Intel 335 Series 180GB SSD

Intel has had a prominent role in the consumer solid-state drive (SSD) market since it launched its 80GB X25-M solid-state drive back in 2009. The chip giant has followed up with refreshed devices at regular intervals, most recently with the SSD 335 Series. The 180GB 335 Series drive we're reviewing today is the second SKU to launch; Intel shipped a larger 240GB model last December. This new drive is a decent performer, but its reliance on older controller technology leave it wedged in the middle of the pack.

There's not much difference between the new SSD 335 Series drives and the 330 Series, which launched a little over a year ago. Both the 330 and 335 families use the SandForce SF-2281 controller. Both offer SATA 6G support, a three-year warranty, and the same base performance specs (500MBps sequential read and 450MBps sequential write). The older drive uses 25nm MLC NAND, while the newer 335 Series is based on Intel's 20nm NAND. SSDs aren't known for drawing much power, but the 335 is specced as having a maximum power draw of 350mW, with idle power consumption of 275mW. That's significantly less than the SSD 330 Series, which was specced for 850mW under load and 600mW in idle.

Save for the reduced power consumption, the shift to 20nm NAND is mostly an advantage for Intel, rather than a direct benefit to consumers. The 20nm NAND is significantly smaller than 25nm NAND, which means Intel can fit more memory chips on a given silicon wafer. The shift to smaller manufacturing geometries (also called nodes) is one reason why the price of SSDs has dropped precipitously in the past few years. The new 20nm NAND chips (shown to scale in the image above), are just 40% the size of the 34nm NAND Intel was using four years ago.

Intel drives tend to carry a fair amount of additional (overprovisioned) Flash. The 180GB SSD 335 actually contains 192GB of RAM; the additional 12GB is rotated into use as blocks of the original 180GB wear out and need to be retired. One of the downsides to using NAND built on a smaller process is that the memory can't handle as many program/erase cycles. Despite this trend, Intel rates the SSD 335 is as robust as the previous SSD 330 family.

We compared the 180GB Intel SSD 335 against the Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB and the OCZ Vector Series VTR1-25SAT3-256G. Our review unit was tested using an Asus P877V-Deluxe motherboard with 8GB of DDR3-1600 and an Intel Core i7-3770K CPU. The P877-V Deluxe offers multiple SATA controllers from Intel and Marvell; all of the drives were connected to Intel's 6G SATA port.

Of principle interest here is whether the 335's older SandForce controller can keep up with newer options from OCZ and Samsung. The SF-2281 controller has mostly been popping up in budget drives of late, and SandForce is expected to launch a new SF-3000 controller series later this year.

The performance figures for AS-SSD and SiSoft Sandra tests reflect a drive's performance in a particular type of data workload. Sequential read/write tests measure an SSD's capabilities when reading or writing a large block of contiguous data. A single large movie or ISO image will test a drive's sequential performance (assuming that the target drive isn't badly fragmented). In AS-SSD, the Intel 335's sequential read speeds weren't far off the OCZ Vector and Samsung 840 Pro (465MBps compared to 509 MBps and 518 MBps, respectively), but sequential write performance was significantly lower. The Intel 335 managed 252MBps, while the OCZ Vector clocked in at 495MBps and the Samsung 840 Pro scored 481MBps.

The 4K read/write tests ascertain the performance of an SSD or HDD when reading and writing small chunks of data. These small read/writes are vital to the everyday performance of a storage solution. The "64 Threads" test in AS-SSD means that the benchmark program spins off 64 separate 4K read/write tasks. This stretches the controller's ability to manage such workloads, but also provides a more realistic performance metric?an operating system is constantly reading and writing data to multiple services and programs simultaneously. The Intel 335 lagged behind the OCZ and Samsung drives at 203MBps read and 214MBps write. The OCZ Vector logged read/write speeds of 359MBps and 304MBps with the 840 Pro at 381MBps read, 299MBps write.

The random read/write performance data from SiSoft Sandra that we also quote is a measure of a drive's sustained performance when reading and writing a contiguous block of information to a randomly chosen location. These metrics are important because they collectively measure the different types of storage tasks an SSD or HDD performs, even if they don't represent user workloads.

SiSoft Sandra again shows the Intel 335 competing well in read performance (485MBps, while the OCZ Vector and Samsung 840 Pro both tie at 530MBps). Write performance is the drive's weak spot -- the Intel 335's SF-2281 controller turns in 225MBps in random write performance. That's less than half the OCZ Vector's 509MBps random write or the Samsung 840 Pro's 507MBps.

Finally, there's PCMark 7, which is a different type of test. The benchmark uses real storage workloads created by recording traces of hard drive activity when playing games, loading music or video, or copying files. These traces are used to measure the performance of storage products in comprehensive real-world scenarios.

The difference between SSDs in PCMark 7 tends to be much smaller than what we see in other synthetic tests. The Intel 335 scored a 5214, compared to a 5419 for the OCZ Vector and a 5588 for the Samsung 840 Pro. The gap between the Intel SSD 335 and the other drives is roughly ~7%.

Right now, the Intel 335 Series 180GB is selling for about $175, or just under $1 per GB. That compares fairly well to the cost-per-GB of an OCZ Vector ($269 for 256GB at NewEgg) or the Samsung 840 Pro ($249 for 256GB at NewEgg). The OCZ and Samsung options, however, are significantly faster than the Intel 335 Series. The SF-2281 controller has migrated to budget SSDs for a reason; it was cutting edge when it debuted in 2011, but its performance has been surpassed by other products.

That doesn't mean the Intel 335 is devoid of strong points. Intel has over-provisioned the drive by about 6.7%, which is fairly high for consumer hardware. The company has a reputation for high-quality NAND flash, and the included SSD toolbox software interfaces well with Windows and can auto-optimize an OS installation to run on solid state storage as well as manually triggering the TRIM command.

When push comes to shove, however, the Intel 335 Series 180GB SSD is in a bit of a no-man's land. There are budget drives, like Samsung's 840, that offer a lower cost per GB. There are higher-performing drives for the same cost per GB. If you can grab one of the 180GB or 240GB drives on sale, or if you're fond of Intel-branded products, then the Series 335 180GB SSD is a good option. Other buyers will find newer hardware a better deal.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/W90L3LX-5Z4/0,2817,2421132,00.asp

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After Exiting From Crashpadder, Founder Hopes Pact Will Be The ?Zappos Of Coffee'

You can't really keep a good entrepreneur from continuing to launch companies. That appears to be the case once again with Stephen Rapoport. Rapoport previously built and sold the apartment-sharing site Crashpadder to Airbnb, but has since got itchy feet once again after exiting a few months ago. And what started out as a hobby business to keep him interested before the next big thing has turned into a much bigger project.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/R0fxYGi3HUs/

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Bomb attacks in Syrian capital kill 8 people

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrians investigate a damaged vehicle after two suicide bombings hit security compounds in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, June 23, 2013. Syrian activists and state media say several have been killed in two suicide bombing attacks on security compounds in the capital, Damascus. The state-run news agency says three suicide bombers blew themselves up while trying to break into the Rukneddine police station. (AP Photo/SANA)

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrians investigate a damaged vehicle after two suicide bombings hit security compounds in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, June 23, 2013. Syrian activists and state media say several have been killed in two suicide bombing attacks on security compounds in the capital, Damascus. The state-run news agency says three suicide bombers blew themselves up while trying to break into the Rukneddine police station. (AP Photo/SANA)

Medics transport an injured Lebanese soldier, after clashes between followers of a radical Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmad al-Assir and Shiite gunmen, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Sunday, June 23, 2013. A Lebanese security official says clashes have erupted in the south between Lebanese factions supporting opposing sides in the Syrian civil war. Several of Lebanese soldiers were killed and wounded. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, firefighters investigate damages after two suicide bombings hit security compounds in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, June 23, 2013. Syrian activists and state media say several have been killed in two suicide bombing attacks on security compounds in the capital, Damascus. The state-run news agency says three suicide bombers blew themselves up while trying to break into the Rukneddine police station. (AP Photo/SANA)

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrians investigate damages after two suicide bombings hit security compounds in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, June 23, 2013. Syrian activists and state media say several have been killed in two suicide bombing attacks on security compounds in the capital, Damascus. The state-run news agency says three suicide bombers blew themselves up while trying to break into the Rukneddine police station. (AP Photo/SANA)

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows damages after two suicide bombings hit security compounds in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, June 23, 2013. Syrian activists and state media say several have been killed in two suicide bombing attacks on security compounds in the capital, Damascus. The state-run news agency says three suicide bombers blew themselves up while trying to break into the Rukneddine police station. (AP Photo/SANA)

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? Suicide bombers targeted security compounds in Damascus and a car bomb exploded in a pro-regime district there Sunday, killing at least eight people, the latest in a surge of civil war violence in the capital.

In northern Syria, a car bomb killed 12 soldiers in Aleppo, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists in Syria for information. It had no other details, and the government did not comment.

The state-run news agency SANA said three suicide bombers blew themselves up while trying to break into the Rukneddine police station in northern Damascus, killing five people and wounding several others. SANA said three would-be suicide bombers also tried to break into the Criminal Security Branch in the southern Bab Mousalla area but were caught by security forces before they could detonate their explosives.

Activists confirmed the death toll.

SANA said a car bomb exploded in Mazzeh 86 district in the capital, killing three people, including a 3-year-old boy. Residents of the district are mostly Alawites, an offshoot Shiite sect that President Bashar Assad's family belongs to. The opposition forces fighting against Assad's regime are mostly Sunni Muslims.

Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the Damascus explosions, but they bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida-linked groups that have joined forces with rebels fighting to oust Assad.

The attacks in Syria's two largest cities came as government forces pressed an offensive on the outskirts of the capital.

SANA carried a statement by the Interior Ministry saying that the Damascus attacks were a "new escalation by terrorist groups," a term used by the government to refer to the rebels.

More than 93,000 people have been killed in Syrian conflict that started in March 2011 as peaceful protest against Assad's rule. In the past year, the war has taken on sectarian overtones.

The conflict has increasingly spilled across Syria's borders.

In neighboring Lebanon, clashes erupted between Lebanese military and supporters of hard-line Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmad al-Assar, a security official said. Three Lebanese soldiers were killed, he said speaking anonymously in line with regulations.

The fighting broke out in the predominantly Sunni southern port city of Sidon after al-Assir's supporters opened fire on an army checkpoint.

The military issued a statement confirming that three soldiers died in the shooting, including two officers. It said the shooting was unprovoked.

Heavy fighting with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades caused panic in the city, which until recently had been largely spared the violence hitting other areas. Many people who were spending the day on the beach hurried home, while others living on high floors came down or fled to safer areas. Gray smoke billowed over parts of the city.

The clashes centered on the Bilal bin Rabbah Mosque, where al-Assir preaches. The cleric, a virulent critic of the Shiite militant Hezbollah group, is believed to have hundreds of armed supporters in Sidon. Dozens of al-Assir's gunmen also partially shut down the main highway linking south Lebanon with Beirut.

By Sunday evening, the army appeared poised to move against al-Assir and his supporters, who have been agitating for months. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the army have surrounded the mosque, sealing off access to it from all directions and neutralized hostile fire from neighboring buildings.

The NNA report said Assir was believed to be hiding inside the mosque with several of his followers.

The cleric and his followers support Sunni rebels in the Syria conflict, and he has threatened to clear apartments in Sidon where Hezbollah supporters live.

Sunday's clashes in Sidon deepened tensions in Lebanon. on edge since the Syrian conflict began more than two years ago.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman called an emergency meeting of the security cabinet for Monday. NNA also reported sporadic shooting in the volatile city of Tripoli in the north, and the army announced additional force deployments in around Beirut.

The violence came a day after an 11-nation group that includes the U.S. met in the Qatari capital of Doha to coordinate military aid and other forms of assistance to the rebels.

Syria's al-Thawra newspaper, the mouthpiece of the government, assailed the Friends of Syria meeting.

"It's clear that the enemies of Syria are rushing to arm the terrorists to kill the chances for holding the Geneva conference," the newspaper said, referring to a U.S.-Russia initiative for bringing Assad's government and rebels together to negotiate an end to the crisis.

The Syrian paper pledged that the army would "continue the showdown to eliminate terrorism and restore security and stability."

____

Surk reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-23-Syria/id-d787247e832045979e1289afd9327929

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Switched On: Touchy subjects

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

In 2002, the first LCD-based iMac succeeded the translucent PowerPC G3-based models that the original Bondi Blue iMac begat. The new generation was much more striking than the one that had placed Apple on the comeback trail. The iMac G4 mounted the display on a balanced arm similar to a Luxo lamp while the motherboard resided in a hemispherical base. This allowed the display to be adjusted to a wide range of heights and angles and each of the two main sections to be "true to itself."

Alas, the design had its limits. It's difficult to imagine today's ample 27-inch iMac displays balancing off such a mount. Furthermore, after the switch to Intel, processor thermals improved to help enable the slim iMac of today. The idea of efforts being true to themselves (at least until nearly compromise-free convergence is possible), however, has stayed a hallmark of Apple. For example, the company would resist adding video to the iPod for years after competitors had the feature.

Filed under: Handhelds, Tablets, Software, Apple, Microsoft

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/23/touchy-subjects/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Jimmy Fallon Presents Gaming With Mom - News - www ...

Playing games with your parents can sometimes be frustrating, but as Late Night host Jimmy Fallon proves, watching other people play games with their mom can be very entertaining.

In honor of Video Game Week, Jimmy asked fans to submit videos of them playing video games with their mom. Here's some of the best submissions. We've lived his.

Are you a fan of Fallon? Watch him fumble his way through a Killzone: Shadow Fall demo.

[Via: Polygon]

Source: http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/06/21/jimmy-fallon-presents-gaming-with-mom.aspx

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Senate sets Monday vote in key test for immigration bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid on Friday set a vote for Monday on a border-security deal that is expected to push a landmark U.S. immigration bill to passage by the end of next week.

The Democratic-controlled Senate is expected to pass the White House-backed bill with broad bipartisan support, sending it to the Republican-led House of Representatives, where it faces more resistance. Reid scheduled the vote after negotiators completed writing the deal into the form of an amendment.

The deal, reached on Thursday in a bid to ease border security concerns and build Republican support, would double the number of federal agents on the U.S.-Mexican border to about 40,000 and provide them more high-tech surveillance equipment, including manned and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Reid hailed the accord, saying it "would put to rest any remaining critical concerns about border security," which had been a major stumbling block.

The bill faces a major challenge in the House, where many Republicans oppose its provisions for a pathway to citizenship for up to 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

Critics complain that the pathway amounts to "amnesty" for lawbreakers and would attract more illegal immigrants. Backers disagree, saying it would bring illegal immigrants out of the shadows and integrate them into American society.

House Speaker John Boehner has said he will not bring any immigration bill to the floor of his chamber for consideration unless it has the support of most of his fellow Republicans.

(Reporting by Thomas Ferraro and Richard Cowan; Editing by Will Dunham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-sets-monday-vote-key-test-immigration-bill-183757369.html

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11 Ways to Make Foods Shaped Like Penises

Popsicles. Corndogs. Shish kabaobs. There are, you know, options. But sometimes, imagery just doesn't cut it. Here are eleven ways to put penis on the table.

1) Here's a mold for dick-shaped eggs for breakfast. Doubles as a pancake mold.

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2) Hot dogs: already phallic. But put that sausage on naked man on a stick and that it becomes a weiner. (Scrotum included.)

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3) Cock-ie cutters so you can make penis cookies. Here's a sugar cookie recipe you could use. And here's a gingerbread cookie recipe you could also use, because we don't discriminate.

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4) Penis-shaped pasta, for dick alla vodka. Maybe not alfredo though you SICK FREAK.

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5) A penis-shaped cake pan lets you have your dick and eat it too. Any store-bought mix would suffice.

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6) And now that you have the penis pan, Penispans.com provides plenty of ways to use it creatively. Phallic palm trees! Elephants with dick noses! Wizards with cock and balls for hats!

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7) The penis pan is so handy in the kitchen. It also works as a jello mold.

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8) Prefer your dicks in cupcake form? Here's a set of smaller dong molds.

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9) Penis lollipops. Veiny penis lollipops you can buy pre-made.

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10) Penis jello shots? Sure, there are molds for those too.

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11) Need the recipe for this shlong salad crown roast of frankfurters? Here it is. Thanks a lot Weight Watchers!

Source: http://gizmodo.com/11-ways-to-make-foods-shaped-like-penises-530957011

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Futures rebounding from huge sell-off

In this Thursday, June 20, 2013, photo, specialist John Parisi, right, works with traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.Asian stocks endured moderate losses Friday June 21, 2013 but European markets appeared set to stabilize even though investors remained edgy about a possible change of course by the U.S. Federal Reserve. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Thursday, June 20, 2013, photo, specialist John Parisi, right, works with traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.Asian stocks endured moderate losses Friday June 21, 2013 but European markets appeared set to stabilize even though investors remained edgy about a possible change of course by the U.S. Federal Reserve. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A currency trader asks a question to his colleague near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and foreign exchange rate at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Korea Exchange Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, June 21, 2013. Asian stock markets took a beating Friday, as a bear market extended amid jitters over U.S. Federal Reserve's plan for early withdrawal of its monetary stimulus program. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

NEW YORK (AP) ? U.S. stock futures are rising, shaking off a jolt delivered to global markets by the Federal Reserve.

Dow Jones industrial futures are up 93 points to 14,794. S&P futures have added 12.1 points to 1,596. Nasdaq futures are up 17.25 points to 2,897.25.

The S&P slumped 2.5 percent Thursday, its biggest loss since November 2011, and the Dow plunged 356 points after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke outlined plans to wind down the government's economic stimulus efforts.

There are no economic indicators due Friday, and it appears that many investors think Thursday's sell-off was an overreaction.

Still, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index has not recovered from an uptick in a measure of interbank stress in China, which could signal trouble ahead for the world's second largest economy.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-21-US-Wall-Street-Premarket/id-e6e4105c5bdd43d792a863220b202dd5

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Watchdog faults background check of NSA leaker

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A government watchdog testified Thursday there may have been problems with a security clearance background check conducted on the 29-year-old federal contractor who disclosed previously secret National Security Agency programs for collecting phone records and Internet data ? just as news media disclosed more information about those programs.

Appearing at a Senate hearing, Patrick McFarland, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's inspector general, said USIS, the company that conducted the background investigation of former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden, is now under investigation itself.

McFarland declined to say what triggered the inquiry of USIS or whether the probe is related to Snowden. But when asked by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., if there were any concerns about the USIS background check on Snowden, McFarland answered: "Yes, we do believe that there may be some problems."

Meanwhile, new details emerged about the scope of two recently disclosed NSA programs ? one that gathers U.S. phone records and another that is designed to track the use of U.S.-based Internet servers by foreigners with possible links to terrorism.

Two new documents published Thursday by The Guardian newspaper ? one labeled "top secret" and the other "secret" ? said NSA can keep copies of intercepted communications from or about U.S. citizens indefinitely if the material contains significant intelligence or evidence of crimes.

McFarland declined after the Senate hearing to describe to reporters the type of investigation his office is conducting. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said she was told the inquiry is a criminal investigation related "to USIS' systemic failure to adequately conduct investigations under its contract."

"We are limited in what we can say about this investigation because it is an ongoing criminal matter," said McCaskill, chairwoman of the Senate subcommittee on financial and contracting oversight. "But it is a reminder that background investigations can have real consequences for our national security."

McCaskill's panel conducted the hearing jointly with Tester's subcommittee on efficiency and effectiveness of federal programs.

USIS, based in Falls Church, Va., said in a statement that it has never been informed that it is under criminal investigation. USIS received a subpoena from the inspector general's office in January 2012 for records, the statement said. "USIS complied with that subpoena and has cooperated fully with the government's civil investigative efforts," according to the company.

USIS declined to comment on whether it conducted a background investigation of Snowden. The company said it performs thousands of background investigations each year for OPM and other government agencies. "These investigations are confidential and USIS does not comment on them," the USIS statement said.

The background check USIS performed on Snowden was done in 2011 and was part of periodic reinvestigations that are required for employees who hold security clearances, according to McFarland and Michelle Schmitz, the assistant inspector general for investigations at OPM.

Schmitz said the investigation of USIS commenced later in 2011.

Booz Allen Hamilton, the company where Snowden was working at the time of the disclosures, fired him for violations of the firm's code of ethics and firm policy. The company said he had been a Booz Allen employee for less than three months.

Snowden worked previously at the CIA and probably obtained his security clearance there. But like others who leave the government to join private contractors, he was able to keep his clearance after he left and began working for outside firms.

Of the 4.9 million people with clearance to access "confidential and secret" government information, 1.1 million, or 21 percent, work for outside contractors, according to a January report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Of the 1.4 million who have the higher "top secret" access, 483,000, or 34 percent, work for contractors.

OPM's Federal Investigative Services division performs almost all the background investigations for federal agencies and nearly 75 percent of the investigators who perform background checks are contractors, according to information on the agency's website.

At the hearing, McFarland called for much closer oversight of the investigators who conduct background checks. He said that 18 background investigators and record searchers have been criminally convicted since 2006 for fabricating information in background reports.

McFarland's office is actively working on 11 fabrication cases and another 36 cases involving background investigators are pending, according to data he provided to the subcommittees.

Of the 18 investigators who were criminally convicted, 11 were federal employees and seven were contractors. Of the 47 active and pending cases, six involve federal employees and 41 involve contractors, according to McFarland.

The new documents revealed by The Guardian were signed by Attorney General Eric Holder. They include point-by-point directions on how an NSA employee must work to determine that a person being targeted has not entered the United States. If NSA finds the target has entered the U.S., it will stop gathering phone and Internet data immediately, the documents say.

If supervisors determine that information on a U.S. person or a target who entered the U.S. was intentionally targeted, that information is destroyed, according to the documents.

But if a foreign target has conversations with an American or a U.S.-based person whom NSA supervisors determine is related to terrorism, or contains significant intelligence or evidence of crimes, that call or email or text message can be kept indefinitely. Encrypted communications also can be kept indefinitely, according the documents.

Administration officials had said the U.S. phone records NSA gathered could only be kept for five years. A fact sheet those officials provided to reporters mentioned no exceptions.

The documents outline fairly broad authority when the NSA monitors a foreigner's communications. For instance, if the monitored foreigner has been criminally indicted in the U.S. and is speaking to legal counsel, NSA has to cease monitoring the call. The agency, however, can log the call and mine it later so long as conversation protected by attorney-client privilege is not used in legal proceedings against the foreigner.

The NSA had no comment when asked about the newly revealed documents.

___

Follow Lardner on Twitter at https://twitter.com/rplardner and Dozier on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kimberlydozier

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/watchdog-faults-background-check-nsa-leaker-235639806.html

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Canada sends soldiers to support UN mission in Haiti

Global Times Thursday 20th June, 2013

Canada will dispatch dozens of military personnel to support the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), Defense Minister Peter MacKay announced Wednesday.MacKay said a platoon of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) will depart on Friday to operate within a Brazilian battalion in Haiti until December.The 34 CAF members come from the Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in Valcartier, Quebec, and have completed language and peace-support training in Brazil to be prepared for the new mission."Their efforts will contribute to one of the CAF's core roles -- supporting international peac...

Read more

Source: http://www.canadastandard.com/index.php/sid/215319418/scat/71df8d33cd2a30df

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Video: Valuable 'mates

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

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/21134540/vp/52264328#52264328

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Four microphones, computer algorithm enough to produce 3-D ...

Blind people sometimes develop the amazing ability to perceive the contours of the room they're in based only on auditory information. Bats and dolphins use the same echolocation technique for navigating in their environment.

At EPFL, a team from the Audiovisual Communications Laboratory (LCAV), under the direction of Professor Martin Vetterli, has developed a computer algorithm that can accomplish this from a sound that's picked up by four microphones. Their experiment is being published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). "Our software can build a 3D map of a simple, convex room with a precision of a few millimeters," explains PhD student Ivan Dokmani?.

Randomly placed microphones

As incredible as it may seem, the microphones don't need to be carefully placed. "Each microphone picks up the direct sound from the source, as well as the echoes arriving from various walls," Dokmani? continues. "The algorithm then compares the signal from each microphone. The infinitesimal lags that appear in the signals are used to calculate not only the distance between the microphones, but also the distance from each microphone to the walls and the sound source."

This ability to "sort out" the various echoes picked up by the microphones is in itself a first. By analyzing each echo's signal using "Euclidean distance matrices," the system can tell whether the echo is rebounding for the first or second time, and determine the unique "signature" of each of the walls.

The researchers tested the algorithm at EPFL using a "clean" sound source in an empty room in which they changed the position of a movable wall. Their results confirmed the validity of the approach. A second experiment carried out in a much more complex environment ? an alcove in the Lausanne Cathedral ? gave good partial results. New tests using more microphones are very likely to yield improved results.

Mobile localization in buildings

The team's initial conclusions already point to interesting potential applications. "Architects could use this to design rooms ? for example concert halls or auditoriums ? based upon the specific acoustics they would like to create," says Dokmani?.

Applications in forensic science are also on the horizon: based on several recordings of the same setup, audio waves could yield information on elements in the room that cannot be seen. In the same vein, analyzing a telephone call from a person who is moving around a room could allow investigators to identify where the person is calling from.

Finally, it might be possible to implement this algorithm in mobile devices and use them to deduce location information inside buildings ? a place where GPS signals do not penetrate well. "There are already many applications, and we foresee many more. This is only the beginning!" concludes Dokmani?.

Explore further: Doctoral student designs microphones that monitor road traffic

More information: Acoustic echoes reveal room shape, www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1221464110

Source: http://phys.org/news/2013-06-microphones-algorithm-d-simple-convex.html

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Seattle Shows Dramatic Increase in Apartments As Baby Boomers ...

Building apartments is incredibly popular, with an unprecedented 6,796 new apartments coming onto the Seattle market in 2013. Some critics think overbuilding is a real threat, since that?s what happened in the condo market just a couple of years ago. An influx of apartments is great news for renters, but for developers and investors, nailing profits can get more challenging. At the moment, apartment demands are high, but there?s some worry that a revival of single-family homes might come out of nowhere.

According to Seattle economic researcher Dick Conway, there are hints that single-family homes might come back in high demand. Conway says it?s impossible to guess whether apartments or homes will be more in demand in a few years. However, rents are slated to increase 30 percent in the coming five years according to Dupre + Scott Apartment Advisors. On the other hand, salaries are increasing only three to four percent per year, making affording rent a challenge.

The 2013 Record-Breaking Year

In Seattle, 77 new apartment projects are in the works which equals nearly 7,000 new units in 2013 alone. They likely won?t all be built, but even making the 60 percent mark will make it a record-breaking year. Overall, there are over 9,000 units expected to be built in the coming three years. It?s a bull market for apartments in Seattle, one that hasn?t been seen since the 1980s. However, it mortgage rates remain low, it will be more affordable to own rather than rent?which means investment properties will be highly desirable.

It?s estimated that people spend about 12.4 percent of their income on mortgage payments in the Seattle area. Back during the housing boom, people were paying nearly 21 percent of their income. Even though rent is slated to skyrocket, experts don?t think that will turn off young people who just aren?t interested in owning property.

Why the Young Won?t Buy

Pulling together a down payment is challenging at best, especially since a minimum of 20 percent down often required. Just a few years ago, zero to five percent was required. Experts who are predicting a single-family boom couple that with easier mortgage financing. It?s allegedly the best time to buy an apartment in Seattle, and that news is catching the eyes of baby boomers. Right now renting is still cheaper than owning in Seattle, but with rents hovering at $1,400 for a small 650-square foot studio, that won?t remain for long.

The apartments might be small, but they?re often LEED-certified and luxurious (these aren?t the micro apartments popping up near Pike Place Market). The job growth in the area is strong, wages are relatively high and Seattle is a tech-rich city. Both young people and baby boomers are looking to live in smaller spaces while being close to downtown. However, as young people start thinking about families, they may be more inclined to give up city life for home ownership in the suburbs.

The surge in investment and banking is being taken advantage of by baby boomers. Whether they want to live in these swank apartment or snap them up and then rent them out (at 30 percent higher than the rental costs now), both are good moves. This will also benefit the economy as baby boomers aren?t retiring so much as changing how they?re impacting their communities. Going to Hard Money Lenders or other financial pros is a great way for boomers to learn new investment skills for their golden years.

Source: http://www.standardmadness.com/seattle-shows-dramatic-increase-in-apartments-as-baby-boomers-retire/

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