lost his job at a restaurant because of the storm.
Their luck might be about to change. The couple spent Tuesday morning with an inspector from a nonprofit housing group, who told them he could help with the restoration. He estimated it would cost $15,000.
"He said, 'Don't worry about it. We're going to take care of it,'" Camacho said. "I don't know. We've heard things like this before. I'm hopeful."
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One year after Sandy, what Ellen Bednarz of Sayreville, N.J., remembered most was the kindness of the debris haulers who carted away the family's ruined possessions.
"I never saw more caring people," she said at an event to thank firefighters who used boats to rescue scores of people.
Before the storm hit, Bednarz and her family hastily moved their patio set, family room and office furniture to a storage unit and checked into a hotel. Only when they were allowed back to their split-level days later did they see the water had risen 14 feet — destroying everything, even the items the family had moved upstairs.
Bednarz is renting an apartment and waiting to close on a government home buyout.
"It's over," she said. "It's probably one of the worst years of my life, but it's behind me."
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When Sandy darkened much of the city, some New Yorkers were only hours old. Others weren't even born.
On Tuesday, babies filled a Manhattan hospital room to celebrate their first birthdays — and their survival.
Kenneth Hulett III weighed only 2 pounds when emergency medical workers rushed him out of the New York Hospital intensive care unit and down the stairs while hooked up to an oxygen tank. His mother, Emily Blatt, says her faith sustained her as she was evacuated on an orange sled.
That day, more than 40 babies were safety moved from the hospital to other facilities.
On Tuesday, their parents and hospital staff lighted candles atop cupcakes and sang, "Happy birthday, dear babies."
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Visiting a flood-damaged firehouse in Seaside Park, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday was a day to remember volunteers and first responders who risked their lives to save others. Christie, who stayed overnight at the governor's beach house in neighboring Island Beach State Park, said he woke up and was struck by "just how much different we all feel a year later."
"I want us to think of how much better things look today than they did a year ago and celebrate that," Christie said. "We also have to acknowledge that there's still thousands of people out of their homes."
New York Gov. Cuomo visited the National Museum of the American Indian in lower Manhattan, which was temporarily shut down last year by flooding and power outages.
Cuomo recalled the "feeling of powerlessness" seeing the southern tip of Manhattan submerged in water. He also warned that extreme weather is "the new normal" but said the city and state is now better equipped to withstand it.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited Staten Island, Coney Island and the Rockaways, where he thanked and chatted with workers.
"Most New Yorkers are I suspect are struggling with somber memories today, which is only natural," Bloomberg said. "A year ago we endured the worst natural disaster ever to strike our city."
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Aiman Youssef found out the other day that one of his neighbors has been living in his own Staten Island garage.
He says many people in his shorefront neighborhood are still displaced or living in partially restored homes, often without basic facilities.
"A lot of people have moved out of the area," Youssef said. "A lot of houses went into foreclosure."
Some homeowners are still reluctant to accept help, Youssef said, while others have been stymied by bureaucracy. He pointed to a bungalow across the street from his tent on Midland Avenue.
A woman is living there without heat despite a city program that was supposed to restore heat, electric and water service, he said.
"We were lower middle class," Youssef said. "Now we're poor."
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Sam Darata recalled how he and his son stayed in their house in Little Ferry, N.J., as floodwaters coursed down their block and prompted many neighbors to seek rescue by boat.
"In retrospect, I should have left," he said. "If I'd known there was going to be 3 feet of water in here, I'd have been gone."
Like many others in the town, Darata didn't carry flood insurance because it never seemed necessary. He said he received a $10,000 federal homeowners' grant about two months ago but has had to tap into his retirement savings to cover the additional costs of replacing a boiler, refrigerator and other appliances.
Like others, he expressed concern that authorities haven't announced specific plans for preventing future flooding.
"I would rather give up the money I got to help build something that's going to prevent this from happening again," he said.
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The lobby of the Wall Street Inn, a boutique hotel located in a 19th-century building in lower Manhattan, was lonely and empty. But manager Rachel Fogel said business is steady again despite initial fears that the hotel started by her grandfather might never come back.
The hotel was evacuated as the storm hit. The scene on South William Street the next day was discouraging, she said.
"It was dark. It was cold. It smelled like gasoline," Fogel said.
Weeks of work was needed on basement electrical and heating systems before the hotel reopened in December. Contractors were the first post-storm guests.
Now the regulars are back. One was a man who came back months later to retrieve dry cleaning he sent on the eve of Sandy.
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Associated Press reporters Wayne Parry in Seaside Park, N.J., David Porter in Little Ferry, N.J., Angela Delli Santi in Sayreville, N.J., Frank Eltman in Babylon, N.Y., and Verena Dobnik, Jonathan Lemire, David Caruso and Tom Hays in New York contributed to this report.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-29-Superstorm-Anniversary/id-999c3b30eaaf4091b9336a53de40984e
From the horse's mouth, we're hearing some unfortunate news: Google has taken to its Spanish support pages to announce that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is not on the list of devices to receive Android 4.4 KitKat. This seems a bit odd, given the new update's focus on "the next billion" and offering solid performance to other budget devices, but at the moment things aren't looking up for owners of the phone -- or any older Nexus devices, for that matter. We've reached out to Google for clarification on this and will update you if and when we hear back.
Google has developed a security feature for Chrome that lets the browser detect and stop malware downloads.
Browser hijacking and other browser-based malware infections are on the rise and Google needs to protect Chrome users with native security features, the company said. It is testing the feature in a pre-release version of the browser.
[ Find out how to block the viruses, worms, and other malware that threaten your business, with hands-on advice from expert contributors in InfoWorld's "Malware Deep Dive" PDF guide. | Keep up with key security issues with InfoWorld's Security Adviser blog and Security Central newsletter. ]
"Online criminals have been increasing their use of malicious software that can silently hijack your browser settings. This has become a top issue in the Chrome help forums; we're listening and are here to help," wrote Linus Upson, a Google vice president, in a blog post.
The security feature will trigger an alert, displayed in the download tray at the bottom of the screen, saying that Chrome blocked a malware file from being downloaded. Malicious hackers typically disguise these files as harmless applications, like screensavers and even security updates, to trick users into downloading them.
When installed, this type of malware software wrests control of the browser from users, changing settings, such as the default home page, and displaying unwanted ads.
Google has added the capability to Chrome Canary, a very early pre-release version of the browser that is intended for developers and tech-savvy end users because it "can sometimes break down completely."
Google didn't immediately respond to a request for more details about the way this feature works. Since antivirus products often step over each other when run simultaneously on the same computer, it remains to be seen if this new Chrome functionality will trigger conflicts for people who use other security software.
Chrome already lets users reset their browser settings and alerts them when they're about to visit a site that the company has identified as dangerous.
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.
In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, Saw Min lies still on a bed with weights on her eye after receiving local anesthesia ahead of a cataract operation at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. Saw Min waited with hundreds of Myanmar's poorest villagers to be prepped for the simple, free surgery she hopes will restore her sight. My heart is racing," said the 38-year-old mother of five, who lost all vision in her left eye one year ago and, in the months that followed, all but 20 percent in her right. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, Saw Min lies still on a bed with weights on her eye after receiving local anesthesia ahead of a cataract operation at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. Saw Min waited with hundreds of Myanmar's poorest villagers to be prepped for the simple, free surgery she hopes will restore her sight. My heart is racing," said the 38-year-old mother of five, who lost all vision in her left eye one year ago and, in the months that followed, all but 20 percent in her right. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, a patient with an eye patch rests inside a makeshift mosquito-net at a Buddhist monastery following a simple operation to remove a cataract in Bago, Myanmar. Five decades of isolation, military rule and woeful health care have left Myanmar with one of the highest rates of blindness in the region. Now the veil of darkness is starting to lift, thanks to an “assembly line” surgical procedure that allows cataracts to be removed safely, without stitches, through two small incisions. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, patients receive assistance after undergoing cataract surgeries at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. Accurate statistics concerning public health are difficult to come by in Myanmar, which only opened up to the outside world two years ago. The World Health Organization puts blindness prevalence rates at under 1 percent, high for the region in Myanmar, but one outside survey showed it peaking at 8.1 percent in some rural areas. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
In this Oct. 23, 2013 photo, Buddhist monks with eye patches exit a room in a Buddhist shrine following simple operations to remove cataracts in Bago, Myanmar. Five decades of isolation, military rule and woeful health care have left Myanmar with one of the highest rates of blindness in the region. Now the veil of darkness is starting to lift, thanks to an “assembly line” surgical procedure that allows cataracts to be removed safely, without stitches, through two small incisions. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, a woman suffering from blindness has tears dripping from her eye as she waits to enter an operation room to follow a simple surgical procedure to remove cataracts at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. Five decades of isolation, military rule and woeful health care have left Myanmar with one of the highest rates of blindness in the region. Now the veil of darkness is starting to lift, thanks to an "assembly line" surgical procedure that allows cataracts to be removed safely, without stitches, through two small incisions, a technique pioneered by Nepalese master surgeon Sandut Ruit. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
BAGON, Myanmar (AP) — Five decades of isolation, military rule and woeful health care have left Myanmar with a particularly high rate of blindness. Now the veil of darkness is starting to lift, thanks in part to an "assembly line" surgical procedure that allows cataracts to be removed safely, without stitches, through two small incisions.
Nepalese surgeon Sandut Ruit, who helped pioneer the technique, oversaw nearly 1,300 operations at two massive eye camps in 10 days in October, with dozens of local ophthalmologists looking on and helping.
Despite improvements over the last two decades, the vast majority still use a microincision surgical technique that requires two sutures. Doctors were confident the no-stitch procedure — cheap, easy to learn and taking as little as five minutes — would catch on quickly.
"This is a turning point in our cataract history," said Dr. Tin Win, the chief of Yangon Eye Hospital. He said his goal is to have all 60 eye centers in the nation of 60 million using the procedure by the end of next year. He says he will pass on the information to all doctors, together with training manuals and videos, at a nationwide eye conference in early November.
"If we succeed, we can double our cataract surgical rate," he said. "We can start getting rid of our cataract backlog."
Several organizations focused on preventing blindness have focused on Myanmar as a country in particular need of help. A 2005 survey conducted by the South Australian Institute of Ophthalmology in the rural Meiktila district of central Myanmar found that 8.1 percent of the population there was blind.
Ruit, who travels throughout the developing world holding free mass eye camps, was working in Myanmar for the first time.
He and his team were initially scheduled to perform 1,000 surgeries, but added nearly 300 patients due to the overwhelming response by potential candidates.
After the operation, some patients expressed hope they would be able to work again. Others were eager to see the faces of their children and grandchildren.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-10-31-Myanmar-Gift%20of%20Sight-Photo%20Essay/id-fa93b10fd49d4104aec4dcdbb37c2dcb
We all have a lot of Nexus 5 and KitKat news to digest, but what's really important is how you'll get your hands on the latest Google phone. Right now there's a handful of different ways to get one, and availability spans across several countries officially — so let's take a look at when, where and how much it'll cost to get your hands on a Nexus 5.
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South African designers Warren Lewis and (the somewhat extraordinarily named) Porky Hefer have come up with Birdwatcher, a bird house in the form of a CCTV camera that will feed the local birds and help you scare burglars away.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/4n7qfqx68Pc/KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — The wife of a Russian pilot who has been held by the Taliban for more than six months said Friday she's been told negotiations for his release are ongoing.
A senior Taliban official also told The Associated Press that a former Russian ambassador to Afghanistan has been in contact with the religious movement in the matter.
Pavel Petrenko was among 10 foreign civilians captured after their cargo helicopter made an emergency landing in eastern Afghanistan in April. Eight Turks, a Kyrgyz and an Afghan translator also were seized. The Turks were later released.
Petrenko's wife, Halyna, said by telephone from her home in Sumy, Ukraine, that Russian officials say release talks continue.
The Taliban official spoke on condition of anonymity but has proved reliable in the past. He said the former Russian ambassador, Zamir Kabulov, had met with Taliban representatives in Qatar.
The Taliban briefly opened an office in Qatar in June, but closed it after a dispute arose over the use of the Taliban flag and the name Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. An infuriated Afghan President Hamid Karzai said it was tantamount to the Taliban declaring their movement a government-in-exile.
The Taliban official said talks about Petrenko take place at a different office, and with the permission of Qatari authorities.
The Taliban-Russia contact comes despite criticism within Taliban that former members of Afghanistan's Soviet-backed communist regime are in Karzai's government. Many in the Taliban leadership fought against the Soviets in the 1980s, when more than 80,000 of its soldiers entered the country.
ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) — Beholder won the $2 million Distaff by 4 1/4 lengths Friday at Santa Anita, spoiling Royal Delta's bid for a third straight victory at the Breeders' Cup, with veteran jockeys Gary Stevens and Mike Smith dominating on opening day.
Stevens, who at 50 began a comeback in January that included winning the Preakness Stakes, earned his ninth career Cup win and first since 2000.
Smith, a 48-year-old Hall of Famer, won two of the five Cup races at Santa Anita, and will be aboard early favorite Game On Dude in the $5 million Classic on Saturday. He and Royal Delta finished fourth as the 7-5 favorite in the Distaff.
Beholder ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.77 on her home track, where she is trained by Richard Mandella. This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of Mandella winning a record four Cup races in a single day at the 2003 world championships.
Beholder paid $7.60, $4.20 and $3.20.
Close Hatches returned $6.60 and $4.80, while Authenticity was another 1 ¾ lengths back in third and paid $4.20 to show.
Street Girl was fifth and Princess of Sylmar last in the field of six.
Four jockeys and five trainers won each of the Breeders' Cup races in front of 35,833 fans on a sunny, cloudless day with the temperature in the 80s. Attendance was up 1,214 over last year's Friday total.
Smith triggered the day's biggest upset in the $500,000 Marathon, the first of five Cup races. He guided London Bridge to a length victory that was worth $20 to win.
Smith followed it up with a length victory aboard Britain-bred Outstrip in the $1 million Juvenile Turf, extending his record for most Cup wins by a jockey to 19. Smith is already the event's leader among money won with more than $23 million.
Goldencents snapped a five-race skid by winning the $1 million Dirt Mile for co-owner Rick Pitino, the Louisville basketball coach who wasn't on hand to join the raucous winner's circle celebration.
Rafael Bejarano rode Goldencents to a three-length victory. It was the fourth Cup win and first since 2007 for both him and trainer Doug O'Neill. Goldencents' skid included a 17th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby and a fifth-place in the Preakness when Kevin Krigger was his rider.
Ireland-bred Chriselliam won the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf, giving jockey Richard Hughes and trainer Charles Hills their first Cup victories. The 2-year-old filly paid $15.80 to win. Her owners include retired star jockey Willie Carson and Chris Wright, the founder of music publishing giant Chrysalis.
As news comes in from the incident at Los Angeles’ LAX airport, we have learned that a gunman reportedly shot and killed a TSA agent and wounded two other people this morning (November 1). The gunman is reported to be deceased, security has evacuated at least one terminal of the airport and all flights have been grounded.
Very little is known still about the incident, but celebrities both on the road and off have been tweeting about it.
Find out what some of the stars are saying in their tweets below:
James Franco: “At #lax Some s**tbag shot up the place,”
Alyssa Milano: "Several people wounded at Los Angeles International Airport after reports of gunshots http://bbc.in/Ht6RNp #LAX /via @BBCBreaking."
Sarah Silverman: "Oy- didn't know about LAX. I'm in NYC."
Josh Groban: "Oh no. LAX. News isn't saying much. How horrible...hope it's resolved soon."
Nick Jonas: "Currently waiting on the plane in a remote parking area. I am safe. Praying for the victims of this shooting."
This photo provided by the FBI shows Paul Ciancia, 23. Ciancia carrying a note that said he wanted to "kill TSA" pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag and shot his way past a security checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013 killing one Transportation Security Administration officer and wounding two others, authorities said. (AP Photo/FBI)
This photo provided by the FBI shows Paul Ciancia, 23. Ciancia carrying a note that said he wanted to "kill TSA" pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag and shot his way past a security checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013 killing one Transportation Security Administration officer and wounding two others, authorities said. (AP Photo/FBI)
Police gather at a home belonging to the father of the LAX shooting suspect Paul Ciancia in Pennsville N.J. on Friday Nov. 1, 2013. A law enforcement official identified Ciancia as the man who pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag and shot his way past a security checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday. Ciancia killed a security officer and wounded others. (AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek)
Two local law enforcement officers talk in the driveway of a home belonging to the father of the LAX shooting suspect, Paul Ciancia, in Pennsville N.J. on Friday Nov. 1, 2013. A law enforcement official identified Ciancia as the man who pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag and shot his way past a security checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday. Ciancia killed a security officer and wounded others. (AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek)
Police gather at a home belonging to the father of the LAX shooting suspect Paul Ciancia, in Pennsville N.J. on Friday Nov. 1, 2013. A law enforcement official identified Ciancia as the man who pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag and shot his way past a security checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday. Ciancia killed a security officer and wounded others. (AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek)
PENNSVILLE, N.J. (AP) — The young man suspected of carrying out a shooting at Los Angeles International Airport had sent a sibling a text message mentioning suicide, leading their father to seek authorities' help in finding him, a New Jersey police chief said Friday.
Paul Ciancia's father called Pennsville Police Chief Allen Cummings early Friday afternoon, saying another of his children had received a text message from the 23-year-old "in reference to him taking his own life," the chief told The Associated Press.
The elder Ciancia, the owner of an auto-body shop in southern New Jersey, asked for help in locating Paul, Cummings said. The chief called Los Angeles police, which sent a patrol car to Ciancia's apartment. It wasn't clear whether the police visited before or after the airport shooting.
"Basically, there were two roommates there," Cummings said. "They said, 'We saw him yesterday and he was fine.'"
He told Ciancia's father that because of his son's age, he couldn't take a missing persons report.
Authorities say Ciancia pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag and shot his way past a security checkpoint at the airport, killing a security officer and wounding other people. Ciancia was injured in a shootout and taken into custody, police said.
A motive wasn't clear, but Ciancia was wearing fatigues and carrying a bag containing a handwritten note that said he "wanted to kill TSA and pigs," according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Pennsville Police Department has had no dealings with the younger Ciancia, Cummings said. He and neighbors described the Ciancias as a good, nice family.
Ciancia graduated in 2008 from Salesianum School, an all-boys Roman Catholic school in Wilmington, Del., across the Delaware River from Pennsville, the school said.
The suspect's father has been involved with Pennsville's Fraternal Order of Police, said neighbor Orlando Pagan, a lieutenant in nearby Penns Grove. He didn't provide details on his involvement.
Outside the father's home Friday in Pennsville, a police cruiser blocked the long driveway. Phone calls weren't answered, and efforts to reach siblings were also unsuccessful.
Orlando Pagan's 17-year-old son Josh said that he would sometimes encounter Ciancia at orthodontist appointments, but that it had been at least two years since the last one.
"He was never weird toward me. He never gave me any weird vibes," he said, adding that in the 10 years he has lived across the street from the Ciancia family, "they've been nothing but nice to us."
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Rubinkam reported from Pennsylvania. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Tami Abdollah in Los Angeles, Geoff Mulvihill in Haddonfield, N.J., and AP news researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-11-02-US-LAX-Shooting-Suspect/id-0166c255732b4f898151244d960c3f95A new variant of a Trojan program that targets online banking accounts also contains code to search if infected computers have SAP client applications installed, suggesting that attackers might target SAP systems in the future.
The malware was discovered a few weeks ago by Russian antivirus company Doctor Web, which shared it with researchers from ERPScan, a developer of security monitoring products for SAP systems.
[ Find out how to block the viruses, worms, and other malware that threaten your business, with hands-on advice from expert contributors in InfoWorld's "Malware Deep Dive" PDF guide. | Keep up with key security issues with InfoWorld's Security Adviser blog and Security Central newsletter. ]
"We've analyzed the malware and all it does right now is to check which systems have SAP applications installed," said Alexander Polyakov, chief technology officer at ERPScan. "However, this might be the beginning for future attacks."
When malware does this type of reconnaissance to see if particular software is installed, the attackers either plan to sell access to those infected computers to other cybercriminals interested in exploiting that software or they intend to exploit it themselves at a later time, the researcher said.
Polyakov presented the risks of such attacks and others against SAP systems at the RSA Europe security conference in Amsterdam on Thursday.
To his knowledge, this is the first piece of malware targeting SAP client software that wasn't created as a proof-of-concept by researchers, but by real cybercriminals.
SAP client applications running on workstations have configuration files that can be easily read and contain the IP addresses of the SAP servers they connect to. Attackers can also hook into the application processes and sniff SAP user passwords, or read them from configuration files and GUI automation scripts, Polyakov said.
There's a lot that attackers can do with access to SAP servers. Depending on what permissions the stolen credentials have, they can steal customer information and trade secrets or they can steal money from the company by setting up and approving rogue payments or changing the bank account of existing customers to redirect future payments to their account, he added.
There are efforts in some enterprise environments to limit permissions for SAP users based on their duties, but those are big and complex projects. In practice most companies allow their SAP users to do almost everything or more than what they're supposed to, Polyakov said.
Even if some stolen user credentials don't give attackers the access they want, there are default administrative credentials that many companies never change or forget to change on some instances of their development systems that have snapshots of the company data, the researcher said.
With access to SAP client software, attackers could steal sensitive data like financial information, corporate secrets, customer lists or human resources information and sell it to competitors. They could also launch denial-of-service attacks against a company's SAP servers to disrupt its business operations and cause financial damage, Polyakov said.
SAP customers are usually very large enterprises. There are almost 250,000 companies using SAP products in the world, including over 80 percent of those on the Forbes 500 list, according to Polyakov.
If timed correctly, some attacks could even influence the company's stock and would allow the attackers to profit on the stock market, according to Polyakov.
Dr. Web detects the new malware variant as part of the Trojan.Ibank family, but this is likely a generic alias, he said. "My colleagues said that this is a new modification of a known banking Trojan, but it's not one of the very popular ones like ZeuS or SpyEye."
However, malware is not the only threat to SAP customers. ERPScan discovered a critical unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability in SAProuter, an application that acts as a proxy between internal SAP systems and the Internet.
A patch for this vulnerability was released six months ago, but ERPScan found that out of 5,000 SAProuters accessible from the Internet, only 15 percent currently have the patch, Polyakov said. If you get access to a company's SAProuter, you're inside the network and you can do the same things you can when you have access to a SAP workstation, he said.
In this aerial video frame grab provided by CBS-LA, fire and rescue personnel gather at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013. Shots were fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities to evacuate a terminal and stop flights headed for the city from taking off from other airports. (AP Photo/CBS-LA)
In this aerial video frame grab provided by CBS-LA, fire and rescue personnel gather at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013. Shots were fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities to evacuate a terminal and stop flights headed for the city from taking off from other airports. (AP Photo/CBS-LA)
In this photo provided by Tory Belleci which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, people wait in Los Angeles International Airport, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. Shots were fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities to evacuate a terminal and stop flights headed for the city from taking off from other airports. (AP Photo/Tory Belleci)
In this photo provided by Natalie Morin, people stand on the tarmac after being evacuated from Los Angeles International Airport, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, in Los Angeles, after shots were fired at Terminal 3, prompting authorities to evacuate the terminal and stop flights headed for the city from taking off from other airports. (AP Photo/Natalie Morin)
Passengers walk with their luggage on a city street outside Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013 after shots were fired in Terminal 3, prompting authorities to evacuate terminals and stop flights headed for the city from taking off from other airports. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
In this photo provided by John Forstrom, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, people wait on the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. Shots were fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities to evacuate a terminal and stop flights headed for the city from taking off from other airports.(AP Photo/John Forstrom)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A gunman armed with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, killing a Transportation Security Administration employee and wounding two other people in an attack that frightened passengers and disrupted flights nationwide, officials said.
Los Angeles police Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger said the unidentified suspect, who was apparently injured following an exchange of gunfire with officers, was in custody.
Tim Kauffman, a spokesman for the American Federation of Government Employees in Washington, confirmed Friday that a TSA officer was killed. Kauffman said the union's information comes from their local officials in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon said the gunman pulled what he described as an "assault rifle" from a bag and began firing. "As you can imagine, a large amount of chaos took place in this entire incident," he said.
Some passengers who already had cleared security rushed onto the tarmac to evacuate, while others were locked down in airport restaurants and lounges. The airport was being swept for precautionary measures and the bomb unit was on scene.
Air traffic was affected nationwide as the FAA grounded flights that had not yet departed for LAX.
Witness Brian Keech said he heard "about a dozen gunshots" from inside a security gate at the terminal, which has been evacuated.
Ben Rosen was sitting at the Starbucks in Terminal 3 eating oatmeal at about 9:20 a.m. when he heard gunfire erupt and people start running in all directions and others crouching on the ground. Rosen got on the ground and another passenger said "don't worry we're safe."
Then more gunshots erupted. He grabbed his phone and tried to lie down as flat on the ground as he could. Police showed up with their guns drawn, shouting, "This is not a drill, hands up."
Everyone put their hands up and then were led out of the airport terminal to the international terminal, Rosen said.
As they were led out they saw broken glass from a window that looked like it'd been shot out. Rosen left his bag behind.
"It was scary I've never experienced anything like this before," he said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said a "ground stop" was in affect for all flights heading to Los Angeles, meaning planes in any other airport in the country can't take off for the city, although some flights already in the air were allowed to land.
LAX air traffic controller Michael Foote said some flights were still being allowed to depart.
Foote said his colleagues in the control tower saw passengers spilling from the terminal onto the tarmac, "evacuating the building, getting out as fast as they could." Officers eventually corralled them.
Other travelers described a chaotic scene as airport security staff evacuated terminals, including onto to the tarmac. Hundreds of people remained gathered outside next to airplanes as authorities investigated what happened.
"People started saying there's a shooter, there's a shooter," said Natalie Morin, a senior at USC who was heading to San Francisco for a graduate school interview.
Emergency crews responded to a multi-patient incident, Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said. Terminal 3 is home to Virgin America and other airlines.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-11-01-US-LAX-Shooting/id-82bf62d85292473fa35ed977a98bbf18DAVIE, Fla. (AP) — Despite rumblings of dissent within the Miami Dolphins, they managed a memorable overtime win that might save their season.
The question now is whether the team's first victory in 39 days will quell any discord.
"Sometimes stuff happens in the family," coach Joe Philbin said Friday. "Some of it is not always great, and you have to deal with it. That's what we do."
When asked if he's satisfied with the Dolphins' chemistry, Philbin referred to their 22-20 win over Cincinnati 12 hours earlier.
"I think the character of the team was revealed," he said.
Cameron Wake became only the third NFL player to end an overtime game with a sack when he tackled Andy Dalton at the goal line in the 69th minute Thursday.
The victory put the brakes on a tailspin by Miami (4-4) that included a four-game losing streak and talk of dissension between coaches and among players, including teasing by teammates that may have contributed to the abrupt departure of tackle Jonathan Martin.
The second-year pro from Stanford left the team to receive help for emotional issues, and it's unclear whether or when he's expected back.
"Our primary concern is for the health of the individual," Philbin said after the game. "He has been excused with a non-football illness. Our concern and support are with him, and really that's all I'm going to say on the matter."
On Friday, Philbin was asked if bullying is an issue on the team.
"We emphasize a culture of team first, accountability and respect for one another," he said. "Any behavior that deviates from that is inconsistent with the values of our organization."
When asked if he has seen evidence of bullying or harassment, Philbin said, "This is something we take very seriously, and it will not be tolerated."
Martin left the team Monday. That same day, Philbin said, he told his players in a meeting that he had never been part of a team where there wasn't respect among the players and coaches for each other.
"If you don't have that in this league, Pop Warner, in high school or in college, you don't have a chance," he said. "I believe strongly in the men we have in the locker room. I believe strongly in the staff."
Given the tumult of the week, another loss could have devastating. Instead, with one improbable play — Wake's tackle — the Dolphins revived their flagging playoff hopes.
"It's almost like a movie moment," Wake said.
Late-game dramatics had gone against the Dolphins in recent weeks. They had chances to win in the fourth quarter in three consecutive games and came up short each time.
But against Cincinnati, they drove 50 yards in the final 84 seconds of regulation for a tying field goal, made a stand in their own territory in overtime to force a punt, then won with a sack.
"We knew it was going to be a dogfight," defensive end Olivier Vernon said. "It came down to the wire, and we finally finished."
With the victory, the Dolphins matched their best record at the halfway point since 2003, which shows how woeful the past decade has been for the franchise. Now Miami still has a reasonable shot at its first winning season in five years — and perhaps more than that.
After two games in five days against first-place teams, the schedule eases a bit. The Dolphins get a 10-day break before playing on a Monday night at winless Tampa Bay, followed by consecutive home games.
"We had our backs up against the wall for a couple of weeks in a row," quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. "We kept getting pushed further back, and finally we got out of that hole a little bit."
Tannehill has been getting sacked at a franchise-record pace, and guard Richie Incognito suffered a neck injury Thursday that further depleted the beleaguered offensive line. But Nate Garner filled in for Incognito and won praise from teammates, while Tyson Clabo — benched a week earlier — had a solid game as Martin's replacement.
Incognito is expected to be available for the Tampa Bay game, and Clabo said he hopes Martin returns soon, too. Regardless, he said, the victory will make the locker room a happier place.
"Those consecutive losses are tough," Clabo said. "They start piling up, and you have to get a win to stop the bleeding. Hopefully we can turn this thing around and get a streak going the other direction."
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"The first 45 minutes or so are quite spectacularly executed," says io9's Lauren Davis but, ultimately, the new us-vs-them space war movie Ender's Game is "not heart-breaking" and rushes the viewer to "its moral about compassion in times of war."
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